Alphys watched the humans through a two way mirror in the opposite wall.

“So, how are they?”

Alphys jumped at the unexpected voice.

“SANS! Don’t do that!”

Sans chuckled, materializing in front of the window.

“Well, how are they?”

Alphys glanced at the humans, checking nothing had changed in the last 5 seconds.

“They were talking a while ago, until Chara had a bit of a breakdown. Frisk comforted her, and now they are both asleep.”

Sans nodded, as though he already knew everything she was saying.

“Do you really think…?”

Alphys sighed.

“Up until today, I would have said no. but now there is a kid in there that didn’t exist an hour ago, and I don’t know what to think. In theory, with the data from Chara, yes, he could be restored.”

“It would help Chara, and make them both so happy.”

“Why do you think I’m even considering it? It’s ridiculous. Not only is the original body gone, but they are in an entirely new one!”

“That’s not the problem and you know it. We have seen him hold his monster form. The problem is holding it for a longer amount of time. To do that we would need to introduce the artificial soul while he is in his monster form.”

Alphys glanced at her notes, checking that what he was referring to wasn’t completely impossible.

When she looked back up, he was already gathering blue energy around him.

“Where are you going?!” Alphys asked, before he disappeared.

“I’m going Flower hunting.”

And then he was gone.

***

It didn’t take Sans long to track down Flowey. The tangle of time that surrounded him was easy to see, for someone who spent half their time wondering how the timeline worked.

He found Flowey hiding in the ruins, staring at the bed of flowers the human always landed on.

“Flowey.”

“Sans.”

“Why are you hiding here again? You know i check here first.”

Flowey bit back a sarcastic response.

“This is where it all started. Where the person who I would come to love like a brother would fall into the underground.”

Sans stayed silent. He knew it was better to let him wind down.

“I was the one who found them, you know. Chara had hurt himself in the fall, and I comforted him, and brought him to Toriel. After that we were indivisible. Until now. Now, im a flower, and Chara is stuck in someone else’s body.”

Sans felt that this was a good point to jump in.

“Actually, Chara is currently testing out a new body, created using an artificial soul.”

Flowey stared at Sans.

“But for that you would need….”

“A piece of an actual soul? Yeah. but it doesn’t need to be a human soul.”

Sans reached up, and pulled back the collar of his shirt to show Flowey a glimpse of his soul. The very corner had what looked to be a chip out of it.

“Flowey stared at the mark on the otherwise spotless soul.

“You mean you…”

“Gave the human a piece of my soul so that they could have a life? Yep.”

“Why?”

“It was an easy choice. It was..”

“No. why are you here?”

. Sans smiled. “Chara isn’t the only one who deserves a second chance.”

***

“Alphys, when did you say Sans would be back?”

Alphys smiled, recognizing the ploy behind the innocent words.

“I didn’t. He’ll be back when he feels he should be. That’s how Sans is.”

Pop

“Hey everybody, how’s it hanging?”

“Sans! Don’t teleport in the middle of the sick bay!”

Sans grinned, shrugging his shoulders.

“Ah, but this place is sick.”

“Sans…”

“Alright, alright. I set the reason for my visit in the other room. Did you calibrate the machine?”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Sans and Alphys walked back into the lab, discussing DT flow levels and soul safety buffers.

Frisk looked at Chara.

“Any clue what’s going on?”

Chara shrugged.

“Who knows?” she said, before raising her foot in the air. “But I HAVE TOES!”

Frisk shook her head.

“Did you really just…”

But before she could finish her sentence, all the lights in the sck bay dimmed so low it seemed they would turn off altogether.

Than, as quickly as it begun, it stopped.

The sound of excited voices drifted under the door.

Chara starred at the door, curiose.

“What the heck did they just do?”

Frisk shrugged.

“How the heck should I know?”

Chara slipped off of the bed, and creeped toward the door. As she got closer, she heard snippets of conversation.

“You need to stop doing this you’ll…”

“...Need to do this anymore. He was the only other…”

“...A soul can only take so much…”

“Let’s focus on what we’ve done, K?”

There was the sound of shuffling footsteps.

“Are you ok? Do you feel like you might turn back?”

A voice answered Alphys, too low to be heard through the door.

“Welp, I think we should tell them what we’ve done now.”

The voice spoke up.

“Are you sure?”

More murmuring.

“If you think you’re strong enough, come on, i’ll take you in for them.”

Realizing that they would be headed right for the door, Chara made a beeline for Frisk’s bed, plopping herself down just as the door was swept open.

Sans walked into the room, a huge grin fixed to his face.

“Hello you two. Chara still a person? No one having a mental breakdown?”

Sans waited a moment, as though he actually expected an answer.

“Good. Now, we just finished up something that may put a smile on your faces. Especially you, Chara.”

Chara looked at Sans, waiting for him to elaborate. But instead, he waved to someone on the other side of the door.

Chara craned her neck, trying to see who it was. There was a feeling in her stomach, a feeling that she knew who it was.

Asriel stepped out of the door, dressed in a monster version of Chara’s outfit. Surprisingly, he was only about ¼ and inch taller than Chara and Frisk.

“Hi…” Asriel muttered, as though afraid they would be mad at him. “I..”

He was unable to get anything else out, as he was tackled be Chara, who pulled him into a hug.

“Don’t…..Ever…...Leave me again!” Chara sobbed into his shoulder.

Asiel smiled sadly. “Don’t worry.”

“I won’t.”