Chapter Text
Living in the basement has, perhaps, been a gentler reintroduction to life above ground than the one the others went through, Chara thinks, so they really shouldn't complain when the day of their departure from the miniature make-shift Underground draws closer and closer. Maybe the basement doesn't really count as being "underground", but it still feels a little like it. Dark, isolated, the weight of stone and concrete weighing down the stale air ...
In the morning, they and Asriel are going to go visit Asgore. He kept all their old stuff safe while they were gone, he's promised them. They're going to bring their things home, home to Toriel's place, and they're going to decorate their new rooms and Frisk is going to help, and Toriel is going to stand in the doorway and watch and smile, and try not to meddle in how they set up their toys and their books, and how they fold their clothes, because they finally have their own separate rooms, Chara and Asriel, and they can do whatever they want with all that space.
They're going to go home to their new home and they're going to be a family again.
They're going to go home and they're going to pretend that the last 100 years never happened.
That's how it always is, isn't it? Forgive and forget.
Chara frowns at the ceiling. They roll onto their side, giving their pillow a slap. Doesn't make it much more comfortable. How does sleep work again? You've gotta relax, right? Just relax and lie perfectly still and close your eyes. The ultimate 'fake it till you make it.'
They barely get to the 'close your eyes' part before a noise interrupts the dead silence.
Creaking. It's the door to the upstairs.
"Y-you're sure he won't feel anything?"
"100%. it's only like, point two milliliters more than normal. hell, with that stuff out of the way, he might even stabilize for good, who knows?"
"YOU HAD BETTER BE RIGHT ABOUT THIS, SANS!"
Chara bolts upright, clutching at the covers. They hold their breath.
"c'mon, when've i ever let you astray? we can always make the other one reload if we screw up."
"DON'T EVEN JOKE ABOUT THAT!!"
Why- why would they need to reload? What are they doing in the basement at this time of night? Chara's first instinct is to go to Asriel. He's asleep in his chamber, he's defenseless like that. And if something could possibly hurt him, that means-
No. No, they need to be rational about this. The others wouldn't want to hurt him, far from it. Sans just said Asriel might even become stable after ... whatever this is, just a second ago, and if he's joking about making Chara reset, it can't possibly be that serious, there can't be any real danger, he wouldn't mess around if there was, not about something as serious as that.
There can't be any real danger.
Can there?
The following silence does nothing to soothe Chara's nerves. They can hear the door to the lab open and close. There's no sound of voices, nothing to tell them what's going on. Chara slides out from under the covers and tiptoes over to the door, pressing their ear to the cold surface.
Silence.
Silence.
Then, a loud beep.
"see?"
"Oh, thank god ..."
Inside the lab, hidden away from Chara by two heavy doors, Sans unplugs a syringe from a port in Asriel's chamber and hands it to Alphys. It's filled with bright red liquid. Careful not to touch the needle, Alphys brings it to the other side of the room where she crouches by a small black safe hidden under a table. She enters the code to the padlock and opens it, revealing several small flasks containing the same red substance. With trembling hands, she unscrews the lid on one of them and empties the syringe's contents into it, filling it nearly to the top. The liquid fizzes and pops like cherry soda, but the stench of it is nearly unbearable, harsh and bitter, with a hint of something heady and rot-sweet that clings to the inside of her nose, almost making her sneeze. The stuff hasn't exactly gotten less disgusting over time. It should probably be kept in a fridge or something like that, but it's not like they're going to use it for anything. In fact, it'll probably be safer if it spoils. Quickly, she pops the lid back on the flask and replaces it in the safe, locking it up tightly before daring to turn her back on it. She'd never open it up ever again if it was only up to her.
Papyrus frowns at the safe and crosses his arms, leaning against the wall next to the exit. "YOU TWO DO REALIZE THIS ISN'T A PERMANENT SOLUTION, DON'T YOU? THIS DOESN'T FIX ANYTHING!"
"i told you, bro," Sans replies with a shrug, looking up at his brother a bit apologetically. "it's kinda all we can do for now."
"RELYING ON THE HUMAN NOT TO DO ANYTHING ... RASH ..." Papyrus cringes at the thought, ducking his head down between his shoulders. He shoots a worried look over his shoulder, as though the concrete wall wasn't there to obstruct his view of the human he assumes is currently sound asleep. "... IT ISN'T RIGHT."
Sans is well aware of that. But it's been too late for him to do the 'right' thing for a very long time. There is no other way, not one that he can think of. And Fallen is long past the point where they deserve a fair trial. He's willing to do this. He's willing to do the dirty work if it means his friends won't have to, if it means they'll be safe and able to live with themselves. He'll keep the demon under control. By any means necessary.
It's been difficult. Fallen has been getting better. They're calmer now, less jumpy. They smile more. Genuinely smile. On some days, they can almost pass for a real kid. In no small part, he suspects, because of the other little human spending as much time with them and Asriel as school will allow them to. If only he could separate all three of them without Frisk being upset ...
"I-I guess ..."
Sans and Papyrus shift their attention to Alphys. She glances back at the safe.
"... there could be a way to stop them for good."
What is she talking about?
"Nonono-" she interrupts her own line of thought, rapidly shaking her head and rubbing her temples, eyes squeezed shut. "Forget I said anything! J-just forget it!" She moves over to Asriel's chamber, eyes tracing the swirling fog like she's trying to remind herself why she's doing this in the first place. "A-anything but that ."
Sans approaches her, eye sockets narrowed. "what are you thinkin', alph?"
"I said forget it!" she snaps, exasperated. "I-i-it's not w-worth it! It's not!"
He studies her expression for another moment, trying to decipher exactly what kind of idea could upset her so much. Then it dawns on him.
"wait," he says slowly. He rubs his chin in thought, grinding his teeth together. "that wouldn't work unless ..."
"Exactly!"
Wow, that's, uh ... that's pretty brutal. Sans forces himself not to visibly wince at the mere thought. He never would've thought the good doctor could come up with something like that. He supposes there's always gotta be a little 'mad' to make a proper mad scientist, but this is just ... wow. Alrighty, then.
Sans gulps and holds a hand to his ribs, as though trying to protect his own soul.
Papyrus moves a suspicious glare back and forth between the scientists. He uncrosses his arms and puts his fists on his hips, leaning away from the wall. "I GET THE FEELING I'M MISSING SOMETHING HERE."
Two doors away, Chara is straining to hear the conversation over their own fluttering pulse pounding in their ears.
Alphys holds her palms up in a defensive motion. "Y-you w-won't- you won't need to! To- to get it, I m-mean! We're not doing this!"
Somehow, Sans hears himself say: "it would give us a whole lifetime to figure out the problem ... wouldn't have to worry 'bout keeping the kid alive ..."
He doesn't often find himself being capable of feeling ashamed of anything anymore, but the look Alphys gives him makes him reconsider his abilities. Then Papyrus' joins hers as he realizes that she really isn't kidding. Something is terribly wrong and his brother isn't being nearly as dismissive of the idea as he should be.
Sans wishes it wasn't possible for skeletons to feel nauseous. He supposes he owes Papyrus an explanation.
"papyrus," he says, facing his brother with a level of seriousness he isn't sure he's been able to muster before in this timeline. Any of the past few timelines, really. "do you remember anything from when ... from when i used to work with alphys?"
Creases appear between Papyrus' brows. "SOME," he says hesitantly. "WHY?"
"there was a machine in the lab in her basement. it was ..." He strains to remember. He hasn't wanted to for a long time. "it was shaped like a skull of some kind. pretty similar to our blasters. it was red and it had these massive cables coming out of it."
"The Determination Extraction Machine," Alphys supplies, voice hollow.
In the other room, Chara clamps a hand over their mouth to silence the whimper in the back of their throat. No. No, no, no, they wouldn't, they wouldn't-
"YOU DON'T MEAN ..."
Sans can't look his brother in the eyes when he says: "it's an option."
"WOULD THEY SURVIVE IT?"
...
"SANS."
"well, it wouldn't matter, would it? without determination, they won't be able to reset!"
"THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT, HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!?"
"because it's fallen, papyrus. look, i don't- i don't like this any more than you do, but-"
Chara doesn't hear the rest of his words. Slowly, they back away from the door, trying to keep the noise of their breathing down, it sounds so, so loud in the empty room, so out of control, they need to be quiet, they need to be quiet-
They can't tell if seconds have passed or minutes, but they can hear the door outside open. They dive down under the covers, just in time to hide from the white light streaming in as someone opens the door to their room. They keep their eyes shut tightly, so they can't see who it is.
Go away. Don't come in. Please, just go away.
The light disappears. The door clicks shut. Chara releases their held breath, then immediately locks their hand over their mouth again.
Don't make a noise. Don't let them know you heard.
If they close their eyes again, they can almost imagine it's Back Then.
Before.
That nothing after it was real.
But that isn't right. Everything after that was real, is real, they know it is, so why did they end up in the same place? A scared little kid hiding under covers, listening, listening, praying no one hears them, praying no one comes in, praying they'll wake up tomorrow and realize it was only a bad dream?
Chara sits up and angrily wipes the tears from their eyes. Oh no, they are not dealing with this again. This is not going to be like back then. They're not just some scared runt anymore and they're not going down without a fight. Like hell they are. Sans has no idea who he's messing with.
(Why is he doing this?)
They toss the covers aside and run back to the door, listening hard. Not a sound.
Did he convince the others to go through with it? Did they convince him not to? It doesn't matter. He'll do it anyway. He's found a way to stop Chara with force, he's not going to give that up, Chara's sure of it. Maybe he'll push the others to go along with it for the 'greater good' or some bullshit like that, or maybe he'll just do it behind their backs and let them hate him for it afterwards, he won't care. He won't care!
They have no choice. They're not letting this happen. They won't let anyone hurt them ever again.
They're going to need help.
***
It's raining. Thunder's crashing outside. Meaning another sleepless night for Frisk. But it's okay, they remind themself, the bad thoughts will go away in the morning. This won't be forever. And mom will be glad to have an excuse to stay home tomorrow. She hasn't been very happy having to go to school every day and leaving Asriel and Chara alone. All their friends are great babysitters, but she wants to be close to her kids. She wants to make sure they're alright. If she can't go because Frisk needs her here, then she can be with all three of them. That'll cheer her up for sure!
It's only been a little while since Frisk and Toriel moved back to their own house. Asriel is safe in the machine at night, at least, so she's okay with being apart from him when he sleeps. And though Chara probably could've gone home too already, they wanted to stay with their brother. That's okay, too.
Frisk flops onto their back and holds their hands up toward the ceiling, pretending they're grabbing the green plastic glow-in-the-dark stars glued to the wooden sky above.
They're excited for tomorrow. They used to feel really weird about the idea of their siblings living with them and Toriel, but things have been getting better. So much better. Frisk sometimes forgets that the other two were gone at all, that they were apart for six whole months.
Sometimes, they forget that they never really, truly met the others before at all.
It feels like things were always meant to be this way.
They let their arms fall back to their sides. Lift their head a bit to look at the wall at the foot of their bed. By this time tomorrow, Chara's going to be sleeping right on the other side of that wall. It used to be Toriel's office, but the house is pretty small, they didn't have a whole lot of rooms to choose from. Now the bookshelves and cupboards and the folders neatly arranged in both have been replaced by a toy chest and a soft bed with half-moon-patterned covers. The room across the hall from Frisk's, the one that used to hold all the stuff they couldn't make room for in the rest of the house, has been cleared for Asriel and all its contents moved to the attic.
Maybe it's finally over. Maybe they'll finally be able to move on after everything that happened.
Something clicks against the window. That's weird. But no silhouette is visible against the curtains ...
The noise sounds again, louder this time.
Soundlessly, Frisk sits up and swings their legs over the side of the bed. On instinct, they reach for the short, brittle branch hidden between the headboard of their bed and the wall. Clutching it between both hands, they take a deep breath and stick the end of it in between the curtains, lifting one of them to the side.
Right in that moment, lightning strikes close by, lighting up the night outside and painting the silhouette outside their window black as void, interrupted only by two round, red spheres in the middle of its face.
Frisk squeaks and stumbles back, hitting the ground with a loud thud. Their mouth opens in a silent scream and they roll onto their side. From under their back, they pull a small plastic dinosaur. A very pointy plastic dinosaur, as the bruise forming on their spine is currently informing them. Frisk snarls at the toy and pokes it in the chest, mouthing "We'll talk about this LATER, Juliet!"
Quickly, they stumble back to their feet and open the clasp on the window.
"Chara, what are you doing here?" they whisper, reaching their hands out to the soaked kid shivering in the rain outside. "Come on, come inside!"
Chara takes their hands, but they make no move to let the other pull them in. "Frisk, I need your help," they gasp, voice nearly inaudible through their strained breathing. "I'm sorry- I'm sorry to wake you up, it's an emergency, I promise-!" Frisk can't tell if it's the cold making them sound like a fish on land or if they've been running all the way over here. It could be both.
"Hey, hey, easy now," Frisk interrupts them, gently pulling them closer to the windowsill so they're at least safe from the rain under the outcropping roof. "Tell me what's wrong."
"I-I-I heard-" They look over their shoulder, hold their breath for a second. Another one. Another one. Then they snap back to reality and continue: "I couldn't sleep and I- I h-heard Sans talk to Alphys and Papyrus, they're gonna- Frisk, I need to get out of here. I need to get away. Please, I need your help-!"
Nope, nope, this isn't working. Frisk tells them to come in, they can't understand a word the other kid is saying when they're shaking like that. It's definitely neither running nor the cold making their breathing this labored. Chara looks like they're about to argue, but they don't have the strength for it. Reluctantly, they let Frisk help them through the window. Frisk closes the window behind them and pulls the curtains shut, enveloping the room in darkness. They quickly pull the covers off their bed and wrap them around Chara's shoulders. Grateful, the soaked little human pulls the fabric tightly around themself, nearly disappearing into the softness and lingering warmth of it.
Frisk puts a hand on their shoulder to get their attention. Chara breathes with them. Deep, slow breaths. Count back from seven. Seven, six, five, four ... They've done this many times before. Though their roles used to be reversed.
"Now," Frisk says when their friend appears to have regained the ability to breathe. "Try again. From the beginning."
Chara hangs their head. "We don't have time," they sigh. "I heard Sans talk to the others about- about making sure I won't be able to reset no matter if I'm alive or not. They've ..." They swallow hard. "They've found a way."
Frisk's brows nearly disappear under their bangs. That doesn't sound good. That doesn't sound good at all.
"What are they ..?"
"Remember that machine in Alphys' old lab? The one shaped like a skull?"
Frisk shudders. How could they forget? They'll be happy if they never have to see that place ever again. Even though everything down there turned out to be mostly harmless, it was still terrifying. They catch themself hoping Alphys locked that place up real tight. Brr.
Then they realize where Chara is going with this. They can physically feel the blood drain from their face.
"Don't look at me like that!" Chara hisses upon seeing Frisk's reaction. "It's not like I'm going to let them!"
Frisk shakes their head, trying to banish the images flooding into their brain at the thought. "No- no, it wouldn't work!" they argue, clinging to the front of Chara's make-shift bed cover tent and tugging as if they didn't already have their sibling's full attention. "They'd have to kill you! You'd have time to reload before they- before-"
"Not if they do it while I'm still alive, they won't!" Chara retorts, pulling the covers from Frisk's grasp and wrapping them tighter around themself. They're freezing cold, and though the fabric is soaked in gross rainwater now, it's better than nothing. "You know he'd do it, Frisk."
At that, the noise in Frisk's head goes quiet. They wouldn't do it, Alphys and Papyrus. But they're not the ones Chara's scared of.
Would he? Would he really do something like that? Disfigure a child's soul without mercy? To save his friends, his family, his future? Maybe he would. No, scratch the 'maybe' - he would. He doesn't understand. He doesn't get that Chara isn't a threat anymore, he doesn't get that even if they did die, at their own hand or someone else's, they wouldn't reset. At worst, they would reload. Start the day over so it didn't have to happen. Frisk is sure of it.
"We have to tell mom," Frisk says, folding their hands in front of their mouth like they're trying to keep the words in. They spill out anyway. "We have to tell her, she'll protect you!"
Chara doesn't reply right away. Why are they staring like that? Didn't they just say they were running out of time? They bite the inside of their cheek, and finally they look away, expression grim.
"We can't."
"Why not?"
"I can't mess this up for them."
Frisk moves closer again and this time, Chara lets them.
"What are you talking about?" they ask, the question soft and patient. They pull the top of the covers up over their sibling's head, hoping it'll help dry their hair a bit.
"Look," Chara begins. "I worked really hard to make everything like ... nice and everything. I really wanted all of you to be happy. And I guess getting to see how you've all been doing and getting to be with all of you again was kind of okay. I really missed you. But I can't mess this up. I can't. I guess I should've known I couldn't really be with all of you without things turning bad."
"Chara ..."
"I can't let mom get mad at Sans because of me. They mean so much to each other. And he's only pissed at me 'cause I killed his brother a couple dozen times. If anyone did that to you or Asriel, I know I'd wanna rip their soul to shreds."
"That's not why he's doing this," Frisk argues gently. They wrap one arm around Chara's shoulders and lead them over to an armchair nearly buried under stacks of striped sweaters. "He just wants to protect everyone. Me and Papyrus and mom and everyone else ... He's just scared you'll hurt us again." Carefully, they gather up all the sweaters and pile them on the floor, so the two of them can sit down. As though they'd done this many times before, they each sit on one armrest so they can sit across from each other, feet on the seat, elbows leaned on their knees, hands clasped. "He's trying to do the right thing. You just need to show him that this isn't it."
Chara removes one of their hands from Frisk's to wipe their runny nose on their sleeve. "I don't know how. Maybe this is the right thing. Maybe one person shouldn't have all this power. But I don't care. I don't want this." Their voice falls to a growl that's only mildly hysteric. "I'm done with people trying to hurt me. I don't care if I deserve it, I'm not going down without a fight! How stupid does he think I am?"
Frisk cocks their head to the side, trying to read the sullen look on the little ex-demon's face. They don't dare to reach out to their soul. Even without trying, they can feel the thing spark and simmer with fear and indignation. "You're not really going to fight him, are you?"
"Hell no. Fuck that noise. You think I want him dead after everything I did to save you all? I mean, I might have when I first got here and he was getting on my case about everything and ..." Their words fade into incoherent grumbling, something about wanting to put his soul in with a spoon this time for irony's sake, but then they pull the emergency brakes on that train of thought. "No, that's not the point! The point is that me and you had to pull a whole lotta strings to get everyone to the surface in one piece. Even Asriel got his happy ending this time, I'm not gonna mess it up now. I'm also not going to let them hollow out my soul like some shitty overripe pumpkin 'round Halloween. So I guess my only option is to just ..." They push a sharp sigh out through their nose, a little breath of mirthless laughter. A thin layer of saltwater makes their eyes shine in the low light. "... disappear."
"No!" Frisk involuntarily locks their hands a bit too tightly around Chara's.
Chara smiles despite themself. "No, no, come on, Frisk, not like that." Without really needing to think about it, they worm their fingers out of their friend's death grip and put their arms around them instead, running a hand over their head the same way their mom always does. "Not like that."
Chara is still ice cold and trembling, but Frisk doesn't care. They lean forward into the hug, awkward angle be damned, and lean their head on Chara's shoulder. This can't be right. They're all together now, this is how everything was supposed to be from the beginning. This ending isn't right without Chara. Frisk knows that now. After everything that happened, they know. So, maybe their friend isn't always very nice, maybe they have bad days where they say things they don't mean, but ...
"I'm going to need your help," Chara whispers into their hair, the gentle, rhythmic movement over Frisk's scalp almost hypnotic. "It's been 100 years since the last time I was here. I don't know how the surface works anymore. But you're going to help me, right?"
Frisk shakes their head, clinging to them with all their might. "I don't want you to go. Please ... please don't leave me again."
"It won't be forever. We'll find our way back to each other someday. And I'll stay hidden and you won't tell the others, and we won't have to be apart ever again. Doesn't that sound nice?" The soundless laugh returns, but their voice is a little too broken, a little too unsteady to make it work. When Frisk doesn't reply, Chara pulls away so they can look at them. They put on the brightest grin they can manage. "Hey. Look. No matter what happens, you're always gonna be my dumb baby sibling. You know that right? You're gonna be stuck with me no matter what you do. I'm always gonna be here. Even when I'm also really far away at the same time."
Frisk shifts away, folding their arms tightly over their own stomach. "We're not really siblings. Mom just adopted both of us. We won't even get to grow up together."
"But we're both angels, aren't we?" Chara's grin narrows and widens, cheshire cat-like, and they lean into Frisk's space as though they're sharing a grave secret. "You and me and Asriel. The 'angels' of the Underground. We set everyone free. Together. We were born into the same destiny, all three of us. Sounds a little more relevant than genes, don't you think?"
That ... is true. Frisk isn't really related to anyone in their family. They suppose this is the closest they'll ever get to truly belonging with someone they didn't choose to be with of their own free will. Maybe that does mean something more. Maybe they really will meet again. Maybe reality's going to twist in their favor one more time. Someday.
"I need you to help me get far away from here. When we're so lost that the others won't be able to find us, you'll turn around and I'll keep going. And we're both gonna be fine. I promise."
Frisk isn't sure they really have a choice. If Sans decides that Chara's Determination needs to go, he won't hesitate. He won't even care that everyone will hate him for it. He gave up on being a happy a long time ago, Frisk thinks. Now all he cares about is making sure everyone else is safe.
They have no choice. They need to get Chara away from here.
Frisk scoots off the chair's armrest and weave their way through their messy room to their bed. They kneel by the bedside and pull out the drawer hidden underneath it. Chara shrugs out of the wet covers and follows them, peeking over their shoulder.
"Whatcha got there, buddy?"
"If we're running away from home in the middle of the night, we're gonna do it right," Frisk says. They retrieve a golden strongbox from the far corner of the drawer. Then they stick their arm under their pillow, and from under it, they extract a tiny gold key. They turn it inside the lock and the box gives a sharp clack.
Frisk pauses. Listens.
Good thing Toriel's room is at the other end of the house.
Chara watches with wide, curious eyes as Frisk opens the little treasure chest. The inside of it is filled with what appears to be junk at first glance - but Chara knows better.
"You kept my knife?" they ask.
Frisk isn't sure what tone of voice that's supposed to be and they can't see Chara's expression with their back turned, so they just reply "Mhmm," and ignore the worn dagger resting in one corner of the strongbox in favor of the empty gun lying next to it. "It was kind of all I had to remember you by."
"You had the locket, dummy." Chara accepts the gun as Frisk hands it to them. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Humans are really strong. I'm not sure our lockets are gonna have enough magic to protect us if we get into trouble with one. If we get attacked, you can pretend it's loaded so they'll leave us alone."
"Or I could not rely on play-pretend and actually make them leave us alone if you gave me back my knife."
"No. Not happening."
Chara rolls their eyes and puts their hands in their pockets. "Ugh, fine."
Frisk takes the burnt pan for themself, giving it a little kiss and sending a silent 'thank you' to Laura, wherever she is. Then they lock the strongbox again and carefully place it back in the drawer. They really don't want to part with the empty gun, but they know Jordan would have wanted Chara to have it. He would want to give it to the person who needed it most if he were here. He was like that. Frisk should try to be like that, too.
And besides, they still have the plastic star from his cowboy hat.
As Frisk rummages through their closet trying to find clothes thick enough to withstand the late-autumn cold for ... who knows how long, Chara moves back to the window, keeping a sharp eye on the house across the cul-de-sac. The lights are still off. No one suspects a thing. Not yet.
Frisk decides on their favorite shirt, the blue one with purple stripes, it's bound to have some good-luck magic still sleeping in the seams, and also it's the thickest sweater they have. They pull on a pair of boots and a raincoat, and give Chara their winter coat, the one Toriel got them in preparation for snow days.
"What? Frisk, no, you should-"
"I survived passing through Snowdin in a sweater. You turn purple when Sans forgets to turn up the heat in the basement at night."
"No, I don't!"
"Yeah, you do. Also, you're skinnier than me."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"You don't stay warm as easily."
"Okay, but I'm older than you are!"
"By like, a year!"
"And a century!"
Despite continued bickering, Chara accepts the winter coat and slips it on, zipping it all the way up to their nose. They pull up the hood just for good measure. Frisk does the same with the hood of their raincoat. Outside, the rain continues to flood into the streets.
Frisk pockets a wallet lying on their nightstand, along with their phone, and leaves a message in the items' stead. In blue crayon, scrawled on the first page of a pink Hello Temmie notebook, they write:
Don't look for me. I'll be back. I love you.
- Frisk <3
Chara struggles with the clasp on the window for a moment. Then they push it open and jump through it without so much as touching the windowsill. Frisk follows them, flopping out the window in a tangle of flailing limbs and landing on their back in the muddy grass on the other side. Chara pulls them to their feet and Frisk quickly closes the window behind themself.
The cul-de-sac is enclosed in near-complete darkness, street lights fighting to keep their small slice of the night lit to the best of their ability, trees reaching their naked, spindly arms to the starless sky despite the harsh rain doing its damndest to tear them down. The old houses seem to huddle closer to the ground, their windows dark and empty like big scared eyes.
Frisk heads for the sidewalk, but Chara grabs their sleeve and leads them in between Toriel's and Muffet's houses instead. They have to stay out of sight.
They climb over the fence and sneak past the enormous snoring muffin-spider-hybrid chained up in Muffet's backyard, over another fence beyond it, and another one after that and another one after that, into the dug-up, squeaky toy-infested yard behind Dogamy and Dogaressa's home, and further still.
They end up in the small, well-kept garden behind Sans and Papyrus' house. Frisk can tell it's theirs, 'cause no other house has a big rose hedge trimmed in the shape of Papyrus' face. Asgore trimmed it for him when the skeletons first moved in, and he still finds time to come help maintain it and the rest of the flowers here every once in a while. It's only mostly an excuse to come and spend time with his friends.
Chara holds an arm out in front of Frisk, gesturing for them to stay put. For a long, breathless moment, the kids crouch close to the low fence, watching the house. The windows to the backyard are large and black and gaping, and the longer Frisk stares at them, the more they get the sense of looking down, down, down into an abyss pulling at them with something stronger than gravity.
Lightning strikes close by. Frisk gives a startled little gasp. Chara clamps a wet, ice-cold palm over their mouth. It takes all of Frisk's self restraint not to struggle.
"This way," Chara whispers, leading the way in the opposite direction of the house, towards the fence on their left. It's higher than the cul-de-sac's low wooden and living fences, and Frisk has to stand on Chara's shoulders to reach the top of it. When they're up, they reach down to pull the other human up next to them.
Whoever lives in the house they pass by doesn't appear to notice them. Come to think of it, Frisk has never actually seen anyone entering or leaving the place. It might be empty.
So why does it feel like something is watching them from the top window?
Frisk pushes the thought away, moving a little closer to Chara as they leave through the front yard's main gate. The road on the other side is devoid of street lights, save for the one casting a blinking, sputtering beam over the bus stop up ahead.
"When does the next bus arrive?" Chara asks, sounding more like a marine captain demanding a status report than a 10-year-old who didn't bother to look up the schedules of public transport before heading out.
Frisk takes their phone out of their pocket and clicks the button on top of it, shielding it from the rain with their sleeve. It's midnight.
"O-one's leaving for the city in- h-half an hour, I think?" It's cold. They hadn't noticed how loudly their teeth were rattling until now.
"That our only option?"
"More busses leave from the city, so ..."
"Good."
Instead of entering the shelter, Chara pushes through the thick bushes surrounding it, pulling Frisk in with them. A stray branch claws two dark red lines into Frisk's cheek.
"Ow!" they cry out, pulling their wrist from Chara's grasp to protect the open scratches from further harm. "Hey, that hurt!"
"Don't be such a baby," Chara mutters, but they don't attempt to grab them again. Pouting, they lean on the back of the shelter and slide down to the ground, readying themself for a wait that's going to feel a whole lot longer than it needs to in the cold, rainy night.
Frisk rubs their scratched-up cheek, trying hard not to turn their indignant glare on Chara. It was just an accident. Frisk should have been more careful.
It still hurts.
They look over their shoulder, back to the empty street. It's too late to turn around now, isn't it? They've already left their note. They've already broken out of their room in the middle of the night. They've already promised Chara they'll help.
They turn back to the little human huddled on the cold earth under the bushes, their expression hidden under the hood of their borrowed coat. They're all Frisk has left right now.
A little more carefully than before, Frisk slips under the branches and sits close to Chara, hoping to steal just a little bit of whatever's left of their sibling's body warmth. Chara doesn't move to make room for them, but they also don't push them away, so Frisk takes that as a go-ahead to stay where they are.
For a long, long moment, the only sound in the frigid night is the thunder moving further and further away, the clatter of rain hammering against the bus shelter, the too-rapid heartbeats in the children's chests. Chara wonders if they've done the right thing. If it's really worth it, trying to protect themself. But then Sans' words echo in their head.
it would give us a whole lifetime to figure out the problem ... wouldn't have to worry 'bout keeping the kid alive ...
They don't want to. They don't want to go like that. It's not right. It's not. They'd rather cease to exist in any form than go through with it.
Chara doesn't fully understand the process. They're not even sure if it would hurt. The other human souls didn't seem to be in pain at all, shining as brightly as any other soul. But something inside Chara knows that this is utterly, utterly wrong. That they need to run, run far away and never come back. That if they ever look back, they're done for. That's it. Game over. Permanently.
Frisk shifts a little closer to them. Chara can feel them shivering even through both of their jackets. After a few seconds' consideration, they put their arms around their sibling, their ex-host, their friend, as much for comfort as for warmth.
Sitting here in the dark, all alone with only their little counterpart for company in a world that has once again become their enemy ...
... it fills them with Determination.