Years later...

"'CUZ I JUST WANT YOU FOR MY OWN!" Papyrus screams out the lyrics of an old Christmas song you heard all the time this part of the hear. The the road is bumpy and you find yourself being lifted up from the seat more than a few times as he drives the two of you over rocky ground.

"Papyrus, for the love of god. This is a mission, not a road trip." You grumble, arms crossed. Papyrus sends you a look that practically screams 'deal with it' as he turns up the volume and keeps screaming. You were delivering some cargo from the school to a nearby Military base in need of food and water. You weren't concerned for your lives, because you were still driving through monster territory.

However, were you concerned for your hearing? Yes.

"MAKE MY WISH COME TRUUUEEE~ ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS, IS YOOOOOU!~" He sung, golden tooth glinting in the light. Papyrus was like a little dog in many ways- mostly his eyes and the way he was filled with boundless amounts of energy.

You, however, have been described as a feral cat multiple times by Harper. She even gave good reasoning. 'You're small, your teeth are sharp, and you're easy to befriend if given food.' You remember her saying. ...she was right. However, you wouldn't ever tolerate the nickname 'Kitten' while Papyrus embraced the nickname 'Puppy.'

Papyrus was still cute. You don't remember how many years it's been since you were born... (90? no, probably around the higher 80s.) Apparently monsters lived for a really, really long time. If healthy, a monster could grow up to be a couple thousand years old. Nice.

The song finally shut up, and Papyrus scrambled to turn in back on, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "Sing with me, Sans! You're always so boooring and never sing any Christmas songs! Do you sing anything?"

"Well, I Do Sing The-"

Papyrus stares at you, deadpan as the music begins to turn back on. "Something that isn't the Monster Anthem, Sans. You're gonna sing, and you're gonna like it!"

"...Fine. I'll sing. But Once You Hear My Melodious Voice, you'll regret it~" You singsong, and Papyrus laughs.

...Papyrus learned the hard way you had a terrible singing voice.

-

Gunshots blare through the air on Christmas Day. Alarms go off, loud and blaring and little feet scramble against the tile towards the safe rooms.

Dazed, you roll out of bed and get to your feet. The School must have been attacked, and it's hard to process anything with the sounds of screaming blurred with the loud sounds and the monotone voice coming from the PA.

Alphys wakes up next, blinking a few times. She doesn't hesitate to grab her armor and put it on while you run to get Papyrus. He's awake, eyelights blown wide and he shudders softly. He wasn't cut out for combat at all- Papyrus was an engineer who part-timed as a mechanic. "Sans? What's going on, did somebody get inside?"

"No, Paps. They might be, soon. I need you to go help the younger ones to get into the safe rooms. Once you're there, Stay Put. I don't want you to try and be a hero again and loose another tooth." You instruct, and Papyrus tries to argue as you pull on your uniform.

"But that guy would have killed you if I hadn't helped! Sans, I'm not a babybones anymore!" He cried out. You pick up your rifle, slinging your sniper over your back and give him a pointed stare. He wilts and you sigh.

"Listen, Papyrus- it's not about that. Just do what you're told and we'll talk about this later." You murmur, running out of the room. Papyrus nods and goes out into the hallways.

He's lost sight of you in the crowd, despite his height. He yells out to the frenzied monsters, waving his arms. Eventually, he's able to lead a few groups of people to one of the safe rooms.

He wasn't going to stand by and let you get hurt, no matter what you said.

The screams were distant now, seeing as many of the groups were already safe and behind the reinforced doors. Somebody had dropped a handgun on the ground- how irresponsible! but very convenient- so he picked it up and ran in the direction of the screams.

-
That makes four.

A body hits the floor. It's a human man, eyes glazing over as he weakly gasps for air. Papyrus's eyes are dull as he kicks him out of the way. He was normally a compassionate, wouldn't-hurt-a-fly kind of guy, but he couldn't feel anything for a person set out to kill the people he cared about.

He didn't hate all humans! But he despised the ones like this man who laughed as he gunned down men, women, and children.

These soldiers aren't just humans. They're demons. If he just kept that in his mind, the LV didn't nauseate him just as much.

He cautiously looks around a corner, only to see another human. They're holding down a monster, saying something mockingly. His magic flares, and the monster's panicked eyes flicker over to him. They're purple, and thinned into little slits. It's Sans.

His magic grows thicker in the air.

'why are you here? leave. I've got this under control.

The human's green eyes move from Sans to see Papyrus. It glows and crackles with flame, alive and thrumming with magic. A warning. That made sense; it was a mage. And an experienced one. Papyrus pays the mage no mind as he thrusts a hand forward and slams them into a wall. With another vague movement, bones sprout out of it and puncture their body. They write in a futile attempt to free themselves as crimson red coalesced in a puddle on the floor. Their hands still burst with fire, sending it towards Papyrus, but he soon pins the mage's hands to the wall, rendering them useless.

"Puppy." You murmur weakly. "You don't listen. I told you to wait in the safe room!" Each breath hurts, and Papyrus doesn't understand why you would waste your breath to reprimand him for saving you. "You disobeyed me. You could have been killed."

"I'm not badly injured, sir. Just a few scrapes." Papyrus says, facial expression dull as he manages the emotions that normally danced across his face. However, you can still read him well enough to tell he's smug. "And now, I will be taking you to the safe room, as you're in no position to fight, Sir."

"You haven't won." The soldier rasps, hands still threatening to ignite with magic, even on the verge of death. "The position of this place is compromised. You'll barely have a week before this place is taken, and all of you disgusting monsters will die."

"Should I get rid of her, Sir?" Papyrus questions, aiming the gun at his head. You stare at the mage for a few moments, before shaking your head.

"No. We will be taking her in for interrogation, Puppy. Leave her here. Please call Syren and Beta so they can heal and detain her. She's of no threat to us while half dead." You say with authority. Papyrus nods. "However, I will still have to punish you for disobeying my orders. Is this understood?"

"Yes, Sir." Papyrus says, picking up your small and injured frame and cradling you to his chest. He was careful not to jostle any injuries as he fished out his phone and dialed Alphys.

"Puppy?" Alphys responds, voice gruff and scratchy. "We got all the human soldiers. Eighty-four in custody, One hundred and sixteen dead. Did you get the children to safety?"

"Yes, Ma'am. I have Viper. He's injured. We also have a badly injured mage we're taking in for interrogation, so please come over soon. The human is in quadrant 7, room 93. I'm taking Viper to the medical wing." Papyrus says softly, checking on you a couple of times.

You were low on magic, and he could feel your EXP was significantly higher, so you must have taken down quite a few. That mage wouldn't have taken advantage of you if you hadn't already plowed through all of those non-mage soldiers.

...You were so cool, yet so stubborn. Papyrus wanted to take care of you and keep you safe, just like you've done for him. The two of you were the closest thing to family you could get in a place like this. Your eyelights flicker, and you weakly shift in a bid to retain consciousness as Papyrus strides towards the sick bay.

"Hush, Sans. It's only me. Just shut your eyes and go to sleep, we'll talk later."

"Are... all the humans gone? Is everybody okay?" You ask, coughing a few times. your vision was going black and starting to fail you.

"The humans are gone, you can rest."

"...promise?"

"Of course, Sans! I wouldn't lie to you."

You trust him.

The world slips away faster than you're able to count to five.

—
Okay next chapter is where the good stuff comes in!!! I promise!!!!! Happy new year, y'all!