"You didn't need to come today, Sans." She mumbles, hiding her teary eyes beneath Sans' old hood.

She refused to look up do to the thought of him noticing the tears on her face, but she can't stop now. The conditions weren't ideal, but she had been wanting to see him for so long that it almost didn't matter. She wanted to feel his touch again and go back to feeling full of warmth inside when he was still around for her.

When he doesn't respond, Frisk presses further. Looking at the grounds of The Core, Sans led them to an elevator she had no memory of.

"I don't understand you. What made you want to suddenly show up out of the blue like this?"

"Uh, hate to break it to you Sweetheart, but it isn't like I was really wiped myself off the map. I didn't just 'show up', you know?"

When he's finished speaking, Sans pulls his other hand from his lab coat pocket and begins to push several buttons. While doing so, he doesn't forget to rub his thumb into Frisk's palm, still holding her small fingers between his.

Frisk looks up at him finally, her lips pursed and her eyebrows furrowed sadly in irritation. Sans hadn't noticed until the elevator doors had closed. But once he peered down at her, his eyes remained locked on hers.

Her soft brown hair, the way those orbs shone such a vibrant ruby red, the way she'd managed to captivate him in such a way was more than enough for him to drop dead. God, he was such an asshole for thinking these things.

"I'm serious, Sans. Was it because of what happened with Gerson?"

"Sort of." He shrugs, his answer quiet and unsure. "Also, Fish face was harassing me to come to visit everyone." He states this begrudgingly, rubbing his sore cheekbone, dried blood smeared and streaked all the way down to his jaw.

This is the first Frisk had noticed it, so naturally, she stared up at the gash in shock. The first thing she thought to do was to reach up and clean it up, maybe even heal it enough to prevent scarring. Then, there was something keeping her from doing so. What it may have been wasn't clear to her, but she didn't question the feeling and never touched him.

"Did it hurt at all?"

Sans felt her gaze on the wound, choosing to lie with hopes of not worrying her. "No. No Frisk, it didn't hurt me."

"Are you sure?"

Sans sighs, nodding and looking away from her, watching the 'floors' count onward.

"Yes. I'm fine."

The elevator itself could only go two ways; to the Hotlands laboratory and back to The Core. Not many monsters knew about it, how would they? The few beings that use it are hardly ever seen entering or exiting the elevator's doors, so it's believed that the scientists simply walk to work early in the mornings or late at night when no one is out. Others believe that they all live in the workplace.

This is somewhat true. Sans did, after all, stay in the Lab for many days at a time. He hadn't been home in God knows how long, and pretty much made the best of what he had in the True Lab. He never needed to eat, even though he should have, and had all the caffeine he needed. It was no wonder why nobody had seen him in so long.

The elevator took to a jolt, knocking Sans and Frisk off their heels a bit, each of them making effort to keep the other from falling. Frisk nearly let herself slam into the titanium walls before Sans had to pull her back to him. He took her by the shoulder roughly, keeping her in place at his side.

"Are you okay?" He asked a little panicked, to which Frisk brushes off with the wave of her hand.

"Yes, I'm okay. Are you?"

"Yeah, I'm--"

Cutting off his sentence was the chilling noise of electrical circuits sparking. Then popping imitated from behind the button panel.

The elevator was old, but it shouldn't have been acting up in such a way. It was still in tip-top shape the last time it had been used, what changed?

"What the hell?"

Sans kept a firm hold on Frisk as he reached out to press one of the buttons. Just as his finger grazed the metal surface, the elevator lights flickered. Sparks flew from the edges of ceiling lights, popping and fizzing down on them.

Frisk gasped, her eyes glowing and acting as a torch everytime the power turned off.

Her mouth dropped, her nails digging into the palms of her sleeves with anxiety.

"What's wrong with the..?"

"I don't know. It doesn't normally do this. Here, let me check."

Sans pat is pocket expecting to find something there- Nothing. His sockets go blank for a second, pupils coming back the size of pinpricks as he searched himself for his cellphone. No such luck.

Once he realizes this his grin is gone and replaced with a shocked, toothy frown, his pupils burnt out for a second time as the lights go out again. The only thing keeping things somewhat illuminated where the ruby red glows of Frisk's eyes, adding red hues to the surrounding environment.

"Well shit. I forgot... I left my cell back in Snowdin."

Frisk raised her voice, her teeth bared "You mean to say you haven't had your phone on you for four months straight?!"

"I mean- Yeah? I left it on my dresser-"

"When was the last time you went to your dresser?"

"It's been a while now, but don't worry, I can figure this out."

Groaning, Frisk begins pacing the floor, running her hands over her head and mumbling unintelligible sentences to herself. Anger shook her to the bone, and she didn't understand why. She hadn't felt such strong emotions in so long that it was all as though she were blind before. Now she's seeing all these things she hadn't before and it was too overwhelming for her.

She stormed around for a few more minutes in silence while Sans was just staring at her. He mutters under his breath, hoping he couldn't be heard.

"God, I've been stupid, haven't I?"

"Yes, stupid. You've been exceptionally stupid."

When Sans glares at her, she nods, grinning in slight amusement. He found it amusing himself, seeing her act so smug with him. Perhaps she wouldn't be mad at him for too much longer.

"Wow, you really don't beat around the bush, do you, Sweetheart?"

"No, I don't. And stop calling me that."

Scratch that. She still seemed pretty irritated. Which was fine, she had every right to be and he expected nothing less.

About ten minutes of examining the elevator's parts had gone by before Sans was finally able to get the doors opened. Once he saw red sand at their feet he ushered Frisk outside in a hurry, just in case the elevator malfunctioned again and shut on them. Thankfully enough it hadn't and they both got out safely. From here, Frisk didn't need any directions to the labs.

In a burst of adrenaline, Frisk grabbed the bottom of her dress and pulled it up above her knees, making it easier for her to run off and reach the lab before anyone other than Sans had seen her.

Getting there, Frisk slammed the doors shut and rushed past the many files and paperwork that scattered the lab floors in search of the stairs that led down to Sans's portion of the building. By that time Sans had teleported to the bookcase and already began to pull many different things from the shelves.

The topics ranged from monster anatomy all the way down to monster history, along with many topics based on souls. He coincidentally had a heap of books surrounding such topics, and he dropped the entire stack of them down onto a long table in the center of the lab with a bang.

Hanging up his and Frisk's coats, he pulls out a set of thin glasses, similar to Gaster's, and looks at Frisk with curiosity.

"So, what am I looking for, your Highness?"

Rolling her eyes, Frisk begins looking through the many books, picking out a select few and sliding others aside. Pointing to one of the larger books, she orders "Read through that one and tell me what find. It's cyphered so I don't understand it well. Once you're done I need you to help me with something else."

Sans looked at the book, scowling in its presence. "Nice try, kid. But I ain't-a historian. I'm a scientist. I don't like reading about-"

"Just try. Okay? I know you probably want a break but this is important. Tell me once you've found something based around the sorcerers behind the barrier." She pulls a book from the bottom, reading the title and placing it to the side to search for a different one.

Sans's eyes slim and darken as he looks at her, filled with concern. His attitude is no longer cocky but stern. "Frisk, exactly what is it your trying to figure out by this?"

A small fire starts in front of him, hot and nearly burning the table as she speaks, her voice also changing to challenge his. Her eyes pupils slim to thin black lines as they had back at the pub the night she was attacked, and her lips had drawn to a thin line.

"Read. That's an order."

They stare at each other as though for the first time they want to rip the other apart, but at the same time, they both only wanted the best for each other. The only problem was that they were both too stubborn, too hardheaded and too willed to tell the other anything they were planning.

Frisk knew she was abusing her powers a bit, but if it meant finding another way then she'd do it one hundred times over.

Though he should have felt threatened, Sans was only more amused to see that she had her magic under control. He was also happy to see that spark inside her reignite so quickly. He missed the way she could turn the tables so quickly and take charge. Like a true ruler.

Sighing in content, Sans nods his head and opens the book, flipping through pages. Before he begins reading, Sans smirks up at her "You know, Frisk. I always knew you'd end up being an ironfisted hotty."

Frisk doesn't blush, she only frowns and disbands the fire in front of them "And I always knew you'd be a complete asshole."

He chuckles, a bit disappointed by her response. "Touche."

Frisk grins a bit, her eyes closed and her brows creased. The tone of her voice is soft and sincere as she flips through the pages of the book in her hands. "Indeed." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(I'm sorry for the shorter, more choppy chapter. I will try to work more one it. 

Also: Holy sh*t this has like... OVER 40 ERRORS. 

Normally I only have about ten or twenty. Not even at times. Jesus Christ my Grammarly is not helping me at all XD 

Definatly NOT asking Coffee mom to react to this in her book.. Ahahaha... 

If ya'll don't know her, you can find her at notdepresso . And the book I'm talking about is her work called "Fanfiction Reviews". I highly recommend it to all you writers out there who are looking for some good tips and some great advice for your stories. She is a very impressive writer and she is wonderful when it comes to editing and details, along with many more talents she poses. 

And since I am in a talking mood, I'm gonna shout out to my friends G/ WolfixWritesUt ,  Luna/  TheLunaticsTea , and Yuno/ YunoGasia102 . All of these guys/gals are wonderful authors whom I highly respect and look up to. If not for the support of them and others such as IraKawamura ,  Mystic_Ender , and many more of my wonderful friends and you readers I wouldn't be as happy with my work as I am now. Nor would I be as good at writing either. Not that I'm TALENTED but I do believe I am pretty decent for a rookie author. 

To those of you who didn't get a shout out please do not be offended. No one is more important than anyone else and I care for you all equally. A million thanks, my muffins, rolls, pancakes, waffles, buns and other random bread related basket dwellers! I'll see you in the next update!

Much love and a sky full of stars for each and everyone of you

~Echo )