Gaster sat up and screamed.
Everything hurt, and it had quite surprised him when he had woken up.
He could feel something, against his ribs and in his Soul, and it hurt even more. He started clawing at his collar, intent on pulling it out from under his shirt.
He had to get up, go find Sans and Papyrus. Make sure they were safe.
But it seemed as though every time he had just gotten his fingers around it and started to pull, a sharp stab of pain tore through his Soul, making him drop it, cringing and crying out.
He had to get it out, though, because now it didn't just hurt, it burned.
He had to find his sons.
He wasn't sure how long he struggled, but eventually, someone stopped him.
Doctor, what-- Annoying Dog, Gaster! Calm down!
Grab his hands, stop him!
Even as the voices spoke, his hands were pulled away, and he found they were too strong for him to resist. He squirmed weakly in the person's grip, shaking and sweating.
Annoying Dog, it hurt.
Can't you sedate him?
He is sedated!
He knew it was futile, but he continued to struggle anyway. His sons needed him.
Well, can't you sedate him more? He's gonna hurt himself otherwise!
Fine, fine, just hold him still a bit longer!
Gaster flinched away as something brushed against his ribs. But he was held still, and moments later, a strange sort of placidness overcame him. His shaky breathing evened out, and his trembling calmed down into mild twitching. The pain in his chest, in his limbs, in his skull abated to a dull ache. His strength left him, and he fell tired and limp.
It was only a matter of minutes before he was out again.
~o0o~
Sans wandered through the lab hallways, skull filled with fog. He wasn't thinking too clearly at the moment, but he felt so calm, it didn't really matter.
It had been a few days since the rescue. Since it didn't also have to deal with physical injuries, too, his Soul had sorted out the Pure and Corrupt parts relatively quickly, and he was only mildly nauseous now. But he was still rather heavily sedated, as word had gotten around the lab of his... nice dinner. The monsters were afraid, and had drugged him to keep him calm. They didn't know that he wasn't struggling to keep his cool anymore, that he was totally in control of himself now.
Had Sans been more aware, he would have actively waited for an opportunity to slip out of the room they had put him in. As it was, it was only lucky coincidence that he had decided he had felt well enough, and that he needed to go find Papyrus and Gaster on the same night the guard outside his door had fallen alseep.
As it was nighttime, the hallways were empty, the evacuated monsters of Hotland and New Home bedded down in various rooms throughout the lab, and there was no one there to stop Sans as he wandered listlessly through the halls.
Eventually, he did find Papyrus.
Still not really aware of things, Sans paid no attention to the room they were in. Only that his brother was curled up in bed on his side, not moving.
Carefully as he could manage, Sans scooped Papyrus up. He still didn't move.
"pap?" Sans mumbled. Papyrus didn't respond.
A small knife of fear cut through the fog in Sans' mind. He had to help Papyrus.
Dad. Dad would know what to do. He had to find Gaster.
Moving as fast as he could, Sans stumbled back out into the hallway, Papyrus grasped in his arms. Had he been more aware, he might have been worried that the clatter of his bare feet against the floor tiles would have called attention to himself, but he wasn't more aware, so he didn't.
He wasn't sure how long he ran for. Only that he found Gaster similarly to Papyrus, asleep on a bed in a room.
He staggered over to the bed, Papyrus spilling from his arms onto the bed. Gaster, also rather heavily sedated, was still somewhat conscious, and pulled Papyrus closer to him.
Good. That was Papyrus safe with Dad.
Sans began to realize he was rather tired, and decide that, maybe, curling up next to his brother and dad wasn't such a bad idea.
For a moment or two, he struggled to climb up onto the mattress. Then he felt Gaster's hand on his arm, and with Gaster's semiconscious help, managed to pull himself up, and flop next to Papyrus.
Gaster wrapped his arms around Sans, tucking Papyrus comfortably between the two of them.
They were all safe. They were all comfortable.
They all slept on.
~o0o~
Unbeknownst to Sans, he had caused quite an uproar.
When it was found that he was missing from his room, people went into a panic. After all, they though he was still on a Soul-hungry rampage.
And then they found that Papyrus was missing too. That instantly tipped them off to go check Gaster.
~o0o~
Gaster woke slowly. He could feel the drugs in his system, and some distant part of himself told him it was going to be a little while before he woke up fully.
Summoning what consciousness he could, he looked around.
Vaguely, he recognized the room as one of the recovery rooms the lab had, that had been used in the days when live monster experimentation was not only legal, but commonplace. He was tucked into one of the beds, wearing a hospital gown. An IV drip hung beside the bed, the tube disappearing under the collar of the gown.
Most importantly, both his sons were curled up beside him. They both looked a bit worse for wear, both out cold and with matching clothing to himself. But they both looked relatively comfortable, tucked up to him on either side.
Gaster settled his skull back down against his pillow, breathing slowly and deeply. That hurt his ribs quite a bit, but he felt pretty good, all things considered.
For a while, he just lay there, breathing.
If he set his hands against his sons' backs and just stayed still, he could feel their pulses. Sans' was strong and slow and even. He was deeply asleep, and, judging by the soft smile on his face, amid a well-deserved pleasant dream. Papyrus's pulse was a bit faster and lighter, but, Gaster reasoned, that was to be expected. Papyrus was smaller, and had a physically smaller Soul. So of course it beat faster.
And if Gaster closed his own eyes, and relaxed, he could feel his own Soul, beating in his chest. Just a bit slower than Sans.
He pulled his sons close.
And he lay there, somewhere between awake and asleep, but deeply, constantly contented.
That is, until Undyne burst into the room, shouting. "DR. GASTER, YOU HAVE TO-"
"SHUT UP!" Gaster roared back, sitting up, his peaceful rest ruined.
Undyne froze, looking at Gaster and his sons. Papyrus somehow slept through that, probably still under the effects of the Corruption that had been injected into him, but Sans was beginning to stir.
"whhhngh... da-ad...?"
Wincing just a little at the pain in his chest, Gaster slowly helped Sans to sit up. Sans yawned, rubbed his eyes, then promptly flopped sideways onto Gaster's shoulder, asleep again.
Undyne cleared her throat slightly. "Um."
Gaster looked back to her. "What?"
"I. Um. We didn't know where Sans had gone, and then Papyrus was missing..."
Suddenly, Asgore and Toriel burst into the room behind Undyne. They both paused when they saw Sans and Papyrus with Gaster, but relaxed.
"My friend." Toriel smiled. "It is good to see you awake."
Gaster just nodded and started rearranging Sans into a position that didn't put quite so much weight on his shoulder. He was, after all, still wounded, and Sans was quite heavy for a skeleton of his size.
Finally, Alphys ran into the room. She just grinned when she saw her boss awake.
Sans mumbled something incoherent as Gaster finished readjusting him, propping himself up with a pillow in the process. "Now then. As I'm sure you can all see, both my sons and I are perfectly alright, so unless you have some immensely imperative news, I would appreciate it if you would allow us to return to our rest."
There were a few shared nervous glances. Sans said something not-quite-intelligible, but it sounded to Gaster like it may have been something involving tyrannosauruses.
Gaster fixed each of the other monsters in the room with a penetrating stare. "There is, quite obviously, some immensely imperative news that you are all reluctant to tell me." He shifted into what Sans had always called his 'Royal-Scientist-lecture-mode' "If you are worried about possibly causing me anxiety in my injured state, I would recommend that you simply tell me, as, if I were to, hypothetically, get anxious about anything, it would be more likely to be about an unknown variable, rather than a known bad one."
He steepled his fingers, and gave them a very expectant look.
Meanwhile, all four of them, Asgore, Toriel, Undyne, and Alphys, were all wondering how someone who was injured, lying in a hospital bed, had a still half-asleep son on one shoulder who was mumbling deliriously about dinosaurs, and another smaller son curled up unconscious halfway in his lap, could look that intimidating.
Finally, as she was his employee and felt that her job might have been at risk, Alphys spoke up. "Um- ahem- S-sir, it's t-the Corruption i-in Pap-yrus's Soul."
Gaster's expression shifted slightly to the negative.
"I-it's, um, e-equally balanced with t-the Purity i-in his S-Soul. S-so, um. U-unless w-we can t-t-tip the balance somehow a-and make one s-side prevail over the other, h-he's not going to w-wake up."
Gaster was scowling now. Slowly, he said, "But, his life is not in danger, correct?"
Alphys shook her head. "N-n-no, sir."
Gaster nodded once as Sans mumbled about stegosauruses. "There is that, I suppose. I can work with that. Onward, then. What of the Corrupters? I presume they launched a full-scale attack after our little... incursion... correct?"
Of the assembled monsters, Undyne was the only one who had never seen Gaster at work before. She was beginning to see now, though, how very efficient he was. He made sure he had all the information before acting.
And, as Commander, it was her duty to provide information regarding the war. She nodded. "Correct. And... It was a smart move on your part to have us evacuate all of New Home and Hotland into the lab. The Hotland defenses fell within a matter of hours of our return. Luckily, the lab defenses are holding well enough that the Corrupt appear to have mostly given up, and all the monsters were already here. So, very few casualties. But the Corrupt have the run of the Underground, and we're under siege here. We've taken the preemptive measure of rationing our food supply. At the current depletion, it should last at least for two years. With any luck, we'll be outta here long before that."
Sans quite clearly said "it's a dunkleosteus!" then returned to his sleepy mumbling.
Gaster considered the situation. "Well. That is... bad news."
Before he could continue, Asgore stepped over to the bed and set one large paw on Gaster's shoulder. "It is, Doctor, but at this very moment, you should not concern yourself with it. For the time being, we are safe in the lab, and you need to recover before beginning work again. Once you are fully recovered, you may attend the strategy meetings, but for now, as your friend and king, I am telling you this is not currently your problem."
Gaster looked like he was about to protest, but he paused. "I-... I suppose... I do have... something else that needs doing."
Asgore was about to protest, but then he saw where Gaster was looking.
Asgore already knew Gaster was willing to go to extraordinary lengths. He had been flung against a wall, for crying out loud! So he knew there was absolutely nothing he would be able to do to stop Gaster from taking care of Papyrus.
So, he just nodded. "Just do not overwork yourself, Gaster. Promise me that."
Gaster looked up from Papyrus to Asgore. "I will try."
Knowing that was as good as he was going to get, Asgore nodded and turned away, gesturing for the others to follow.
Once Asgore, Alphys, Toriel, and Undyne were gone, Gaster carefully lifted Papyrus into his lap and hugged his son to his chest. Sans, a little more awake, clumsily wrapped his arms half around Gaster and Papyrus.
And Gaster was confident that they would beat the Corruption in Papyrus's Soul.
§
A/N
The dunkleosteus is the best.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Remember, votes and comments are not only always welcome, but always appreciated, too!