Save Point (Sans x Reader)

Chapter Thirty, Part One

"Nothing that matters is easy." - Miss Fisher, Season 1 | Episode 2

★

It's Monday.

You're all dressed up for the occasion: a plain dress shirt, a suit, and a tie. The weather is against you, the wind that blows when you get out of the car spitting needle-like rain on your clothes. You guard your attire by taking out an umbrella and opening it, using it until you reach the entrance of the town hall. A guard steps in front of you as soon as you stand before the doors and asks the reason for your visit. She gives you a quick once over and tries not to let her recognition be seen -- something that seemed to happen often at your hometown ever since the mention of your trail was plastered all over the newspapers they gave out.

"Good afternoon, (miss/mister) (L/N). The mayor has been expecting you," she states, looking at the small watch on her wrist to check the time. Wary, you check the hour on your phone, relieved when you see you're twelve minutes early for the meeting. "I will escort you to his office shortly, but I will need to perform a security checkup first."

Nodding, you follow her lead and pass through the entrance, stopping when she does the same. She takes you to her station composed of a single desk and chair, complete with the equipment needed for security, all located in one small room kept hidden from the waiting area of the town hall. She instructs you to stretch your arms out and begins patting your suit for anything that might stick out. You wait and see her take out your phone and wallet, handing you back the latter and keeping the phone in her hold.

"We will be confiscating your phone until the meeting is over," she explains, her blue eyes staring deep into you while she passes a hand through her ginger hair. "If you can't find me here by the time you're out of the meeting, another officer will be waiting for you."

"Understood," you speak up, a polite smile showing your agreement. The locket dangling on the phone makes you hesitate, and you try to find courage to say your thoughts out loud. "But may I still keep the locket? It's. . . very important to me."

The officer raises an eyebrow, subtle action giving away her interest for knowing the reasons of the importance behind the locket. She inspects the item and uses a metal detector to verify it's safe. Once she marks it as such, she takes it again and unlatches it from the phone, giving it back to you.

"Here you are, (ma'am/sir)."

"Thank you, officer."

She pockets the phone and continues walking after taking a turn to the left. Her broad shoulders are firm in place as her heeled dress shoes tap against the marbled floor, the rhythm quick and consistent to your hearing. You follow close by her side, careful not to fall behind on your steps and make her point that out when noticing.

You're tempted to stop when you catch sight of something shining from the corner of your eye, but settle with a double-take before you keep walking any further from it. It's gone by the time you look again, though you can't bring yourself to shake it off as your imagination.

"Here we are."

You dismiss those thoughts and wonders at the sound of the woman's voice. Her voice is firm, and she's holding the door open with one hand, the other she uses to lead you in. Her expression is unreadable as you step in, dull mouth and severe eyes making it hard to see beyond her composed nature.

The door closes with a thud, leaving you no option aside from checking out the room when you realize the mayor is not on his desk. (E/c) eyes scan the area from east to west, taking in the stuffy, if not imposing look of the thick curtains blocking nature from your view. The mayor's desk is clean aside from his silver name plaque and a thick, yellow file with your information on it. You take a step closer, curious to read the words scribbled on top of it.

"(Y/N) (L/N)'s Child Custody Case. Case File Number-"

Lightning striking close to the windows interrupts you from reading. The lights flicker and warn over a possible power outage while the air conditioner shuts down in entirety.

"These darned thunderstorms keep messing with the air conditioner!" a man's voice exclaims, almost scaring you out of your skin with how quiet it is now -- it was a large difference without the cooling device making noise.

Your gaze falls upon the mayor, who emerges from the door located on the right side of his desk. He's busy holding onto more documents in his hands, a soft smile welcoming you to sit down.

"Come now, (miss/mister) (L/N)," he greets, walking to his desk and setting the pile of papers and folders down on it. "I have been eager to talk with you again."

★

The mayor's friendly attitude lasts until the most part of your meeting. His words are calming and considerate whenever you mention your troubles, though one question in particular makes his smile quaver.

"Why do you agree with Sans's sentence despite acknowledging him as my partner in your response letter?"

His countenance twitches as he folds his hands over the desk, straightening his posture before answering. "I simply do not believe this will last between you -- It has only been seven months, hasn't it? Your marriage with Jessie ended in spite of you knowing them for many years. Who is to say you won't lose interest in Sans after a period of separation?"

You're at a loss for a response to his statement. Your mind racks for a quick response, though all of them fall short when you plan to say them out loud. So far, the meeting had gone smoothly and you had even retrieved the hope of it resulting well. Now, you think differently. The mayor's smile shifts into a grin, warmth and amiability falling away from his gaze.

"I'd like to object on that, sir. Jessie's views clashed with mine, so I had to leave them. Sans, though, he. . . I care about him, and I think I have the right to move on just as much as Jessie has with their new lover."

"But now Jessie is in jail because of you, aren't they?"

"Jessie is in jail because they attacked me right in front of Faust."

You reach into your pocket and clutch onto the locket, squeezing it in hopes of easing out your mind and gaining some sort of calm. You had gone too far to let things go to waste now.

"Still, I believe you would know better with your past experiences in the workforce, correct? One of the main requisites was practiced knowledge on self-defense for a reason."

That comment weakens your resolve. Your thoughts go out of order as buried memories of the times you were brushed off in a similar manner surface again. It had been this way ever since you left your old job, and things didn't seem to be changing anytime soon.

"I didn't want to scare Faust -- He ran back home, and he was shaking when Jessie showed up yelling."

"Then perhaps you should've thought first about who you were bringing in home with you. If you had listened to your-"

"It was already proven Jessie didn't keep their part of our agreement. They went as far as stalking me to get evidence in their favor."

You tighten your hold on the locket one final time before letting it go, determined to say your mind for at least once in a lifetime. Many times you had been reluctant and indecisive when it came to choosing something for your own good and the good of Faust. Hadn't you received upfront support from your next-door neighbour and a few of your friends, you wouldn't have gained courage to face Jessie like you had in court.