It was a long time before Sans woke up completely. That was mainly because he was sedated twice more before Gaster just totally lost it and threatened to fire the doctors who were 'taking care of' Sans.

He could do that, they knew. He was the Royal Scientist. He had done it before.

Regardless of the fact that he was injured and bedridden.

When Sans did wake up, he was quite comfortable.

He was still half asleep, curled up beside Gaster. Gaster had an arm around his shoulders, hand resting on his back. If Sans shifted just a little, he could press his skull up against Gaster's ribcage, he could hear the beat of Gaster's Soul.

"Sans?" Gaster's hand moved lightly across his back.

"mmmh?"

"Are you awake yet?"

"... nnngh."

Gaster let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle. "Alright. Let me know when you are awake."

"mmmhm..."

Sans nuzzled into Gaster's side, and Gaster hugged him a bit tighter and rubbed his back.

Sans let out a small contented sound.

He lay there for a long time. Several hours, probably. Gaster let him rest, kept him comfortable.

Eventually, Sans did wake up all the way.

He yawned and stretched, and struggled a little. Gaster slipped an arm under Sans' arm, and helped him sit up. Sans yawned again and stretched a bit more. Then he looked around, confused.

"h-huh? wha-...? where-...? what...? how did-? ...what am i wearing?"

"Hospital gown." Gaster said shortly. "I told them to give us our clothes back, but they refused, despite my threats to fire them." Gaster paused a moment, brooding on why the doctors would do something like stop sedating Sans when their job was threatened, but not give Gaster his clothes back. "... Monsters are weird."

"but-... what happened...?"

Gaster smiled at Sans. "You saved us. Pulled us all through a shortcut, into the lab."

"... oh. is-... is he okay?" Sans nodded towards Papyrus, whom Gaster had tucked snugly against his side. Papyrus wasn't moving.

Gaster let out a slow sigh. "Well. His life isn't in any danger, so there's that. But the Corruption that Chara put in him is equally balanced with the Purity in his Soul. So they're counteracting each other for control of him, and..."

"... oh. can we..."

"Help him? I... don't know. I... we already found with you that there's really not much we can do to fight the Corruption. Except, you know, the whole love thing."

Sans shook his head. "that... if he's not conscious, i don't think that will work. because-... it wasn't until i was completely, totally aware that pap 'n' you were doing what you were doing only because you loved me that i became pure. until i legitimately acknowledged that you were only helping me for the sake of helping."

"So if he isn't consciously aware..."

"i don't think it'll work."

Sensing Sans' despondency, Gaster gave Sans a tight hug. "He's not in danger, though. He's not going to die. So we have time to figure something out."

Sans nodded, and leaned against Gaster. They both fell silent, lost in their own thoughts.

After a little while, Sans looked back up at Gaster. "... what about the corrupters?"

"Well... all the monsters were already evacuated to the lab, but now the lab's under siege." Gaster paused a moment, then frowned. "But I'm 'not supposed to be thinking about that.' Not until I 'recover' at least."

"are- ... are you hurt?"

Gaster barked out a laugh, but now that Sans was looking for it, he noticed that Gaster cringed slightly. "I mean, well, yes, it does hurt. But don't worry about it. I've had broken bones before, and I'll have more in the future, I'm sure. Besides," he gestured slightly to his face, to the cracks in it and his half-paralyzed right eyesocket, "much as it hurt, I've had worse."

Gaster's light tone put Sans a little more at ease, but overall, he was still pretty down about the whole situation.

Because his brother was in a coma, and they couldn't do anything.

As if reading his mind, Gaster hugged him again. "Now that you're awake, Sans, I'm sure that with both of us thinking on it, we'll figure something out."

Sans just nodded.

~o0o~

A while passed. Gaster fell back asleep. Papyrus didn't move.

Sans was awake. Just thinking. Pulling every obscure fact from the back of his mind, hoping it might help Papyrus.

He was awake when Undyne came in.

She paused when she saw Gaster was asleep, and Sans wasn't.

"I, uh-" she hesitated. "I had some news for Gaster. A question about the lab defenses. But it's not important, and it can wait until he's awake."

Sans just nodded.

Undyne turned to leave.

"um. commander?"

She turned around. "Yeah?"

Sans had a kinda funny look on his face. "um. i-..." He took a deep breath. "sorry for, uh, trying to eat your soul. and. um. thank you. for. you know. um. saving them. my family. it really- ...uh. thanks."

She just grinned and nodded. "You're welcome. I'll be back later to talk with Gaster. See you around, Sans."

She left the room.

~o0o~

Nearly a week went by. Gaster was allowed to walk around a bit, but he was still mostly confined to bed. Sans had, being fully recovered, reacquired his jacket and gym shorts, but Gaster was still stuck in a hospital gown.

And finally, they had come up with something to save Papyrus.

Well. Gaster came up with something. Sans didn't like it at all.

"Sans, listen!" He attempted to persuade. "You can control Corrupt Magic! So you just have to get the Magic in Papyrus's Soul-"

"but it doesn't work like that! if, on the very small chance that, the corrupt magic hasn't already bound itself to his soul, and that's a pretty big 'if', if that hasn't already happened, i'd not only need to be holding his soul, but i'd also need to be deep enough into it to be physically touching the corrupt magic! and not only would that mean cutting open his soul, but i'm not entirely sure i would be able to resist the temptation of eating it! i don't want to eat my brother, dad!"

For a moment, Gaster's jaw worked up and down, but he failed to speak. Finally, he did so in Hands, gesturing widely. "But what else can we do, Sans?! Do you just want to sit around and twiddle your thumbs, until he eventually wastes away and dies?! Because that is what will happen, Sans, unless we do something!"

"but this isn't it!" Sans shouted back in the language. "it's too risky! there's more a chance that he'll die, that i'll kill him than there is of it working!" Sans' desperation was clear.

Gaster tensed up, his voice rising with the speed of his gestures. "Well then, what would you do, Sans?! What would you have me do? I cannot let Papyrus die, not if there's a chance of anything working! Because I'll help him somehow, even if you won't!"

The instant the words were out of Gaster's mouth, spinning off his hands, he knew he had gone too far. He could see it in Sans' eyes, the raw pain, the burning ache, not only at the truth of Gaster's words, but that his own father would say that to him.

Sans started to back away, stumbling as if he had been wounded. And, in a way, he had.

Gaster looked at his hands, then back up at Sans. "Sans, I- I didn't- I don't-"

Sans could feel something hot and wet trailing down his face.

"I never meant- I just-" Gaster stumbled more on his words. "I can't- I can't lose him, Sans! He's right there, right next to me, but I can't reach him! I have to do something, anything! Please, Sans! Please!" Now Gaster was crying, large wet tears slipping down his face, some into the crack under his left eye.

Sans couldn't speak. He wanted to help, he really did, but it was just too dangerous. There was too much of a chance that Papyrus would die- would be killed.

He wouldn't be able to live with himself with Papyrus's dust on his hands.

But-

...

Gaster was right. They had to do something! And nothing else had presented itself.

Slowly, struggling to blink back tears himself, Sans took a step back towards the bed where Gaster was sitting. He reached out a hand and grabbed up Gaster's hand. "i- ... you just-... have to promise me one thing."

Gaster looked at him, face wet, eyes burning with hope.

"you- ... you have to be there. right next to me the whole time. and you have to have something ready, a sedative, with the needle in my soul, so that if I even so much as look at pap like i'm gonna eat his soul, you can stop me. knock me out."

Gaster just nodded, and pulled Sans into a tight hug.

~o0o~

It wasn't until the next day that Gaster was able to convince people in general that they knew what they were doing. But, he managed after a good hour-long argument.

Now, they were sitting in Gaster's lab on the tenth floor. Papyrus was strapped down on the table, mask pulled over his face, forcing an anesthetic into him. Gaster had already made a small incision in his Soul, a small bit of greyish mixed Magic seeping out of the cut. Sans was sitting on the edge of the table, mustering up his courage as Gaster sat just next to him, gently threading the needle of a syringe between Sans' ribs.

Sans took a few more deep breaths before carefully slipping his hands into Papyrus's ribcage. Papyrus shuddered slightly as Sans cupped his hands around the small, weakly-beating Soul.

Sans closed his eyesockets.

And then it was there. The insatiable hunger, the unquenchable thirst, pulling at Sans.

There was a Soul. R̸͡i͏g̴̶̨h̨̀t̶ ̡͞t̕̕h́e͠ŕę͜͡. Practically--

pa-

--in ̴͡h́͘͝į̕͠s̢ ̵̴͜h̢a̡҉n͝ḑ̧s̴--

-py-

--So easy to t͝a̷͢k҉̧e̛͝ ̀it̵ and--

-rus-

--ḑ͠͡e͘̕͡v̀ơ̢͢u̕r҉҉-

Sans.

Distantly, Sans heard Gaster's voice, felt Gaster pressing a hand to his chest.

Papyrus. This is Papyrus's Soul. I'm not going to eat it.

Carefully, so, so carefully, Sans slid one hand across the surface of Papyrus's Soul, until his fingertips just brushed against the edge of the incision.

He could feel the Magic seeping out over his fingertips, warm and wet, stinging just a little.

And very slowly, Sans slipped two fingers into Papyrus's Soul.

~o0o~

Papyrus was in a lot of pain.

Everything hurt. There was some sort of thick, black, oily stuff that was clogging up his joints, making it hurt even more to move. Shadows lurked around the edge of his small range of vision, occasionally snapping out, struggling to reach him in his small circle of light.

They seemed afraid of the light.

Papyrus was thankful for that. Thankful that they got no nearer. They scared him. They made him feel... mad.

He sat there for some time, unable to do anything but watch as the shadows clawed at the light, and the light clawed back.

And then there was something else. Something strong, and powerful, and dangerous.

The shadows called out to it, claiming triumph. Said this was their champion, here to destroy the light. Here to let them get to Papyrus.

The shadows reached for it. Begged it for it's assistance.

Y O U , it roared in a voice that made Papyrus freeze, A R E M I N E .

For a moment, there was silence, a perfect silence in which nothing moved.

And then chaos erupted. The shadows screamed and writhed. Shouted traitor, you traitor!

Papyrus could only watch as they receded, as his circle of light grew slowly.

And then Sans was there. Sans, his right eye glowing as he controlled his Corrupt Magic.

Slowly, he forced Papyrus down, tugging away Papyrus's clothes. And he started attacking the black stuff in Papyrus's joints, tearing it away with a savageness that made it twist and squirm.

Papyrus was concerned, though. Because the black stuff was sticking to Sans' hands, wiggling into his joints, crawling up his arms.

Papyrus tried to point it out.

Sans shook his head, smiling at Papyrus. no. don't worry about it, i got this under control. don't worry, pap. everything's under control.

Papyrus protested a little, telling Sans that stuff was dangerous, that it hurt.

nah. it's alright, pap. it can't hurt me. just-... Sans paused a moment, pulling away the last of the black mess, letting it squirm up the sleeves of his jacket. just tell dad i'm okay. i just need to take a minute to let it know i'm the one in control here. make sure you tell him that, okay?

Papyrus smiled at Sans.

And then he closed his eyes.

When he opened them, things were different.

Sans was still leaning over him. Lights behind Sans. Cold tabletop beneath Papyrus. Mask on his face. Chest hurts, but a physical pain, not like before.

Sans smiled. tell him, okay?

A small dribble of an almost-purple, black liquid seeped out between Sans' teeth, dripping down his jaw. And then the lights of his pupils went out and he was falling sideways. Papyrus felt Sans' hands whack against his ribs as Sans' hands slipped from his ribcage.

Then he heard Gaster. "Sans? Sans?! Oh, Annoying dog! Answer me, Sans!"

"D-...a-...d..." Papyrus moaned.

And then Gaster was bent over Papyrus, even his right eyesocket wider than usual with worry. "Papyrus! Papyrus, you're- -Sans- Papyrus, Sans, just-"

"D-a..d-.. h-e... sa-..id... h-...he w-as... o-...kay-... an-...d he ... j-u-...st... n-... e...-ne...ed-..ed... to-..." Papyrus yawned, trailing off. "Jus-...t... n...e...e...d ... t...o ... ...t...o..."

Papyrus's eyes closed, and he dropped off into a peaceful slumber.

And Gaster was left with two unconscious sons, bewilderedly wondering if everything had just gone to hell again.

§

A/N

Thus, with two main characters mostly okay but unconscious, ends the Reawakening and Rescue arc.

... Guess what.

Next arc...?

...Hehehehe...

[ :D ]

Anyway, Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Remember, votes and comments are not only always welcome, but always appreciated, too!