Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The gang had a lazy day.

While Nightmare sat in his comfortable recliner, reading one of his monstrous heavy-weighed books, thick enough to kill someone just by dropping it on their head, the others were lounging on the couch in front of the TV and playing Mario Kart.

Or, the Trio was playing.

Cross was watching, knowing he wouldn't stand a chance against them. He sat next to Killer, leaned back and completely relaxed.

It hadn't always been like that. But this for another time.

Strewn haphazardly around them were different kinds of snacks, like potato chips, gummy worms, center shocks (Cross didn't know what the others found so appealing about those, they were sour as hell), cookies, chocolate bars, bottles with root beer, soda cans and cartons with chocolate milk.

Cross was practically boneless, sinking even deeper into the couch cushion.

Until he didn't.

Suddenly, he went rigid and stopped breathing, after staying ramrod straight for a few seconds, he began to fidget nervously, messing with the hem of his t-shirt.

Nightmare turned a page in his book, before he spoke up without even lifting his gaze from it. "There's no reason to make a fuss, Cross. Just go to your room and get changed," he said in a calm tone, one would use to ask someone to check the mailbox.

Cross didn't say anything to that, he just nodded, got up slowly and waddled off.

Killer followed him with his eyes. "Need some help, Crossy? Or are you big enough to handle yourself?"

Cross only gave him a silent glare over his shoulder, walking out of the room and disappearing into the hallway.

Killer grinned, a little fondness in his smirk, and turned his attention back to the game.

His Eye Lights glued to the TV screen, Dust said, "yer gettin' better, Boss."

Chapter Text

It was a fucking stupid idea to do a mission in a GZTale copy.

Everyone was out for their blood- or, in their case, bone marrow, and they were fucking strong.

Somehow, half of the residents ganged up on Cross, while the rest formed smaller groups to fight Nightmare and the others.

Bad thing was, it worked.

Neither of the gang knew how to fight in a group, everyone relying solely on their own abilities.

Cross was the only one, who had learned how to fight side by side with comrades, but it didn't help him when none of the others were able to do that.

He had no idea, why the majority of the resident monsters decided to leave the main fight behind to follow him into the woods.

Since he couldn't rely on any of the others, not even Killer, who he fucked with from time to time, defiling either a random hallway closet or one of their beds...

No, focus!

However, Cross had to come up with new strategies to fight on his own. So, he used the trees to hinder his opponents and take cover behind.

That way, he was still able to fight several enemies at the same time.

Except.

This time it were more than just 'several' enemies. It was a fucking horde.

Whenever someone came close to him, Cross fought them off, trying to incapacitate them in the process, to lessen the numbers of his pursuers.

He weaved between the trees, dodging and countering attacks, almost getting impaled by the local Papyrus, until he found himself outside the treeline, at the riverbank.

Deciding that shortcutting would use too much Magic, Cross took a short sprint and leaped from the edge of the rushing, ice-cold water and landed on a sandbank in the middle of the stream.

Big mistake.

Dogs and Bunnies and other monsters followed after him, trapping him on the sandbank and encircling him.

Now, that their target couldn't escape anymore, they wanted to have some fun.

Cross swallowed hard.

Just as he decided it would be better to take a shortcut than to wait what they had in store for him, a tall monster joined the circle and made their way to the innermost ring.

Cross felt his Soul drop.

It was this world's Gaster.

Chapter Text

Nightmare looked around him. Blood, dust, bone attacks and other monsters' bullets littered the area.

The last monsters alive had finally scattered and Nightmare could focus on his subordinates and the Negativity around.

Horror pulled his axe free from a house wall, Dust appeared to be busy inspecting one of his arms - probably injured - and Killer was searching the clothes of a dusted monster. He often took a trophy from monsters he killed.

When he stood back up, he held two daggers and took a good look at them, like the expert he was.

"Found something for your collection, Killz?" Dust asked bored.

"Nah," Killer surprisingly replied, "dual knives are more Criss-cross' thing. I'm pretty sure he'll like 'em."

At the mention of his fourth underling, Nightmare looked around.

Cross was nowhere to be seen.

"Does anyone of you idiots know, where Cross went?" Nightmare asked, annoyed.

"Think, i saw 'im... runnin' into da woods," Horror supplied. "Lotta... monsters at his ass."

Killer gasped dramatically. "That's my ass!"

Nightmare facepalmed and grumbled. "Keep it in your pants for once, you horny imbecile. Let's go find him."

Horror took the lead and soon found Cross' trail among the countless tracks.

They led them willy-nilly through the woods, until they emerged at the riverbank.

They froze at what they saw.

On the sandbank in the middle of the fast flowing waters was the local Gaster, kneeling at the edge of the far side of said sandbank and holding something, or someone, down. On the riverbank and the flat sand island stood a handful of monsters, watching like vultures waiting for a critter to drop dead. Maybe waiting to have some fun of their own.

Nightmare used his dark powers to instill fear in the onlookers and scare them off. Then he turned his attention to the Gaster.

He ported to the sandbank and stabbed Gaster with his tentacles when he saw that it was Cross, he was holding under.

Cross didn't even try to fight back anymore.

While Gaster was still disintegrating, Nightmare lifted Cross out of the water and ported back to the Trio.

Cross' whole body was littered with cracks, cuts, breaks and Magic-, Ice- and Fire burns. And he wasn't breathing.

Without a word, the dark deity opened a portal back to the castle and stepped through. The others followed in silence.

They were in the infirmary. Nightmare had Cross already put down on a cot and was cutting him out of his shredded clothes.

The Trio shared a glance before Horror left for the kitchen, Dust began to patch himself up and Killer joined Nightmare in taking care of Cross and assessing the full extend of his wounds.

Dust brought the med supplies over as soon as he was done wrapping his arm.

Nightmare looked at him, expectant.

Dust shoved his sleeve up to reveal his bandage. "Just a fractured ulna. No big deal."

Nightmare grunted acknowledging and returned his attention back to Cross.

While Nightmare and Dust went to cleaning and bandaging Cross' body, Killer carefully pulled out the dual colored Soul of the unresponsive skeleton.

It was leaking water.

Since skeleton monsters didn't have organs, therefore no lungs, they don't need to breathe - doing it anyways since it creeped others out when they were faced with someone who didn't breathe -, but when submerged in any fluid for an extended period of time, their Soul would take it in like it did with food. But a Soul has a limit to what it can take in, then the foreign substance would disturb the Magic circulation in the Soul.

As soon as it was out of the water, Cross' Soul started expelling the excess liquid.

Killer put the Soul in a clear container, made off acrylic glass. It had a grid of some sorts in the upper third, allowing the Soul to rest above the expelled liquid, collecting at the bottom.

Then, Killer joined the other two in patching up Cross.

Chapter Text

Cross was comatose.

Nightmare wasn't happy that his underling would need longer to recover.

But he had to admit that Cross was capable. And more serious than his other idiots.

If it meant that he would be of use again as soon as he recovered, Nightmare could allow Cross the time needed.

But.

There was a catch.

Cross had a different biology from the Trio. For whatever reason.

Despite having no physical organs, just like the others, Cross had to actually use the toilet. While the others only paid attention to the porcelain throne in their bathrooms, whenever they got themselves sick from drinking, or eating weird stuff, Cross needed to pee and poop.

No one knew, why Cross was like this. They could only assume that it was something, his Gaster did to Cross, maybe to humilate him or something. Who knew. XGaster was a sick fuck.

However, since he couldn't go while unconscious, they needed to diaper him, if they didn't want to change his sheets more often than his bandages.

Being the most physically involved with the former guard, Killer took it upon himself to take care of Cross' hygiene.

When the next morning came, Killer had emptied the container, Cross' Soul was held in, two times and the magical organ was working normal.

That was good, at least.

Two more days later, most of the damage on Cross' body had healed.

But Cross had yet to wake up.

More days went by.

Then days became weeks.

Around somewhere during the fifth week, something finally happened.

The Trio was who knows where in the castle and Nightmare was doing paperwork in his office, when he heard a loud thump from somewhere.

Barely two seconds later, there followed a wail.

Annoyed, Nightmare left his office and went to Cross' room, where the noise came from. When he opened the door, Nightmare was greeted with the sight of Cross sitting in front of his bed, tangled in the blanket, and bawling his eyes out.

Confused and at least slightly annoyed, Nightmare quirked an eyebrow. "Cross?"

Cross immediately stopped wailing and looked up at him with big round Eye Lights, hiccupping every now and then.

The distant, fast thumping of running feet made Nightmare aware of the others approaching.

The door flew open and in stormed Killer, Dust and Horror close behind.

At the loud bang of the door hitting the wall, Cross flinched hard and his hiccups picked up frequency. The tears began flowing stronger too.

Nightmare knew what was to come before it did. Cross' new crying fit hit the Trio unexpected.

The three looked between the wailing Cross and the done-with-everything Nightmare a few times, before Killer finally stepped more into the room, admitting the other two entrance as well.

Hesitantly, he walked over to Cross and knelt down next to him. With his hands hovering over the other's form, Killer looked up at his Boss for input.

"Boss? What's going on with Criss-cross?"

Cross' wails subsided at the sound of Killer's voice. The ex-guard was back to soft hiccups again. He looked at Killer for a second, then beamed at him and crawled into his lap, clinging to the target souled monster.

Nightmare sighed. "I have no idea, Killer. All, i can say is that he apparently fell out of his bed and began bawling his eyes out. At least, he is quiet now."

Dust and Horror sat down close to Killer and took a good look at Cross.

At first, he hid his face in Killer's chest, then he stole shy glances at them, before hiding again.

Dust wrinkled his forehead. "He's acting like a babybones," he observed.

Killer, who had his arms loosely around Cross and his hands at his bottom, patted the padded coccyx. "And he's in for a change," he commented, giving the full diaper another gentle smack and making Cross squirm in his lap.

Horror scratched at the hole in his skull. "Ya think... he's been too... long under water?"

Could this be? They never heard of something like that happening to a skeleton before. But, on the other hand, Cross wasn't like any other skeletons they knew, with his weird ass biology.

Killer stood up and carried Cross to the bathroom to clean and change him. He was ripe for a bath.

Nightmare thought for a moment about Dust and Horror's words.

Could it be? Cross didn't have a brain to take brain damage from lack of oxygen, but with skeleton monsters, like most non-flesh monsters, the Soul fulfilled all those purposes.

So, could his Soul got damaged? He had been under water for an unknown period of time, so it might be possible.

Nightmare looked up and called after Killer. "Clean him up and get him into something presentable. We take him to Sci to find out what's going on."

"You got it, Boss," was everything Killer replied, before the bathroom door closed behind him.

Chapter Text

Cross, apparently, was quite a happy baby. At least he acted the way.

He squealed and splashed in the bathtub, while Killer patiently scrubbed him clean.

It was almost like back, when his bro had been an excitable babybones. He couldn't help but find it cute, despite his worries for Cross' mental state.

Was this permanent? What if? Nightmare was unlikely to tolerate Cross when he wouldn't be useful to him anymore.

Maybe it wasn't that bad. Maybe Sci could do something. Or it was just temporary.

Killer took Cross from the tub, wrapped him in a big towel and dried him off.

Then he put a fresh diaper on him and dressed him in a clean pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

"Crossy, can you walk on your own?" Killer asked gently. Cross wasn't heavy, he was in fact a little smaller than Killer, still a few inches taller than Dust tho, but Killer felt better having his hands free.

Slowly, he set Cross on his feet, his legs buckling after four and a half weeks of disuse. Cross clung to Killer while he slowly found his footing.

"There you go," Killer smiled at him when Cross stood on his own, even if his legs were a little shaky. "That's my big boy."

Cross beamed at that and giggled happily.

"Come now, Criss-cross. Boss is waiting."

Killer held Cross upright and helped him walk out of his bathroom.

"About time," Nightmare groused impatiently. He opened a portal to Sci the next second and led his gang through.

Sci looked up from whatever he was busy with and quickly assessed everyone, until his Eye Lights landed on Cross

"What gives?"

Nightmare pointed a tentacle at Cross. "He's acting weird. I want to know why, and if and how it can be reversed."

Sci, immediately, went to work and began with a basic check up while asking questions. "What do you mean with 'weird'? When did it start? Did something happen? What happened?"

Nightmare made his answers as short as possible. "He's acting like a babybones. It started not even an hour ago, when he woke up. He was comatose for the last four and a half weeks. He was injured and almost drowned on a mission back then."

Sci examined Cross' Soul and looked for anything that could lead him to the answer.

He soon understood what Nightmare meant by Cross acting like a babybones, and treated Cross accordingly.

Sci did a lot of tests and some time went by.

Suddenly, Cross began fidgeting and squirming.

Killer noticed. "What's wrong, Crossy?" The only answer, he got, was Cross hiding his face in the crook of Killer's neck and whining.

Killer had enough experience in raising babybones from when he took care of his brother, to read the signs. With a sigh he looked at Nightmare. "Boss, Cross needs a change."

"Again!?" Nightmare hissed annoyed.

Sci watched the exchange with interest. "What do you mean with 'change', Killer?"

Killer hooked his thumb under Cross' waistband and pulled it down a little, just enough to show the diaper Cross was wearing. "Cross acting like a toddler plus his weird biology makes it necessary to diaper him. I took care of it while he was comatose."

For a second or two Sci looked like his mental motherboard had been fried, but the next moment he shook it off.

"Now i understand, what's going on. At least, i think so."

"Then, what is it?" Nightmare asked, losing his patience.

Sci looked at him, his expression unsure of how his words would be accepted. "Cross is a Little."

Chapter Text

"Cross is a Little."

Killer tilted his head. "He is what?"

"A Little," Sci repeated.

"Explain," Nightmare urged.

Sci took a deep breath and plunged into a thorough explanation. Or as thorough as he could explain something he wasn't an expert for.

"It's his way to deal with the trauma, i think. It's kind of normal between humans. In the right circles. However, a Little is part of a relationship. It's always at least one Little and one Caregiver. Caregivers are people that do what Killer does for Cross right now. They take care of the Little, change them, bath, feed and entertain them and treat them according to the age they are mentally.

There are several different reasons why someone becomes a Little. To deal with trauma, like Cross, as a hobby, as stress relief, as sexual roleplay, just for comfort, and others.

The real Littles, slip into a state called headspace, where they think and act like children, the age-range goes from infant to preschooler, most of the time, and most Littles slip into different ages. Some are a certain age most of the time, without ever slipping into babyspace, others prefer being a baby or very young toddler.

For the others it's just a kink thing and they are aware that they are adults and it's all just an act.

Usually, real Littles can learn to control when and how deep they slip. In Cross' case i can't tell when he might come out of headspace.

His biology is exemplary and typical for monsters which have the potential to become Littles. It's something that gives Caregivers the more reason to take care of the Littles. Skeletons without that kind of biology never develop such kind of headspace. They either lose their sanity," Sci glanced at the Trio, "or Fall down."

"So, Cross isn't like that because his Gaster made him like that, but because that's just how XTale was?" Dust asked.

Sci turned to him. "No. XGaster could do with the universe whatever he wanted, change whatever he wanted. Cross is how he is because XGaster made him that way. He took inspiration in neighboring AUs for his Overwrites and besides an UnderSwap copy, there's also a L/CG-verse close to where XTale once was.

"A what?" Nightmare had never heard of such thing.

"That stands for Little/Caregiver-verse," Sci explained. "They're purely positive and rare. I'm not surprised you never heard of them."

Nightmare pinched the spot between his eyes. "Let me get this straight. It is as possible for Cross to snap out of this at some point as it is that he won't. Did i get this right?"

Sci shot Cross a quick nervous glance before he answered. "Even if i could predict when or even if Cross will get out of his headspace, he wouldn't be able to handle the stress of a mission anymore. If you'd try to take him on a raid or mission, he would slip and either need to be protected or get himself killed."

Nightmare turned to Cross with a dark look on his face. "In that case, he is useless for me."

With that, Nightmare poised his tentacles, the ends sharpened and ready to strike.

Chapter Text

Killer stepped in front of Cross. "What are you doing!?"

Nightmare glared at Killer and over his shoulder at Cross. "I'm going to dispose of a useless burden. I only waited for Cross to wake up and recover, because he is-... was a capable fighter and i expected everything to go back to normal. But since things turned out different, i should put him out of his misery for i will not tolerate a broken tool in my castle."

Killer felt something bristle in the back of his mind at the wording, but he knew better than to show it. Nightmare didn't expect them to agree with him on everything, as long as they did what they were told. "There's still no need to off him, Boss. There are ways to get him out of yer hair otherwise."

Nightmare laughed in his face. "Ahahaha! What ways? Do you want to take care of him? You already have enough on your plate, as my second in command. And i know, your Sans-typical tendency to slack off."

"Still, there's no need to dust Cross," Sci interferred, "we can find someone else to take him in."

Nightmare turned his glare to the scientist. "Do you have anything in mind? I won't waste my time to search the multiverse for some willing idiot. And as you said yourself, those Caregiver-verses are rare."

"Lucky that i know one. It's a classic UnderTale timeline. The Sans there had broken down one day under the stress of the RESETS and became a Little. His Papyrus is his Caregiver, it's logical since, in classic UnderTale, Papyrus usually already takes care of his brother and everything. I heard, the Sans had gotten more stable and gets out of his headspace from time to time and became more self-sufficient lately.

I'm sure, Paparus will agree to take Cross, Papyri just can't do otherwise. They need someone to care for."

Killer looked at Nightmare and knew there was no way to sway him in his decision to remove Cross from the castle. Which way ever. He looked back over his shoulder, where Cross stood, suckling on his thumb.

"Am i allowed to visit him?", he asked, not taking his gaze from the monochrome skeleton.

Nightmare shrugged indifferent. "Whatever you do in your free time doesn't matter to me, as long as you do your duties without getting sloppy."

Killer nodded. "That's fair, i guess. Make the call, Sci."

Said. Done.

After exchanging greetings and pleasantries Sci got straight to the meat and began explaining the situation.

After listening to Sci rambling for a moment, Dust turned his attention to Nightmare. "What if Paparus can't take Cross for some reason, Boss?"

Nightmare seemed to think it over for a second. "With liquidating Cross out of the question, the only alternative in case we don't find a Caregiver for Cross, would be to drop him off for the Star Sanses to find him. My dear beloved brother and his hyperactive little friend Blueberry are too soft to hurt a defenseless monster, even if they used to fight against them.

Dream always pleads with me whenever we meet on battlefield. Hmph, pathetic."

Sci interrupted them. "Paparus says he would like to take Cross in. He says, he'd be happy to have a companion for his Sans."

"Let's get this over with so we can get back to the castle," Nightmare grumbled. And took the coordinates from Sci.

He opened a portal immediately and led the others through, without thanking or even saying bye to Sci.

Chapter Text

Paparus was a little bit intimidated, to say the least. His Sans hiding behind the couch.

Killer did the talking, claiming that Nightmare wouldn't need to bother with it that way, and explained to Paparus what had happened to Cross.

He was relieved that Paparus found Cross quite adorable and even his usually shy Sans was curious about the new Little.

Cross was also immediately intrigued and the two Littles made themselves familiar with each other, while Killer told Paparus how Cross liked chocolate and Tacos, was scared of cows for an unknown reason and that he might be hydrophobic in different headspaces, even if he hadn't been bothered when Killer bathed him earlier.

Eventually they exchanged numbers and Killer just left before Cross could notice.

But Nightmare got really impatient and Killer knew better than to try his luck.

Later came a text from Paparus that Cross wasn't happy when he noticed Killer was gone.

Killer hoped Cross would calm down and eventually settle in with time.

After a while came another text that Cross had calmed down and after having his bottle fell asleep.

Two weeks went by before Killer finally found the time to visit Cross.

The Little squealed in excitement upon seeing Killer and made grabby hands at him.

Hoo boy. Could get difficult when Killer would have to leave again later.

"Hey Crossy," Killer greeted, picking up the happy giggling Little, who instantly clung to him like a koala. "Have you been good for Pap?"

Cross nuzzled the side of Killer's neck and hummed in affirmation. "Hm-mmh, Cwossy bin goo'," he baby-lisped.

"Kiwwa p'ay?"

Killer chuckled fondly and sat down on the toy littered floor, holding Cross in his lap. "What do you wanna play, buddy?"

Humming, Cross looked around. Eventually he pointed at the building blocks. "Boks," he announced.

Killer scooted over, still holding Cross in his lap, until they reached the spot where the blocks lay strewn about. Then, Cross crept out of Killer's lap and the two began to build a block tower.

Later, Sans joined them and soon the two Littles were building a castle, or more like, they were trying to build a castle.

Paparus was in the kitchen and cut apples as snack for everyone, friendly declining Killer's offer to help. So, he just sat at the kitchen table and entertained himself and Pap with meaningless chatter while he kept an eye on the playing Littles through the open kitchen doorway.

He snuck some pictures from Cross and Sans feeding each other with apple slices, using face paint on each other and napping curled around one another after they got tired from playing.

They were still sleeping when Killer had to go.

He was tempted to caress Cross' peaceful face, but refrained from it. When he woke him up, Cross would probably raise hell when Killer told him he had to go.

So, he just sighed and said goodbye to Paparus, before opening a portal and leaving.

Chapter Text

Cross didn't take it well when he woke up and couldn't find Killer anywhere.

He was inconsolable and nothing, Paparus tried, could calm him down.

In the end Cross cried himself to exhaustion, but he pushed the bottle, Paparus offered, away and fought sleep, just laying curled up on the blanket and suckling on his thumb.

Paparus sent Killer a text and asked him to record his voice, reading a story or singing for Cross.

Killer took the time to read the classic 'Fluffy Bunny part 1' and send it to Paparus, before he went to sleep. He also sent a 'good night' voicemail where he promised Cross to visit him again as soon as he could and 'be a good boy for Pap'.

During the following days Killer recorded every Fluffy Bunny book of the whole series.

When he got to visit Cross the next time, the Little's joy knew no limits.

While holding Cross, who pressed himself as close as physically possible to Killer's frame, the latter discussed with Paparus how they could make it easier on Cross to let Killer go.

They decided to try out setting an alarm for when Killer had to go.

While Pap set the alarm, Killer gently forced Cross' chin up so he would look at him. "Crossy, can you listen to me, please. It's very important, so you have to listen really good. Can you do that fer me?"

Cross nodded, an adorably serious expression on his face.

Killer gave him a soft kiss to the forehead. "That's my good boy. Now," he guided Cross' gaze to the alarm clock, "you see that clock?" Cross nodded. "Smart Crossy. When the clock goes off, i have to go, Crossy. I know, you don't want me to leave, but i have a lot to do. And to be able to come visit you, i have to do those things. If i don't, i wouldn't be allowed to come see you. Do you understand?"

Cross looked up at him and his face said he understood very well, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

Killer nuzzled his cranium. "I know, Crossy, i know. But that's how it is. I have to do my work or i won't have the time to visit. And, sadly, i'm very busy."

Cross made a nondescript noise and clung to Killer again.

They played and cuddled until the alarm went off.

Cross wasn't happy at all. He was sad, watching Killer go.

But he accepted how things were, especially since he couldn't do anything about it.

It didn't change how Cross became more and more clingy everytime Killer visited.

Killer knew it was hard on Cross, it was hard on him too, that much was sure.

But the worst was yet to come.

Chapter Text

After the Stars going on a 'we-spread-as-much-Positivity-as-possible'-spree, Nightmare and his subordinates had to work overtime, which kept Killer from visiting Cross for weeks.

At first he'd send recordings for Cross, telling him that he missed him and how he was sorry that he couldn't come to see him.

But with time Killer became so exhausted from his workload that he fell asleep wherever he collapsed.

It wasn't helping that he also had to keep Dust and Horror in line.

To make sure they trained, which also helped Dust blowing off steam in order to keep him from going for everyone's metaphotical throat. Frustatingly Dust was as lazy as the next Sans.

In the past, Killer realized, it had been Cross who had needled Dust into sparring with him, offering himself as an outlet for any excess energy. He also had been the one to make sure they'd stay in shape.

Horror, who usually was as calm as a rock, also grew irritable over time. He was more likely to lash out for an unknown reason. On good days he was grumpy and tight-lipped. On bad days he was unfocused and tended to burn or overcook something.

No one dared to poke the bear by pointing it out.

Killer knew, they couldn't go on like that for any longer, that they would either turn on each other and tear one another to shreds or break apart when nothing changed.

Then, finally, Nightmare granted them a break.

And that would mark a turning point, but not as any of them would assume.

They were still in the meeting where Nightmare just told them that they had at last caught up with the Star Sanses again, meaning they could let up on their efforts, finally.

Right into a pause, Killer's phone rang.

The ringtone he set for Paparus.

Something about Cross. Maybe because Killer hadn't visited, or even contacted him for so long?

Not sparing Nightmare a glance, he accepted the call.

"Hey, Pap. What gives?", he quickly asked, hoping it was nothing so he could end the call just as quick to not anger Nightmare unnecessarily.

"Killer! Thank the stars, you answered immediately. It is an emergency, you need to come."

Killer tried to brush off the immediate anxiety. "Aren't you a little exaggerating? You Papyri are always putting your everything into whatever, after all."

Paparus' next words however let his Soul plummet into his metaphorical stomach.

He heard Paparus take a deep breath to get the seriousness of the situation across. "Killer, Cross is about to Fall down."

Killer felt his marrow freeze.

"What was that?", he choked out.

"When you stopped visiting and later to even send messages for him, Cross lost his appetite and after a while stopped eating entirely. I also can't recall when he last slept. He did nothing but cry, until he became entirely unresponsive.

Now he's become so weak, it won't be long until he Falls down.

I don't know, if it can save his life, but at least he would see you one last time, and you might regret, even if not instantly but later on, if you are not with him in his last moments."

Killer heard some rustling or shuffling over the phone before Paparus spoke again. "I put you on speaker, Cross can hear you. Please say something to him, maybe it'll help."

Killer swallowed hard, before he forced out, "hey, Crossy. Been a long time." He choked on the 'i'm so sorry' when he heard the weakest of whines as an answer.

Chapter Text

Killer jumped up and practically ripped open a portal. He paid the confused gazes of the others no mind.

Before Killer could step through, Nightmare raised his voice to a hard tone. "Where do you think, you are going, Killer?"

Without looking back Killer replied, "Cross needs me. Right now."

With that he stepped forward.

In his back, Dust and Horror shared a glance before getting up and following him.

Grumbling annoyed under his breath, Nightmare got up and followed them as well, even if just to drag them back.

When he stepped through, he found Killer sitting on Paparus' couch, cradling Cross in his arms.

Cross was completely limp, his eye sockets closed, his bones ashen and barely emitting any sign of life. He was truly on the brink of dusting.

Killer was crying, his Soul as much a mess as its owner. He was pleading with Cross and apologizing, while Horror sat next to him in solemn silence and just carefully pet Cross' head.

Killer gave off a deeply distraught whine, the black hatred running down from his eyes diluted with reddish tears. "Please, don't give up. Please don't leave me. I'm sorry, i'm so so sorry. I promise, i won't ever leave you like that ever again. Please hang on, Cross, please. I'm sorry..."

And so far and so on, Killer went, pleading with Cross and apologizing and crying himself dry.

At first Nightmare wondered where Dust had vanished, when he sensed him in the kitchen, together with the Papyrus.

Not long after, Dust and Paparus emerged from said kitchen, Paparus with a bottle in hand that radiated bounds of Dust's Magic.

Paparus handed Killer the bottle and sat down at his other side to show him how to hold it correctly.

But Cross didn't react to it at all.

"Please," Killer begged and nuzzled Cross' forehead, "please drink, Cross, i beg you," he sobbed.

Nightmare watched all of that and eventually grew impatient.

"That's enough. Get off your coccyxes, it's high time to get back. There's nothing you can do. So, let him dust and let's return to the castle. The meeting wasn't over yet."

Tears streaming down his face, Killer looked up at Nightmare and... snarled.

"Then you can go and find yourself another right hand man."

Chapter Text

Nightmare looked at Killer unimpressed, eyebrow cocked. "Would you care to repeat that? I must misheard."

"You heard me very well, Boss." He spat the last word like venom. "I don't care what you do, but i won't abandon Cross ever again. Especially not when he's about to Fall down. Besides, in my current mental and emotional state, i wouldn't be of any use to you, anyways. Not to mention that we are all tired after the recent weeks."

Nightmare looked at Dust and Horror, who sat next to Killer and seemed to share his opinion.

"Cross is more than... just a fighter... between us," Horror began to explain, his expression calm but stubborn, his single working eye burning like a hot coal.

Killer knew, he was right. They had never talked about it, him and Cross, only ever romping around somewhere private before just straightening out their clothes and going on with each their personal businesses.

But they had grown quite close and Killer just became aware of how much he cared for the monochrome skeleton when he almost died on the mission in GZTale.

And he told Nightmare.

"I don't care what you think of it, but i've come to care deeply for Cross. Besides that, he was never hesitant to pick up any slack. He also always ensured that we kept up a training routine and stayed in shape. He always volunteered whenever we needed to blow off steam, be it Dust having a LV-flare or a psychotic episode or me losing it."

"Cross often... helped me in... de kitchen. 'Ppreciated mah cooking..." Horror rumbled, becoming quieter towards the end.

"And in case you forgot, Boss," Dust chimed in, "Cross had always been loyal and devoted to you for getting him out of his dead AU. Don't you think, you owe him for what he did for the whole gang? He's the one keeping us functioning in and outside of the castle, after all."

Nightmare ground his teeth. "What is this? A mutiny?"

"No," Killer announced flatly, "this is a reality check. If Cross is to dust, my own dust will fall right atop of it. I rather off myself than to take part in your stupid feud with your brother any longer.

And that's the only reason, why i don't even think about threatening to turn over to join Dream."

Unnoticed by everyone, Cross, still held in Killer's arms and close to the target shaped Soul, felt Killer's determination as well as hearing it in the other's voice, and let the nip of the bottle slip into his mouth and somehow mustered up the strength for a few weak suckles.

The first of many.

Chapter Text

Nightmare just stood there, studying all three of them, not paying Cross any mind while the weakling suckled on the bottle with formula laced with Dust's Magic.

He could feel they were serious about this. Even if he threatened to kill them now, they wouldn't budge.

What a hassle.

"Your determination doesn't change the fact that he can neither come with us on missions, nor could he be left alone at the castle. And i surely can't spare any of you idiots to stay back to keep an eye on him.

"I would like to babysit him," Paparus offered, "Sans really likes him and he would be happy about the occasional play-date. We just need to figure out the conditions, since it might not be good if you dropped him off here. At least not until he understands that you aren't leaving him again. I am sure he will need a lot of reassurance in the beginning, and bringing him somewhere else would be counter-productive.

Maybe, i could come over with Sans. We'd stay in Cross' room to play, or wherever else you prefer me to watch him."

Nightmare didn't fancy the idea of an outsider in his castle. But maybe it would be the lesser evil, in any case it would be easier than to look for a different solution.

He began to ponder the situation, weighing the pros and cons. But. No matter from which angle he looked at it, he had to admit that the relatively small inconvenience of keeping Cross would be better than to lose all his subordinates over ditching him.

"You can keep your little pet," he grumbled, spitting the last word like a death curse. "But i don't want to have anything to do with him. You want to keep him, you take care of him and anything concerning him, be it furniture, clothes, supplies, food, or whatever you might need for him.

And get your shit together. Each of you has gotten sloppy here and there during the last weeks. The castle is a mess. And as i intended to say when we still were in the meeting, after we don't have to worry about the Star idiots for a while, you may use the spare time to finally clean up the castle."

The Trio shared a glance and silently agreed that that was fair. "Deal," Killer said, speaking for himself and for the others as well. "We can admit that we have gotten sloppy with our chores, with how busy we were fighting Dreamboat and his little friends.(not to mention how exhausted they all were after those fights)"

Nightmare nodded curtly. "Then we have an agreement. Would you be willing to get back to the castle now?" His tone held an unveiled sarcasm.

Killer looked at Cross when he noticed the Little had stopped suckling, seeing that the bottle was half empty, but after not eating anything for so long, he had probably reached his limit for now. At least he was a little livelier already, holding onto Killer's wrist weakly while he tried to snuggle closer to him.

"Give me just a second and i pack a few essentials for Cross, until you can get everything you will need for him," Paparus chirped, jumping up and zipping around like a Jerry with a new year's rocket in his ass.

The next moment he held a bag out to Horror and Dust, Killer already had his arms full of Cross. "Here, formula, diapers and baby wipes for the first few days. I also packed a book about Littles care. It should help you make a list of things you need to get for him. You may also keep the bottle and the pacifier, i packed a spare pacifier and two more bottles too."

Horror took the bag with a nod and Paparus stepped back, turning to Killer again. "You have my number. Don't hesitate to call or text me when you have questions or need help."

Killer nodded. "Thanks fer everything, Pap. And sorry for all the trouble, i hope it didn't affect your Sans too badly."

As if summoned, Sans appeared via shortcut, plushie in his arm and thumb slotted in his mouth. He stepped closer and laid the plushie, a thresher shark, in Cross' arms.

He looked up at Killer and asked, "no goo'bye bye? Seeya?" His voice quivered slightly.

Killer smiled and rubbed Sans' head gently. "Yeah, don't worry. You will see Crossy again. Then you two can play together again. Sound good?"

Sans nodded, stepped back and went to his brother. There he made grabby hands at him and demanded "up!".

Nightmare sighed and opened a portal back to the castle.

Chapter Text

 Back at the castle Nightmare shut the portal. "Remember our deal," Nightmare grumbled, annoyed that everything had taken so long. "He's your responsibility. And now move your lazy asses and clean up. This is still a castle and not a pig pen. I'm in my study."

With that he marched off, his tentacles winding and lashing wildly with his irritation.

The Trio watched him go, then Dust shrugged. "He'll calm down," he mumbled. Then they went to Killer's room to plan their next steps.

Killer sat on his bed with a huff, careful to not jostle Cross too much. "I owe you guys. Thanks for your support. I really appreciate it."

Horror put the bag down next to Killer's desk. "Stuff it... were as serious as... you. Missed Cross... never noticed how... much his company meant... to me."

"Yeah," the hooded skeleton agreed, "no idea how we functioned before he joined, but he became pretty quick the glue that kept us together. You don't owe us shit. Just focus on Cross for now and leave the rest to us."

Horror stretched and made his spine crack and pop in several places. "Should go, Dust... clean up. Killer, you...think about... what we need to get for Cross... his room... new room... make a list... we talk later about it."

Dust agreed, "right, maybe we should prepare two rooms, one for now and one for whenever he might get out of his headspace and will need a... 'Big' room."

Killer mulled this over. "I think, i already have an idea. But that means we'll have to renovate a little."

"Just start the list," Dust shrugged and started for the door, "we come back later with dinner, then we can see if something is amiss. And tomorrow we go get the stuff."

With that he opened the door and left, followed by Horror.

And Killer went to work, after he made sure Cross was asleep. He began with the list for renovating. When he couldn't think of anything else on that matter, he began reading the book and assembling a list following the pointers and examples it gave.

Every now and then he could hear some movements somewhere in the castle. That must be Horror and Dust cleaning. He sure heard the vacuum for a while down in the living room, and rummaging in the kitchen, that had to be Horror. No one else was allowed to do more than the dishes in there, because Horror had his system with everything around the kitchen and pantry.

Some time later, Nightmare left his study to spend the rest of the evening and the night in his library, he noticed that the idiots actually managed to clean up everything as far as he could tell.

When he entered the library, he found Dust standing on one of the rolling ladders installed to reach the higher shelves, looking through some books in his arms, putting one, then another one back on the shelf, checking the shelf and the books in his arms again, before he reached the books down to Horror, who took them and gave Dust a new stack to sift through.

Nightmare looked around, the mountains of books had not completely vanished, but had shrunk noticably, and the shelves were filled with the books.

Nightmare was genuinely surprised how much the two had accomplished, but he would never let them know. Neither did he feel bad, because he was responsible for not putting the books back in the right places after reading them.

After a while he heard Horror mumble something about dinner, before he left for the kitchen. Dust continued on his own until Horror came back to get him for dinner and wishing Nightmare a good night, knowing the deity didn't need to eat.

Back in Killer's room they discussed what they might need and what they already had to paint Cross' 'Little' room.

The order was painting, furnishing, clothes and toys and other necessities. Horror already declared he would cook for Cross, he didn't like the industrial baby foods, he could tolerate the formula tho.

Tired from the day's events Dust and Horror bid Killer and Cross a good night and left to their own rooms.

Chapter Text

The next day Dust and Horror went on a supply run to get everything they needed, following lists Killer wrote. The first being about everything necessary to renovate Cross 'Little' room:

Next was everything to furnish the room.

The last list was about everything personal for Cross and stuff that would need to be restocked regularly.

While Dust and Horror were out to get everything, Killer tended to his own tasks, mostly paperwork he took to his room, where he could keep an eye on Cross at the same time. Luckily the monochrome skeleton slept most of the time to recover.

Until Dust and Horror came back, Killer had checked off most of his work and the Trio could immediately begin to redesign Cross' Little room.

They began with disassembling Cross' old furniture and storing everything in the next room, that was connected with a door and would be turned into a Big room for the time when Cross would slip out of his headspace.

After emptying out the room, they taped off the doors and window frames, rolled out the fleece to keep the floor clean, and began painting the walls. When the walls were dry they redid the taping and painted the doors and windows.

When they were done it was time for Horror to go prepare dinner. So, they decided to call it a day to let the room air out and continue the next day.

Dust and Killer went to the library, where Killer laid Cross on one of the beanbags, and spent the time until Horror would come to call them for dinner, with sorting books.

After a while Horror showed up with a tray with food and a bottle for Cross. They ate, each of them taking a turn feeding Cross.

The rest of the evening went by in peace.

When the following morning rolled around, the Trio spread the carpet on the floor of Cross' room, even before Horror had to start breakfast.

Nightmare rattled down a few tasks, the Trio would have to take care of that day. "Since you decided to work together, which i approve of as it is the more effective way, i leave it to you to decide how you will go about it, as long as everything is done by dinnertime."

Killer gave his typical cheshire grin. "Got it, Boss."

Not long after, Horror and Dust left for the tasks in other AUs while Killer took on his part of the daily paperwork, before doing the other chores he took upon him. Always taking care to keep Cross close by.

They didn't get much done in the Little room that day. At least they started assembling the crib after dinner.

For the time being Killer kept Cross in a nest of blankets and pillows, he cuddled up with him in.

Cross got better with each passing day.

Chapter Text

Over the course of a week, the Trio assembled the furniture and moved them around the room until they were satisfied with the result. Then, they sorted the new clothes into the closet and dresser, decorated everything with toys and plushies and all kinds of soft things and put everything essential where it belonged, like the diapers and anything needed for changing in the drawers and storage place of the changing table or the bathing utensils and bathing toys in the bathroom.

Now they could take their time with Cross' Big room on the other side of the adjacent door. They would reorganize the furniture they moved over from Cross' old room, put everything where it belonged and make sure his weapons were placed out of little Cross', or Crossy's, reach, in case he got in there.

While they were still working on Cross' 'Big' room, Killer slept next to Cross' crib in a sleeping bag. Later he would move into the other room as long as Cross didn't need it, to be close.

One morning, he woke up to Cross laying on his back and making grabby hands at the soft shapes hanging from the mobile.

He seemed contend to just do that.

Killer gave a sleepy sigh and mimicked Cross' position, rolling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling.

Following the wooden beams of the rafters and the darkness that seemed to reside up there like a colony of bats, Killer blindly searched for his phone, took a pic of the dark ceiling and sent it to Horror and Dust with the caption 'stars, moon and clouds. And perhaps a rocket'.

He didn't get a reply. Not instantly. And it was no wonder, for the clock proclaiming that it was still something between two and three hours until they would have to get up. The others were for sure still dead asleep.

Killer turned towards the crib and took to entertain Cross a little with the shark plush until they both drifted off again after a few minutes.

When Killer's alarm blared, Cross was wide awake and wiggling and clapping his hands as reaction to the overly happy ringtone. Well, the Happy Tree Friends theme sounded just like that when you didn't know the show. Killer chose it because Nightmare didn't know it and loathed what sounded like a daycare playlist fast forwarded and on crack.

Killer stopped his alarm and sat up, rubbing his eyes and looking at Cross, still wiggling and obviously happy.

"Crossy, feelin' better?" He reached through the bars and booped Cross on his noseridge. Cross giggled and grabbed Killer's hand, fiddling with it, before he tried to stick it his mouth.

Killer laughed, relieved that Cross was finally fully awake, and apparently up for mischief. He carefully freed his hand and stood, only to bend over the railing and pick Cross up. He carried him to the bathroom to change him and freshen the both of them up.

When he returned to the room, he found that the others had send him each a text. Horror's only read 'cute', Dust wrote 'you're a genius! Let's see what the grumpy tentacle monster has in store for us today and we can plan around it.'

Killer sent a thumbs up in the chat(named 'The League of extraordinary fucked up Boneheads') and sent them pics of Cross sitting in his crib, smiling and playing with whatever just caught his attention.

Horror sent another 'cute' accompanied by a smiley with huge adoring eyes. Dust wrote 'he's cute, but it's also kind of uncanny, seeing him like that. Guess it'll take some getting used to. It's a little different from when we raised our bros.'

Killer looked at Cross, giving Dust's words some thought, before shrugging. 'Better not think 2 much bout it.', he typed. He tucked his phone in his inventory and picked Cross up to carry him to the kitchen.

When he got there, Horror was already preparing breakfast and a bottle with formula was in the bottle heater to keep it warm.

Killer sat Cross in the high chair they got for him and gave him some cut up fruit to busy himself.

Cross' food preferences didn't seem to have changed, he was still anything but picky with a preference for anything chocolate and tacos. Only, he was too little to have tacos right now, and it was breakfast time.

The Trio ate and kept an eye on Cross to make sure he wouldn't try to throw the fruit, but he just munched on the grapes and sliced apples and banana, squishing the latter a little in the process and getting his hands sticky.

By the time Nightmare showed up, Dust and Killer had cleaned his hands and Horror had handed him the bottle, all three making sure he could hold it on his own.

Nightmare gave Cross a glare through a slitted eye socket, then ignored him completely. While he drank his coffee, he gave the Trio a few tasks, like getting supplies and replacements for damaged or destroyed weapons and gear, weeding the garden and cleaning the dungeon.

The supply run gave them the opportunity to get what they needed to realize Killer's plans for Cross' ceiling. While Dust and Horror were away, Killer would inspect and sort through the weaponry and then weed the garden. He would sent them a list of things that needed to be replaced and when they got back, they would clean the dungeon together.

In the weaponry, Killer put up the play pen to keep Cross from the weapons and other gear. After a change and a snack, he let him go loose in the part of the garden he was weeding. Fences and gates separated the garden into several parts, like the herb garden with medicinal but also poisonous plants, Horror's vegetable garden and small orchard and an area with a wide lawn strewn with benches and other seating places, framed by flower beds. Of course, Nightmare insisted that everything was in peak condition and looked worthy of a king, so, they had to weed the flower beds every couple days.

Horror cared for his orchard and vegetable garden by himself and Dust looked after the herb garden. Killer and Cross used to weed the flower beds together since they were so spacious. Now Killer did it alone while Cross laid on his belly for a moment, just feeling the grass under his hands, before getting on his hands and knees and crawling around.

Killer kept an eye on him. There was nothing poisonous in this part of the garden, but an adult skeleton with the mind of a baby still bore the potential for getting into trouble.

Luckily the only times Killer had to intervene were when Cross was about to squish a fat slug with his bare hand and when he discovered a trail of red ants and Killer had to stop him from bothering the insects so they wouldn't bite him.

He laid Cross on a blanket and gave him his shark. The rest of the time Cross just watched the sky until he fell asleep.

Killer told the others about everything when they got back and the three were busy in the dungeon, Cross playing with foam blocks in his play pen.

Chapter Text

Some kind of normalcy settled over the life in Nightmare's castle.

The only variable was the mental age Cross would wake up at each morning. At first, most of the time he was an infant or really young child, being able to crawl at best, and requiring a lot of attention and care.

When Killer called Paparus about it, the experienced caregiver explained that it seemed logical to him that Cross would want/need as much of Killer's attention as possible, at least for a while. Cross needed the reassurance that Killer would be there and help him, and to kind of make sure of it Cross' mind regressed all the way back to infancy.

Paparus assured Killer that Cross would slip into an older age, or maybe even completely out of Littlespace, when he felt safe and sure of himself.

Killer felt reassured and sent his greetings to Sansy, before ending the call and sending pictures to show the two how Cross and the Trio were doing.

Paparus sent a 'Sans is really happy to see Cross so happy again.'. Killer answered, 'oh yeah! And he loves that shark Sansy gave him.🦈'

Sans was having a bad time.

He ran through the Underground, looking for his friends and, more important, his brother.

He had stopped counting his attempts at stopping the demon a long time ago. Or more precisely, countless Resets ago.

He ran through the snow covered woods until he wasn't sure where exactly he was, when the dark, frozen trees gave way to pillars and walls, bathed in golden light.

The crunch of snow beneath his sneakers turned to taps on stone tiles, muffled but echoing at the same time.

In a breeze that wasn't there, an all too familiar, bright red scarf waved from behind a pillar.

It was tattered. And covered in pale grey dust.

Sans felt the cold rage, he came to know better than he liked, burning in his Soul like a wildfire.

"HeLl5P4wn," he seethed, his eyes burning like his wrath.

The 'kid'(HellspawnDemonAnomalyFreakDirtyBrotherKiller
killitkillitmakeitsuffer) stepped out from behind their hiding spot, wearing his brother's scarf like a trophy and giving him a deranged too happy(too many teeth!) smile. "Howdy lazybones. You had me waiting. I started wondering if your brother maybe didn't mean as much to you as you always claimed."

Sans didn't answer. He didn't even move. With a flare of his eye, he impaled the demon with sharpened bones, shooting up from the ground under their- ITS feet.

That rotten red Soul left the body and as it cracked and broke apart, a glaring red light blinded him and he thought he heard the thing laugh at him.

The sound distorted until it was unrecognizable.

It was like wind or his own blood rushing in his metaphorical ears. Muffled words mixed in with the white noise.

Was someone calling for him?

What was it, they were calling?

"...-ki!"

"Ki-...!"

"KIKI!"

Killer was sitting upright before he was fully awake. For a second, he just sat there, blinking, and tried to make heads or tails of where he was and what was happening.

"Kiki?"

Killer's head snapped to the side.

There, Cross sat upright in his crib, his hands on the rail and looking at Killer with questioning eyes.

"Crossy?", Killer asked back and Cross' uncertain, if not worried, gaze morphed into a bright smile.

"Kiki!", he exclaimed, bouncing excitedly in place. "You 'wake? Bad dweam go 'way?"

It took Killer a moment to realize that Cross. Was. Talking.

He still acted like a kid tho. But how old was he right now?

"Uh... yea, Criss-cross. The bad dreams went away. Did you wake me up, buddy?"

Cross nodded eagerly. "Uh-huh. Kiki had bad dweam. Cwossy wake Kiki to make bad dweam go away."

Welp, wasn't that just precious?

"Aww, thanks Crossy, you're my brave little hero for that." His alarm went off and Killer shut it up. He got up and swooped a happy giggling Cross into his arms.

Chapter Text

Bathing a Cross with the mind of a toddler was a new kind of challenge, but the real ordeal was getting Cross into a fresh diaper.

The Little insisted on being a big boy and 'not needin' no stinky nappy'.

In the end, Killer got him to tolerate pull-ups('panty') to prevent accidents.

For breakfast Cross asked for Captain Coco Crunchies, chocolate flavored, terribly sugary cereals. Before that disastrous mission in GZTale, Cross liked to eat them in small portions as addition to his otherwise healthy diet or to reward himself for accomplishments.

Now, Cross wolved them down happily, the only remotely healthy thing about it being a cut up banana in the bowl.

When Nightmare joined them, he shot Cross a disgruntled(disgusted?) look, before he sat down at the table with his black-as-the-Void coffee. After taking a sip, he announced, "the day after tomorrow we're going on a mission. Make your... preparations." He glared at Cross as he paused.

The Trio got the memo.

While Cross zoomed through his room, Killer shot Paparus a text, telling him about the mission and inviting him and Sans for a playdate beforehand in hope Cross would take it better when the Trio left the other day for a few hours.

Paparus answered that his brother would be happy and they would be ready to come over whenever Killer would open a portal for them.

Killer only managed to send a thumbs up back, before he had to jump into action to keep a sugar-hyped Cross out of trouble. Cross ran around, giggling like a maniac and calling for Killer to catch him.

Killer had no idea how long this went on, but at some point Cross just crashed. In a matter of seconds he just stopped and sat down, tired out from the sugar rush. Killer sent a silent prayer of gratitude to the Angel and picked Cross up.

"Cwossy tummy feels funny," was all the warning Killer got before something in Cross' stomach gurgled and the monochrome skeleton threw up. Partly over Killer and himself.

"Sowwy," Cross mumbled dejectedly after he stopped emptying his stomach. "It's okay, Crossy. That happens when you run around so much on a full tummy," Killer cooed.

He just couldn't be mad at Cross, especially not when he was already miserable. "Let's get cleaned up and change into clean clothes. Sound good?"

Cross nodded, then mumbled, "need a fresh panty, too." Indeed, Cross had wet himself. Killer only nodded, glad he had convinced Cross to wear the pull-ups. "Want a new panty or a nappy?"

"Nappy," was the barely comprehensible reply. "Sure thing, Crossy."

In Cross' bathroom, he took off his own and Cross' t-shirts, his shorts and Cross' soft sweatpants. He drew a bath for Cross and took off the pull-ups just before he set him in the tub. He wiped Cross down and cleaned himself quickly with a washcloth.

He put Cross in a fresh diaper and settled down with him in the rocking chair to cuddle. Cross nuzzled his face in the crook of Killer's neck and the two fell asleep without realizing.

Chapter Text

Cross was a toddler when he woke up the next morning, talking somewhat comprehensibly, but crawling on all fours most of the time and only getting up on his feet with the assistance of either something to hold onto or one of the others.

Killer and Paparus had agreed to wait until an hour after breakfast so the Littles' stomachs could settle before meeting - and probably completely redecorate Cross' room - for the playdate.

The reaction, Cross showed, was reasonable.

Killer held Cross' hand when he used the other to open a portal for Paparus and Sansy. When their guests stepped through, Cross bounced on his feet in excitement and flapped his own free hand, waving in the way toddlers do, but he stayed at Killer's side and tightened his grip on his caregiver's hand.

He was obviously happy to see his friend again, but didn't trust that Killer wouldn't leave.

Sansy ran straight to Cross and pulled him into a clumsy hug. "C'ossy!", he squealed, and Killer couldn't suppress the grin at how much it sounded like 'cussy' or a butchered 'cussing'. "Sansy!", Cross crowed back and the way he softened the first 's' and stretched the 'a' made it sound like a entirely different name.

Cross let go of Killer's hand as soon as the portal had closed and, in his understanding, there was no danger of Killer leaving.

Only, without the assistance, the two hugging Littles lost their balance and plopped onto their padded butts, squeaking in surprise, then giggling.

The two caregivers fondly watched their charges as they crawled off to explore Cross' room together, as if Cross didn't already know each and every nook and corner.

While the babys were busy, the parents took the chance to talk in peace, always at least one eye on the two gremlins.

Killer told Paparus how Horror and Dust helped him to renovate the room, get everything needed and care for Cross. Apparently they, too, liked to interact with Crossy and have the ball of sunshine around. It reminded them of the time their brothers had been babybones.

Paparus nodded. "I don't travel the multiverse as you guys do, but i get visited by alternate versions of my brother or myself every now and then. What they tell me about their own worlds is enough to have me know that it is an exception for me being the older brother and having trained to join the Royal Guard while my brother remembered the Resets and the human, before he had his mental breakdown and regressed. I learned that usually the one in Sans' position is the older brother, even in the swapped universes. All that to say, in our universe i raised Sansy and enabled him to do his science while i trained with my Undyne and took care of everything.

Sansy was busy with his research and inventions, and then with the human.

...

Do you think it broke him, because he is the younger brother and never had such a big responsibility before?"

Killer clapped him on the shoulder - a little challenge with Pap being so tall. "Nah, doesn't matter. Me 'n Dust were both elder brothers, but we both lost our sanity during the Resets. At least, your little demon can't fuck with your timeline anymore after Sansy broke down. Unless another human with a DT Soul shows up, yer gonna be left alone."

Paparus sighed, "only that we will never see the surface."

Killer shrugged. "It's overrated, no bones about it. Saw a lot of timelines and copies where the humans were biased against monsters or oppressed them. Sure, there are AUs where humans are friendly, or can be convinced of human/monster equality, but haters gonna hate. There's always people who hate and attack what they don't understand. Angels, humans don't even get along with their own kind.

Maybe it's worth the risk, maybe it's not, but i sure as fuck won't risk the safety of anyone dear to me anymore."

Paparus looked at him with his head tilted. "Cross?", he asked.

Killer nodded. "Not only him but Horror and Dust, too. Don't tell them, but the two idiots have become my best friends, and kind of... sort of... brothers... to me. I would die for those assholes... Maybe even for Boss, even if he is as prickly as a cactus."

Paparus could understand that. One couldn't stop caring when they once were an older sibling.

Chapter Text

Pap and Sansy stayed until it was time for them to go home to have dinner on time. Pap promised his brother and Cross that they would see each other again the next day.

Killer dreaded the moment when he would have to tell Cross that he was to go out, even if it was just a few hours. Cross wouldn't be happy about it.

He put it off until after breakfast the next morning. He didn't count on Cross being too busy playing with his friend to not noticing Killer leaving. He would notice. There was no doubt. Killer could only try to soften the blow.

He opened the portal to let Pap and Sansy through, before he pulled Cross into a tight hug.

"Listen baby boy, i have something important to tell you."

Oh, how he felt Cross tensing in his arms. Great start, keep going.

He loosened the embrace without completely letting go of the Little and went down on one knee to look the shorter monster in the eyes. "Kiki has to go out for a bit. With Rory and Duzz. But! But, i promise that we will be back before dinner."

Oh fuck! Cross' eye lights began to swim in building up tears. And then his lower lip started to tremble.

Killer kissed Cross on the forehead and hugged him tightly again. "I know, buddy, i know. But it's not like the last time, i promise. I'll be back in a jiffy. I promised, i won't leave you behind, ever again, remember?" He felt Cross nod at that as the regressed former soldier sniffled and wrapped his arms around Killer as tight as he could.

Killer had, in foresight, let Paparus and Sansy through, earlier than necessary. That gave them some time to get Cross to come to terms with the situation and calm down.

He wasn't a happy camper when Killer had to go, but he didn't make too much of a fuss.

The mission seemed to drag on for ages that day, even if it were only a few hours of terrorizing monsters, then looting their homes and stores after they fled.

Killer found a shark plush in one of the houses in this world's Waterfall, a bullshark if he remembered correctly the evening he looked up the species of Cross' shark, the one he got from Sansy. He learned it was a thresher shark, also known as foxshark and before Killer knew it he had been sucked into the rabbithole that is sharks. The different species, their behavior, mating, evolution, rays and skates and what have you. So, he was pretty sure this one was a bullshark. If Cross liked it, maybe he could find him more, help him build a collection.

Killer liked the idea and put the plush into his inventory.

He was dead tired when they got home, but at least no one got hurt, with the AU being too new to be already on the Council's radar. Therefore the Stars didn't show up. Yahoo.

After making sure that he didn't look like he came straight from a warzone, he went to Cross' room and knocked gently on the door before opening it.

Killer had a slight deja vu when he found the two Littles sitting on the floor across from one another and decorating the other's face with facepaint. Paparus sat next to them to make sure the paint got only on their faces, his own visage was as colorful as an apache on the warpath.

Killer snorted, gaining the others' attention. Cross squealed and jumped up. Before Killer could do anything, the smaller had already run up to him and hugged him painfully tight, pressing his face into Killer's chest.

Killer mumbled a soft greeting to him and rubbed his back up and down.

When Cross finally let go, Pap snorted into his hand. Killer glanced at him, confused. "What's so funny, Pap? Let me in on the joke?"

Pap only motioned with his other hand towards Killer's chest. When the skeleton looked down, he found an imprint of Cross' face in facepaint on his shirt, his Soul hovering over it like a red halo.

Killer snrk-ed and closed the door behind himself as he walked Cross back to their guests.

After a little downtime, he opened a portal for Pap and Sansy to their home.

Later, when the gang met at the dinner table, Dust and Horror exchanged grins at the 'new design' on Killer's t-shirt.

Nightmare only tsk-ed at their fun, but said nothing.

Chapter Text

In the middle of the night, Killer was woken by soft sobs.

When he blearily blinked his eyes open, he found Cross whimpering and tear-streaked in his bed. Apparently the Little had a nightmare.

With a pang in his Soul, Killer stood up and pulled Cross into his arms, the smaller instantly clinging to him like a koala. Killer shushed him gently and made slow laps around the room, hoping that the soft motion would soothe the other.

After an unknown amount of time, Cross' sobs died down and the tears dried up. His grip got tighter while the rest of his body relaxed back to a deeper sleep.

Killer had a hunch that Cross would be way younger when he'd wake up in the morning.

Killer was too tired to remember when he laid back down with Cross still clinging to him, but when his alarm went off, he found Cross lying half on top of him and suckling on his nightshirt, leaving an uncomfortably wet spot.

Under different circumstances he would have appreciated to wake up to Criss-cross topping him and making him wet, but those thoughts were entirely inappropriate in the actual situation, so he shoved them aside.

Gods, he really needed a good fuck, but Cross wasn't available in his current state and he wouldn't even think about leaving Cross with the others just to visit a Lustverse and get his dick wet.

No, he would wait for a better time.

With a sigh Killer encircled Cross with his arms and hugged him close. The Little mumbled something unintelligible before looking up and beaming at Killer's sight.

Killer smiled back and sat up. Cross was total baby today.

And he was due for a bath.

Killer thought. Could he do this alone? Better ask the others.

He shot a text to their chat and it didn't take long for Dust to respond. He would help Killer since Horror would have to make breakfast.

A few minutes later and Dust slowly opened the door, not knowing if Killer could let him in with Cross in his arms.

Dust prepared the bath while Killer undressed Cross, then it was a free-for-all.

When they were done, Killer and Dust were as soaked as Cross who had happily splashed around in the water.

Dust couldn't even be annoyed, Cross' innocence was endearing, if once gotten used to the fact that he was physically an adult.

Him and Killer shedded their wet clothes except their boxers and then dried and dressed Cross, before returning to the room and Dust keeping an eye on Cross while Killer got dressed. Afterwards, Dust excused himself to his own room to get dressed himself.

When he entered the kitchen, Cross was already in his highchair, getting fed by Horror and Killer who ate their own breakfast inbetween.

It was oddly domestic. The more considering that they all were massmurderers. Well, H had set up traps in his home AU to catch whatever to have something to eat. He never told them if he had actually ever eaten another monster, but he had mentioned eating humans and animals that found their way down.

Ugh, too early. His mind kept wandering. At least his brother's ghost left him alone.

Chapter Text

Time went by and things became the gang's new normal.

Cross was in the mindset of a toddler most of the time, mental age everchanging between 2 and 6. When Killer had to leave and call over Paparus and Sansy, Cross would regress to infancy the following days.

It got better. The timespan he remained in babyspace grew shorter each time Killer came back for him like he promised every single time.

There were more instances where Dust helped Killer bathe an excited toddler or babybones. They had learned their lesson tho, and took off their clothes, excluding their underwear, so it won't get soaked. But the tiled floor got slippery when wet and the two oftentimes slipped and fell over each other, eliciting giggling and laughter from Cross who just watched them and clapped his hands enthusiastically.

Sometimes, they didn't have the time to dry themselves after Cross was taken care of and they padded to the kitchen, wet and/or half dressed, which earned them some teasing from Horror.

When Dust challenged him to switch with him, the bigger skeleton declined with a calm chuckle, claiming he wasn't that eager to get water into his cracked skull or risk cracking it further by slipping on wet tiles.

His nonchalance about it was a tiny bit off-putting, but on the other hand none of them could claim to be of completely sound mind.

Maybe Cross had gotten off the best way. He didn't remember anything of what he had been through, at least not as far as they could tell. And he was happy.

After doing their daily duties, the Trio and Cross often lounged on the couch and watched child appropriate movies. While Cross was captured by the happenings on screen, the Trio would joke about things they noticed, like how things in the story didn't make sense, which character made what stupid decision and why it was stupid, and plotholes and unanswered questions.

Stupid sequels were verbally dissected and ripped to shreds about how characters were acting different from the former movie.

Like Lady and Tramp, for example. "The two neighbor dogs are acting entirely different. In the first movie, the bloodhound was a retired police hound remiscing his youth and grandfather, and the scottish terrier was fed up with it in an eye-rolling patient manner." "I know, right! In the sequel, the terrier is always ranting to the bloodhound how he knows nothing and couldn't do anything right while the other keeps endlessly cheery and optimistic. This looks like an attempt at recreating Timon and Pumbaa in a different setting!"

All of the newer sequels were that way, they concluded, they were not spared. The Fox and the Hound 2, Bambi 2, Brother Bear 2, The Junglebook 2, every sequel seemed to try hard to implement a dynamic of quirky/plucky side-characters that either acted entirely different in the original movie or hadn't existed before.

It got kind of their new favorite pasttime to analyze anything from Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, Don Bluth and whatever smaller studios pushed out supposed kids entertainment.

There were some hiccups when they tried to watch movies with cows like Home on the Range or Barnyard. Cross cried in terror at the sight of the red bull in The Last Unicorn.

But he really liked some of the Don Bluth movies and the Disney originals. He didn't seem too convinced about Pixar, after watching Toy Story, he poked his own toys as if he expected them to come to life any moment. He found the grasshoppers in A Bug's Life scary and gave Cars a face that screamed that he didn't know what to make of it. But he loved Dori from Finding Nemo and many of the cute animals in other movies.

The missions aside, their life was quite peaceful. Nightmare sometimes gave them the stink-eye, but he didn't say anything since the Trio kept their part of the deal by leaving him completely alone with anything concerning Cross. He wouldn't risk another mutiny.

But things were about to change again.

Chapter Text

His mind was waking from a comfortably deep blank. He didn't know what happened, but he felt well rested like never before.

Slowly, his awareness of his body returned to him.

He felt like he was laying on a cloud, everything was soft and warm and comfortable.

With a contended sigh he opened his eyes.

...

That couldn't be right.

Above him, the rafters high up were decorated with fairy lights and felt-clouds, a light in the shape of a chubby crescent moon with a nightcap hung from one of the beams. Honestly, it was kind of endearing, but why was his room decorated like that?

And this was his room, he had stared up at those wooden beams long and often enough to make out distinguishable details. He recalled sleeping in Killer's room one time after they both had gotten wasted to all hell and the stab-happy asshole had dragged his drunken ass to his room with him and they had done nothing but child inappropriate things. He remembered waking up the next morning, terribly hungover, and wondering what had happened to his rafters, because he couldn't find any of the familiar patterns.

He took a deep breath. This was probably, most likely, just one of Killer's stupid pranks. Nothing to lose his shit about.

With a grumble, he sat up...

And bluescreened.

His bed had rails.

His. Bed. Had. Rails!!!

He turned around and as his hand pressed against something soft, that same something gave a squeak. He looked down and found himself surrounded by plushies and soft toys.

Then he noticed the pastel lavender sleeve, his arm was covered in. He looked down at himself and forgot how to breathe when he found himself wearing a pastel lavender footsie pajama.

If this really was a prank, how did Killer pull this off? He surely would have woken up if someone tried to un- and redress him.

Right?

Okay, okay. Just calm down and focus on what you know.

So. His name was Cross. His world was gone. His Gaster had been a megalomanic asshole. He worked for Nightmare now. He lived in Nightmare's castle. This was his room. For some reason he was wearing a onesie, sitting in a crib, and surrounded by enough toys and plushies to fill a smaller toy store to the bursting!!!

Before he could spiral out of control or lose his shit, the door to the adjacent room opened and Killer trudged in like he owned the place, even if still half asleep. He had a bundle of clothes in one hand and rubbed at his eyes tiredly with the other.

"Morn' Crossy~. Did Kiki wake ya?", he slurred in a sleepy babyish babble.

He paused, apparently genuinely confused, when Cross only gave him an unimpressed stare with a quirked eyebrow.

Killer tilted his head and looked like a squirrel trying to figure out how to rob a squirrel-safe birdfeeder. "Ya okay, little man? Can ya tell Kiki what's the matter?"

Cross felt his hackles rise at the repeated baby talk, like he was dumb or something. His face became stormy.

"Are you serious, Killer?", he growled as humorless as he could. Nightmare would have been proud.

The target-souled skeleton paused, then slowly wrinkled his brows in confusion. Or something akin to it.

Then, something dawned on his face.

Cross leaned back, away from him, his thunderous expression turning suspicious. "What? What in the Void is going on, Killer?" If his voice gained a threatening undertone, that was nobody's business, shut up.

Killer followed Cross, leaning in. "Cross, are you big? I mean, are you big people big now?"

Cross gave him the Look. He was so done already and he had just woken up.

Killer nervously licked his lips.

What the fuck?! Killer didn't do 'nervous'. What did he miss?

"Crossy... Criss-cross... what do you remember?"

Oh God. What The Hell Had Happened!?

Chapter Text

Cross tried to think, but he couldn't pinpoint his last clear memory.

"Beats me, i have no idea. How does it even concern what you did to my room, Killer!? Where is my stuff?"

"What about the mission to GZTale? Ring a bell?"

It did.

"I remember us going there... i lead a bunch of them away from you... i got trapped by the river...

I remember seeing their Gaster... after that everything is a blank..." Cross gave Killer a wary glance. "Killer, what happened?"

Killer responded with a sheepish grin, "ya might wanna go potty and change into something else before anything. I can explain what happened then."

Cross looked down at himself again, and now became aware of the wet diaper that clung to his nether regions.

He hid his face in his hands Killer heard a muffled scream from him. Without looking up Cross asked in a tired tone, "can we please go back so i can drown myself in that river?"

Killer gave him a weird look. "Not funny, Crossy." And it made Cross nervous for some reason.

Whatever that was, Killer shook it with a deep sigh and went to lower the rail of the crib. He moved to take Cross' hand, rethought, then grabbed his wrist to lead him to the bathroom.

When he saw the changing pad on the counter and all the baby supplies, Cross paled, quite a feat for a skeleton.

He was grateful that Killer tried to not make it awkward and just told him where what was and then left him to his own devices with the promise to bring him some of his old clothes.

After getting rid of the diaper, Cross showered long and hot.

Killer brought him some boxers, sweatpants and a tee. They weren't his usual clothes, but he felt comfy in them nonetheless.

Freshly showered and dressed in adequate clothes, Cross followed Killer to the kitchen. Killer was suddenly really touchy-feely for some reason.

At least it was sudden to him.

When they entered the kitchen, there were more mortifying stuff going on. Cross noticed a half dozen clean bottles and plastic dishes on the drying rack and there was a package of formula on the other side of the sink, ready for use whenever needed. It was chocolate flavor.

Horror was cooking while Dust set the table.

They both jumped at the flat but loudly exclaimed 'what the fuck'. Cross had noticed the highchair.

They turned around and saw Cross standing in the doorway, staring at the offensive furniture.

Killer apparently decided to take the initiative to untense the situation. He slung his arm around Cross' neck, taking him effectively in a loose chokehold, and greeted the others. "Guess who decided to be a big boy again! They grow up so fast." With that last sentence, Killer wiped away a fake tear, then he pulled Cross closer and pressed a wet smacking kiss on the monochrome skeleton's forehead.

Just as Cross was about to flip Killer on his back, Nightmare entered the kitchen and joined them for breakfast.

Cross pulled the chair from under Killer's ass as retaliation instead since his normal chair had been replaced by the highchair. And he would fight tooth and nail against anybody who dared to try put him in that thing.

Horror placed a cup of cocoa in front of him and gave him a soft headpat without thinking. Cross looked at him like he had grown a second head. The 'wtf' was written all over his face.

Nightmare seemed a little amused at Cross' confusion and mortification.

The end of his patience was reached when Killer attempted to wipe his face after he had finished his chocolate milk. He swatted him away angrily. "Stop that. The hell? What's going on with you guys? Would someone PLEASE, for the love of the Angel, tell me what happened in GZTale that you all are treating me like a babybones all of a sudden!?"

The Trio exchanged uncertain glances.

In the end, Nightmare decided to deliver the news.

"We don't have the details, but everything points to a scenario where the mob you lured away, trapped you on a sandbank in the river and ganged up on you. Typical move for cowards. Their Gaster attacked you and, apparently, tried to drown you in said river.

When we found you and brought you back, you were comatose for a while. Killer took care of you.

After you woke up, you acted anomalous. According to Sci, your near-death-experience caused you an immense amount of trauma which caused your mind to regress to a younger age. He called it littlespace.

If it hadn't been for the other three idiots, you would be dust in the wind long since. But Killer insisted on... rehoming you for once, only to blackmail me into allowing him and the others to keep you, some time later. At least they agreed to not bother me with anything concerning you and your new... circumstances and needs."

Cross had listened with no small amount of horror, cringe and mortification. Now he looked Nightmare straight in his cyan eye light. "Please take me back to GZTale so i can drown myself in that cursed river."

Chapter Text

"Your mortification is quite amusing, i must admit, Cross."

That comment earned Nightmare dirty looks from the Trio which went completely ignored.

Cross lowered his gaze and sighed dejectedly. "I get that you would want to get rid of me, whatever method is necessary. I'm of no use to you like that, after all. A dull blade..." That last comment was mumbled under his breath, but the others heard it anyways.

The Trio stared at him in utter shock. They all had their episodes of self-hate, but they rather searched out one of the others to start a fight or do something else, as long as it took their mind off those kinds of thoughts. They were more or less insane, but never suicidal.

Even Nightmare seemed disturbed by Cross' words. Having empathetic abilities, also let him feel Cross' emotions.

And he looked highly uncomfortable with what he found.

Internally, Nightmare wondered how bad Cross' self-hate actually was, he knew about it, of course, but he never thought it was that bad.

"What's going to happen now?", Cross asked, changing the topic to everyone's relief.

Killer piped up. "According to the research i did-" Dust interrupted him with a disbelieving snort, "you? Research? That's not the kind of words i would associate with you, Kiki~."

Killer flipped him the bird without even looking. "Yes, i did my homework, you ass. I read the book and then researched Littles on my own to be able to take care of Crossy the best i can." Cross felt his face growing hot and knew he was blushing.

"However," Killer continued, "according to said research, in cases like Criss-cross', trauma can, and most of the time will, have crippling side-effects. You might not be able to face real threats anymore without having an uncontrollable fear-response, like freezing up, panic, or collapsing. Training with us is something you should still be able to do since you know that we won't hurt you intentionally tho."

Cross glowered into his empty cereal bowl like it had personally offended him. "So, i'm useless as a fighter, you say."

Killer would have prayed for patience, if he had been religious in any way. Luckily, Patience was still one of his main Soul-traits. "You are NOT useless, Criss-cross. There's still plenty for you to assist us with. Depending on your headspace. With your practically nonexistent LV, you can use healing Magic, i saw you doing it a few times. And you can still go on raids with us, just not fight off the residents, but collect stuff. Or be a lookout. There are also plenty of chores around the castle. It would lift our workload if you would do those things."

Dust chimed in, "you can still train with us. We could let out some steam and it couldn't be bad for you to still be able to escape or defend yourself when the rest of us is occupied. Plus, it's healthy."

"Whatever you imbeciles come up with, i don't want to be bothered with anything concerning Cross and his... altered mind." Ugh, now he had to be careful about his wording around Cross if he didn't want him to do something stupid.

"However, it is a quiet day today, so i suggest you take him to the training hall to get him back in shape. All your coddling had made him soft and weak. No one knows when Cross will slip again, so you should make use of the time you have.

I will be in my study. Don't bother me."

With that, the dark entity stalked out of the kitchen, leaving Cross and the Murder Time Trio behind.

Turned out, Cross was even more out of shape than he had thought.

Gods, catching up to the others again was going to be hell.

Chapter Text

A loud thud, accompanied by a breathless 'oomph!', sounded through the training hall.

Cross stayed on his back for a moment and took deep breaths. Fuck, and they were going easy on him.

A boney hand entered his field of view and his eyes trailed up the attached arm, to find Horror's soft smile aimed at him. If it had been Dust or Killer, Cross would have denied the offered help, but you couldn't deny Horror.

Big guy would look at you as if you had set his puppy on fire. After kicking it.

So, he lifted his own hand and let himself be pulled up by the taller skeleton.

It's been a few days already since he got out of headspace. Since then, he had focused on his old guard training drills to get back in shape. He made progress, he thought. On the first day, he couldn't even finish his usual routine without turning into mush on the mats.

Now, he at least got through it, even if he weren't able to do anything else after that. Thank the Angel that the lack of muscles in skeleton monsters came with the benefit that they couldn't get sore like that, just a little rest and the next morning they would be as right as rain and ready to go full throttle again.

But being reminded how much he fell behind every time he sparred with the others, was stressing him out. Plus, the others struggled to not baby him all the time.

He went through the motions of showering and dressing automatically. Then he began to stalk the castle hallways.

He felt pent up with stress and needed an outlet.

When he came across Killer, he didn't hesitate.

He grabbed him by the front of his tee and dragged him into the next closet to do things you aren't supposed to do in a closet.

After defiling the linen in the hall closet, they carefully sorted through the disheveled fabrics to take to the laundry room what needed a wash and folded everything else like it was before.

"How did you guys pull this off? Taking care of me, i mean," Cross asked while he reached Killer each piece to make sure nothing colorful got mixed with the white wash.

Killer shrugged. "In the beginning, it was just waiting for you to wake up. Since i know your junk, intimately~♡, i had no problem changing ya. Wasn't that much different from when my Papyrus was a babybones, yer just bigger. A little~."

Cross smacked him with a rolled up towel. "You are an ass, Killz. I really don't know why i put up with you."

Killer guffawed loudly. "Hehehehehehe! Must be my charme and my good looks. I'm hot as a Grillby from hell."

Cross rolled his eye lights. "Sure, keep your delusions.

But seriously. You wanna tell me you did it all on your own while keeping up the routine around the castle?" He sounded skeptic.

"Of course not. Well, it was easier to go on missions while you were still comatose, the most that we could have expected to happen while out, was for you to wake up and look for something useful to do when you wouldn't find us. It was just a waiting game for us, with Dust and Horror helping me feeding and bathing you from time to time. After you woke up, and after your stay with Paparus and Sansy, they got more involved.

Somehow, it brought us closer together and... and we realized how much we actually care."

Cross stared at him for a long moment, then silently gave him the last pieces for this washload.

Chapter Text

Cross kept working on getting back in shape and hadn't been cleared to accompany the others on supply runs yet. All he could do was killing time by doing chores and having the infirmary ready in case someone got hurt.

Right now, he was helping Horror to reorganize the kitchen and pantry after the gang had been on a raid. They counted everything to make sure they wouldn't run out of anything essential.

It felt oddly domestic, like the kitchen had become a place where he spent lots of time peacefully.

They took a break and Cross sat at the table while Horror prepared a snack for them.

"Why does this feel so... normal? Like i did something like this countless times?", he wondered out loud.

"'Cause ya did, Cupcake. When little... ya liked ta watch... me cook. Gave Killer and Dust... time for chores. Gave me... the chance ta find out ya... likes and dislikes... concerning food. Gave ya things to try... not much for green vegetables." The last comment came with a soft smirk, showing that it amused him. Cross was usually so adamant on eating healthy, only indulging in his chocolate milk on the daily, and his chocolate-and-sugar disaster of cereal as a special treat.

"Yer are a... gremlin when on sugar."

Cross groaned and buried his face in his hands. "No wonder i'm so out of shape."

Horror just gently patted his skull in a 'there-there' gesture.

~~~

Cross and Dust were cleaning the living room.

As he shoved the broomstick under the couch to do a sweep for anything that might have disappeared in the couch-void, something squeaked, before a red plushy in cube form was retrieved.

Cross stared at it. He knew he didn't need to ask. This was his.

Dust looked over his shoulder, duster in hand( kinda ironic, no?), "ah, there it's been. Luckily, it's not one of your favorite toys. If one of your sharks would have vanished, that would have been a horrorshow."

"How come, Nightmare allowed this? He goes on about how he doesn't want to be bothered with my bullshit. Thought he wouldn't let any toy leave my room."

Dust shrugged. "He didn't dare to try Killer after he threatened to let himself fall down. Boss doesn't want to have to find new subordinates would we have left him."

Cross raised his browbones. "What?"

"Oh yea. Uh, Killz told you about how we left you in that AU, right?" Cross nodded. "Kay, so, Killer visited you as often as he could, which wasn't often. Lots to do and shit. Then we were occupied with the Stars' crap and Killer didn't barely find the time to send Paparus voice messages for you. Not to mention visiting you. One day, Paparus called him that you were about to fall down.

We came immediately. Killer tried to get through to you. Nightmare wasn't that thrilled and told us to give up on you. That's when Killer told him that if you were to die, he would be right behind you. Horror and i supported him, reminded Nightmare of your qualities and how you could still be of use... How you somehow always have kept us from going for each other's throat.

Obviously he didn't like it, but he realized that it was either allowing us to keep you or losing all of us and having to find new idiots to help him with the Star Sanses."

Dust suddenly found the rug very interesting. "Taking care of you was like having our little brothers back. It made us realize that we all have begun to see each other as bros, too. Maybe, except whatever Killz and you have going on when you are not in your headspace."

Cross didn't know how to feel about this. Except, warm inside.

~~~

During dinner, Cross started to get drowsy, his head feeling heavy but also soft and warm.

He yawned and rubbed his eyes with his fists.

"What's up, CrissCross? Getting tired?", Killer asked, a smirk in his voice.

Cross nodded. "S'eepy."

Nightmare's face darkened. "He's slipping. You should get him changed before he can make a mess," he sneered.

Killer just pulled Cross into his arms and carried him to his Little-room.

Cross draped himself over his shoulders and waved at the others. "Nighty-night, Duzz, nighty-night, Rory... nighty, Sir."

The las bit was whispered, unsure if it would be appreciated.