Chapter Text
Sans remembered his father, even if the memories were a bit blurry.
He remembered all the good times, the laughs, the hugs and embarrassing tickle tortures. He remembered the nights they spent together on the couch, the days, months and years they had as a family. He remembered who his father had been, before he was gone for good. Never to be heard from again.
He supposed, Technically, His father wasn't "gone" per say.
Technically, his father was still alive and healthy.
Technically, His father was still a well respected royal scientist.
Technically, he wasn't an orphan with a little brother to raise alone.
Technically, he had father who raised them both.
Technically, all these things were true, and Sans hated that.
He would never call that man "Father" again. He had stopped deserving the title when he had stopped acting as a parental figure. The days that he had became warped, estranged and cruel , were the ones Sans remembered whenever his mind tried connecting the scientist, with the title.
Sans didn't think anything that had happened since then was fair in the slightest. He and Papyrus had loved their mother too. They had lived with her, laughed with her, sang and played with her. Gaster, however, seemed to forget that. The scientist had been so caught up in his own world of grief, he began to forget there had been four members of their family. Not just two.
After his wife had died, brutally cut down by a human that had carelessly fallen into the mountain, Gaster had grieved for months. His grief consumed him, making him more involved in his work, to the point of obsession.
Sans had been forced to watch his fathers slow spiral downward into insanity from afar. That was, until he and Papyrus had been dragged forcibly into the ever spiraling momentum of their caretakers downfall.
It had all started off small, as all things do. Some odd requests here and there:
"Could you help me something, Sans?"
"Papyrus, could you come here for just a moment?"
"Could both of you assist me with something, please?"
After a couple months of these favors and imploring calls, the two brothers were used to it. They wanted to help their father with whatever he needed. It remained that way for awhile, until the polite questions, became orders and demands.
"Sans, come here and help me with this."
"Papyrus, sit up here and don't move"
"Both of you get in here."
From there, the treatment only became worse. The demands and orders, becoming harsher if not done correctly, or to the scientists standards.
The doctor snapped one day with no warning.
Gaster had simply called them into the personal wing of his laboratory one day. Giving the two an emotionless stare when they asked what he needed. He simply lead them down a long, cold, hallway devoid of any color or decor. After some time of walking, they stopped in front of a cramped, dirty cell. He gestured for them to enter it, making the two exchange a confused glance. The two children had entered the cell, however, believing their father wouldn't cause them any harm. That had of course had been a naive thought.
The magical and physical barriers had been activated, and sealed behind them. The doctor simply let out a satisfied huff, before turning and walking away. Leaving two small children, sobbing and wailing in betrayal.
No acknowledgment was made.
No reason was given.
No apology was muttered.
No sympathy was present.
There was Nothing.
-------
Sans woke up from his troubled sleep quite suddenly. Looking around, he didn't see anything immediately wrong in the small cell. Everything was as boring and cramped as when he went to sleep, since he had been stuffed in to it with his brother actually. Wait. His brother. Where was his brother?
The realization came hurtling at him, and he sat up quickly. He took another look around the cell , squinting into the blackness that surrounded him, hoping to find his brother simply asleep. When he didn't, he let out a frustrated huff and stood up.
He honestly didn't know why he'd bothered to look around a second time. The cell was so small he could practically see the entirety of it just by turning his head a little to the left. The extra time he had spent searching the small cell, was time his brother could be getting hurt. Or worse.
The eleven year old walked over to the barrier that separated their shared cell, and the bland hallway. He went as close to the invisible wall as possible without touching it. he tried craning his neck to the side, hoping to see the light at the far end of the hallway. From his angle, all he could see were the walls, and the slight shimmer of the barrier the cell made.
He backed up, and tensed his body, staying completely still. he strained himself to listen to the area around the confines of his enclosure. he focused his mind on trying to decipher if any noises could be from Papyrus or the scientist. He glared at the ground when he couldn't hear anything.
Frustrated, he kicked the ground. The hard floor connecting with his bare foot, made him yelp and back away instinctively. he scowled at the spot he'd kicked, letting out a puff of air before falling silent again.
The damp silence was shattered by a loud scream. A scream of a child. The scream of His brother.
Sans' eyes widened. He rushed over to the edge of the room, trying to see something, anything. When he came to the conclusion he wouldn't be able to see anything, he snarled to himself and frantically looked around.
His left eye began to glow, his mind subconsciously bringing his magic up for use. Sans felt pain run up his legs, and through his body when his magic activated. The seals in the walls around him trying to prevent his magic from forming anything useful, or dangerous.
He swallowed down his pain, and began concentrating on forming any attack he could make. The magic's natural reaction to emotions, made the situation far more painful. The seals in the walls clashing with the unbridled magic in him. The way the pain made his stress and frustration flair and call more power into his magic, made the seals of the room add extra strength into repressing it.
Eventually he managed to form something powerful enough to possibly break the boundary between him and the hallway. Focusing all his energy, he aimed it at the shimmering barricade and fired with as much potency he could spare.
Sans heard a crackling sound, followed by a fizzle and snap. When all he heard after that was silence, he looked up warily. He made a surprised noise when he saw the shimmering gone.
Tentatively, he walked up to the space and reached out a hand. Shying away when he expected a zap of cold magic to snap at his fingers. When nothing happened he looked back at the space, and smiled victoriously.
Another cry echoed around the area, sending a horrified shiver up his spine. He began running in the direction of the yell. He stumbled every so often, his legs not used to all the pressure of running.
At the moment, he didn't care about his pain. He had a brother to save.
-------
Gaster let out a frustrated sigh when Papyrus let out a pained scream. The scientist pinched his nasal cavity, annoyed.
"What did I say about making noise?" He growled out, looking up at the small skeleton strapped to one of his operation tables. "I said not to make any, didn't I?"
He got a terrified nod in response, Papyrus not wanting to anger the scientist anymore then he already was. He had tried to muffle his own scream, he had. When the tests had began, the six year old had stayed mostly silent, only some low whimpers escaping from him.
When Gaster had pulled out the drill and blades, Papyrus had clamped down on his urges to beg the other skeleton not to. Despite his efforts, when the blade had come down on his ribs, he couldn't contain the shriek of pure pain that escaped him.
Gaster genuinely snarled at him when his body had naturally tried to escape the pain that was being inflicted. He had finished cutting the ribs and sat back in irritation.
"I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to!" Papyrus cried, desperately hoping his tormentor was in a charitable mood. By the look he'd given the child when he apologized, he wasn't.
"You are still making noise..." Gaster heaved a large sigh. "You know what happens when you break the rules."
"N-No, I-I'm sorry! p-please not t-that!"
"More noise.."
After the comment, the young monster decided to stay as quiet as possible. Hoping to lessen some of the coming punishment.
"Considering how loud that was, I believe a harsher punishment will suffice." Gaster announced, walking up to the table with a passive face.
"Wha-what? I-"
"The more noise you make, the worse it will be."
Papyrus fell silent.
-------
Sans ran into the room the screams had come from.
He looked around in a panic, trying to locate his little brother. When he finally laid eyes on him, he let out an audible gasp.
He ran over to the unconscious form of his sibling, who had obviously been thrown on to the ground. The older skeleton began looking him up and down. What he found was unsettling to say the least.
Scars marred the smaller skeletons arms and shoulders, snaking cracks covering most of the upper half of the surface. From his shoulders, smaller scratches zigzagged down his spine and around the top of his hips.
Sans winced at finally seeing the damages in full light. Needing to see if he had more injuries, Sans gently flipped his brother over to lay on his back. The front was much worse then the back.
His spine's scars and cuts were very visible from the front, his whole neck area looking jagged and scratched. Sans literally stumbled back a little at the sight of his brothers ribs. The bones were splintered, some of them having been grown back with healing magic without being set properly, leaving a jagged, broken point where the rest should be.
Sans' concerned and mortified look, became an angry glare at the thought of Gaster doing this to his only family.
He grabbed his brother's shirt from the table beside the operation table. He tapped Papyrus's shoulder softly, as to wake him up without scaring him. After a few more pokes and light prods, Papyrus finally sat up.
He winced, and hunched over in pain at the action. Sans helped him stand up after a minute of harsh pain, and passed him his shirt. After he had put on his shirt, he stood on his own, wobbling a little before correcting himself.
Suddenly, he seemed to gather his barrings and realize what had just happened. He looked at Sans with shock and slight joy radiating from him.
"W-Wait, how'd you get o-out?"
"I haven't gotten all the way yet..But I plan on getting us both out." Sans stated, taking his younger brother's hand tightly in his own.
"Right now."