"Welcome to my humble abode," you chucked lightly, sweeping back your arms to reveal the run down apartment you had lived in for so many years. There was some pain that composed your entire being, shook each and every fiber that composed your body to its core. There was something so damn familiar about this skeleton.

It wasn't from the fact that you had seen him before, not in this lifetime, you were sure of it. You remembered Sans vaguely from back when Western Civilization had still been functioning, back when your parents had still been alive...

He had been with Frisk, part of the more important monsters that helped represent their species at the United Nations meetings. But despite this sense of nostalgia, it wasn't derived from one glimpse, a brief exchange. You felt like you had known him for centuries, millennia, life upon life intertwined that somehow brought the two of you together.

Won't you smile a bit?

You winced for a moment, memories seeping through the cracks that seemed to separate your persona from whatever hidden memories seemed to be buried in your mind. You could see through the cracks now, catch vague snippets of a life you had lived before.

Sans - was it even possible? - was kneeling over your decayed form, a crown of flowers decorating your face. A faint phrase fell from your lips, the you that had lived this timeline. You were nothing but a transparent bystander, helpless to do hunting but watch. You wanted nothing more than to pull away from the memory, to pull away from all of this. But it seemed that the memory had latched itself onto you and was determined to drag you through its coarse.

"I didn't quite catch that," Sans whispered, bending in closer to listen.

But you knew, because hadn't you been the one to say it?

I love you.

And then just like that, the memory passed and you were thrown back into reality. If you could call it that, you thought and wiped the sweat from your brow. Sans was eyeing you with a look of concern, and you felt disappointment emit from you. It was apparent that he didn't recall the memories you had, and if he did he chose to keep his opinions to himself.

Maybe I'm going insane, you thought and sat down on your coach. Sans said nothing and made his way into your kitchen, seeming oddly determined on locating an object.

He opened the pantry door, not bothering to ask for permission. He threw random bottles astray, hellbent on finding some unnamed item. "Don't you have any condiments around here?" he grumbled and shut the door, slowly turning towards your fridge. Sans thrust the door open and happily took out three bottles of ketchup, cradled in his arms as if he were carrying an infant. "Shh," he whispered soothingly to the condiments, setting them down on the counter. "You're safe now." And on those words, he began to chug the ketchup, finishing all three bottles in a little less than two minutes.

"That's unhealthy," you laughed, watching as he dumped the empty containers into the trash can.

"Don't you have any more?" Sans groaned and began to search vainly through your fridge once more, closing after it when his efforts proved fruitless. "Who only keeps three bottles of ketchup in their fridge?" He shook his head impatiently. "Humans, you make no sense. You consume so many things, cake, dead cow carcasses, but when it comes to ketchup, you're always in short supply."

Sans went on like this for several minutes, ranting about the injustices of humanity and the lack of ketchup in your apartment. "Next time I'll stock up," you rolled your eyes at him.

"Next time?" If Sans had eyebrows you would be sure he would be raising one, a mischievous smile creeping across the corners of the ever-lasting grin that always see,ed to dominate his face.

"Whatever," you rolled your eyes, feeling heat rush to your cheeks.

Sans sat down on the couch next to you. He seemed to sit closer to you, sharing the nostalgic feeling that perhaps the two of you had known each other. Perhaps in a different life, a different timeli-

Don't you dare say that word.

Your hand fumbled for the TV remote. There was still adrenaline that rushed through Sans, him not quite moving over the fact that he could have ended up in the missing monsters report that was filed every day if you hadn't picked him off the street in time. Your mind wandered to Todd and your mother who were out for the day, wishing that they would stay out until you could figure out what to do with Sans.

"We gather here today to discuss the tensions rising amongst monsters and humans."

You and Sans froze, the light voice hitting home with absolute familiarity. You recognized the voice from only this morning, the very same voice that had been screamed throughout the streets of Chicago, the goat woman that had been dragged away after searching for her son.

"Toriel," Sans whispered, a pained look in his eyes. "She's the queen of the monsters," he explained after noting your confused reaction. Even if monsters and humans lived within walking distance of one another, it was still like the two species lived in completely different worlds. Isolated.

"This morning," you explained as the news station zoomed in on the face of Mayor Grimes who stood next to Toriel, a triumphant smile making its way across her features. "This morning Toriel was looking for her son, when the police dragged her away..."

Sans' eyesockets went dark, the thin, white pinpricks that acted as his irises vanishing from view. You felt your blood run cold at the emptiness in his stare, a stare you felt you had known once, known well.

"Monsters and humans have lived in separation for far too long," Toriel continued. There was a placated look that seemed to dominate her face, living in a daydream, her own thoughts and emotions seeming to be tucked away from reality. "Mayor Grimes and I have worked on an agreement, come to a consensus..." Toriel trailed off for a moment. Mayor Grime's smile faltered for a moment and she spoke into a microphone tucked into her jacket, this action barely visible from the position of the news camera.

Toriel began to shake violently, most likely induced from whatever drug she was put on. "Mayor Grimes and I have come to a consensus," she continued onwards. By now there were distressed murmurs coming from the onlooking crowd of humans and monsters, the facade composed by the government officials vanishing. "From now on, we wish to establish equality amongst humans and monsters alike. Small steps, we must take small steps towards the larger goal of ultimate equality, to repair these wounds that have been gouged so deeply between our species. And from the generosity of our leaders, food will be distributed, the same food, to humans and monsters alike. From now on, we will eat as one."

And just like that, the news broadcast ended, the electricity was cut short and plunged the apartment into silence. "I-I..." You were at a loss for words, trying to grasp the nature of the situation. Eating the same food, to any onlooker it appeared like the first step towards equality, but there had been something so distinctly off about Toriel, the way she shook from time to time, the wavering of her words as if every fiber of her being was screaming, begging to say anything but the words that fell from her mouth.

Sans stood up, shaking. "Thank you," he muttered and made his way to the door. "Thank you for everything, but I really have to go now." He was already leaving, when you grabbed him by the collar of his overcoat. Desperation was pulsing through your very being, urging for him not to go.

"It's too dangerous," you whispered, mentally cursing yourself for how childish you sounded. "If they find you on the streets, they could kill you. Or worse..."

"Don't you understand?!" he growled, eyeing you with a look of evident rage. You took a step back in fear. His left eye was pulsing from a deep blue to the beginnings of yellow. There was almost a note of familiarity and you couldn't help but once more scratch against that wall that blocked the memories of this world from what you were positive were memories from a distant life, if that was even possible. You swore you remembered being with Sans, in a different lifetime, hidden in a forest, hiding from him, his eye flashing from blue to red and back again.

Won't things get a little dusty?

"Things are over, we're on the brink of civil war," Sans spat, his gaze still transfixed on the lifeless television set. "Whatever you humans have done to Toriel, it's some sort of brainwashing factor that they'll no doubt use on the rest of us."

Whatever you humans have done to Toriel...

Those words seemed to hit home.

"You can't go out there alone," you insisted, wanting him more than anything to stay, to figure out why there were memories of the two of you flashing on repeat in your mind, different lifetimes, different stories, different universes...

"Let me come with you."

The words hung in the open air. Sans seemed to consider this for a moment. It was obvious he didn't trust you, and why should he? Humans had been the ones to lock his species in the farthest extents of the city, subject them to violence and brutality for so many years...

"Fine," Sans growled as he opened the door. "But don't you dare eat any of my ketchup."