Fingers, small and dainty, scraped at the bottom of the marble floor. A scream escaped, followed by more drags of skeleton fingers against the tile. He went to grab the nearest object, but a crack of bone made the poor boy cry out, dropping it as he sobbed.

"No no - please no - oh lord - no no -"

"I said we're doing this, you brat, get back here!" His Father growled, grabbing firmly onto Sans' bare hips and dragging him back.

~~~~~~

Four hours earlier, Sans had went to dinner with Gaster, just as he had agreed to. A part of that agreement, though, was that Sans got to see Kitty. After all, how could he obey the set rules if he didn't even know the status of his sister? She was the hostage, and there'd be no point for Sans to obey if she was dead.

Kitty was, as usual, okay. Not great. Not fantastic. But not dead or injured (injured more so than she already was). Pretty lonely, she'd admit to Sans on his visits. Who else could visit her but Sans? Everyone was either on the run, dead, or prisoner in the castle's basement. Other than each other, Sans and Kitty didn't have many other socializing options. Though they couldn't do much with Gaster watching them.

Gaster would always stand in the corner, arms crossed, grin wide, and stare at them with a look Sans didn't like. From the actions he forced them to do earlier, and the way he was rather into being related to his wife, it was clear what he was imagining whenever Kitty and Sans talked. And he didn't keep his imagination to himself, either, sometimes saying things to the siblings that had them quietly scooting a few inches away from one another as to not fuel another similar comment.

It was during that visit when Sans managed to squeeze in the suggestion. Tried to make it casual.

"All I've been eating is random slop he brings me," Kitty had mumbled, making a slight eye gesture to the Evil King. "And he doesn't even do it himself, he teleports it five feet into the air so it splatters onto the ground. It woke me up last night because he brings me food whenever he feels like it."

"I've been getting homemade food from the prisoners, he forces them to cook." Sans muttered. "You know, since it looks like I'm going to be stuck here for awhile, I guess I'll finally try to eat an apple."

"An apple?" She echoed back, confused.

"I never ate them before because of my destiny, I wanna try one now since apples won't be poisoned anymore," Sans muttered. "If I'm trapped here might as well try some new things, right?"

Sans couldn't remember what comment Gaster made. He's learned to start zoning out certain incest comments Gaster shared to keep his own sanity.

It had been that attempt that led to the next morning with Sans quietly asking Gaster if they could have apple flavored things for breakfast. Just one thing apple flavored. Sans couldn't give it to him directly, but it'd have to be enough, right? It was the best he could do in his situation. Sans was shorter and smaller, so physical force was a bust, and there was only so far deceit can go when he's been watching you your entire life.

If this didn't work, he'd just try a little harder, right? Go a little further. And, ultimately, if it came down to it, Sans would force the apple into his mouth. If it came down to it, that was. Risking that attempt would be worthless if Sans still had some ground left.

The request, thankfully, was fulfilled. Without any need to pay him back, either. Which was nice. They sat in silence, as typical, with dragons lingering nearby as Sans quietly ate.

Eating apples was weird for him. He never tasted them before, and always held a little distain for them due to his destiny, but they were actually quite pleasant. Sweet and crisp. Reminded him of a pear, kind of. Not a new favorite of his, but now he felt kind of stupid rejecting apples throughout his life. It was the only way he felt under control when he was younger.

He watched, carefully, as Gaster started drinking his coffee. Pure black, no sweeteners. Like a psychopath. Then again, Sans thought as he looked down at the plush dress he was forced to wear, there were many other factors that easily proved the guy was crazy.

A crisp bite cut him out of his thoughts. Sans snapped his head back up to see Gaster chewing on an apple bite. He paused, swallowed, then...

Nothing.

Another bite. And another. No hints of falling asleep.

It didn't work.

Gaster noticed Sans' gaze and smiled his creepy smile, leaning back into his chair. The apple bounced in his hand. "What? Sad your friends' plan didn't work?"

"I - What?" Sans stuttered over his words, finding himself suddenly breathless.

"The first thing I did when I got the book was check your destiny. While that is unsigned, and still in here, Alphys' destiny just so happened to be missing. And I doubt the kid would sign a destiny she hates," Gaster chuckled, tossing the apple over his shoulder. He impact caused it to suddenly flash with purple magic, and when the light dimmed, it revealed a pear. Illusion magic.

"As if I'd risk eating something like that," Gaster said.

Sans looked at his own apples. Real, he would have noticed the magic.

Which meant, just in case one of Sans' apples just so happened to be poisoned, Sans would fall asleep. For Gaster to take advantage of.

He quietly tried to calm his now shaking hands, but his bones were rattling too much. At this rate, one of them might even fall off. His chest felt tight.

When Sans looked up again, Gaster's face was only inches away, causing him to jump from the sudden closeness. He had a visible scowl on his face, annoyed with Sans.

"You really did think you could poison me by signing my name into the book?" He asked, tilting his head to the side, before an arm suddenly shot out and grasped Sans' chin, jerking him forward so roughly he cried out. "Stupid boy. Alphys' destiny may have me on it, but all I have to do is avoid apples from you unless someone signs your destiny. Of course, they won't be, because I have the book." His voice was low and annoyed, rising in volume as he clutched Sans' chin harder. A trail of blood trickled down his bones from his nails. "You look horrible."

Well, yeah. Sans looked to the side as he managed to somewhat calm his bones, trying to avoid any eye contact with that crazy man. Of course he looked terrible. Not only were his bones covered in days of sweat, some hints of vomit, dust from Kitty's cell, and tears; his once pure white bones didn't look so clean. Then there was the big red splatter of blood dried on his cheekbone from when Kitty was attacked in the room, complimented by the new blood Gaster was drawing. Sans was obviously a mess. His ears and tail weren't even combed, either, fur sticking up in random, knotted chunks.

A mess, simply put. Sans was a mess.

Obviously he didn't dwell on it because of the more important matters at hand, mainly trying to escape this hellish castle Gaster called his. Looks could be of least importance to him right about now.

He bit back a remark. Wasn't like he had much of a chance to bathe, anyway. And he didn't particularly trust stripping down in a castle owned by a sick freak like his Dad.

There was a common theme of being thrown around without a care for Sans' wellbeing. Gaster typically did that. And that happened five minutes ago, when Gaster decided to shove him backwards into another portal. The landing for this one was not very nice, either. Sans plopped onto his face, hard. When he lifted his head wearily, blinking back tears from the pain, a dribble of blood dripped from his nose onto the tile floor.

He glanced around wearily when Gaster stood, blinking a few times to clear his blurry vision. A new location he didn't even know existed in the castle. Big, almost empty of life and soul, with a large bathroom and a tiny toilet. The toilet didn't even look connected to water.

"I am not going to f*ck someone if they look like a stray cat," He muttered, before dragging Sans up into his arms. "We're taking a bath."

~~~~~~

And that's how Sans ended up here. Kicking and screaming, trying to run away as his own blood tried to strip him, not hiding how his eyes lingered. He started sobbing at some point, flight or fight reflexes having long since kicked in.

Unfortunately, Sans' fight was not equal to Gaster's. There were a variety of things that tipped their struggle to Gaster's advantage. Sans was tired from days of fighting and a lack of sleep, magic stunted by those purple bindings, and Gaster had the natural height and strength an adult had over a teenager.

Sans went to grip at the curtains when Gaster started to tear at his clothes, but that grip was slapped away like a child reaching for cookies.

"No no -" Sans choked on a sob, full on crying now.

"You might as well get used to being naked around me," Gaster muttered, one hand holding Sans' two struggling ones as a magic purple cloud flew away his clothes.

Sans wouldn't think clearly at that point, mind shutting off as it screamed a code red, throwing warnings at him to get the f*ck out of there. His small claws frantically scratched at the floor, legs trying to kick at his horrible Father. The vomit wasn't withheld when he did throw up this time, immediately dispersing from his mouth. If Sans wasn't dirty before, he certainly was now. But that thought didn't gain his attention.

Suddenly, he was being picked up, and was practically thrown into the water filled tub. Sans immediately emerged from under the water, coughing and sobbing as he clung to the edge with dear life.

Don't touch him don't -

A deep, bellowing collapse echoed around the room suddenly, causing Gaster to stop his assault and glance up with a scowl.

"An attack by those children," He growled, moving to stand away from Sans.

Sans watched the man walk out of the bathroom as he shook and sobbed, arms and legs pressed against his body to cover his indecency. 

He stayed like that for five, maybe ten minutes, just crying alone in the bathroom. Rattling loudly, his bones just couldn't stop shaking, evident of the trauma he's been placed through this entire time.

However, they started shaking when he heard footsteps coming towards the door. Gaster was coming back to deal with Sans.

"Don't touch me don't touch me d-don't touch me -" Sans chanted on repeat, starting to rock back and forth. "Don't touch me don't -"

The footsteps started to sprint now, and he only started to cry harder in response. When the bathroom door was thrown open, he ducked his head against his legs, chanting growing louder.

Then something encompassed Sans.

Something warm.

"You're okay!" Grillby said quickly, hugging Sans as closely as possible. "You're okay!"

Sans choked on his breath, shaking hands moving to hug back the warm, familiar fire.

And they stayed there in silence.