Forever

Chapter 5

"Look," Dream spoke suddenly, eyes drifting back over towards Philza, "if this is about the whole Technoblade situation, there's no need to punish the whole team. I was the one who did it, and the rest of the team is just trying to-"

"So you're the one who pulled the trigger then," Philza said it as a statement rather than a question, and Dream nodded slowly in response.

Philza tsked under his breath, narrowed eyes scanning over Dream before he was continuing, "well, I suppose I should be applauding you for doing something countless people have tried to do in the past. He's not an easy man to kill, you know."

"Trust me," Dream muttered, "I know that."

Philza laughed quietly, rubbing at his jaw as he said, "I'm sure you do. Now, I'm aware that you can't do business how you used to back home, and that's because in most people's minds, you've screwed up big time."

"And in your mind?" Dream asked.

Philza only chuckled quietly, leaning forward again as he said, "not important. But, I'm willing to give you a chance if you're willing to prove yourself."

At this, Sapnap leaned forward eagerly in his chair, a bit cautious with his words as he asked, "and how would we need to prove ourselves?"

"I'd ask that you help my team out with a few jobs," Philza stated, "nothing too big, but just enough to prove that you're willing to work for the contract. I can't just hand it over, especially not to the team that killed off Technoblade."

There was a moment of tense silence, and Dream leaned back in his seat because this wasn't his choice to make. He couldn't even decide whether he trusted Philza or not, he was a difficult man to understand. Sapnap took a slow breath from beside him, and then finally he answered, "alright, if I can have a few of my people come over, then we'd be willing to help."

A satisfied hum brushed past Philza's lips, and he grinned as he muttered, "good. Then I guess we're all set here. You have five days to get your people here and get organized. I'll have someone from my team send you the details of the first job, and I expect you to be there."

Sapnap nodded, and Dream braced his hands against the armrests of his chair, ready to stand and get the hell out of this office. But he stilled as Philza cleared his throat and spoke again, "oh, and one more thing."

Dream stood, eyes dropping down to look at Philza, who was still seated as he continued, "I want you to bring George to see me."

"Why?" Sapnap asked as he stood, eyes narrowed defensively.

"I have my reasons," Philza answered, "if you want this contract, and trust me, I know you don't have many other choices, then you'll bring George here to see me."

Dream could already feel a familiar heat burning low in his body, the same feeling that only came when George was potentially in danger. Before he could open his mouth, Sapnap's hand was curling around his forearm, and with a forceful tug, he was urging Dream towards the door as he quietly muttered, "let's just go."

With his jaw tensed and heat burning behind jade eyes, Dream forced himself to follow after Sapnap rather than send his fist colliding with Philza's face. He wasn't even sure of his intentions yet, but he didn't like the implication behind the parting words.

It wasn't until they were back in the car and pulling away from the building that either of them finally spoke.

"I don't know about this Philza guy," Sapnap muttered as he sped away from the building.

"I don't trust him," Dream responded in a low voice, "whatever he has planned for George, it's not happening. He's not getting near him, I'll make sure of it myself."

"I agree," Sapnap replied, "but don't worry, we'll figure it out. I'll call Karl and Sam as soon as we get back to your apartment. We'll need to get them over here, figure out what the hell we're going to do."

Dream's eyes flitted over towards Sapnap, one eyebrow raised questioningly as he asked, "aren't we going to get George first?"

Sapnap didn't respond right away, but a sigh pushed past his lips. After a moment, he said, "I don't think that's a good idea. He's upset, Dream. And I think you should just give him some space."

"But Sapnap-"

"Dream, no," Sapnap urged, "he'll be safe at the hotel, no one knows he's there. Just do this for him, okay?"

Dream sighed in defeat, sinking back into his chair as he ran a hand down his face. As his hand fell back towards his lap, he shook his head and quietly said, "I don't know what he wants me to do. I can't exactly un-kill Technoblade. And I definitely don't regret what I did."

Sapnap nodded, thinking over the words before responding, "I get that, but you have to see it from George's perspective, too. He's been chasing after this for a long time, Dream. Since way before we even knew who George was. And he's always had one goal in mind, we both know that."

Dream could only nod because everything Sapnap was saying was true. Of course he knew that much.

"I know we've all been through a lot, and I'm not trying to take away from that," Sapnap continued, "but George has been though a lot. He lost both of his parents, has been willing to sacrifice himself to spare us multiple times, and he had to live through six months of thinking you were dead and blaming himself."

Dream's chest tightened at the words, and his urge to see George only grew stronger. It was one of the things he loved most about George, that despite everything he had been through, he was still one of the strongest people that Dream knew. But he also knew that even the strongest people needed someone to lean on from time to time, and that's all he really wanted to be able to do for George.

"You're right," Dream responded quietly, "if he wants space, then I'll give him space."

"Okay, good," Sapnap answered in a gentle voice, "you guys have a way of always finding your way back to one another. I know it'll be fine."

At this, Dream felt himself smiling just the slightest bit. It was the same thing he had promised to George time and time again; he'd always come back to him, and he knew that George would always do the same.

By the time they pulled up to the apartment, Dream felt like he could actually breathe again. He tried to pry his thoughts away from George, leading Sapnap inside and sitting down across from him at the kitchen table as Sapnap pulled out his phone.

Dream listened closely while Sapnap relayed all the information about their meeting to Sam and Karl, and both agreed that the whole thing was suspicious.

"I'm not sure about this," Sam spoke slowly, like he always did when he was analyzing a situation from all sides, "this guy is almost impossible to get information on, and that's usually not a good sign. The only thing we were really able to find was from an old database that Karl hacked into."

"Nice, Karl," Sapnap said with a grin, and Karl yelled a quick 'thanks' from the background as Dream rolled his eyes and laughed.

"What did you find?" Dream asked as he leaned in over the phone.

"Some old contracts and paperwork," Sam answered, "it links Philza and his family name to George's family. It's not clear what the exact connection is, they may have done business together or it might be something else."

Dream looked up to meet Sapnap's gaze, both wordlessly digesting the information as Sam asked, "did George recognize him at all?"

"George didn't go," Dream muttered, "long story, but he hasn't seen him yet. He did recognize the name, but he's not sure from where."

"Shit," Sam muttered back, "well, I think George might be the key to figuring this guy out. So at some point, we're gonna need George to see him."