Never back underground.
This is a fic-swap with @tyranttortoise, sorry it might be a bit short, but i really enjoyed writing this. Warning: Major Angst, Death, Mention of Suicide. --- No. Not again. Please don't let this happen again. His bony hands were shaking, trembling, coated with deep crimson blood dripping from the body in his arms. He clutched them to himself, protective, he isn't going to let anyone else touch you, not ever again, and he would promise, but what was there to promise to unhearing ears, to unseeing eyes, to a still heart. You were the only thing that made him sane in this fucked up world, the only thing he clung to when his brother had died, you were his one and only, so why, why did it have to be like this? Why was it always him who was left behind, why did you have to die, why? Tears were the only thing clouding his vision, all except for the blood. And he could feel that demonic presence coming forth, wanting so desperately to pass. That demon. That demon was responsible for this, all of his sorrow, all of his pain. He would die before he let them pass, and the rage, the vision of you, tossed and bloody to the side, fueled him on. It was a matter of him now, a matter of their sins against his, and he was a judge, one that was without mercy or intent to let Chara leave the underground. Time after time Chara died, and when they didn't, that is when they had given up, their intent lost, and the world reset. It was then that Papyrus had taken a breath, a breath of hope a breath of pure, raw emotion. His tears escaped him, his hands gripping his skull, his soul racing and his bones weak. Where were you? Where was his hope? His sunshine, the star in his darkness. Where had you gone? Did you leave him? Did he do something wrong? Why hadn't the reset brought you back? What had he done now to deserve this? Days passed by as quickly as the weeks, every day he got more depressed, more sad, more numb. He did not cry anymore, he did not smile anymore, and the only puns he had told were in the company of his brother. The last thing he held dear, the only thing that kept him living on this miserable plain of existence. He knew his brother had noticed his misery, and at first he had tried to hide it, but now, now he didn't care, there was not a thing that would make him the same as when he had you. One day however, something was wrong. That cursed child did not show its presence here, Sans had not found a human and Papyrus did not have to pretend that he had been okay with them around here. What was going on? So many questions, and so many of them left unanswered, but that did not matter when he saw the miracle appearing. You were alive. You were here. Your soul,... Oh god, what happened to you? If some of you though that the resets went without consequences, that everything simply erased and started anew. You were wrong. Your corpse had made its way into the underground, haunting Papyrus, watching him, his tears not being able to wash away the blood that coated your body. This was a nightmare. Truly it had been, and they plagued his every night, never ending suffering of your dying form. He had had enough. He couldn't handle it anymore. He wouldnt handle it anymore. He was sure that Blue could overcome it, and he was sure that he would live to find someone that could actually make his brother happy. To this he was driven, to the point of abandoning the last thing he had. He used to tell himself that he would never leave his brother, that Blue didn't deserve that, that he would endure everything and anything for his brother, but then again, that was before your death. And how long before Chara does a genocide run again? How long before it ends and resets again? How long? He had decided. But the least he could do was spend the last day with his brother, trying to give him the happiness he lacked himself. For once, he wasn't being lazy, and he agreed to go with blue to the sentry station. That would be the last time he's there after all. The day was usual, nothing new, nothing unusual, and Stretch tried hard to enjoy this time. It was as if total and utter silence had enveloped him, a peace that came before a storm, the last one he would have. Minutes passed with hours, and nothing unusual happened. He was smoking his usual cigarette, also, the last one he would have. His time ran short, and it wouldn't be long before- “Papyrus?” Was this a dream? Was this just another one of those horrible nightmares? Was this another trick that his guilt ridden conscious played him? Or was that really- “Honey?” he choked, his voice trembling, his breath hitched, and he tried desperately to not let his tears fall again. You smiled, the most wonderful smile he had known, your eyes glowed with life, and you were no longer clad in that crimson liquid he had grown to known so well. This was you. It had to be. There was no mistaking it. Your tears fell, and a choked “Papyrus” escaped you once again. He no longer controlled his actions, he teleported across the sentry station right in front of you, and in a heartbeat his arms were around you, his face in the crook of your neck, gripping your body to his for dear life. You were real. Your scent, the feeling of you against him, your tears that drenched his hoodie. They were all real. He had gotten you back, and his heart clenched. You choked out a sob at the feeling of him against you. This was real. He was there. “Never” he hitched, his breath hot against your neck as were the flooding tears from his eyes. “I'm never letting you go.” he choked and you squeezed him as your reply. You would go to the surface, and lead a life where this clenching misery wouldn't persist, where he would protect you with his life, and where you would save him each time he had. But never back here. Never back underground