The next few days settled into a routine that felt almost unnatural.

Frisk woke each morning to the smell of breakfast already cooking.

Sometimes pancakes.

Sometimes eggs and toast.

Once, Toriel insisted on making cinnamon rolls from scratch, claiming that rainy mornings demanded proper baking.

Frisk had never argued with that logic.

After breakfast, they spent time in the garden.

Toriel showed her how to prune roses without damaging the stems, how to tell when vegetables were ready to harvest, and how to coax stubborn tomato vines back onto their supports.

None of it had anything to do with survival.

None of it involved running, hiding, or stealing.

For perhaps the first time in her life, Frisk learned how to care for something instead of simply taking from it.

Afternoons were quiet.

Sometimes Toriel read while Frisk sat nearby with a book she wasn't actually paying attention to.

Sometimes they baked.

Sometimes they simply drank tea while watching the neighborhood go by through the front window.

The world seemed...

Slower here.

Safer.

It was almost enough to make Frisk forget why she had come.

Almost.

Every night, before going to bed, she found another opportunity.

A bug beneath the living room end table.

One inside a decorative clock.

Another tucked behind a bookshelf in the hallway.

Always only one.

Never in the same room.

Just as Evelyn instructed.

Every morning afterward, Toriel smiled at her exactly the same way she had the day before.

Every smile made the devices in Frisk's pockets feel heavier.

By the fourth day, she'd begun dreading Evelyn's next phone call more than any gunfight.

She was becoming exactly what the Black Roses needed.

Someone the Family trusted.

Someone invisible.

Someone dangerous.

By the fifth day, cabin fever had begun to settle in.

Frisk had spent nearly a week inside Toriel's little house.

Safe.

Hidden.

Waiting.

Waiting was the hardest part.

She hated feeling useless.

Every morning blended into the next. She helped Toriel sweep the porch, water the flowers, bake pies, and found herself settling into routines that felt strangely... normal.

Too normal.

It made it easy to forget she was a spy.

Easy to forget the listening devices hidden throughout the house.

Easy to forget the burner phone tucked into the back of her dresser drawer.

Almost.

She was kneading bread dough beside Toriel when three heavy knocks echoed through the front door.

Confident.

Impatient.

Familiar.

Toriel smiled before she even reached the hallway.

"I believe your friends have arrived."

Friends.

The word still sounded strange.

Toriel brushed the flour from her apron and opened the door.

"Good morning."

"NYEH HEH HEH!"

Papyrus's booming voice filled the house before he even stepped inside.

"HELLO, TORIEL!"

He stood proudly on the porch with his usual broad grin, orange scarf fluttering behind him.

Behind him stood Undyne, arms crossed, sunglasses resting on top of her head. She looked as though she'd been waiting in the truck for Papyrus to finish announcing himself to the neighborhood.

"Morning," she said.

Toriel stepped aside.

"Please, come in."

Papyrus marched into the house as though he owned it.

"FRISK!"

He spread his arms dramatically.

"I HAVE RETURNED!"

Frisk couldn't stop herself from smiling.

"...Hi, Papyrus."

"I TRUST YOU HAVE NOT BEEN CAUSING LADY TORIEL TOO MUCH TROUBLE."

"I don't think so."

Toriel smiled warmly.

"It has been a pleasure having her here."

"I KNEW IT!"

Papyrus declared triumphantly.

Undyne rolled her eye.

Toriel chuckled softly.

"I will prepare some tea."

Within minutes, everyone had settled into the living room.

Undyne declined her tea.

Papyrus accepted two cups.

Frisk didn't question it.

Undyne leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.

"Good news."

Frisk straightened slightly.

"The fallout's mostly over."

"...What happened?"

Undyne snorted.

"What happened is your shopping trip turned into one giant diplomatic nightmare."

Papyrus crossed his arms.

"I MAINTAIN THAT THE CLOTHES WERE WORTH IT."

Undyne ignored him.

"The Black Roses filed complaints. They claimed that we violated the border agreement by crossing into their territory."

Frisk looked down.

She hadn't even known they were in Black Rose territory until bullets started flying.

"They weren't exactly wrong," Undyne admitted. "We crossed first."

Papyrus raised a finger.

"I REQUIRED HUMAN CLOTHING."

"You require common sense."

"I ALREADY HAVE THAT."

Undyne pinched the bridge of her nose.

Frisk almost laughed.

Almost.

Undyne continued.

"Normally, this would've turned ugly."

She nodded toward Frisk.

"But Sans stepped in."

Frisk looked up.

"He did?"

"Spent the last several days smoothing things over."

Papyrus nodded enthusiastically.

"HE IS VERY GOOD AT THAT."

Undyne grunted.

"Wouldn't recommend watching him do it."

Frisk frowned.

"...Why?"

"Because it's painfully boring."

Papyrus looked offended.

"DIPLOMACY IS A BEAUTIFUL ART."

"It's paperwork."

"BEAUTIFUL PAPERWORK."

Undyne sighed and leaned back again.

"Point is..."

She looked directly at Frisk.

"Things are still tense, but stable. No one's shooting at each other. That's about as peaceful as this city's ever going to be."

Frisk slowly nodded.

"So..."

She looked between them.

"Everything's okay?"

Undyne shrugged.

"As okay as organized crime gets."

Relief settled over Frisk.

At least outwardly.

Internally, another feeling crept in.

Disappointment.

A week ago, she would've celebrated knowing she'd helped the Black Roses.

Now...

She wasn't sure.

"So...I'm free to leave?"

Toriel quietly set another tray of tea on the table.

Undyne scratched the back of her head.

"Sort of."

Papyrus answered before she could.

"YOU SHALL REMAIN HERE."

Frisk blinked.

"...I will?"

Papyrus nodded.

"OUR HOME IS FAR TOO SMALL."

Undyne snorted.

"And currently full."

Papyrus sighed dramatically.

"MY BROTHER HAS TOO MANY SOCKS."

Undyne pointed at Papyrus.

"This idiot has been staying at my place since the shooting, but he needs to go back to his own bed today."

Papyrus puffed out his nonexistent chest.

"I AM AN EXCELLENT HOUSE GUEST."

Undyne stared at him.

"You reorganized my refrigerator alphabetically."

"I WAS IMPROVING IT."

"You alphabetized ketchup."

"K COMES BEFORE M."

Frisk laughed.

Neither of them acknowledged it.

Undyne turned back toward her.

"You'll stay here."

She nodded toward Toriel.

"It's more practical."

Toriel smiled.

"You are welcome to remain as long as necessary."

Frisk quietly thanked her.

Undyne clapped her hands once.

"Now, business."

Her expression shifted.

The joking disappeared.

"You got lucky."

Frisk's smile faded.

She continued.

"The shopping trip. You survived because Papyrus happened to be there."

She held Frisk's gaze.

"Next time... there might not be someone standing between you and the bullets."

Silence settled over the room.

Frisk looked down.

"I know."

Undyne nodded.

"So we're fixing that."

"...Fixing it?"

"You've got good instincts. You know how to move; how to disappear. You've survived the streets your whole life."

Frisk listened quietly.

"But you can't fight"

Papyrus snapped his fingers dramatically.

"YET."

Undyne pointed toward herself with her thumb.

"I'll be fixing that."

Frisk blinked.

"...what?"

"You'll be training with me from now on."

"I've never really trained before."

"Good."

Undyne grinned.

"Means I won't have to beat bad habits out of you."

Frisk wasn't sure whether to find that reassuring.

She decided not to.

Papyrus eagerly raised both hands.

"I SHALL ALSO ASSIST."

Undyne immediately shook her head.

"No."

Papyrus looked heartbroken.

"...NO?"

"I need her to survive."

"I ENCOURAGE SURVIVAL."

Undyne laughed.

"You encourage hugs."

"I DO BOTH."

She clapped him on the shoulder hard enough to make his scarf bounce.

"You can help later."

Papyrus accepted that surprisingly easily.

Undyne turned back toward Frisk.

"First lesson starts today."

Frisk looked out the window.

"...Today?"

"No point waiting."

"But I don't even have..."

"Doesn't matter."

Undyne was already walking toward the front door.

"We're starting with the basics."

She opened it.

"How to move. How to stay alive. And most importantly..."

A grin spread across her face.

"...how not to get shot."

Papyrus proudly pointed toward the driveway.

"OUR NOBLE CHARIOT AWAITS!"

Undyne groaned.

"It's an SUV."

"A VERY NOBLE SUV."

Toriel walked Frisk to the front door.

She gently adjusted the collar of her sweater before smiling.

"You will be back this evening?"

"I think so."

"I shall have dinner waiting."

Frisk smiled softly.

"...Thank you."

Toriel gave a small nod.

"Be careful."

"I will."

Outside, Papyrus was already climbing into the passenger seat while enthusiastically explaining why every vehicle should have racing stripes.

Undyne ignored him.

Frisk climbed into the back seat, pulling the door shut behind her.

As the engine rumbled to life, Undyne glanced at her through the rearview mirror.

"I hope you ate breakfast."

"...I did."

"Good."

A grin slowly spread across Undyne's face.

"'Cause I'm about to ruin your day."

The SUV rolled away from Toriel's quiet neighborhood and toward Undyne's house.

Toward training.

Toward becoming something far more dangerous than a simple street thief.

And tucked safely inside the walls of the little white house behind her...

The Black Roses were already listening.