Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Most of the walk happened in silence. That was the Angel’s fault, they thought. Every question they thought to ask her was a question they would have for Susie, but they couldn’t do that. They absolutely could not. At some point, they were going to slip and ask about things that they shouldn’t ask about. Besides, Suzy already didn’t trust them. It was best to keep their mouth shut, and she didn’t look that interested in talking to them. As if reinforcing that herself, she kept a pretty strong pace ahead of them, but kept getting annoyed when she had to wait for them at an intersection.

“Can you walk any slower?” She jeered after the third time of the Angel not moving fast enough. Ah, so she was fine with talking if she got annoyed enough.

The reminders didn’t help. The Angel had definitely heard those words before. Sometimes, they wished that they could have met Susie in the beginning… and wondered what could have changed if they were standing there instead of Kris. They didn’t expect to be confronted with those answers at a time when they shouldn’t ask the question.

As soon as they caught up, the Angel tried to roll off of the question naturally even if it jabbed a little too deep. If she wanted to get onto them for vessel related things, then it was within their right to be annoying about vessel related things. “I learned to walk three days ago. Give me a break.” 

They couldn’t see Suzy’s eyes, but her smug grin fell for a second. She was probably squinting at them. “Everything you say is so damn weird. Forget it.” Yep. Definitely squinting. 

“You asked.” The Angel kept walking, still mentally retracing their steps from earlier in the day. They found that they were looking from above a lot in order to figure out their directions. If they were going to be stuck like this, then they deserved to use their weirder traits for dumb things.

Again, things were silent for a bit. Suzy stopped running ahead as much, and the Angel could see her glancing at the back of their head. “So like… whaddya need the cane for?” She asked, walking up next to them again when she finally had something to comment on. Ah, nope, she was baring her teeth with a grin. She thought something was funny. “Did the last person you snuck up on do that to you?”

Okay, well if she wanted to ask them, then they weren’t going to lie. The Angel glanced back at her. “Imagine, one day you woke up, and your leg was just an entirely different skeletal structure.” The Angel tapped their odd legs. At least, it had gotten slightly easier over time. “I can probably walk. I just haven’t figured it out, and it’s tiring.”

She scrunched up her face again. “I’m making fun of you, dumbass.” 

The Angel saw a hand rising up next to their head, and that was the only warning they got before she flicked their ear roughly. No soul came out, but they stopped moving that time. After a few moments and a quirk of Suzy’s head, the Angel exhaled a breath they didn’t realize they were holding.

It didn’t go unnoticed, a smug grin appearing on Suzy’s face. “What? Can’t handle a little flick? That’s what you get for telling me a ton of stupid shit.”

Grimacing, the Angel glanced back down at their hand which still had faint smears of red on it. They tried to scratch it out a little more. It wouldn’t be noticeable at a distance, but it was a reminder for them. Susie wasn’t always unbearably kind like she was now. She may have wanted to be, but it took her a lot to get there. This Susie-

They were different. Stop comparing them. 

Nevertheless, if Suzy found their reaction funny, then she was likely very much a bully. The Angel was an easy target for that. They couldn’t act like this was someone they knew. It… it was fine. They’d make sure that she was fine for the night, and then they could find Sans like they were supposed to.

Still, that indignant spark that always showed up came back. No one ever believed them, and they hated seeing a slightly familiar face that used to trust them instantly. The Angel clenched their jaw shut for only a moment, but couldn’t help saying “You’d be surprised.”

“Yeah yeah yeah.” Suzy brushed them off, sniffing the air. “Now, where the hell is that restaurant you were talking about?”

The Angel pointed as they rounded a corner, coming across the glowing sign. Grillby’s looked… larger than it was in the Underground. When the Angel looked through the window, they saw that the restaurant sprawled quite a bit. There were far more booths and tables surrounding the bar, and if they had to guess, there was more seating in the back. Grillby had really moved up in the world. While they could see a familiar fire-elemental standing behind the bar, they saw no sign of a skeleton within.

It was fine. They were probably early anyway. They could wait. It gave them time to make sure that Suzy was settled anyway. The two of them still hadn’t come to an agreement on if the Angel would just leave as soon as it was all paid for, but they had a strong feeling that she wanted to be rid of them as soon as possible. 

Suzy stuffed one hand in her pocket before swinging the door open. Instead of getting out of the way, she forced the Angel to crouch and walk under her arm. She looked even more amused when they actually did it. Let her. They could deal with a bit of teasing. They’d already dealt with Flowey for an entire Dark World.

Thankfully, she let them take the lead in getting a table. They didn’t recognize the waiter, and what was once a cozy bar had seemingly changed in the city. It definitely leaned more into “restaurant” now, but the Angel could see some familiar faces in the crowd. It seemed that the canine unit still stopped by. Humans the Angel didn’t recognize stopped by, and from a quick scan of faces, it looked like they were having a good time. It was… peaceful, far more peaceful than the Angel ever thought things would be when they left the world to go on without them.

It reminded them of a similar thought they had when everyone woke up on the day of the festival. They were rarely needed in this world until things were going to go wrong. They couldn’t rest with people they trusted, always being displaced from time until the exact moment when they would be useful.

The man said the future that they wanted was finally within reach. They wondered if there would be anything left for something like them after the smoke cleared… if the smoke even cleared. After all, they had already made a promise. At least, they would be with someone they trusted, even if…

“You’re doing the wet cat thing again.” Suzy knocked against their shoulder, causing them to jolt again. Once again, no soul. It wasn’t danger anymore, just that they still didn’t like it. “Sit down, stupid. I still need you to pay for all of this.”

Right. No use thinking about it now. The Angel could think of this as an act of defiance against always having to do important things. But… they couldn’t forget what they were really here for. The Angel sat down at the booth, and didn’t even bother touching the menu. They wouldn’t be eating anything today anyway, no matter how hollow they felt inside right now.

Suzy looked like Christmas had come early, going through the options as quickly as she possibly could. For a second, the Angel swore that the mask slipped. Suzy actually asked, “Uh, how much do you actually… have?” 

Okay. Scratch that. Grab the menu. The Angel didn’t know any conversion rates of this world, and wasn’t going to try. Gold was stupid in the Underground, and they weren’t even using gold. Thankfully, it was roughly what they were used to. Yay. This world used pretty reasonably converted dollars like the other one. Okay fine. “I was given enough for like… three entire meals I think?” Suzy looked at them like they were stupid, so they clarified. “Like seventy dollars.”

“Cool. Your grave.” She started pouring over the menu instantly. Her idea of a practical joke was probably to use up all the money that the Angel had, but they weren’t going to be using any of it, so…

“I’m not eating, so go crazy,” the Angel said, still watching the rest of the restaurant like a hawk. They had a pretty good sightline on the bar, and that was where Sans liked to sit back in the Underground.

Suzy stared at them for a few seconds. Deciding on something, she scoffed, “Fine by me. You look like you’d keel over if you ate this. All bones.” She gestured at their entire state of being, but her smug grin didn’t return. Odd, they thought she was getting a kick out of free punches at them.

“I also learned how to eat again just this morning.” Why were they saying the things that they were? The Angel wanted to throw themself out the nearest window. There was no reason to snap back at her. It wouldn’t do anything. Just get everything paid for and be done.

Sighing, Suzy slapped the menu back down against the table. She crossed her legs, leaning back. “So, what’s the joke there? Or are you just being weird on purpose?”

The Angel leaned back themself, and their one good horn bonked against the back of their booth. Suzy giggled at them while they shook their head off. They sighed, “I bleed. You saw something else weird about me earlier. Would it be that crazy to say I wasn’t lying?”

“Yeah right.” Suzy immediately lost interest, going back to perusing the menu. “Keep being weird and cryptic. You’re nothing compared to the creeps that come through the store.”

Well, there was something that they could actually talk about that wasn’t questions they had for Susie. The Angel tried to keep her attention. “So, stuck in retail, huh?”

She glanced up, but made a noncommittal noise. “It works. Haven’t been fired yet, so that’s cool. Might end if you do that shit again, though.”

So, she’d lost jobs before. The Angel wanted to ask so many questions, but didn’t think that they should. Her eating food from a trash bag probably said enough. Though, they could… try to figure out her situation in other ways. The Angel wanted to help, but didn’t know how yet. Maybe food was enough, but… “I’m sorry for that,” they began, and decided to come clean, “I thought you were someone else.”

Suzy dipped her head, the smug smile coming back. “Yeah, no one would risk getting their face bitten off for no reason.” The smile slightly faded. “Dunno why you hung around though.”

Their reasons weren’t pure. If it’d been anyone else, the Angel probably would have walked away. “It’s a long story.” They didn’t know if they should tell her, and she seemed even more annoyed when they started being cryptic again. If it was anyone else, would they have even stopped? Would they have even seen a face in the crowd that needed help? No. But, Susie once helped them when they thought all was lost. One day, they’d be back to help her, but until then, they had to do what she would. They weren’t the same, but the Angel couldn’t let this one be. “Just doing what a friend of mine would’ve done.”

Part of them still rotted whenever they thought of the way Toriel looked at them. They still hated it to their core. And yet, they wondered if they should apologize. Why was this so difficult? 

Suzy brushed them off, completely backing off from the conversation. “Cool. Hope whatever friend you have would also let me bleed your wallet dry,” she grumbled, not looking at the Angel again.

Still, they had to know something. The Angel would leave out Susie’s name, because it wouldn’t matter. They just needed to understand Suzy’s situation. “Kris probably would’ve bled my wallet dry. I would’ve done it for Ralsei in an instant.” The Angel watched her expression to see if any names invoked anything, but she just kept humming. She’d met neither of them. Well, there was one more to try. “Noelle probably wouldn’t need it. Her family was already rich. Of course, it didn’t go to anything good.” 

Suzy perked up, and for a second, the Angel thought that they finally found someone who she knew in this world. Except, she seemed more spiteful if anything, and didn’t even mention the name. “Pisses me off, that’s for sure. Every monster who had a decent enough family out of the Underground was pretty damn well off. Those of us who didn’t though?” Her teeth bared. “Digging through a god damn garbage can.”

She didn’t know any of them. She had truly met no one. The Angel stared at her for a bit. Surely, at some point, she would have met this world’s equivalent of Kris. But, the more the Angel thought about it…

Suzy was in the Underground for her childhood, since she seemed around the same age as Frisk now. Susie met Kris in highschool, which would have been when Suzy was on the surface, but… would events have really been the same? Kris and Susie meeting and even becoming friends was such a chance event. It required a Dark World for the two to become actual friends. This world was large. Kris could be a human that was anywhere within this city, or even one that lived completely elsewhere. After all, they were meant to be Toriel’s kid.

The Angel thought of Frisk, and wondered if Kris even existed at all.

Suzy hadn’t found anyone. She’d been left alone.

What could they do? They weren’t going to be around for long. If they did befriend her, then she was just going to be in for a world of heartbreak when they inevitably had to leave. They could try to get her to be friends with Frisk. Maybe that would get Frisk off the Angel’s back, but she didn’t seem to even be interested in making friends right now. But, then again, Susie always wanted friends, but was too scared-

Stop.

Just do this. At least make sure that she had something nice to eat. The Angel could do that. The Angel scratched the fur on their head to try to soothe themself. “I wish I had a way to help more.” They sighed, “In case it wasn’t obvious, I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Suzy snickered, “Yep. Dunno what the hell you’re even doing all of this for, but I’m not complaining. Hope you’re not expecting anything outta this, because I’m dipping the moment I’m done.”

That… made sense. If she didn’t want to be friends, then the Angel wouldn’t intrude any further. At least, she seemed happy about the food.

Silence came back for a while when food was ordered and for quite a while after. The Angel kept scanning the restaurant. No sign of Sans came, and they began to wonder if this was yet another lie to get the Angel to go on a shopping trip that just wasn’t meant to be. The smells of the restaurant started to get to them. They remembered how food used to taste. Part of them wondered what it would be like to try again, but the feeling of anything going down still felt vile.

“Are you uh… seriously not gonna eat?” Suzy asked despite having ordered everything for herself. She pretty much ran as close to the upper limit as possible. The Angel wasn’t really concerned with how much money they had left after this. But still, they didn’t expect Suzy to seem worried. “Not that it’s my problem. But like, I definitely heard your stomach growl.”

“I told you, I can’t. It’s all yours.” They’d probably vomit it all up at their earliest convenience, or just sit there like an idiot anyway. “Besides, hopefully the… leftovers will keep you from needing to dumpster dive.”

Like she’d just heard the funniest thing ever, Suzy slammed a fist on the table. “HA!” A few faces in the restaurant turned their way, but Suzy didn’t care. “You think I’m gonna have leftovers? That’s cute.” She reached forward too fast to dodge and flicked them between the eyes.

The Angel tried to swat the offending hand away, their own teeth slightly baring when the quick jolt of pain hit them. They once again checked for a red glow on their chest, and were thankful to see nothing. This time, they did feel a compulsion to defend themself, and stifled the call to dodge that was thrumming in their chest. That was as close as they were allowing this to get.

“Can you stop doing that?” They asked, and bristled at the way Suzy was grinning. “If you hit me, then the heart problem that you saw is going to happen again, and I’d like for that to not happen.”

Suzy only seemed like she found it more funny. “Sick, your teeth are actually baring. Nice. So you do have a limit.”

“You don’t have to push it.” As soon as they could, they hid their teeth again. The Angel couldn’t understand what was with people and intentionally trying to antagonize them. If it wasn’t Susie’s face, then it would probably hurt less. But of course, everyone who hurt them in this world just had to be someone that they recognized very well. “I’m dealing with enough right now, and I just wanted to be nice.”

Suzy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Relaaaax. I don’t wanna deal with that either, so whatever.” She tilted her head, like she was listening for something. “This place is boring anyway. If you’re gonna be a wet rag, then you can just leave the money dumbass.”

“I-” The Angel clamped their jaw shut. She was mean. The Angel expected that somewhat, but just thought that things would naturally work out. “I can do that if you want, but I just…” Did she not want a friend? Wasn’t that what Susie had been missing out on this whole time? A chance?

“See? Wet rag,” Suzy snickered again, not caring a single bit about any attempt that they were trying to make. “Chill out. You’re lucky that you’re weird. Like, seriously, what’s up with the whole blood thing?” 

She… gave them an out? The Angel expected her to brush them away. Of course, every question about themself seemed to only annoy her, and she was still calling them a wet rag. They could keep the anger down. It was bubbling slowly but surely. The Angel loosened their grip on the booth, claws slowly unsticking from leather that they had pierced. 

The Angel took a deep breath, and talked about what they did know. “A doctor told me that I’m… more physical than normal monsters, I guess.” They didn’t need to get into the specifics of what the other world’s monsters were like, or if the Angel was reflecting that in some way. “I don’t… actually have a normal soul like you.”

“Huh.” For once, they had actually piqued her interest. “Pretty gnarly. Makes you look like you killed someone.” Again, she snickered, pointing at their chest. “You might’ve. I dunno.”

Did they make a poorly timed joke that they had indeed killed before since this world was in-fact real? No, the moment they thought of it, their claws impaled leather again. It wasn’t funny. “I haven’t,” they lied. “It’s mine, and it has caused me so many problems.”

“Oh yeah? Then maybe you shouldn’t show it off out in the open, dumbass.” Suzy’s hand came up again, but she thought better of it this time, playing it off by brushing her hand against her jacket. “Trust me, people around here? Twitchy as hell. You so much as look at ‘em wrong, and they think you’re the scariest thing ever.” Her teeth bared, drool dripping out of her mouth. “Good for me though. Keeps people from hounding me.”

The Angel crossed their own arms, leaning back. “Seems like that didn’t work out for once.”

Somehow, that was what finally knocked her off balance. She shook her head before leaning over on the table to defend herself. “Well duh, that’s not my fault! You’re just weird as hell, and I still can’t figure out what your whole deal is. I’m still expecting you to try to stab me when this is all over, y’know.”

“Then keep expecting.” They smiled, pointing at their one good horn on the left side of their head. “I only have half the chance of actually getting you anyway.”

“Hah! So you do have jokes!” Suzy grinned, actually grinned before taking her arm off the table. But, now that attention had been drawn, the Angel caught her looking at the right side of their head. “So what’s the deal with that, huh? That thing still looks sharp.”

The Angel had been trying not to think about it. After their save-point healed it, it stopped bleeding and hurting nearly as much, but it was still jagged. They didn’t want to poke at it to test what bone shrapnel felt like. So, they gave her a truthful answer. “I bashed it off.”

Again, she seemed interested all over again. “Well c’mon, don’t leave me hanging. Why the hell would you go and do something like that?” A bit of smugness came back, and she tried to lean back and act like she wasn’t biting on their story. “I bet it was embarrassing, and you’re lying.”

“Technically,” the Angel sighed, not exactly remembering it as a fond memory, but still enjoying the brief camaraderie for a second, “I shot it off. I needed something sharp, so I…” They flicked their head to the side. “Bashed it off. That didn’t work, so I shot it off.”

“Hell yeah!” She tilted her head. “Wait a minute, the hell did you use to shoot it?”

The Angel shrank back into their seat slightly, grumbling while being unsure of how to explain that they could just do that. “Soul magic,” they mumbled, hoping that would be enough of an explanation.

It must’ve been enough. Her grin came back. “Damn, your magic must be something if you can blow your own horn off. If you want, I can make it even. My axes are pretty good.”

Ah. So that’s what she meant by throwing an axe at them. Come to think of it though, that was a rough magic type to have. The Angel could not think of all that many applications for summoning axes, and none that exactly came up working at a grocery store. “I’m good. But axes?”

Suzy grinned for a bit longer before something deflated. She blew some of her hair out of her face, but it fell right back over her eyes. “Yeah. Good for pretty much one thing, and I’m not even allowed to put one in between someone’s eyes for being annoying.” She held up her hand teasingly. “You’re lucky it was only a flick.”

“After all we’ve been through?” The Angel half-wanted to make a joke about not actually dying, but the sickening feeling that rose in their throat when they thought about it needed to stay down. Instead, they leveraged something else. “How about another deal? Promise to not chop me with an axe, and I’ll show you the horn that I knocked off.”

For a second, her eyebrows raised enough for her eyes to be visible for a second. She leaned across the table excitedly, grinning. “Deal. Show it.”

Satisfied at hopefully removing the possibility of an axe, the Angel reached into their satchel and pulled out the red fragment of their horn. Suzy tracked it like she was planning to pounce, so they kept it firmly on their side of the booth. “You can see it. Unfortunately, I kinda want this intact for a while.”

“Darn. I was gonna bite it.” Suzy didn’t try to snatch it from them, but she seemed satisfied just seeing that they weren’t lying. “Fine. That is cool. You got me. All I got are dumb scars everywhere.”

The Angel could see a lot of them across her face. Well, she asked about their horn, so it was fair play. “Is there a story behind that?”

“Blegh, nothing interesting. Normal scraps, y’know?” She shook her head, claws tracing the marks on her scales. “Don’t worry about that though. I didn’t let ‘em happen for free.” For some reasons, the words lacked the usual bravado that they always had. 

The Angel almost entertained the thought of peering deeper, but realized that they really shouldn’t be doing that with friends. It was a choice now to peer into minds instead of something they did naturally. They should take that as a boon and not do it amongst friends. 

“You don’t have to look at me like you’re sorry, stupid.” Suzy bared her teeth. “Feel sorry for the dumbasses who got bitten right after.”

“Right, sorry.” Still, it didn’t help all that much. They tried to wipe the expression off of their face, but failed over and over. Thankfully, food finally showed up, distracting them from everything. Suzy actually looking giddy made a smile come to their face, and for just a second, they thought that they had done something right.

Of course, time had a way of dumping a cold bucket of water over their head.

Just when they’d begun to settle down, just when the memory of why they were here began to slightly dull, a living reminder opened the door. The Angel would never mistake him. For a second, they thought that Papyrus had tricked them again, but sure enough, a different skeleton walked through that door.

Sans couldn’t dodge forever.

The Angel tried not to stare, watching him from the corner of their eye. He didn’t acknowledge their presence, only walking to other patrons instead. Of course, he always did that in Grillby’s as well. He actually had it in him to flick a bone or two to the canine unit. Only after a moment did he mosey over to the jukebox, putting in a few coins. Huh, it really did work. The Angel wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying, and couldn’t with all of the ruckus. They tried to switch perspectives, and only made out the sound of his speech instead of the words.

He looked happy. Somehow, that annoyed them the most.

“Excuse me for a moment,” the Angel said, pushing themself up from their seated position and grabbing their cane. Who knew? Suzy might not even remember this in a bit. The Angel had no idea how Sans would react to their presence, and they were pushing it just approaching him directly.

Sans sat down at the bar. Grillby moved to the back to get him the usual, the Angel assumed. They still hadn’t heard a word the skeleton said. He still hadn’t turned to look at them while they approached from behind. This world knew them as a monster with a human soul. An interference. An anomaly.

For the next few minutes, for one person in particular, they would be the Angel.

The Angel knocked a whoopie cushion off the stool with their cane, sitting down next to Sans. A veil of their own making covered their face, neutrality taking over their expression. No more games. He couldn’t leave now.

Since they came in here, the sun had gone down. The Angel muttered, “Rowdy night, isn’t it?”

Eyelights flicked over to them. Relaxed. His grin didn’t waver, and the Angel couldn’t tell if it was plastered on or genuine. As if he was completely unbothered by them, Sans shrugged. “Woulda been better if ya fell for the whoopie cushion trick. Oh well. Guess you’ve seen it before.”

His double-edged language wasn’t going to help him this time. The Angel didn’t need to be hostile with him, but they knew of his tendency to dodge. After all, that’s why they were here, wasn’t it? All of the locations that he was supposed to be in were strangely missing him, and every excuse in the book had been made for him to evade them. Honestly, they were shocked that he even came here. 

The Angel’s eyes narrowed. Despite knowing how suspicious they sounded, they needed to be suspicious right now. He couldn’t leave, and they needed him to understand what they were. “You’re a really hard person to find, you know.”

Again, he didn’t react to a thing they said. Sans’ face never changed. “Heard that one before. Turns out, when you have as many jobs as I did, you get more retirement money. Put ‘em all together and I retired early. Pretty cool, huh?”

Of course, he would do something like that. Of course, he would try to evade. “Thought you’d be the type to stay put and laze around.” The Angel wondered what was going on inside his head. Prying would be easy, but the consequences may be more than they could handle. After all, when they glanced across the room to Suzy, they knew that they didn’t want to undo all of this. Best keep it as straightforward as possible. “You know why I’m here,” they started, deciding to get any pretense out of the way. 

Sans made no indication that he cared. “Dunno. The place has got some good food, bad laughs, and some good friends every now and then. My bro hates it though. Finds new ways to uh… express that every day.” The eyelights trailed towards the Angel. “He’s the coolest, isn’t he?”

“Can’t deny that, even now.” For a second, they let the veil slip. It reasserted itself. He was trying to distract them. “You’re trying to distract me.”

“Nah, I mean it. Dunno why you’d be here.” He shrugged. “Maybe the ‘friend’ guess was pretty good. She might start wonderin’ why you’re over here.”

The Angel spotted Suzy, and she seemed completely unperturbed by her absence. Maybe the food was all she wanted after all. Still, it was nice to see her happy for just a little bit. But, right now, the Angel was needed over here. “You’re going to make this difficult, aren’t you?”

Grillby walked out of the back, giving Sans a quite plain burger for the restaurant that he was ordering from. It seemed that some things never changed. Heat radiated from the fire elemental, and his glasses turned to regard the Angel carefully. He didn’t stay for long, withdrawing to clean glasses as he always did.

“I dunno.” Sans stayed perfectly still. When the Angel blinked, a chunk was taken out of the burger. “Not the kinda guy to take the goat by the horns, y’know?” He fully turned, eyelights flicking up to their head. “Darn, guess it’s only the one.” At the Angel’s deadpan glare, his grin only grew. “See bud? I’ll be even worse at it when I’ve only got one horn to work with.”

Dodging again. The Angel started down at his food, seeing another bite having been taken when they looked away. They sighed, “What dumb thing are you going to make me say before you acknowledge what this is? Do you need a codeword?” They put a hand on their forehead, reciting lines that they knew they had to say eventually. “I’m a stupid doodoo butt. I’m the Legendary Fartmaster. What, is there a third one you’re gonna give me?”

The skeleton snickered, leaning back on his stool ever-so-slightly. “Sorry pal, those codewords are old news. Where’d ya get those from, Frisk?” His grin only grew wider. “They told everyone ‘cause they thought it was funny. Guess they didn’t tell you that pretty much everyone knows ‘em now, huh? Trying to make you look real immature. For shame.”

The Angel leaned closer, teeth gritting. “I need you to take this remotely seriously.” The pretense had to be dropped. He wasn’t receptive to attempts at any subtlety. “The Roaring is happening as we speak, and if you know anything, I need you to tell me now.” He was going to keep evading until they got to the point. That was always how he was, hiding behind jokes until cornered into finally getting one more potshot in, whether it be snapping at them for killing his brother or finally being unable to afford not to care anymore.

Sans did the closest thing to rolling his eyes, glancing away from them while another bite vanished from the food in front of him. “Dunno what you’re talking about, bud. That sounds like a pretty cool band name, though.” 

No. They weren’t taking this. “Then why aren’t you looking at me when you say that?” The Angel hissed, heat building under their skin. “Kris. Susie. Ralsei. Noelle. Do any of those names mean anything to you, or were you not paying attention to them when you were having the night of your life?”

That damned expression never changed. As if he was dealing with someone having a tantrum, Sans lightly waved them off. “Geez, take it easy bud. I keep up with people, but I don’t know everyone. Too much for a lazy guy like me, right?” He gestured at himself with one covered hand. The burger was gone. “Noel is the mayor’s kid last I checked. Asgore could set ya up, but I wouldn’t go to her place. If you think you’re icy, you haven’t seen anything yet. Good kid, though. Knew her all the way back in-”

“So the Ol’ Jitterbug really just means nothing to you, huh?” The Angel analyzed his face as closely as they could, looking for something, anything that would tip them off. Eyelights disappearing would be a dead giveaway. He rarely used that flashing eye, but even that could be something. Maybe his smile would drift downward finally, but no.

Never. 

As if on cue, a jukebox that had been working since the Angel came in began playing that same obnoxious song. The basket that Sans ate the burger from was mysteriously gone. Sans studied their face for a second before snickering again, “Come on, pal. I know the song is pretty annoying, but you’ll have to get used to it. It’s a classic. I queued up seven of those in there, but you might get a break if ya wait them out-”

A fist slammed against the bar, the entire restaurant going quiet.

The Angel rose to their feet. Their teeth bared, and the countless eyes on them no longer mattered. 

Now they understood what feeling they had for this skeleton. 

Sheer, unbridled hatred.

“I know what you did in that lab,” the Angel growled, feeling invisible wings sharpening around their head as they loomed over the skeleton. “I know what you suggested. I know that information wasn’t from here.” The veil grew larger. It threatened to consume them completely. And yet, the Angel refused to fall under the haze, because the soul in their chest blazed too much to fall to apathy. “You nearly doomed this place after seeing another get covered in darkness, and you wanna know what the funny thing is? That’s not why I hate you.”

Sans didn’t even so much as twitch when they jabbed a finger against his chest. They were surprised that they even made contact. He just stared, expression never breaking.

“You’re a coward. You saw Kris and Susie at their breaking points, and you brushed them off.” Their claws scraped into the wood of the bar. Someone was moving towards them. “After all this time, it’s still just one big joke, isn’t it? Gonna brush me off too? After all this time?” Something bitter forced its way out of their mouth. They laughed, “What’s it gonna take to get you to care?” An old instinct came back. An easier option presented itself. The only time they ever got an even slightly honest conversation out of him was when… “Do you really need me to get my hands dirty again?”

No reaction. Nothing. Sans kept grinning, his eyelights drifting to something behind the Angel. 

Two somethings. They became aware of two dogs standing behind them. Dogamy. Dogaressa. The Angel knew their attack patterns. For the briefest of seconds, they considered lashing out at someone getting that close and practically breathing down their neck.

Heat grew from behind the bar. The Angel removed their claws from its surface, staring at the fire-elemental who was now giving them his undivided attention. He had only spoken two words to the Angel when they first came through the Underground, and it seemed that he had gotten angry enough to voice one more.

“... ...leave.”

The Angel stood perfectly still, staring down at the skeleton who they wanted to rend. Even now, he kept grinning. As if he really didn’t understand that this wasn’t a joke, he was just smiling at them. No one would know how to create a Dark World by sheer chance. The Angel never saw a Grand Door corresponding to his house within the Roaring. Maybe, they weren’t paying attention, but they also remembered him bleeding when a second attack caught him off guard.

They wondered if that would finally make him talk.

The Angel itched for a fight. They didn’t know how successful they would be like this, especially with every monster and human in the restaurant staring at them. If they had a save, they would do it without question. Ever since he dismissed Susie that night when it rained, the Angel wanted nothing more than to grab him by the hoodie and ask him if he was stupid. How could someone so good at reading expressions utterly fail to do so when it mattered?

But then, the Angel remembered Suzy still sitting in the booth. She was happy right now.

Fresh air. They needed fresh air, and a way forward. Whatever they were looking for, they couldn’t get it here. The Angel glared at Sans, withdrawing. Their soul would be revealed if they fought. “Fine,” they muttered, wrenching their gaze away from him. All of this, just for it to be another joke. Their chest twisted. Their lips curled up. “Guess it was never me who you were rooting for after all, anyway.”

The Angel kept a hand balled into a fist while the other had a death grip on their cane. The heat of the restaurant chased them outside as the door shut behind them. It had gotten cold again, and the sun had nearly gone below the horizon in the time they were in there. 

A joke.

All of that, for just more jokes.

The Angel didn’t glance back through the window. They started walking. Directionless. Again. He left them with nothing. Of course, he wouldn’t help. He only ever helped in the Underground due to a promise, right? He threatened them with death had the promise not been made. What was even the point of that anyway? Was that all he was? Someone who’d only ever be a friend based on circumstance?

Even now, he never let anything slip. Even now, the Angel couldn’t get through to him. Codewords didn’t work. Reminding him didn’t work. It all just slid off of him, like he didn’t know, or that it had all just become a bad memory for him.

For a second, the Angel didn’t watch where they were going. The alleyways grew more empty as they just tried to get away from the waning crowds while the last of the daylight faded. They didn’t think about their phone anymore, even though it had been buzzing the entire dinner. That was supposed to work. All of that was supposed to work. Sans was dodgy, but he wasn’t apathetic entirely. That’s what frustrated them so much. They remembered the dinner that he invited Frisk to! They remembered the heart-to-heart in the Last Corridor. 

So why then did he refuse to take them seriously now?

A wing next to the Angel’s head that shouldn’t have been there twitched.

All they had to do was show him. Force his hand. Maybe, he didn’t believe them. Maybe, he didn’t understand what precisely they were. He knew of the anomaly, but did he really know about the Angel? They could force his hand. His hand could always be forced.

If he wished to be apathetic, they could do the same. They could feel their power inching up towards their face, twitching into existence in a world where it shouldn’t be. They could play this game. If he wanted to do so with them, then-

“Damn, you really do walk slow.”

The faint light over their eyes dissipated. The Angel turned, and wings no longer blocked their vision. They were never there, after all. The gruff voice that greeted them belonged to the distinct shape of Suzy walking down the alley from where they just came. 

She… followed? The Angel wasn’t expecting that. They definitely left her money, and patted their pocket just to be sure. For a second, their shoulders loosened, and they managed to take a breath. “Sorry. I…” The Angel rubbed their eyes, trying to get the blurriness out. “I got you kicked out, didn’t I?”

Suzy stopped, sneering like she’d just heard the dumbest thing in her life. “What? No. Just realized that the crowd was lame as hell.” She shrugged like it didn’t matter either way. “But hey, turns out you do have fangs. Good for you.”

Maybe, it was their power receding, but they didn’t quite follow. The Angel blinked, rubbing the side of their face. “I mean, I… guess I do?” 

“Aw c’mon.” Suzy marched up next to them, lightly nudging their shoulder. “I dunno what that guy did to piss you off, but that was great.”

Oh.

She was learning the wrong lessons, wasn’t she? 

Of course, the Angel had given her the wrong idea. They couldn’t even act surprised. They wanted to hurt him. They wished that he would have pulled them into a fight with no regard, but it wasn’t like him, was it? Their hand dragged down their face. “He drove me up a wall, okay?” No, that wasn’t where they should start. Rectify the mistake first. “I’m not usually like that. He just…” No. Try again. “I don’t like beating people up, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Suzy smirked, lowering her head to get on eye-level with them. “No shit. You took me out to dinner after I kicked your ass. No offense, but you’re kinda bad at threatening people.” After a moment, she stood back up to her full height, crossing her arms. “But hey, the whole goody-two-shoes thing was weirding me out. Good to know you actually have a spine sometimes.”

They squinted at her. “Me… threatening a skeleton is good to you?”

“Ugh,” she groaned, and definitely rolled her eyes despite them not really being visible, “I can’t get a read on you when you’re sitting there groveling like a wet rag.” They thought to protest about the groveling again, but Suzy immediately bared her teeth. “It IS groveling, dumbass. Let me finish!” At Suzy’s command, their mouth clacked shut uselessly. “But uh… yeah. Seeing you get mad? Means you’re not just a damn piece of cardboard.”

The Angel sucked in a breath, not quite understanding where the weird barrage of half-insults about their “before” state was going. “What does that mean?”

“It means you’re all right, stupid.” Suzy’s teeth bared at the admission. “The food was good. I’ll admit it. If you were trying to make up for the thing at the store, fine. You’re spared. Thought it was gonna be something weird, but it wasn’t. So uh…” She shrugged, scratching the back of her head. “I dunno. Figured it’d be lame to let you wander off on your own into a dark alley, which you’re kinda doing, by the way.”

Right. The Angel just took the shortest path off of the main road that they could. They would’ve sensed danger long before it came anyway, but… they were well off track. Still, their brain hooked back on a comment that she just said, and some of the guttural twisting in their chest that Sans had caused began to alleviate. “You’re fine with me now?”

Suzy once more threw her head back and rolled her eyes. “Geez, don’t wear it out. Sure. Whatever. Just making sure you don’t get yourself pulverized.” 

The Angel didn’t go anywhere. Suzy wasn’t going anywhere, standing still with her arms crossed. She was just watching them, like she was waiting for them to do something first. “So… you’re just hanging around?” They questioned, glancing around the alley like there was something she expected them to be doing here.

“Psh, what? Want me to go away? Damn, fine. I had stuff to do anyway.” She turned on her heel, immediately beginning to walk away slowly. 

“No- I-” The Angel held out their hands, and she immediately stopped in her tracks. She shot them a toothy grin when she glanced at them, like she was absolutely expecting them to do that. The Angel did technically have places to be. They were supposed to call Papyrus, but they didn’t know what was possibly waiting for them back there. Sans was their best lead, and right now, they didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know where to go. They’d have to try more drastic plans, but needed time to think. So, they decided to be honest. “I have no idea what I’m doing, and do not want to go back to town right now.”

Suzy’s grin only grew wider, and she spun right back around with her hands on her hips. “Arright, then I got something I need to handle. You can come with, if you’re up for it and not gonna keel over.”

The Angel tilted their head, their ears going a little lopsided.

Suzy laughed under her breath before explaining, “You interrupted me while I was raiding the dumpsters. The food was good, but I’m still gonna do that.” Jabbing a finger in their direction, she offered, “If you have nothing better to do, tag along. Maybe explain that whole wing thing you had going on there for a sec. That was cool.”

Wait, she saw what? The Angel’s hand shot up to the sides of their head, but thankfully the wings had long gone. “You saw that?”

“Duh. You were lighting up the whole alley, stupid.” She gestured for them to follow, hands on the back of her head. “Now keep up. I’m not picking you up if you slow me down, and someone might want your other horn.”

The Angel grimaced, immediately having to keep their balance but trying their best to keep pace with her. They did not want to be caught alone, and quite frankly Suzy did look incredibly strong. They didn’t know what the city was like, but if she was telling the truth about the scraps that she got in, then the Angel didn’t want to chance anything late at night. 

As soon as they caught up, her snout turned down at them. She was grinning a lot more lately, even when they actually looked at her. Her head leaned back, and the Angel started glancing around to try to figure out what she was looking at. “You know, for someone who just leaves their tail out like that, you really don’t use it.”

At the reminder of the appendage, the Angel became very aware of it once more. They had been… trying their best to ignore it. Their legs were already so disjointed from their previous form that they were hard to walk in. The tail wasn’t even something that they had before, which usually caused them to never think about moving it. It… mostly just dragged on the ground. They’d gotten used to the feeling as just part of their lopsided walking, but…

The Angel tried to test it, and flinched the moment the end of their tail moved. “I’m not used to it,” they admitted, but figured that Suzy wouldn’t believe them anyway. Instead of immediately getting more admonishment, Suzy was quiet. When the Angel glanced up, she had her head tilted at them, waiting for them to explain. However, they were at a loss. “...I don’t know how to explain this in a way that’ll make you believe me.”

“You don’t have to make up an excuse, stupid.” She reached out to grab their tail, and the Angel had a raw instinct to shift it away from her. Thankfully, it responded, getting out of the way of her hand. Suzy’s hand thankfully withdrew, but not without commentary. “Damn, I was just gonna show you how to hide it.”

Now more conscious of it, they tried to move it again. They didn’t think they liked the odd flame-like tuft on the end of it that much. Fire magic wasn’t something that they had good associations with. It was a spell one of their best friends never liked using, and a form of magic that belonged to someone that they were not. The Angel glanced back at Suzy. “And you’re an expert on that because…?”

Suzy bared her teeth in annoyance before immediately speeding up. “I just see other people do it, okay? Not everyone has those fancy holes to stick a tail through!” She completely gave up on trying to grab it, thankfully. The Angel did not want to know how that felt. 

A few streets down, the Angel realized that their nerves had calmed down. They didn’t feel phantom wings around the back of their head in the slightest. Somehow, that anger became muted just a bit. They still wished they could go back to that bar and slap some sense into the skeleton, but…

For a moment there, they almost became lost again. They could feel it starting. It wasn’t like it would change much about them. The Angel was still themself like that, just… focused. Everything about them was dedicated to a singular goal. Whether that goal be giving up or moving forward relentlessly, it was all their thoughts became. They… didn’t think they liked it all that much. Even if Suzy wasn’t the person they remembered, they still felt that it was right to say something. “Thanks… for not leaving me out there,” they mumbled, voice coming out far quieter than they would’ve liked.

Suzy glanced down at them before scoffing, “You would’ve gotten torn to shreds if I didn’t come get you. I’m just keeping you around, because you’ve got food.”

“...I don’t have money anymore, by the way,” they idly commented. It was all given, after all. If they thought hard enough, they could see the value with their second pair of eyes. “So… we might both be dry on that front.”

Her hands went to the back of her head while she walked, like she was completely relaxed despite how dark out it was. Only the light of the streetlamps illuminated the two of them now. “Arright, then I’m keeping you around, because you got my attention.” One eye peeked out from under her hair while she gave them a side-glance. “What was with the wing thing? Magic stuff?”

Where did they even begin? Maybe, they could start small. They didn’t have to give her the whole doomed prophecy thing. “Other than… soul magic, I can’t really cast on my own.” They didn’t think that becoming lost was magic, but they were unsure of what precisely they did whenever it happened. “The wings aren’t supposed to be visible. That just happens sometimes.”

“...Huh.” Suzy started walking a bit slower, swiveling on her feet. It let the Angel pace themself a bit more. “That’s weird. I thought all you goat types were big on fire.” She gestured at the tail, seeing the resemblance to a flame as well.

The Angel only grimaced at the comparison. “I’m not related to Asgore or Toriel, if that’s what you’re insinuating, something that I don’t think Toriel even believes me about.”

Suzy grinned wider. “Oh, sick. Here I was thinking that you might’ve been related to those hacks. Guess there really was nothing to worry about.” After a quick pivot in front of them, she started to walk backwards while talking. “Both of ‘em suck. Worst transition to the surface ever.”

Already reeling about the fact that Suzy just took their explanation in stride, the Angel hooked onto her change of subject immediately. This was something they’d never heard about. “What about it?”

Unfortunately, that only caused her to squint. “Uhhhh… you should’ve been there, stupid. Unless you have a family somewhere that made it all easier?” She squinted at them, and when the Angel shook their head, she bared her teeth. “Then where the hell were you??? I didn’t see you in the foster crap. Don’t tell me you were somehow born on the surface.”

Right. Their age meant that they should have been in the Underground while the barrier was still active. There was no getting around that. “I was otherwise occupied when the barrier broke.” That was the only polite way to say that they were possessing a human at the time, and definitely not anywhere close to what they were now.

“Ugh,” Susie groaned, spinning around to keep walking forward. She kept her gaze trained forward for a bit, but still kept meandering to keep the pace slow. “Then consider yourself lucky. There was a program back in the Underground. Lotta monsters fell down, so that left a good bit of dumb kids on their own.” She waved her hand like it didn’t matter to her either way. “All that? Got thrown out the window the second the barrier was gone.”

Would she actually admit that she was a part of that program? The Angel never really fully understood Susie’s living situation. She never talked about it. However, even without that, it was fairly obvious what Suzy was implying. So, they began to pry just a little bit. “What happened?”

“No one wanted to do foster care anymore, that’s what.” Suzy’s hand balled into a fist. “Everyone was too busy making new lives on the surface. Some humans got their fingers in it too before we were all mushy together. Whole thing just fell apart.” She smiled, dipping her head low. “The barrier breaking sucked. At least, down in the hole, there was food.”

The Angel stopped in their tracks.

That was… their fault, wasn’t it? They wouldn’t take back breaking the barrier by any means, but… they didn’t think about what might be forgotten when the Underground was left behind. All of their worries for monsterkind always revolved around what humanity would do. Things… seemed fine roughly a decade later. Maybe, the Angel’s perception of humanity was colored by what they already knew. But… for monsters to just… move on like that?

“It’s a habit of theirs, I think,” the Angel said without thinking, picking up the pace just a little bit to walk next to her. Their legs were aching after all of the walking from the past few days. Soreness had long settled in. When Suzy glanced at them, they continued, “Only one of my friends from the Underground really resolved her problems. Everyone else just…” They tapped their chin, trying to find the right words. “Ignored their past. Forgot about it.” A memory of Asgore in the graveyard came to mind. “And others don’t know how to move on.”

Suzy stared at them for a bit longer before turning away, huffing, “Seemed like the skeleton you were beefing with did that.” The reminder stung, making the Angel’s grip on their cane tighten. “What was the deal with that, anyway?”

A new instinct came. With a new limb being paid attention to, the Angel accidentally thrashed their tail at the mention of Sans again. When it slapped against concrete, they winced. The thought of Sans was momentarily forgotten when they stared back at the tail, and they did not miss the way Suzy covered her mouth to not laugh. “I didn’t know I could do that.”

Cracking just a little, Suzy snorted into her fist, “God, you’re so weird. Don’t change the subject, dumbass.”

All it took was someone mentioning the limb, and now they were beginning to incorporate it. That was embarrassing. The Angel took a deep breath, steadying themself while trying to actually get back on track. How did they explain Sans? It felt nearly impossible to do, especially because they got no confirmation whatsoever. The whole “being from a higher plane” thing still wasn’t in the cards. “I knew him before. He…” How could they explain all that Sans hadn’t done? “He acts like he doesn’t know me, and doesn’t know about a thing that happened in the past.”

Suzy tilted her head back and forth, like she was rolling the information around. “You’re being vague as hell. Come on, fill me in.” She dipped her head down to get on eye-level with them, baring a toothy smirk. “I already told you a stupid story earlier when you got me talking. Come on. It’s payback.”

“You won’t believe me.” They tried, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to come up with a fake story. She’d think the real one was fake even if they played it straight.

However, Suzy rolled one of her eyes that slightly glowed under her hair, drawing herself back to her full height. “It got ya mad enough to actually get mad, and you’re usually a wet rag. Dunno if I’ll get it, but you can’t just leave me hanging on that!”

There was no possible way that she would actually believe them, and they didn’t know how to possibly get around it. The Angel blinked at her slowly before trying to settle on the most understandable part of what their entire situation was. “So… you know how I’ve been doing things like bleeding, the heart thing, and not knowing a thing about the Underground?”

Suzy nodded, clearly following. “Yup. A real weirdo.”

“It’s because I’m not… from here.” They could start with that, probably. The Angel didn’t know how else to explain it, but…

Snorting like it was the most obvious thing ever, Suzy nudged their shoulder. It briefly made them freeze up, and she watched them for a second before putting a bit of space in between them. “Uh, yeah duh. Dunno how you not being from the city explains things though. You’re like a fish flopping around, dumbass.”

Okay, insult aside, the Angel could work with that. “Right. Fish out of water. Don’t know what’s going on, and I look incredibly out of place. Imagine that, but larger.” The Angel brought their fingers together before expanding them. “It’s not that I’m not from the city. Until three days ago, I was in another place entirely. I’m not from this world at all.”

Suzy squinted, regarding them carefully before slowly tilting her head. “Yeeeaah, uh… sounds like you found out what human drugs were the hard way.”

No- Ugh. Of course. The Angel gestured at themself with both hands. “I would keel over dead if I tried that. Look at me.” More aggressively, they gestured at their entire body. “You gave me a bloody nose. Last I checked, human drugs don’t do that.” Were they different in this world? The Angel didn’t want to find out.

At least, they got Suzy snickering again when they gestured at themself. She coughed into her hand. “Yeah, you look like a light breeze would knock you over. Still doesn’t mean that the next most obvious thing is uh… whatever the hell you just said.” She continued walking, forcing the Angel to grab onto their cane again to keep up. They rounded a corner, her grocery store coming into view. “But hey, you’ve still got time to convince me. Less boring than silently digging through trash.”

She wasn’t actively pummeling them in the ground for saying… quite frankly outlandish things. The Angel could work with that. They figured that they could explain while digging around.

“You’re not squeamish, are you?” Suzy asked while they arrived at the same garbage bin that they left earlier. With a grunt, she pushed the large lid open, peeking inside. Unfortunately, it smelled disgusting. When their snout scrunched up, Suzy only laughed, “Don’t look at me like that. I know which bags are the good ones.”

Despite never having to do it with their bare hands, the Angel was used to combing through trash for anything useful. However, they were very grateful that Suzy did not drag them into the fray. She immediately started digging like it was second nature, pushing various bags aside to find whatever she was looking for.

Well, she wanted the Angel to convince her. How on earth were they going to do that? They had an easy way to do it, but they’d need a closed room. Besides, they weren’t… eager to pull another person into a Dark World. After all, the prophecy had already taken one version of her from them. Who knew what it could try to do if they introduced Suzy to the Dark Worlds.

So, they asked while she was digging. “What would it take for you to believe me?”

Suzy stopped, glancing back at them for a second before waving her hand absentmindedly. “Not gonna happen. I’m not falling for that.” She dragged a bag out of the trash, plopping it on the ground in front of the Angel. “You make sure I was right about this one. I’m gonna keep digging.”

Oh, so she didn’t know what she was looking for. Whatever. The Angel fumbled with the bag for a few seconds, cursing while they tried to do more fine motions with their fingers. “Okay, but you saw the wings around my head. It’s not magic doing that, I think.”

“Aren’t you supposed to know?” Suzy glanced down at the bag they were fumbling with before marching over. She immediately undid the knot for them before going back to what she was doing. “What else would they be?”

Well, there certainly was food in the bag. Various dents littered most of the cans and boxes within, and apparently that was enough to get them thrown out. Oh well, at least it was going to good use. The Angel glanced back up at Susie, glaring. “They’re just part of me now, I think. I’m called the Angel for a reason.”

Suzy pulled another bag out of the trash, checking the inside and being satisfied with something. A second came right after it, and the same process occurred. “Pfft, no you’re not. You literally told me your name, dumbass.”

Damn it, the Angel did let that slip, didn’t they? They were only surprised that it didn’t completely break down the world the moment they uttered it, considering what happened with the man’s name. There were likely technical differences between their shattering that the Angel was not awake enough to parse right now. So instead, they insisted on the one thing that mattered, “People aren’t supposed to know that name, and they’ve been hounding me for it since I got here. Don’t tell anyone.”

Suzy pulled a small box of crackers out of one of the bags, opening it with one of her claws. “What? Got people looking for ya or something? Bet you’re gonna tell me next that you’re part of some mafia.” She wiggled her fingers like she was telling a spooky story before going back to the box. 

“No. Listen.” Of all the things that they did not want to be teased about, their name was one of them. The bite in their tone caused Suzy to look up, and they stressed as much as possible. “I don’t let them use my name, because they forgot it, okay? They forgot me. Sans- that skeleton you saw at the bar- chooses to ignore me. So… I don’t want them to know.” More than ever, they never wanted their name uttered. It could be said when their friends were safe again. No sooner.

After a beat of silence, Suzy huffed, “There’s the bite again. Good for you. Not gonna mean anything if you fall over first.” Her claw withdrew from the box, and she handed the box over to them without taking anything from it. “Bet that’s the only way you can stick it to ‘em, huh? Even when you were about to bite that guy’s head off, you’re still uh… pretty weak looking.”

The Angel didn’t take her offering. They eyed it warily, crossing their arms. “So what if it is the only thing I can do? It’s better than the alternatives.”

Irritation grew for a second, Suzy shoving the box more roughly into their hands. “I didn’t need you to start rambling again, stupid. I’m trying to tell you that you look like you’re gonna fall over, and I know you didn’t eat anything back there.” As soon as the box was out of her hands, she whirled around and scooped up two trashbags over her shoulders. “I’ll keep your stupid name a secret. Already forgot it anyway.”

Somehow, the Angel thought that she was lying. They eyed the crackers for a second, seeing that they were… probably light. They didn’t have the time to stop right now though. Without a second thought, they whipped out their phone and put it into their Dimensional Box. An angry beep indicated that it was now full, thanks to all the clothes they had put in there. Unfortunately, what the phone counted as an individual item was very annoying.

The Angel sighed, “I’ll eat later.” They picked up their own bag, trying to heft it over their shoulder. Unfortunately, they realized an issue with that considering the cane and their already weak legs. 

Before they could even indicate an issue, Suzy marched over to them, swiping the bag from their hands and slinging it over her shoulder with the other two. “Gonna assume that phone can’t just carry this for us?”

They shook their head. They wished.

“Ugh,” she groaned, but set off anyway, “Then we’re going back to my place the hard way. It’s not that heavy.”

Was that an invitation? Suzy wasn’t waiting up for them to ask, so they had to keep pace with her before asking, “You’re fine with me coming?” They glanced at the three bags that she had slung over her shoulder. “I’m… not even really helping.”

She didn’t stop moving, but didn’t get snappy with them either. “Eh, follow if you want. Leave if you want. Doesn’t matter to me.” After a while, she did glance over her shoulder to look at them. She thought for a second before turning around, but her head made it seem like she was staring at the ground. “You uh… got anywhere to go after this?”

As much of a failure that tonight had been, the Angel still could not just give up on what needed to be done. It was strange that she would ask, but the Angel knew that this could not last forever. It had… likely already lasted too long. “Yeah, I…” They’d been trying to ignore it, but they saw a hefty amount of messages from three separate contacts on their phone. Someone was worried. “I’ll probably be going back to town soon.”

A quieter question came, but the Angel thought that they saw Suzy baring her teeth ever-so-slightly. “To the… people you’re hiding your name from?”

“I don’t have another option, and I need them, I guess.” The Angel still had notes on each of them and how they would be… useful. Sans was a giant hole in their discovery process, and they just thought that he would have something to say. It looked like they wouldn’t ever get an easy-out after all. 

Suzy huffed. Her fingers tightened around the trashbags. “The same people who forgot about you? Acting like they don’t know you?”

It wasn’t acting. At least… for most of them. Somewhere within the Angel, that kneejerk defensiveness over people they used to love came back. “It’s my fault that they forgot me. I made them forget me.” However, not everything could be erased. The Angel wondered where a certain flower was right about now. “And the few people that do remember me make my life hell.”

Suzy walked down a set of stairs next to a building, stopping in front of a basement-level door. She didn’t immediately open it, waiting for the Angel to fumble their way down the staircase. Movement would be so much easier with their soul, but it wasn’t worth revealing. Still, she stayed patient, waiting until they were in front of the door with her.

One of her lips twitched, and she dropped her bags to the ground. “If it were me, I woulda just gotten out of there. Not worth the hassle. Might’ve even left that skeleton with some broken teeth.”

“Please don’t actually do that.” They didn’t know if Suzy would, but memories of the skeleton’s weak constitution made them a tad uneasy. Even though they thought about fighting him just to get an actual conversation out of him, they couldn’t…

They couldn’t be that person again. They couldn’t fight everything. After all, that was what they promised Ralsei. All he asked was that they try to be kind from now on… that they don’t go down a path like that again. If there was still a possibility of getting back without harming anyone, then maybe the Angel would be able to look him in the eyes when they finally came back. 

…They chose not to think about what would happen if it was the only option. It simply wasn’t, anyway.

Suzy put her hands on the back of her head like she hadn’t been thinking about punching him at all. “What? Nah. I wouldn’t. Besides, it’d defeat the point of some friendly advice I’m gonna give you.” One hand came down, and she jabbed a finger towards their chest without actually touching it. “Stop being such a damn doormat. If someone’s actually fucking with you, then who cares if you sock ‘em once in the jaw?” Seemingly satisfied, she opened the door in front of her, snatching up the bags. “Let ‘em know that no one messes with you.”

Part of them wanted to. They had done so to Asgore and Undyne, and they may be an entirely different place had they not fought with everything they had. But, this world always scrutinized them whenever they chose to fight. Everyone else had infinite swings at them, infinite chances to kill them, but the moment the Angel stepped out of line…

Except, that wasn’t true, was it? Like Susie used to say, some people had to be fought. Fighting the Knight… was the correct choice back when it first appeared. Even if it didn’t amount to much, the Blackshard saved their friends multiple times. But… they wondered if they would slip and forget what was necessary fighting. After all, that’s how they slipped into killing in the past, right?

It all became necessary.

And it all amounted to nothing. 

“I can’t,” they mumbled while walking down the dark hallway that must have belonged to Suzy’s… apartment complex, if it could even be called that. Their feet squelched against damp carpet. One light flickered at the end like it had come straight out of a horror movie. At least, Suzy had a place to live and wasn’t just out on the streets. The thought brought them comfort amidst their inability to actually fight back against the way this world dragged them from place to place.

Suzy put the bags down again to fiddle with the lock on her door. One of the few mercies she’d been given was that she had an actual key. Though, the hinges looked rusted, and squealed when Suzy opened the door to her basement apartment. “Sure ya can.” When she spotted the Angel standing awkwardly at the entrance, she waved them in. “What are you, some kinda vampire? Get the hell in here. After that, we’re definitely not done here.”

The Angel warily looked at the room. This shouldn’t be a place that they were welcome in. After all, Suzy still seemed… weirded out by them? When they scanned the room, their heart sank even further. Apparently, the room was all that she was really able to get. In the corner sat a bunch of torn clothes, likely some that Suzy had grown out of gauging by the size.

…There wasn’t even a mattress. A single lawn chair had been pilfered, but there was very little. Trash bags similar to the ones she held were piled up in the corner. At least, her carpet didn’t seem damp. Considering that the pile of clothes deep in the room was the closest thing she had to a bed, that… that was good. 

Slowly, they stepped in. Suzy immediately rushed over to shut the door behind them. It was dark for only a second before she flicked on a light, and it was hardly even steady. “Yep. Take it in,” she laughed, punching them on the shoulder. The Angel glared at her, and that only made her grin. “What? Did that make you mad?”

“I told you, I don’t like being touched.” They rubbed a hand over their shoulder, smoothing out the fur under their hoodie.

“That’s cool. What’s gonna stop me from doing it again if you just fold every time, huh?” She shrugged, but didn’t touch them again. “You act like a damn doormat and wonder why people are walking all over you.”

That wasn’t fair, and they had learned well enough by now that they didn’t need to use violence in order to get things done in the end… at least they thought. “Maybe, I trust my friend to respect it when I don’t want something done to me.”

Suzy slapped a hand over her eyes before dragging it down her snout. “We’re not- Listen, yeah, sure, whatever, you might be able to grovel enough to convince people not to hurt you, but those suckers out there? That skeleton?” She poked them in the chest, once more sending static through the Angel’s entire body. “That guy isn’t your friend. A lot of people aren’t your friend. So, do it.” She drew herself back up to her full height. “Fight back.”

Again, they Angel wiped a hand against their chest to get that foreign feeling away from them. “I shouldn’t. I’m not-” How could they possibly explain to her that when they fought, it was entirely different than a quick scrap? They had a special power, which meant that they had to do the right thing. They especially had to do the right thing now that their friends were alive. Part of them still wanted to cave Carol and the Knight’s faces in, but… “I have to do the right thing. I can’t just… punch everyone who gets in my way.”

“Not telling you to do that, dumbass.” She flicked her hair, beginning to pace around them. “Even if I wanted to do that, that’s how you get fired. I’m just telling you to get a spine.” Her footfalls echoed behind the Angel. They watched her from above while she stared at the back of their head. “Your stupid ass got a bloody nose, and instead of socking me in the jaw, you took me out to dinner.”

“Because that’s how it works,” the Angel explained, watching Susy with their vessel’s eyes while she circled around to their right, “I have the ability to just make people my friends instead. I don’t have to fight.”

Stopping on a dime, Suzy lowered her head down to eye-level with them. “Yeah? Well I think you should. Doesn’t that whole schtick ever get tiring?” A grin wove across her face. “You told me earlier you were trying to stick it to those people by not telling ‘em your name, so I know you get tired of it.”

They didn’t find this nearly as amusing as she did. “I’m trying to be better than I used to be. I…” Again, they thought of two people who they would absolutely fight in an instant should they see again. Carol and the Knight had every opportunity, but… Kris wanted the two of them alive. Noelle likely wanted her family alive. The Angel should have the power to stop this.

She tilted her head, still staying in that goofy eye-level position with them. “Arright, fine. Doesn’t mean you have to just take everything people throw at you. Get mad for once, and stick to it.” Again, she rose up to her full height, continuing to pace. “You get mad for like… two seconds, and then you fold like a wet napkin. At least follow through, dammit.”

Unfortunately, the Angel had walked into a trap of some kind, and figured that they weren’t leaving until Suzy was satisfied. Their shoulders sagged, and they asked, “What are you even telling me to do?”

“What’s one thing you’re actually pissed about?” She’d gotten behind them again, and the Angel only had a second to brace themself before both of Suzy’s hands gripped their shoulders. This time, their soul appeared when they jolted, a red outline shimmering into existence around their body. Their tail went rigid behind them. Suzy’s snout appeared in the corner of their vision, further invading their personal space. “Lean into it, dumbass. Get mad. What, you think I can’t take it?”

An instinct told the Angel to bite her. They immediately shoved it down in favor of knocking her hands off of their shoulders before spinning around to create distance. Suzy didn’t put up much of a protest, looming in front of the door with a tilt of her head. She was silently questioning what they would do.

“Please stop doing that,” they whispered, the phantom feeling slowly bleeding away. The light around their body faded when that feeling of danger finally bled away. They weren’t supposed to feel like that around her.

“See? Folding.” Suzy took a step forward. “Come on, aren’t you pissed I keep touching you? What if someone doesn’t care about you, huh?”

The Angel blinked, some of their defensiveness bleeding away. “Does that mean you do?”

Suzy opened her mouth to say something again before she snapped her jaw shut, frustrated. Though, she regained her fervor without much issue. “Come on, just lay into me! Tell me how annoying it is! Get mad!”

Something itched under their skin. The constant reminder of their vessel hurt. She was asking for it. They wanted her to stop. They really did. “I’m…” But, weren’t they supposed to try to be friends with her? How did this help? Still, she perked up the moment they almost said something, which gave them the encouragement to continue. They took a deep breath, their own teeth beginning to bare. “I’m tired of people touching me. It… I’m not supposed to even feel it when I’m touched in this world.” Immediately, Suzy tilted her head, but the words had started spilling out. “I questioned every single day what it would feel like to be hugged, or to have someone hold my hand, or…” They scraped claws through their own fur. “Or what it would be like to lean against someone and just know I was fine.”

Suzy’s reverie had finally died out, and they could tell that she was squinting at them from under her hair. “Uh… we’re doing this again? Really? The weird thing?” She scoffed, “Come on, I just want you to-”

“But that’s not what annoys me the most.” They jabbed a finger at her for a change, making her jaw clamp shut. “I’m so tired of having to do this song and dance every day where somebody new doesn’t believe a word out of my mouth. Everything I say happened. Everything I say was real, and that terrifies me more than anything.” The Angel took a step forward. Suzy took a step back. “I have to walk on eggshells around people about the fact that my friends are dying. I have to make the fact that I was mashed into a world far smaller than me digestible to all of you. And, even after I do all of that, people still don’t believe me!”

Suzy stayed silent.

The Angel kept going. “Everyone can call me weird. Everyone can call it fake all they want. I died three days ago. My friends almost died with me, and I’m lucky they’re even alive!” They started to chuckle as they realized the absurdity of it all. “People get mad at me for not being straightforward, but what else am I supposed to do? No one would believe me anyway! I’m an Angel of a prophecy that may not even be real in this universe, a human soul trapped in a cage that I didn’t even mean to choose.” Gesturing at their own body, the laughter got worse. “But I’m meant to be a saint, because while people will ignore me while I’m trying to be good, I sure as hell get acknowledged whenever I do wrong! I need to be perfect. Palatable. Flawless. Anything else gets me judged and told to go again.”

So much more needed to be said, but the Angel found themself panting by the time they were done with just that. Their shoulders rose and fell while they stared at Suzy, wondering what she would do next after all of that. This was why they didn’t get angry. Getting angry led to them shredding Asriel in the Dark World over and over again. Getting angry led to them becoming lost and stealing the will of an entire campus of college students. Getting angry made them be a hypocrite towards Toriel. They weren’t allowed.

A short laugh from Suzy drew them out of their thoughts. After all of that, she still gave them a toothy grin, somehow easing up even more after all of that. “See? Feels better not being a doormat, huh?”

The Angel clenched their hand into a fist. Bitterly, they lowered their head. “It did,” they shamefully admitted, adrenaline slowly beginning to bleed out of their veins. It did feel good to finally let loose. Hurting Asriel felt good after all he had put them through. Fighting the Knight over and over started to become pure catharsis when they saw its health drifting lower and lower. They knew that if they saw Carol’s face again, they would likely enjoy watching her realize that she was going to lose. It was their nature. It was wrong. Their head lowered further. “It did.”

“Well uh…” Suzy scratched the back of her head. “For what it’s worth, point taken. My hands are off. Woulda been more clear if you socked me the first time, but y’know…” A confident grin grew across her face. “Probably would’ve bitten your face off, so maybe it was the right call.”

Somehow, that was the thing that they wanted out of her the least. All they wanted was for their story to be believed just once with no hangups. They couldn’t keep convincing people that their friends are real and out there. They couldn’t keep justifying their existence to other people. So, despite having a victory, they only wilted more. “Thanks.”

“And-” She held up her hand to stop them before crossing her arms. “I work at a damn grocery store. All of the stuff you just said is way above my pay grade.” And that was the worst part about all of it. None of these people could really comprehend the Angel in a way that mattered. The only people who were close were still out there somewhere. However, Suzy wasn’t done. “But hey, next time someone pushes you on it, get mad again. That’s the most I’ve understood you all night.”

The Angel couldn’t. They knew the consequences if things got too bad. But, permission was being given. Part of them wanted to take it to heart. Part of them wanted to change. There were multiple times where they had to get their hands dirty to get to this point, but they still didn’t know if any of it was worth it yet.

Still, they kept the thought close, their head slowly beginning to rise up as the shame started to melt away. They whispered a small “Okay”, still staying rooted to where they were.

Their phone buzzed again. The Angel knew what it was, and apparently Suzy heard it as well. She glanced at the door and back to the Angel. “If ya need a place to crash, you can pick a corner. You did buy me dinner.”

It was a kind offer, one that the Angel didn’t think that they would get from someone like Suzy. She seemed… far less likely to do something like that than someone else they knew. But, even though she had a weird way of showing it, there was some care under all of that roughness. After all, this whole thing had been for them. She wanted them to defend themself.

But, the Angel did not want to stay. It was tempting to forget about what was happening outside for a little longer, but the time for rest had long ended. “I have something I need to finish.”

She grinned again, stepping out of the way of the door. “Fine by me. Just don’t get chewed up out there. I’m not scooping your remains out of another alley.”

Right. They should… probably call Papyrus as soon as possible. They were beginning to get a mental map of the city now, and could probably find their way back here if they really needed to. But, just to be sure, they pulled out their phone. “Do you have a phone? I could…” They trailed off, seeing that the barrage of messages had gotten even worse.

“I don’t have a mattress.” Suzy gestured at the pile of clothes on the floor with her teeth bared in annoyance. “Get the hell out, stupid. Doesn’t matter to me if you come find me later. Just don’t come back without a spine again.” She opened the door for them, waving them out over and over.

The Angel sighed, grabbing their cane and taking the gesture for what it was. Before they quite left, they turned back to her. Even though things had been… not great the whole time, they did have a question: “Are… are we friends?”

Suzy scrunched her face up. “Huh?” She jostled her head around, getting her bearings. “Get the hell out, you weenie. I have sleeping to do.”

It wasn’t quite the ‘no’ that they were expecting, but the door that immediately slammed in their face made it feel that way. Maybe, she just wasn’t ready yet. Maybe, that was a good thing. The Angel couldn’t be getting too attached to her, after all. Even so, it was nice for a second to spend time with someone who didn’t have expectations for them. They just hoped that they helped a little bit. Seeing how she lived…

No wonder she was trying to toughen them up. This world had been cruel to her.

Still, they could do without the touching. It wasn’t the day for that yet. It may never be the day for that. The Angel started walking away, listening to the sound of their feet squelching on the dampened carpet. Touch was something that they knew previously, but it was different like this. It wasn’t in their nature in this world. Their entire body made it feel entirely alien too. If all went well, hopefully it would stay a mystery forever. They still had something to accomplish, after all.

They hooked onto Suzy’s words as they left through the same door they entered through. Even though she didn’t get what they were saying, they were more understandable when they got mad. Even though their story was so outlandish… it sounded less like an excuse and more like desperation when they finally snapped.

Part of them knew that they couldn’t explain themself normally again. If they had to justify all of this to someone for the fiftieth time, they would lose it. Maybe, it would be okay to do that just once. There was always… a little bit of anger that they were allowed, right? It was just that anger put people in danger. It made the Angel more likely to mess up and hurt someone for real.

The Angel got a few paces down the sidewalk before their fur began to stand on end.

In the dark, it was almost easy to miss it. Two pinpricks of light stared at them, illuminating a skull in the darkness. Instinctively, the Angel recognized him, and that anger that had been festering began to grow.

“Heya,” Sans greeted, like nothing had happened. His eyes barely illuminated the constant grin on his face while he leaned up against a wall. 

The Angel didn’t know what game he was playing, but he was alone. That didn’t make him any less dangerous in their current state. “What do you want?” They questioned, not enjoying the way that he was currently leaning on the wall a slight distance into the alleyway.

Sans didn’t react at all. The Angel had a feeling that he would be doing that a lot. His voice stayed steady while he said, “Paps and Tori were both getting worried. Figured I’d check in. Rough night, huh?”

“You didn’t help that.” They hated how he talked. They hated how he danced around them effortlessly. Part of them knew that they should be more cordial, but after everything today, and after all Suzy had told them, they were tired. “If you’re here to tell me more jokes, just save it. I’ll call Papyrus in a bit.”

A little thoughtfully, Sans glanced to the side. “I dunno bud. Seems like you’re thinking about a lot.” As if there was a point to all of this, Sans kept rambling, “Y’know, Tori talks about you a ton. Definitely shook up the last few days. Sounds like you’ve been pretty busy.”

Something itched in their head. The Angel watched as his eyelights bored holes through their skull, trying to gauge their reaction. All they had for him was exhaustion and frustration. And maybe, just a little bit of that anger was coming back. “Thank you, so much for saying that the hell that I’ve been through the past three days is just ‘shaking things up’. As always, your humor makes things much better.”

Sans must’ve found what he was looking for, staring dead ahead instead of at them. “Sometimes the jokes make people mad. I get a heckler here and there, but… eh what am I saying?” He waved a hand, dropping whatever tangent he was about to go on. “Figured the jokes might give you something to laugh about. Take it from me, bud, it’s a rough road ahead. Gotta find some things to laugh about.”

“I-” The Angel paused, properly absorbing what he said. For a second, they thought he meant something genuine. “What do you mean?”

“You got that look.” Sans tapped a mitten-covered finger against his skull near his eye. “Plus, Alph’ told me how much you wanna go home, wherever that is. I know the feeling.” He watched them closely, even though his expression didn’t change in any tangible way. Maybe that was just what he was like, always passively analyzing. “Am I wrong?”

The Angel’s one free hand tightened into a fist as it already had many times before. How often did they do that, despite rarely ever acting on it? “You know why I have to go back! Stop playing dumb with me!”

Sans shut his eye-sockets, finally dropping that gaze entirely. He relaxed up against the wall just a little bit, satisfied. “I get it, buddo. I really do.” He paused, stuffing both of his hands back into the pockets of his hoodie. “Y’know, when I heard Paps talking about you, I couldn’t get a read on you. Then, uh… you managed to make Grillby mad. Not many people pull that one off, but I guess he wants me to pay that tab one day, so he couldn’t deal with me disappearing in a cloud.” He waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry, he’s not the kinda guy to stay mad for too long. Just gotta let him simmer down a bit.”

“Why?” The Angel snarled.

“Seems pretty obvious with the whole fire thing-”

“No, WHY are you doing this to me?!” The Angel yelled, no doubt waking up anyone nearby. “Wasting my time, sending me around in circles, instead of just talking to me like a person?”

Sans once again didn’t visibly react, other than his eye-sockets opening again. “I’ll get there. Didn’t think you were the type to try to skip tangents like that though.” He shrugged, once again going back to shutting his eye-sockets. “But anyway, as I was saying…” He wasn’t going to stop. He would continue to be infuriating. “You seemed to have a pretty good time with your friend there. Suzy, right? Good on ya, bud.”

That was far too non-chalant of an admission to stalking, unless he was going off the bar interaction alone. Worse, they hated that he got the spelling of her name correct. Maybe, he would’ve slipped up by saying the wrong version of the name, but this was also the monster who knew how to highlight the text that they saw for practical jokes. “And?” They questioned, eyes darting around as if there would be some trap looming nearby. “I’m allowed to make friends.”

“It’s good that you are. Helps.” Sans whipped out a comb, raking it annoyingly across his bare skull a few times. “Sometimes, all ya need is some food, drinks, and someone to keep you company. I’m sure you already heard the story from her, but when I heard Tori’s voice behind that door?” Sans opened his eye-sockets just a little bit, withdrawing a hand from his hoodie to stare at it. “Made me realize something important.”

The Angel remained silent. Something was coming, and a pit started to form in their gut.

“Maybe… it’s sometimes better to take what’s given to you. If you’re so focused on what you gotta do, you might never stop to ask if what you have to do… is really worth it.” Sans’ eye-lights flicked over to them, once again studying their face. “Whaddya think about that?”

No, they remembered those words. They remembered sitting with Sans at a diner, hearing a story about a guy who told knock knock jokes to an old lady that they knew. The Angel called her their mom, and they remembered being happy that there was someone to keep her company even after they left. By chance, two comedians had found a little solace in each other. But, as they recalled the memory, ink blotted it over and over.

It wasn't a coincidence.

It was never a coincidence at all.

“You replaced her.” Rage bubbled under the Angel’s skin while they remembered that night. Kris and Susie were battered and bruised, but no one would know what the two of them had been through. Sans was dismissive. Toriel was drunk. But, at least… at LEAST someone in the town was managing to slowly wrench a piece of themself back from the past. Toriel was moving on, even if the timing made the Angel’s insides rot. However, they could not have been nearly as prepared for the utter repulsion that echoed through their entire body at this very moment. “She’s still out there in the Roaring, and you found her duplicate and just…” 

The accusation didn’t do anything. Sans just stared. Almost thoughtfully again, he glanced to the side, but his grin could never break. “Y’know, Suzy shares a pretty similar name with another one of your friends that you mentioned.” He winked. “You looked like you were making pretty good friends with her.”

A chill ran up the Angel’s spine. “I wouldn’t.” A fist unclenched, the Angel extending their claws while their tail thrashed behind them. “She’s her own person. I’m not replacing anyone.”

“It’s like I said before…” Sans said calmly, his other eye opening again as normal, “Sometimes, you gotta take what you’ve been given. I gave up trying to go back a long time ago, bud. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you got dragged into all of this too. But, hey, seems like you’re pretty good where you are now.”

He was fully admitting to it now. There was no illusion anymore. The Angel’s teeth bared, that anger that they had been allowed to have boiling in their soul. Of course. He had plainly stated even before they knew of the other world that he gave up. The Angel had chased after the one person who had fully given in. A hand raked over their eye, but the Angel wasn’t just going to take that. They couldn’t.

With the grip on their cane tightening, the Angel demanded, “I don’t care how much you’ve given up. If you know anything, you have to tell me. I can’t lose them.” How could he? How could he just give up? “Toriel is still out there. You- you saw her kid! Kris lost their hand! Susie never figured it all out. You…” He wasn’t changing expressions. Why wasn’t he taking this seriously? Why did he keep smiling?

Sans stared at them for a few more seconds. After a bit longer, he shut his eyes again like what they’d just said held no meaning to him. “I looked, bud. I really did. But uh… turns out when you start looking that much, you start leaving people around you behind. You miss what you’ve still got to take care of.” His smile widened just a bit, like he had remembered something that genuinely made him happy. “I wasn’t thinking about Paps. I wasn’t thinking about anything but getting back. Truth is, one day, you just gotta learn when to quit.”

Quitting was what got them into this mess in the first place.

It was the first true act of agency that they finally took, deciding not to play in a world that hated them. However, no matter how much they tried to give up, someone was there to pull them to their feet. “Let me tell you a story,” the Angel hissed, demanding the skeleton’s attention. “I did learn to quit. I gave up everything, because I thought that the world was better off without me. Everything I’ve learned from all of you… told me that I should do that. It was you who said you’d throw in the towel early, you know.”

Sans opened his eyes again, but stayed quiet to listen in. 

“But, even though this world gave up on me… and I gave up on it… and even if I thought it was the right thing to do again…” The Angel remembered Susie marching towards them with nothing but hope in her eyes, hope that she would one day be able to call them a friend. “A girl with hope crossed on her heart never gave up on me, and I bet that she’s still fighting right now.” She had to be. She wouldn’t die. Not Susie. Not ever. Something red flashed in the Angel’s eyes, welling deep within their soul. “I refuse to give up on them.”

Seconds dragged on again while Sans came to whatever conclusion he wanted to. After a bit, a low laugh came out of his mouth. “Welp, dunno if I can convince you out of that. Guess you gotta learn the hard way.” He pushed himself up from the wall. “It’s good that you got friends, bud. I’m happy for you. Always felt like that was all you needed, but…” Glancing to the side, Sans tried again. “Think about your friend back there when you gotta make a choice that hurts this place, ‘k?”

The Angel glared. Of course, he wouldn’t understand. They didn’t need to hurt this place. All they needed was a way home. “So that’s it?” They asked, gesturing at him. “All you have for me is empty platitudes, and nothing to help? Even if you don’t believe in me, you don’t care about making it any easier in the slim chance that you’re wrong?” 

Sans walked past them a few steps before coming to a stop. “I can take you to Tori’s. Or Alphys’ place. I know a shortcut.” He turned to glance back at them out of the corner of his eye-socket, as if mocking them.

Of course, he had nothing.

“I don’t want to go anywhere with you, you coward,” they spat, resisting the urge to lunge at him with their claws.

Sans turned away. “I’ll tell ‘em you’re fine.” He started walking, no doubt to find a place to turn away from them. “But uh… for what it’s worth, great to see you again too, bucko.”

Something snapped.

As Sans disappeared around the corner, something twisted in the Angel’s soul. They wanted to pry him for answers, but knew they had no ability to do so. They wanted to attack him to make him do anything, but knew that they would lose like this. However, an ability that they hadn’t used lunged out on instinct, demanding any information that he was hiding from them.

For just a moment before he left, the Angel listened into his thoughts. They no longer cared if he would detect it. They just needed to know. If they couldn’t do anything to him, then they must do all they could.

All of his thoughts were trained on…

…nothing but the name of where he was headed.

Sans vanished into the night, leaving the Angel alone in a quiet city.

The Angel lowered their head for only a moment before swinging their fist to the side. Their knuckles impacted against solid brick, and despite how much it hurt, it staved off that feeling of needing to rend something to pieces. 

When they withdrew, they saw beads of blood in their fur. None of their fingers were broken, but part of them wished that they were if only to hear bone break.

Sans replaced her. He recommended that the Angel replace Susie as well. The Angel didn’t want a replacement. Nothing could replace her, and even if something could, then they still wouldn’t take it.

…But right now, they needed a friend.

The Angel unconsciously began to walk back down the stairs, opening a door at the bottom. Wet carpet hit their feet again, the smell of mildew hitting them all at once.

He wanted them to quit. He said it like it was a certainty.

Never. Maybe he had, but they knew that there was an avenue back. Soon, they would have to begin exploring it, because there were no other options anymore. One way or another, the Angel would be crossing over the edge of a Dark World. But, for tonight, they had to be done.

The Angel stopped in front of a door that they had already memorized. For only a second, they hesitated, before quietly knocking. It took half a minute for anything to happen, but soon enough they watched the doorknob begin to wiggle. Before they knew it, a lone eye stared at them from high up when the door cracked open. Suzy’s gaze narrowed when she saw them.

“Can I stay here for the night?” They asked, their voice coming out far more hoarse than they wanted. Suzy would be mad that they were even beginning to crack just a bit. She asked them to stand up for themself, and all they did was learn next to nothing.

Instead, the door opened wider, and Suzy stepped aside. “Finally decided not to go back into the meat grinder, huh?” She waved them in, shutting the door behind them as they walked through. “Pick a corner. I don’t have anything, so you’re on your own for pillows.” She looked them over, and something akin to jealousy laced her done. “You’re lucky you have fur.”

The Angel didn’t intrude anywhere close to where her pile was, only whispering a “Thank you” while still trying to process all that they had heard.

“Yeah yeah, consider it payback or whatever.” Suzy didn’t take any time making sure they were settled. Instead, she slumped over in her corner on all of her ruined clothes. “Just don’t wake me up, okay?”

They nodded, slowly sinking down to the floor. As soon as Suzy saw them sit down, she rolled over, facing the wall and brokering no conversation beyond that. At least, she was nice enough to give them this.

The Angel took to her idea, pulling some of the clothes that they had gotten out of their phone. It wasn’t much to lay on, but it was better than having to face everyone after all Sans had tried to convince them of. Even now, they stared at Suzy’s back and wondered if this was him winning somehow. 

…No, he wasn’t.

Right now, they were just happy to be with a friend for a little bit longer.

The Angel rested their head on a pile of clothes that they’d made, curling the newly found tail close to their body in case Suzy accidentally stepped on it later. When they shut their eyes, they knew that they would find no sleep.

No matter what, they would make it back.

No matter what.

The Angel would return.