HM/EB: Forgiveness and Sacrifice

The Dogs

It had been three days and Fell, as they had all agreed to call the new Papyrus, was still waking up screaming. Red would always be at his brother's side when it was time to sleep, and so was the main one to calm him down and bring him back from his states of deliria. Blue was the usually the next to awake, hurrying as quickly as possible downstairs to get Fell anything he needed and, more often than not, going ahead and making breakfast tacos. Even Stretch, as heavily as he slept, was woken up from a dead sleep to his counterpart shrieking bloody murder.

It was the third of these nightly panic attacks that Red finally got some kind of information on who had hurt his little brother.

"Pap, calm down, it's me, we're safe, you're safe..." Red whispered, rubbing Fell's spine comfortingly.

"They w-wouldn't stop...they ch-chewed and s-spit and...they w-wouldn't k-k-kill me...THOSE DAMN DOGS WOULDN'T JUST LET ME DIE!" with that Fell burst into tears again, trembling, his eyelights tiny in his fear.

Red felt his eye sockets go hollow at his brother's words, only able to hold him tightly as he broke down again. Red looked up towards the stairs and saw that Stretch had heard, and looked just as enraged as Red. Taking a deep, calming breath, Red laid his brother back down, laying his head on his chest. Fell was soon asleep again, his fingers entangled in Red's.

"Try to get some sleep, okay?" Stretch said quietly before walking to the front door and slipping his tennis shoes on. Red was about to ask where he was going this late at night, but decided against it. Blue came when he heard the front door close a bit roughly and ran form the kitchen, pausing beside Red.

"Did Fell say something?" Blue asked, his large blue eyelights missing their stars. Red just nodded, staring at his little brother's face, his mouth slightly open from the pain of his missing teeth. Blue watched with him, his arms crossed across his chest and he swayed from foot to foot. Red had never seen his alternate this upset about something for this amount of time, and soon felt uncomfortable with the other standing behind him. Raising his head slowly, he turned to look Blue in the eye. Blue didn't notice for a few minutes, until Red made a small noise in the back of his throat.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just...he reminds me of Pap...and..." Red stood quietly, placing Fell's hands back on his chest for a moment before he enveloped Blue in his arms. Taking in the other's sniffles he held him tightly, speaking softly.

"It's okay, I know. It hurts to see him hurt, I understand." Blue could only nod, pressing his face deep into Red's jacket as he tried to quiet his sobs. Soon he had started to calm down, Red rubbing his back, when he remembered his meat cooking in the other room. With a slight gasp he tore from Red's arms, disappearing for a moment before giving Red a thumbs up from behind the wall. Red chuckled before settling back down in the chair he kept at his brother's side, once again wrapping his own hands around his brother's, laying his head on his ribs and closing his eyes.

~.~

Fell didn't end up waking up in time for breakfast the next morning, so Stretch and Blue had to beg him to come eat. He did, finally, although he left more than once throughout the meal to check on his brother. Red silently munched on a taco for a moment, before remembering that Stretch had left sometime the night before.

"Hey, Stretch? Where'd you go off to last night?" Stretch sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. It didn't look like he had slept much once he had gotten home, not that Red was awake when he had.

"Went to go talk to the dogs. Told them to try and stay away from us as much as possible. Fell can't stay cooped up in the house 24/7, ya know?" Red stared at him for a moment before nodding, looking back at his plate of food before deciding he was no longer hungry. Blue had also stopped eating, simply pushing his food around with a fork. They sat in silence for a moment before Blue sighed and began cleaning up, the other two following suit and dumping what they hadn't eaten before putting their dishes in the sink.

Red walked back into the living room to check on Fell, Stretch's hand on his shoulder startling him slightly.

"We really need to take him to see Undyne. We won't be able to heal him like he needs here."

"Umm, how is the Captain supposed ta help?" Stretch stared at him a moment before realizing.

"Undyne is the Royal Scientist here. She's a real sweet heart, but I understand where you two are coming from." He jerked his head in Fell's direction before continuing. "So Blue and I will come with. Trust me, Blue won't let anything happen, and neither will I." Red snorted, but nodded, giving Stretch a small smile of gratefulness before heading over to wake his brother. Stretch watched him and smiled inwardly. The kid really did care about his brother.