The new skeleton looked at Time curiously. She seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it.

"Hello there," he said warmly. "I'm Dr. Ghaster. But my friends call me G. Who are you?"

Time didn't say anything, only shrank back behind Sans. "Hey, kid. It's alright. He's not gonna hurt you."

Papyrus came bustling out of the kitchen. "Ah. Hello there, brother! You're just in time for dinner!"

Ghaster cringed slightly, then straightened and smiled. "Ah. Wonderful. I wouldn't dream of missing one of your meals, Papyrus."

Brother? Time thought with curious terror. Are they with him? The man I keep seeing?

But the skeleton that was standing in the doorway looked nothing like the man in her nightmares. Who was he?

Sans seemed to guess what was going through her head at the moment.

"This is Ghaster, our older brother. He lives in Hotland."

Sans guided Time gently off the couch, and kept her close by his side. He directed her toward the tall skeleton, who was still standing with the door open.

Ghaster crouched down so he could look eye to eye with Time. He held out his hand. "Hello," he said again. "what's your name, little one?"

Time peeked out behind Sans, and whispered a reply. "I'm Time."

Ghaster smiled, and dropped his hand when she wouldn't shake it. "Very nice name, Time. Was it your dad's idea to call you that?" he said in a teasing tone.

Time hesitated. "Um," she began quietly. "I can't remember." The she shrank back behind Sans.

Ghaster noticed this small gesture, and frowned deeply. "It's alright, little one. I won't hurt you," He held out his hand again in a gesture of peace.

Time yelped and disappeared behind Sans completely.

Sans' usual happy expression shriveled up a bit. He stepped aside so Ghaster could see Time, and put his hand carefully over her small shoulders. "It's alright, kid. He's my bro. You can trust him, don't worry,"

Time was unmoved. She clutched at Sans' jacket, wide eyed.

Papyrus became aware of the tension in the room, and he frowned slightly.

"Come, small skeleton! You can help me finish dinner!" He held out his hand for her, and she scampered toward him, never taking her eyes off of Ghaster. He picked her up, and they walked away into the kitchen.

When they were gone, Ghaster straightened from his position and glowered at Sans.

"Sans." he asked. "Who is she, and where did she come from?"

Sans grinned easily in reply. "Aw, c'mon, G. She's harmless. we found her in the alleyway of Snowdin Inn. She was in pain, and we decided we'd take care of her till she gets better,"

Ghaster frowned and folded his arms. "Do you know anything about this child?" he asked coldly.

Sans straightened up from his slouch. "Hey, don't be like that. Her names' Time, and that's all she's capable of saying so far."

He stopped, and glanced up at his brother, who was taller than Papyrus. "You're acting like you know something we don't, so spill."

Ghaster slipped off his square-framed glasses and ran a hand over his skull. "I have a theory," he began.

Sans cut him off. "Woah, G. There you go again with the word, 'theory'. You're talking like she's one of your-" he trailed off, the lights of his eyes diminishing. "...experiments."

Ghaster dropped down on the couch, his head in his hands. "Not my experiment, Sans. A different one of mine. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Sans sat down beside his brother. "Yeah, I think. You're saying that..." he paused, wondering how to phrase this. "You're saying that, she's not from here. Right?"

Ghaster nodded. "That's why I recognized her."

Sans sighed, and let his skull fall back to rest against the couch. "But...what makes her different from the others?"

Ghaster let out a heavy breath. "The way she moves. The way she reacts to me. What her eyes tell me. She's been abused. Heavily."

Sans blanched. "But, by who? Why?"

Ghaster shook his head. "I don't know, Sans. If I could examine her more closely, then maybe...I could get an idea."

"But, from what I can tell, she'd die than rather have you touch her. How'll you do it?"

Ghaster was quiet for a moment, then stared at his brother with determination in his eyes. "You'll have to help me. I can tell she likes you, and you can keep her calm while I do it, understand?"

Sans got up from the couch and faced his brother, hands in his pockets. "What are you gonna do, G? You sound like you're gonna torture her, or somethin'."

"Please, Sans. I don't want her to suffer. Would you rather throw her back out into the cold and have the man who's hurting her come pick her up? You called me for this specific reason, did you not?"

Sans looked down and hesitated, then groaned. "Fine. But it's not my fault if she kills you."

Ghaster chuckled. "Alright. Thank you, Sans." He smiled at his brother.

"Hey, Papyrus?" Sans called from the couch. "Bring the kid in here, will ya?"

Time was seated on Sans' lap, and his arms were wrapped around her protectively. He was whispering encouraging words to her. "All he's here to do is give you a checkup, like a doctor, alright? He's not here to hurt you,"

But Sans had used the wrong choice of words.

Doctor.

The word shattered Times' brain. Doctors are bad, she thought, clutching at Sans' jacket sleeves. They are dangerous and hurtful.

She instinctively covered up the carvings in her bare arm, tracing the engravings.

Subject T1m5.  That's what he called her. Those were the numbers and letters he had carved into her.

He owned her, he had said. He had owned all the rest of them. But he had especially hated Time. But for what reason, she had never known.

The tall skeleton, Ghaster, knelt down in front of her. His eyes were bright and intelligent. Like his.

But Ghaster's eyes held a generous amount of warmth, and despite her anxiety, Time couldn't help but like him.

"Hello, Time." He said warmly. "I'm the royal scientist back in Hotland, and I know a thing or two or twenty two things about what you're going through. May I look at your arm?"

Time cringed back instinctively, and Sans squeezed her gently. "It's alright."

She slowly and shakily held out the arm that had the engravings in it. She wasn't afraid of him theoretically, but she was afraid of how he would respond.

Ghaster gently took her hand, and frowned slightly at the carvings on her forearm. He traced the numbers and letters gently with one finger.

"How did you get these, my dear?"

Time didn't move. His movements had paralyzed her. That's what he did when I was in trouble,  she thought horridly.

"I-I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to."

Ghaster's frown deepened. "You aren't in trouble, young one. Do not worry. I was just merely asking where you got these  engravings.  Who did this to you, child?"

Time whimpered and pulled her hand back, instinctively scratching at the markings furiously.  "H-he gave them to me, and said that he'd hurt me if I didn't behave."

Sans hugged her and gently tugged away the hand that was scraping  at the markings so she wouldn't hurt herself.  When he did this,  he caught  sight of ferocious scars decorating all around the engravings. His usual smile wilted, and he hugged her again tightly.

"No one's going to hurt you, small skeleton!" Papyrus shouted, hands on his hips. "If they do that, I will ask them to stop!"

Ghaster smiled at his innocent younger brother. "You'll give them a beating, won't you, Papyrus?"

Without waiting for an answer, he turned back to Time, who had a faraway look in her eyes. Then he noticed a scar sliding down her right eye.

He had a sudden thought, and ran a finger lightly down his own scars that were on his eyes.

He then reached his hand gingerly toward Time's eye, and ran his hand gently over her scar. "Did he give you this too, small one?"

Time nodded.

Ghaster sighed and let his hand drop. "I am sorry, Time. Who is the man that hurt you?" He didn't expect an answer.

But Time lifted her head from Sans' chest, and spoke quietly.

"He looks like you."

The air in the room turned rigid.

Papyrus gasped and his gloved hands covered his mouth. "Y-you hurt her, Ghaster?"

Ghaster got up from his kneeling position, his knee bones cracking. "I think you should leave, Papyrus. There's things about this world that you wouldn't understand. Please."

Papyrus folded his arms. "I'm smart, and an adult. I can hear what you have to say, Ghaster."

"Bro,"

Sans' voice was hollow, and the lights of his eyes were gone. "Please. It's a private talk."

Papyrus huffed in frustration, and stomped up the stairs to his room, slamming the door shut.

Time cringed at the loud sound. The door slamming reminded her of the P. A. 8 when it was turning on. It made a thudding noise when it was powering on.

Ghaster sat down on the opposite end of the couch with a sigh. He glanced at Sans, and made a silent gesture with his hands.

"May I hold you, young one?" he asked, holding out his hands as if he were about to give her a hug.

She clutched at Sans, unwilling to let the comfort of his jacket go.

"C'mon, kid. He wants to help you. He can't do that if you're sitting on my lap." He passed Time over to Ghaster, despite her quiet protests.

Ghaster cradled her as if she was a baby, and evaluated everything.

She's too light, he thought grimly. I can feel her spine digging into me.

He slipped a hand from underneath her back, and pried gently at her ribs. He could just rest his hand on her ribs and feel underneath them. He frowned.

"When's the last time you've eaten, Time?" He questioned.

She thought back. He didn't allow us to eat,  she thought, eyes wide.He gave us food as a reward if we were good.

But then she had a memory.

A small, feeble female skeleton was bent over, clutching her stomach, vomiting onto the floor. All the food she had had was in front of her, as if it were a disgusting design.

He had made us throw up if we ever got food.  She thought, terrified.

"Time?"  Ghaster's concerned voice came for her before she could get lost in the memory.

She looked up into his concerned eyes, and suddenly realized that this was  not the man she had been taught to fear. He was much too quiet and caring for a total stranger.

"What did you see, young one?"  he asked gingerly.  "Would you like to talk about it?"

Time started shaking, and the awful dark, cold feeling came over her once again.  Despite her best efforts, she started to cry.

Ghaster clutched her close, and Sans put a comforting hand on her head.

"It's okay, Time," Ghaster said. "No one will hurt you ever again.  I promise."

"H-he," Time said between sobs. "He s-said that I-if we'd cry, t-then he'd h-hurt us."

Ghaster and Sans just held her until she calmed down.

Time couldn't help but think. Why are they so kind to me? Why do they care? They don't even know me.

But it had been a long time since she had been in a warm, comforting embrace, and she enjoyed it as long as she possibly could.

It was around midnight when Sans and Ghaster finished talking at the kitchen table and went to bed. Time was sleeping on the couch, and Sans curled up next to her.

"Sans," Ghaster began.  "Thank you for your help today.  I'm glad that you agreed."

"No prob, bro." Sans said, already nodding off. "we're family, ain't we? We help each other out."

Ghaster sat down on the couch next to Sans.

Sans lifted his head and set it down on Ghaster's lap. Not even a second had passed, and they both were asleep.

Time stirred in her sleep and lifted her head, her eyes heavy and tired. She caught sight of Ghaster and Sans, already asleep, and smiled to herself.

They're nice, she thought. They wouldn't hurt me. They'll help me.

She curled up in front of Sans' chest, and his arm went around her protectively. "G'night, kiddo."

And with those words echoing around in her head, she fell asleep, her night free of nightmares.