"I have gathered you all here today for one reason and one reason alone," George said, facing the team he had created. "We are going on a mission to find two people, one to rescue and the other to arrest."
His small audience nodded and George continued, "But first, I have a couple more members to add to the team."
In front of George sat Zak, Niki, Alex, Jack, Tommy, as well as Tommy's friend Tubbo, who was also interning at the station. George had yet to tell them that Sapnap and Clay would be joining the team. The door to the room opened and Sapnap was led in, hands cuffed behind his back and two guards one either side of him.
Sapnap grinned wide at the shocked expressions of everyone in the room. A guard uncuffed his wrists and Sapnap stalked over to a chair among the team members. It was quiet for a long moment before someone spoke up.
"What the hell is he doing here?!" Zak exclaimed, his eyes widening at Sapnap's toothy grin.
"Zak," George said cautiously, "Sapnap knows some of Wilbur's techniques, it's beneficial to have him on the team."
Sapnap crossed his arms over his bright orange prison attire and drawled, "Admit, you guys are desperate, you need me."
"I doubt that," Niki muttered with a scoff. She glared at Sapnap, who's grin faltered. He gave George a questioning look.
George ignored it and continued, "There is one more person who will be added to the team."
The room went silent. George could've heard a pin drop as the door opened and Clay walked in the same way Sapnap had; hands cuffed behind his back in a bright orange prison suit. But instead of two guards, Clay had three.
Sapnap stood up abruptly, his mouth open in shock and confusion. Clay didn't catch his stare, rubbing his wrists when the cuffs came off. Clay looked up and met Sapnap's eyes.
He frowned and looked to George, saying, "What is he doing here?"
"Clay?" Sapnap whispered in disbelief.
George's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and so did Clay's. Clay asked warily, "What? How do you know my name?"
"You― you're Dream?"
"Yeah, and you're Sapnap," Clay said, still confused.
Sapnap stumbled forward, everyone in the room stiffening. Sapnap said, "It's me, man. It's Nick."
Clay stared at Sapnap for a long moment before his eyes widened in recognition. "Nick? Wait― the Nick, from the alley?"
Sapnap grinned and strode up to Clay, wrapping his arms around him tightly. The guards ran forward, but stopped in surprise when Clay choked out a sob. Clay hugged Sapnap back and whispered, "You're alive."
"Hell yeah, did you really think a fucking bullet to my arm could kill me?" Sapnap said tearfully with a smile, "It's been so long... I didn't recognize you with your mask."
"What in the family reunion is this?" Tommy asked incredulously.
Everyone could only nod in agreement. The two killers stepped out of their embrace. Clay placed his hands on Sapnap's shoulders and said with a smile, "You look good, Nick. You've changed so much... what happened to the scruffy, gangly kid I used to know?"
Sapnap laughed lightly. "I could say the same for you... how long has it been? What, six years?"
Clay nodded with a smile and Sapnap asked, "Where's your sister? I remember her well... little seven year old with an attitude that could best even mine."
Clay's smile faded instantly. He swallowed and whispered, "Wilbur has her."
Sapnap's face fell. He hugged Clay again and whispered something that only Clay could here. George saw Clay nod and sigh in relief. Sapnap pulled back and said, "We'll get her back, Clay, don't worry."
The two turned to face everyone in the room. Clay looked at George and beamed. George could only cross his arms and blink in confusion.
Clay cleared his throat and explained, "Nick and I grew up together in the streets. He was my best friend before I thought he died and Wilbur took me and my sister."
There was an awkward silence. No one knew what to say. Sapnap sighed and muttered, "If someone doesn't say something, I'm gonna start cutting throats."
Everyone visibly stiffened and Sapnap sighed. "I'm kidding, guys, geez." He turned to Clay and muttered, "Tough crowd."
Clay's shoulders shook with laughter. He and Sapnap took their seats and turned to George. George's mouth opened and closed, unsure of what to say. He cleared his throat, but Tubbo spoke up.
"Hey, Gogy, why are there two serial killers sitting next to me?" Tubbo asked, his voice squeaking as he glanced between Sapnap and Clay.
"Don't worry kid, I don't bite," Sapnap said with a playful wink.
"I do!" Tommy shouted, "I bite, so you better stay away from Tubbo, you bitch!"
Sapnap gave Tommy and amused glance before nudging Clay in his side and muttering something to which Clay laughed. George felt confused and something similar to jealousy, but he shoved the thoughts aside and picked up a stack of folders.
"Uh, these are the files that we have on Wilbur from when he was arrested," George said, handing the folders out.
Clay's hand brushed his when he gave him the folder. His skin tingled for as he turned away after a long moment of eye contact. Sapnap gagged and kicked Clay's leg. Clay broke his stare from George's to glare at Sapnap.
George walked back to the front of the room and cleared his throat. He said, avoiding Clay's eyes, "Now that you have the files, I will give you guys your positions on the team. Zak, Jack, and Tommy will be doing all the research on Wilbur. When we actually go out on the mission, you three will hang back and watch security cameras and direct the field team on coms."
George paused to give them time to digest the information. He took a breath and continued, "Niki and Tubbo will be going to the station in Miami for some meetings for a week about possible other killers that might be connected to Wilbur. By the time you two get back, we should be ready to go out into the field. At that time, you guys will give us any new information on Wilbur. You will also be analyzing any evidence that we find."
George looked to the last three: Sapnap, Alex, and Clay. He figured Alex wasn't comfortable using his real name on a mission, so George said, "Quackity, Sapnap, Dream and I will be on the field... we'll split into two teams. Sapnap and Quackity and me and Dream. Sapnap and Quackity will go after Wilbur. Dream and I will be finding and retrieving Dream's sister. Does everyone understand?"
No one said nothing and Sapnap raised his hand comedically. George scoffed. "Yes, Sapnap?"
"Is our mission to kill?"
"No," George replied steadily, "if guns are needed, you are to shoot to wound, not to kill."
"We're getting guns?"
George hesitated before nodding. Sapnap shrugged and muttered, "Do we get knives, though? I'm better with those."
Clay nodded and George sighed. "Fine, but you do know what's on the line for you, right Sapnap?"
Sapnap rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, life in prison if I misbehave. But don't worry, I don't plan on messing around." Sapnap turned serious, "Clay's sister is like family to me, I would never put her in danger."
Clay murmured a thank you and Sapnap smiled. George took a deep breath and looked around. "Any other questions?"
"Yeah, actually," Alex spoke up, "why do I have to be partnered with Sapnap?"
"Would you rather be partnered with Dream?" George asked.
"No, he killed my best friend," Alex said coldly and Clay flinched.
"Okay, then it's settled. The two serial killers can't be on the same team, so that's that," George said awkwardly. "Everyone knows what we're doing now, so let's get started."
~
The first day went roughly, to say the least.
Niki and Tubbo had just left for their flight to Miami and everyone else was in the station, working in the main room. Where walls filled with information on Dream once were, there was now mostly blank walls with what little information they had on Wilbur.
The bare walls unsettled George, but he did his part and did what he could with the case. Zak, Jack, and Tommy were all in the labs, searching through the web for new information and analyzing possible leads.
That left Sapnap, Alex, Clay, and George all in the main room together working― well, and the five guards who were standing around.
To make everything worse, the station's air conditioning had decided to break. The four of them were sweaty and grumpy on a hot summer day in Orlando, Florida.
Sapnap was leaning back on a chair, his legs propped up as he fanned his face with some papers. Clay was hunched over papers, highlighting whatever he was highlighting, and Alex was glaring at Sapnap unimpressed. Clearly, Alex was used to the heat.
George sat on the opposite end of the table, away from Clay. The two had hardly spoken since the previous day and their was a thick line of tension between them. Earlier, Clay kept glancing to George, hoping to make eye contact, but George ignored him. So Clay gave up and was draining whatever ink was left in that highlighter.
Whatever passed between them on that day with the glass divider... it was no longer there. In it's place was an empty void that George didn't feel the need to fill.
George sighed and picked up his phone, running a hand across his damp forehead. He called Karl and asked him to bring slushies to motivate them. When the call was over, George set his phone down and watched Alex and Sapnap's staredown.
He muttered, "My friend is bringing us some slushies."
Clay sighed in relief, slumping in his chair. Sapnap drawled, "Thank fucking god."
He didn't look away from Alex, though. George grumbled and stood up, leaving the room to meet Karl. Karl arrived ten minutes later with hands full and struggling to carry the slushies.
George rushed forward to help. "Geez Karl, this is way more than I asked for."
Karl smiled shyly. "I know, but I figured the guards would want some too."
George chuckled lightly, taking some of the cold beverages from Karl. He only had one arm, but it was enough. His cast would be coming off any day now, hopefully before their mission. His arm had healed remarkably quick. George and Karl walked into the main room and shut the door behind them loudly.
Sapnap's eyes leapt up, a grin creeping across his face at the sight of Karl. Alex shouted, "Ha! I win!"
Sapnap shrugged it off, accepting the slushy that Karl gave him. George handed some to the guards before setting one in front of Clay. He went to turn away, but a hand grasped his wrist.
George winced and met Clay's eyes. Clay quickly let go of George's wrist and asked, "Can we talk?"
"Uh." George looked to Karl for help, but his friend was deep in conversation with Sapnap and Alex. He looked back to Clay and swallowed. "Sure."
George sat in the chair next to Clay and set his slushy down, not caring about the condensation that would gather and leave a mark on the wood table. Clay cleared his throat and slid his papers that he had highlighted on to George. George blinked at the bright yellow lines.
He looked back to Clay and deadpanned, "You highlighted some lines, what about it?"
"Look closer."
George picked the paper up and skimmed over the lines, finding nothing new. He gave Clay a bored look. "There's nothing here."
"Exactly."
George's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Are you trying to play some mind trick on me?"
"No, I wanted to show you that there's nothing here." Clay sighed and ran his fingers through his sweaty hair. He stared intensely in George's eyes and said, "We're not going to find anything in this office."
George's face fell and he pulled on a stiff look. He stated factually, albeit sadly, "You're manipulating me again. You're trying to get me to take you out to look for 'evidence' so you can escape."
Clay's eyes opened wide and he rushed, "No! I didn't mean it like that―"
"Either way," George said, his eyes tearing up, "this just shows that I can't trust you."
"George," Clay murmured, reaching a hand out to grasp George's.
"No!" George shouted, pushing Clay's hand away and standing up abruptly. He blinked past his tears and whispered, "Leave me alone. I― I'm tired of not knowing what's real and what's fake."
George walked through the room, past Alex, Karl, and Sapnap, all who were sitting in stunned silence. He ignored the cold slushy that he left on the table and the hurt expression on Clay's face. He ignored the sweat sliding down his back and showed the door open, eager for some time alone.
He heard shouts, but he didn't turn around.
"Let me go!" Clay yelled, his shouts accompanied by the grunts of the guards.
The door slammed shut and the shouts became muffled. Tears flowed down George's cheeks as he thought, I'll never be able to trust him again. Without trust, how am I supposed to know what's real?
George stumbled down the hallway, flinching as a loud door slam echoed in his ears. Deep shouts were heard, almost covering the hurried footsteps that were running towards him. But George still didn't turn around.
"George!" Clay called out, running in front of George and wrapping his arms around George in a familiar hug.
A hug that George used to call safe.
Against all odds, he still felt safe. Clay rubbed a soothing hand over the small of George's back as George let out a sob. He felt the rapid beat of Clay's heart through his orange uniform and heard the gruff shouts of guards as they neared.
The hug was hot and sweaty and unexpected, but George felt himself relax. He could smell the musty prison from Clay's uniform. George's shoulders slumped as he leaned into Clay.
Clay held him impossibly tight and breathed in George's ear, "It's real, all of it."
George inhaled deeply and went to whisper back when Clay's arms were ripped off him. Clay didn't fight as the guards aggressively pushed him onto his knees. His eyes didn't leave George's and he lifted his hands behind his head.
George couldn't hear the guards' loud yelling, just one simple phrase: It's real, all of it. He flinched when Clay's wrists were cuffed with more force than necessary and when he was hauled up by his arms. The guards pushed him forward, past George. Clay looked back, a sad smile etched on his face.
His head was pushed forward by a guard and Clay had no choice but to look away. George's hands fell to his sides, tears still flowing down his face as he watched the guards take Clay away.
It's real, all of it.
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a/n - ty for reading! ily!! <3