“Do You Want Some Food Brother?” Papyrus asked, his hand leaving Sans' spine to already start digging in his pockets for one of the candies he’d been given, Papyrus leaning back so as not to drop Sans as he carefully balanced his brother in his one arm.

Sans somehow managed a half shrug, his sockets still closed and still slumped against his body. And Paps took out the candy, lowering it as he tried to unwrap the little candy with one hand, grabbing one end of it with his teeth as he then took the candy and, after gently poking Sans shoulder to get his attention, he held the candy to Sans mouth so he could absorb it.  “Here, Brother. C’mon… Just For A Sec, Okay?” Papyrus urged, gently trying to wake Sans a bit to feed him, not wanting to jostle him too much and startle his brother while he was injured. “Please? That’s It. There, There, Easy Does It.”

Sans heard his brother's voice gently coaxing him from unconsciousness. He knew Paps was trying to remain soft and quiet, sensitive to Sans health as it warmed his damaged soul and carefully nudged him to wakefulness.

Sans opened his eyes, his eyelids feeling heavy. "mmmnh?" He blinked dazedly, looking up from his resting spot on his brother's shoulder, first eyeing the candy then at his brother's worried expression. “...mkay…” Sans slurred, his voice still sounding a little gravelly, but slightly more like itself, 2 days since he’d ruined his throat due to his screaming.

Paps smiled a little, seeing his brother awake again, though he still felt quite weak. “Oh, Sans… Sans… I’m So Sorry…” Papyrus mumbled, letting him shift the slightest amount, as Sans eyelights focused slowly, letting him take in his surroundings. Not wanting to push him as Sans slowly noticed the world around and realized they were walking, gently Papyrus recaptured his brother’s attention, holding out the small candy in the palm of his metacarpals. “Here, Brother. Do You Think You Can Get This Down On Your Own?” 

Weakly, Sans nodded, shaking phalanges, taking the candy from Papyrus’s own steadier ones, and as careful as he could to not drop it, brought them to his teeth. In a sparkle of green healing magic, most of which Sans wasn't even able to absorb again, the skeleton devoured the treats. Sans felt his sockets grew heavy, all his energy spent, but struggling not to fall asleep again, he rested his skull once more against Paps shoulder, floating in between being half asleep and half not. “w...where’re we g-goin’ pap?”

“Somewhere Far Away, Brother. Somewhere, Hopefully Safer. M-Maybe Into Another City Of Humans That Will Allow Us In. And So You Can Recover.” Papyrus informed, gently nuzzling his brother against his bottom jaw.

Sans nodded weakly, as he slowly forced himself to stay awake, watching as they passed by some trees as they walked. He noticed the heavy pack his brother was carrying and after a moment, he spoke again. “w...who has m-my stuff?”

“Undyne Offered To Carry Them. She’s With The Other Royal Guard Members, At The Back Of The Group. Ready To Defend If Need Be.” Paps gently told Sans, still holding him close, and smoothing his brothers back, trying to soothe his trembling.

“h..heh, a-and yer’re not? didn’t undyne m-make you g-guard finally?” Sans asked.

“Yes. But...I Had More Important Matters To Take Care Of. And, Besides They Can Handle Things Well Enough On Their Own.” Paps told him, feeling Sans slipping down slightly he moved the hand on his spine, gently to the side of Sans ribs as he took a firmer grip on Sans femurs pushing Sans up gently so that Sans was more positioned better against his hip bone. 

Sans let out a grunt and a slight whimper, when Paps had accidentally pushed one of the rib bones that had broken off completely a little too far in, the movement jostling the splint holding it in one piece to heal properly. “ngh!!” He winced, his grip on his brother tightening as he felt the jolt of pain.

“S-Sorry!” Paps apologized quickly, his hand glowing green a moment to help his brother recover. “Easy Brother. It’s Okay.”

“hngh...n...no… j...jus’ just give me a minute…” Sans breathed, shaking more as he struggled to hurry and recover.

Toriel turned back to them. “What’s wrong? Do you want us to stop Papyrus?” She asked, the King turning as well raising a hand as the group slowly started to slow down in concern for the smaller skeleton.

“n-n...no..! i…” Sans huffed, opening his sockets again slowly as he took in his bandaged bones, next to his brothers more healthier ones. “i..i’m f-fine..j-jus’ i’m f-fine…”

Papyrus furrowed, before turning to Toriel, holding his brother more gentler. “I-It Was My Fault. I Felt Sans Slipping And I Must Have Done A Wrong Movement And- We’re Fine.”

Toriel nodded in understanding, looking over the rest of the group, she noticed a few of the old and young appeared to be out of breath. “Perhaps...we should use this time to rest anyways. We’ve walked quite a lot and quite far from where we started.” She said, turning to Asgore who nodded in agreement, she motioned to Knight knight to tell the rest in the further back this would be their temporary rest stop for now and he nodded as they moved to the back.

Several of the monsters began to separate looking for spots to sit, and open their packs to get something to eat. Several of the Mercenaries and Royal Guards moved around the group, telling everyone not to stray too far and that as soon as everyone was up to it, they would continue moving.

Paps saw a decent sized boulder and moved to sit on it. Carefully, he tipped his brother back and away from his front, maneuvering Sans a bit so he too could sit on his lap and had Sans ribcage exposed to Papyrus to inspect and reach. Papyrus wanted to recheck Sans bandages if they needed changing again, but also, a part of him as well wanted to check on Sans SOUL, not having the chance to since 2 days ago when they finally brought Sans back home. He hesitated.

Sans still couldn't quite hold himself up on his own, his right shoulder leaning heavily on Papyrus’s body, his eyes drooping slightly as sleep threatened to take him again.

Toriel kept an eye on the two skeletons, realizing Paps may need help with Sans and, after ensuring Frisk would be alright to feed herself and Flowey moved to the taller skeleton monster. “Is there anything you need help with dear?”

“I…” Papyrus hesitated, unsure if this would be a good idea or not. He didn’t want to risk triggering Sans again, but at the same time, didn’t want to surprise Sans by doing anything he wasn’t expecting, knowing how Sans could get. And especially now that he was so vulnerable and fragile. “Just...Give Me a Moment.” Paps concluded and Toriel nodded, giving the brothers some space as Paps returned his attention back to Sans, gently shaking his shoulder to wake Sans up again.

“Brother?”

“nn?”

“Um...Brother, Is...Is It Alright If I May Check Your SOUL?”

Sans froze, his skull blanching for several seconds. 

“Brother…?” Paps asked again, after several moments. “I Just Wanna...Make Sure You’re Doing Alright. That The Crack In It Hasn’t Gotten Worse. And, Since I’ll Need To Change Your Bandages Possibly Too...I Th-Thought I Could Do Both At The Same Time.” He explained, hoping that Sans would be more willing for the extra help.

Still, Sans said nothing, trembling and the sound of bones rattling seemingly to be the only answer Sans could give him. Again, after another few seconds of hesitancy. Sans gave a small nod as he summoned his SOUL out, knowing, since it was Papyrus checking on it, no harm would come to him anyways. Paps would be able to keep both him, and his exposed SOUL safe.

Paps gasped, not at all expecting for Sans to be so compliant. But he was grateful. Without touching the little floating white soul, he raised one of his hands around it, the other holding Sans upright to make sure he doesn’t fall over as Paps looked the little SOUL over.

The SOUL still looked to be quite fragile, but it did seem to glow just a little brighter and slightly whiter than before, the more that Sans rested. No longer did it look wrung out and as dried out as before, though it was still tender as Papyrus watched as the tiny thing pulsed with weak magic. The crack in the middle looked also slightly more sealed in, almost like a scab was slowly forming all around it. Dead center of the crack however, where the vines had been originally digging its way inside was still mangled, and Papyrus almost gagged again when he looked directly at the wound, but he was satisfied.

“Your SOUL Is Looking Better And Better Brother! Not...Quite As It Did Before The Injury But Still It Is Making Steady Progress!” Papyrus announced, gently coaxing Sans to put it safely back in his chest.

“heh… th-that’s good…” Sans winced, as the SOUL was gently eased back into the safety of his ribs. Papyrus gently rubbed his thumb along his shoulder to soothe him before turning his skull back to Tori, motioning he will need her assistance now.

“How is he?” She asked as she came a little closer, helping Paps to keep Sans balanced over his knee as he worked to get Sans' shirt off slowly and gently.

“His SOUL Is Looking Much Better! I Will Need Your Help, Your Highness Now, So I May Take this Time Out To Change My Brother’s Bandages While We’re Out Here Resting.” Papyrus informed as Sans made a face but did nothing to stop either of them, still feeling a bit sleepy as the shirt soon went over his head.

“Of course, I’m always happy to help you.” Toriel said simply, helping to unwrap Sans old bandages, holding the smaller skeleton steady, as Paps reached into his bag for the new bandages. Toriel inspected the fragile bone beneath, being sure to keep them aligned as she kept the splints in place even as the old dirty bandages fell to the ground. The fracture was still deep in the ulna and radius but she was already noticing how new bone was just beginning to grow back, gluing the two pieces of the ulna together where it’d snapped in half and especially in Sans’s wrists. “Looks like your arm is healing nicely as well my dear. Soon, you may not even need the splint so long as you don’t move too much or overexert yourself.”

“h-heh...y’ don’ hav’ to worry ‘b-bout that. ima l-lazybones...remember tori?” Sans sleepily slurred, trying to keep as still as possible to let them work. Even though it still hurt to have the bones touched and messed with, but he kept quiet as Papyrus had gotten to rewrapping the bone after a light cleansing. Sans watched through blurry vision as this repeated to the rest of him. It got especially painful once they were touching his ribcage, where the more serious of his injuries were. But still Sans stayed as still as possible, allowing them to work  and soon, Sans could not keep himself awake anymore, as they finished bandaging the last of his wounds up as he went absolutely limp against his brother’s chest.

Papyrus startled at the sudden change his brother showed, catching him and nearly letting the new bandages unravel. 

Toriel was quick to react however, finishing the wrappings over Sans chest, wrapping one end of the bandages over Sans left manubrium, unrolling the bandage roll slowly over Sans ribcage and down to the very last, bottom most ribcage, then back up again to the right side of Sans shoulders and down again. The motion repeating until Sans ribs were properly bandaged, many of the splints in place. And she set to helping Paps return Sans shirt over him again, as Paps put their medical supplies back in the bag, carrying Sans again when he heard the Monsters getting ready to continue their journey.

“There, that should hopefully hold him until the next resting point. Do you need help carrying your things? So you can focus entirely on aiding your brother? It must be quite heavy, having to carry all your stuff and your brother all at the same time. With him so injured still and all.” Toriel offered, helping Papyrus to stand as he lifted his brother in both his arms. Sans still looked very much like a broken doll in his long boney arms.

“Thank You Toriel. But There Is No Need For That! This Is Also Sort Of Like Strength Training As Well! Royal Guards Cannot Afford To Be Lazy After All!” Papyrus announced, still being mindful to keep his voice quiet, so not to accidentally wake Sans up after he was resting again. 

“Papyrus… I know you mean well but, you can train later. your brother needs you the most right now, than your training. What if you get too tired to carry him and drop him?” Toriel suggested, still offering to help him carry his pack. “It’s only for a few hours. I promise.”

“Well….I...Suppose...You May Be Right.” Papyrus said, finally giving in as he looked at his sleeping brother then the heavy backpack. “Are You Sure About This Though, Lady Toriel? I Do Not Wish To Burden The Former Queen.”

“Oh please, Papyrus. I am no longer a Queen and I do not wish to ever be one again, for now I am just the same as all of you and I wish to help. That way you can focus on just taking care of your brother alright?” Toriel told him firmly, and after a few seconds Papyrus relents handing her his pack, before adjusting Sans body in his arms so he was both more comfortable and so Paps had a better hold on him as well so not to drop the smaller skeleton.

“There, now was that so hard?” Toriel smiled, helping carry Papyrus’s things along with her own before holding Frisk's hand again and the group continued to move.

After an hour of walking, Paps noticed as Doggo made his way to the front of the group mumbling something to Asgore and a troubled expression crossed Asgore’s features. Asgore mentioned something to Doggo taking a moment to write down something on a note and he gave it to the dog monster sending him away.

“Um, King Asgore? Is Something Wrong?” Papyrus asked. “You Look...Er, Upset.” His grip over his brother tightened the slightest bit in a protective matter, knowing this was probably just some royalty business he shouldn’t be involved in, but he still couldn’t really help but to ask anyways, as perceptive as he was.