Gaster walked thoughtfully through the empty black landscape of his dream. He'd done studies of the mind and how the REM affected monsters as opposed to humans, and the research enabled him to somewhat have a conscious presence within his sleep. He couldn't change events, but at least he wasn't just a viewer along for the ride. As he strode across the unending darkness, his hands behind his back, he waited for something to happen, for him to find something. He'd been a while without a dream, and wandering the subconscious wasn't quite as entertaining without one.

Finally, Dr.Gaster heard a noise. It was a voice. The voice called out for him in a panicked way, and the skeletal scientist couldn't help the worry that began to stir inside him.

"Daddy! Daddy come quick!" The voice cried. Gaster turned on his heel and watched as the darkness around him shifted and melded into a long corridor with seemingly no end. About ten feet away from Gaster, Papyrus stood, staring at his dad with a mixture of panic and terror.

"Papyrus?" Gaster exclaimed, temporarily forgetting he was within a dream.

"Daddy, come quick! Something's wrong with Sans!" The young skeleton turned and ran from him. Gaster didn't even hesitate before sprinting after his son. Suddenly, the floor opened up beneath him and he was sent tumbling down into a darkness not unlike the void. As opposed to falling indefinitely, he hit the ground at a velocity that should have shattered his bones. This was a dream, though, so actually getting killed wasn't possible. It still gave the impression of being hurt, though, and Gaster couldn't help but groan as he pulled himself to his feet.

"D-Dad?" Gaster spun around and saw Sans on his hands and knees, trembling. Dr.Gaster ran forward.

"Sans! Are you alright?" He wondered desperately. Sans' eye flashed blue and Gaster gasped. His son cried out in pain, clutching himself tightly as bones sprouted up from the ground.

"Sans, listen to me. You have to calm down. Powers are tied to emotions, and if you don't calm down, you might..." Gaster tried to explain, reaching out to help him. Sans screamed again, his blue eye like fire, trembling terribly as a massive dragon-head like blaster formed behind him. The scientist was too concerned for his son to care that the young boy had just summoned a Gaster Blaster. He knew it was a dream, but he couldn't convince himself that Sans wasn't actually in pain.

"I can't control it!"

"Sans, please listen to me!"

"This is all your fault!" Gaster froze. Tears were streaming down Sans' face, his blue eye blazing in anger and pain. "You did this to me!" He insisted. Gaster shook his head, almost numb in shock.

"No, I...Sans, you..." He struggled. He stopped again when his Soul turned blue. His eyes widened as he looked at Sans, who didn't seem to know what he was doing.

"I hate you!" The child screamed, thrusting out his hand, causing Gaster's Soul to throw the scientist backwards. The ground where Gaster would have landed crumbled apart before he could reach it, and the scientist was sent tumbling into oblivion, his body torn, molecules scattered as he was cast across time and space into eternal pain...

"Dad? Dad!" Gaster woke with a start, his Soul pounding. He breathed heavily, the memory of the pain refusing to fade like it usually did after dreams. Then his eyes focused on the one who called his name. It was Sans. His eyes were filled with fear as he stared at his dad. Gaster glanced around and saw bones sticking out of the ground and walls. He looked in the mirror on the wall and saw that his eyes were glowing, the right one orange, the left blue. He blinked and his eyes went back to normal, the bones fading. Gaster got to his feet and sat on his knees next to his son. He opened his arms and Sans threw himself into them. Gaster held him tightly, his eyes closed.

"D-Did you have a n-nightmare?" Sans wondered quietly. Gaster nodded, smiling slightly. "It's okay, Dad, everyone gets them once in a while." Gaster chuckled and held out his son at arm's length.

"That's right. And it was just a dream, after all." He agreed with a smile. Sans grinned, relieved that his dad was seemingly back to normal. "Did I wake your brother up?" Gaster inquired. Sans shook his head.

"Pap can sleep through anything." He reported. Gaster smiled slightly.

"That's true..." He recalled, his eyes searching his son's. "Sans... Are you okay?" He inquired. Sans furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I think so." He replied, sounding confused.

"Are you sure? Nothing hurts? Anything weird ever happen with the other monsters?" Gaster's face was etched with worry. Sans opened his mouth to insist he was okay, but the look on his father's face made him hesitate.

"Dad, was I in your nightmare?" He asked quietly. Something flashed across Gaster's eyes, but he smiled and shook his head.

"I can't quite recall," he lied, "you know how quickly some dreams fade." Gaster pat his son on the back, standing back up again.

"Everything's alright, Sans. It's just that I was only a little older than you when my powers started showing up, and I want to make sure you're not in any pain, because that can signify that something has gone wrong in the merging of your soul's abilities and your mind and emotions." He started to explain. Sans blinked at him, absorbing his every word. He was always interested in his father's work, for some reason. Gaster assumed he inherited such scientific interest from him. And since the scientist was talking about him, Sans was listening even more intently than usual. He'd always been a bit apprehensive about his powers. Gaster stopped explaining and smiled warmly, putting a hand on Sans' shoulder.

"Go back to bed, Sans. We've got a big day planned in the morning." He instructed. The young skeleton yawned, hugged his dad, then returned to his room. Gaster sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed. He looked at his hands, running his fingers around the hole in the middle absentmindedly. I shouldn't have lost control like that, he thought to himself, especially over just a dream. But maybe it was the fact that it was a dream that made it so much worse. The dreams of monsters often weren't just dreams, they also worked like premonitions. Gaster shivered slightly, putting a hand to his head as if he could feel it cracking open and being stretched across all timelines and spaces that were, are, and are to come. He shook the thought off and looked at the time. It was two o'clock in the morning. Gaster sighed. There wasn't much sense in going back to sleep, but if he left the room he might wake up Sans again. So instead, he got ready for the day ahead, then laid back down on his newly made bed to wait for the morning to come. If there was one thing Gaster was good at, it was waiting. He found himself able to, if he focused, sit and patiently wait for the next obstacle to come. And so he did. Gaster laid in the dark room and waited for the daytime, thinking about the activities planned, refusing to let his mind wander back to the dream. After all, it was just a dream.

A/N: another short one, I know. This took me all week to write because I have only been able to work on it, like, sentence by sentence. Anyway, hope you liked it! Howl to you later! :)