"Who the hell is Wilbur Soot?"
Technoblade gave George a bored look and shifted in his seat to turn to his computer, typing away.
George had had came into his supervisor's office shortly after talking with Clay. He plopped down in his seat and fidgeted with a fraying piece of his cast.
Techno hummed as his eyes skimmed over his computer screen. He said evenly, "Hmm, says here that he's on the record for... arson. Spent three years behind bars for setting fire to and blowing up a bank. Huh." His eyes darted to George. "Why do you ask?"
George nodded slowly at the new information. "Clay, err, Dream just told me everything that he went through. This Wilbur Soot guy has his little sister."
"And you believe him?"
George took in Techno's skeptical expression. He hesitated before saying, "I, well― yeah. He seemed like he was telling the truth."
"Uh huh," Techno muttered. "Why would you trust him? He lied to you for months and don't forget about the people that he's killed."
"He was forced. He said Wilbur is holding his sister hostage and Dream has to all his dirty work if he wants to see her again."
Technoblade studied him for a long moment. He stated disapprovingly, "You're defending him. After all he's done."
George winced and rubbed the back of his neck. "Kind of... he has a reason though. You have to take that into consideration."
"What am I supposed to do with this new information?"
George looked to his hands nervously before looking back to Techno. He said, "Um, I was hoping we could gather a team to save his sister. We find Wilbur, rescue Dream's sister, then all of our problems are solved. Dream no longer has to kill anyone and when we have Wilbur, we wouldn't have to worry about him finding someone else to do his dirty work."
Techno hummed thoughtfully. "I'll think about it."
George sighed in relief. "That's all I ask. Thank you."
George got up, a small smile lighting his cheeks at Techno's nod. He left his boss's office with new hope.
"Detective!" Agent Quackity called from George's right. "I wanted to talk to you."
George held back a frown and replied, "What do you want to talk about?"
"I, uh," Quackity coughed and looked down embarrassingly. "I'm sorry for saying those things to you. I didn't really mean it."
"I know," George said, his shoulders relaxing, "you were still upset over your friend's death, I get it."
Quackity sighed in relief. "We got off on the wrong foot." He stuck his hand out and said with a grin, "I'm Alex, one of Mexico's top agents."
George grinned and shook the outstretched hand. "Hi Alex, I'm George, head detective on the Dream Case."
The two started walking to the office. Alex said, "Congratulations on that, by the way... must've been hard turning him in, but you did it. Takes guts."
George nodded wordlessly. Alex added, "I'm heading back home in a couple days, but if I'm needed more here I might stay longer."
"Thank you for you help," George said. "I'm glad I got to meet you."
Alex grinned. "Same here. It would be cool to partner with you on a case sometime. Anyways, see you around!"
George nodded with a grin and waved back to Alex, who walked into a room that wasn't George's destination. George pulled out his phone and called Karl.
"Hey George! What's up?"
"Hey Karl," George replied, smiling, "I was hoping we could talk, you up for lunch?"
~two days later~
"So, let me get this straight," George said slowly, "We're going to visit Sapnap in prison and talk to him? About what?"
Zak nodded. "Yeah, I think it would be good to talk to him and see if he has any information on the whereabouts of Wilbur."
George sighed and followed Zak to his car. Zak started the engine and the two started their drive across Orlando.
It had been two days since George had seen or spoken to Clay. He missed him. And George hated himself for that.
He hated how his heart ached for Clay, how he sympathized with him and felt the urge to hug him. Clay lied about everything, so why did George feel this way?
The previous day Technoblade had reluctantly agreed to George's proposal. He was allowing George to create a small team to find Wilbur. George had been relieved, he just wanted everything to be over. The late nights spent pacing, the early mornings with only coffee in his stomach, the unsuccessful attempts at sleep.
He just wanted sleep.
Clay had helped him with that. Clay helped him feel safe. But now...
Now, George didn't know what to think.
His train of thought was disrupted when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and picked up. "Hey, what's up?"
Karl replied with the same infectious energy as always, "Hey! I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch with me."
"Sorry Karl, I'm heading across town right now." George said more quietly into his phone so Zak wouldn't hear, "I'm going to visit Sapnap."
George heard Karl drop something. Karl whispered― taking the tone George was using, "Wait really!? Can I come?"
"I don't think so," George replied hesitantly.
"Oh come on," Karl pleaded, "please?"
George hummed in consideration. He turned to Zak and asked, "Do you think my friend could come? He would wait outside in the car of course."
George heard Karl's groan of annoyance from the phone speaker. Zak raised an eyebrow and replied with a smile, "Sure, as long as he listens."
George nodded and put his phone back to his ear, "Okay, Karl, we're going to pick you up. Where do you live?"
Karl told George his address and soon Zak was parked in front of Karl's house. It was a small, modern, cozy looking home. Karl walked out excitedly, holding a container in his hands. He got into the backseat and sighed with a smile.
George turned around, looking to Karl as Zak started driving. "What are you holding?"
Karl held up the tupperware and opened it. The fresh smell of cookies greeted George's nose as he inhaled. Karl grinned. "I was baking this morning. I was gonna give you then sometime today, and here we are... do you want some?"
George nodded with a grin and accepted a chocolate chip cookie. He passed one to Zak who took it with a thank you. The rest of the drive was spent with them eating cookies and talking about random topics.
Soon they were parked outside of one of Orlando's prisons. Zak and George stepped out of the car and Karl went to follow, but George stopped him.
"Sorry Karl, but you can't come inside," George said.
Karl's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why not?"
"It's not that you're not allowed, it's just that you're not a detective or one of people working on the case. You're presence with us and Sapnap would be distracting," Zak answered.
Karl frowned. He grabbed the plastic container, which had several more cookies inside, and handed it to George. "Fine, but take these with you. You guys can have the rest." When Karl read their expressions, which conveyed that they were full, he said, "If you guys don't want them, then give them to Sapnap... I'm sure prison food doesn't taste the best."
George smiled softly at Karl's thoughtfulness and took the half filled container. He and Zak said goodbye to Karl and headed into the prison. They passed through security checks and soon they were sitting in front of a window, which showed the other side of the prison, where the prisoners sat.
They waited and soon two guards entered, holding Sapnap by his arms. Sapnap shook their grips off him and sat down in the appointed seat with a glare.
His cuffed hands rested on the table in front of him, his knuckles ghosting the glass that divided them. Sapnap tipped his chin up and scowled, "What do you want?"
George let Zak speak first. "We're here to ask you a couple of questions."
Sapnap scoffed and leaned back in his chair. A new light angle hit his face and illuminated a fresh scar on the killer's face. Below his white bandana rested a long, thin line of risen flesh that nicked the end of his eyebrow and traveled down to his cheekbone. George assumed he had received it from a prison fight.
George said, "Listen, I know that you wanted to kill Dream. Do you happen to know who he worked for?"
Sapnap's eyes darted between George and Zak, his eyes narrowing. When he said nothing, George sighed and added, "We brought something for you."
Sapnap's dark eyes lit up in intrigue and, as if on cue, a guard brought forward Karl's container that had been passed through several security scans. The guard set the container in front of Sapnap and walked back to his position.
Sapnap opened the container curiously and he gave George a look of disbelief. He picked a cookie up, smelling it before he took a bite. Sapnap's eyes widened in surprise and took another bite.
George watched in satisfaction as the killer consumed cookie after cookie. When he was done, Sapnap said, "Those were the best things I've ever eaten... thank you."
"Don't thank me," George muttered, "Karl made them."
Sapnap tilted his head at the name, his eyes sparking in recognition. He mused, "That one bartender... damn."
George pursed his lips and leaned forward. "Now that you have a full stomach, tell us about him." George opened a folder that he had brought with him. He pulled out a photo and pressed it to the glass. "Do you know him?"
"Wilbur Soot," Sapnap remarked, raising an eyebrow. "The guy's a psychopath."
"And you aren't?" Zak muttered with a light chuckle.
Sapnap scowled and George pulled the photo away, glancing briefly at the mugshot that had been taken of Wilbur when he was first put in prison.
George studied the killer across from him. When Sapnap said nothing more, George said, "Dream is in prison."
Sapnap's eyes snapped to George's. "What?"
"You heard me," George said evenly, "we got him a couple days ago."
"I don't believe you."
George shrugged. "Believe what you want, but it's true. Now, tell me where I can find Wilbur."
"You won't find him. He's too anxious― too paranoid. He watches his back twenty-four seven and never makes a mistake. Wilbur doesn't play around... you shouldn't mess with him."
George clenched his jaw. Zak leaned forward and said, "What if we offered you a deal?"
A sly grin crept across Sapnap's face as he looked between them. "I'm listening."
"You help us find Wilbur and we'll shorten your sentence."
Sapnap rolled his eyes and drawled, "Boring. Do better."
George crossed his arms and responded, "That's the best you get. You help us find Wilbur― I mean, actually find him― and you're life sentence will be shortened to fifty years."
"Fifty fucking years?" Sapnap scoffed. "No way. I want five."
It was George's turn to scoff. "You've killed two people― that we know about. Two lives are just gone, never to live again, and you want five years? Do you know how ridiculous that is?"
Sapnap shrugged and picked at his nails. "Take it or leave it, but we both know that Wilbur will just recruit someone new to continue his job. And you probably know that that'll result in more than two lives."
Clay's sister, George thought, dread pooling in his stomach. He stood up abruptly and gestured for Zak to do the same. George said, "We'll think about it."
Him and Zak walked away and Sapnap pounded his fist into the glass. He shouted, "Wait!" George turned around with an impatient expression and Sapnap smirked. "Tell Karl that I say thank you for the cookies. They were really good."
George scoffed, watching as Sapnap was pulled away from the glass. The aggressive killer sent George a knowing grin as he was tugged away, because he knew...
He knew that George was desperate. He saw George's look of fear when he thought of Clay's sister. Sapnap knew he would be back, because he knew what it was like to be desperate and hungry for blood. George blamed Wilbur for who Clay was and that made him angry.
George hated being angry, but anger was much better of an emotion than hurt was. And George was hurt... he was still wounded from Clay's lies.
Anger was easier to feel than hurt, so George let it fuel him. He'd be back again, visiting Sapnap. He knew that he would accept the deal, because he had nothing to lose.
And having nothing to lose made him dangerous, even more so than Clay or Sapnap. Sapnap had a life outside of prison, Clay had his sister and George had nothing. The thought saddened him, but he turned his sadness into anger, because, like before, anger is a much easier emotion to feel than hurt.