"I don't know where Wilbur is," Jaimie said, shaking her head. "I know that he's here, in this house, but where? I don't know, this place is ginormous."
"Does he have an office?" George asked.
Jaimie thought for a while, chewing on her lip. The three of them were sitting at a table on the ground floor. Jaimie had showed them around the basement and when nothing else useful was found, they went back upstairs. Jaimie had told them everything: starting from when Wilbur told her that Clay was dead to the present.
She hadn't been given her first job or killed anyone yet, much to Clay's relief. Wilbur had still been training her because she couldn't be "mission ready" until she was eighteen. So she stayed in this house, training in the indoor gym and learning everything Wilbur taught her because she couldn't go anywhere.
She didn't want to go anywhere, but now that she knew that her brother was alive, she wanted to leave.
George couldn't blame her. Being trapped in a giant mansion with only a psychopath must be scary and lonely.
"He does have an office," Jaimie said after a moment, "it's on the third floor. He likes being on top of everything― makes him feel powerful."
Clay lifted a hand to his ear and spoke, "Sapnap? Quackity? Any luck?"
Alex responded through the earpieces, "None, we checked the second and third floor top to bottom. There's no sign of him."
"Keep looking," George said, "he's gotta be here somewhere."
Jaimie looked between them, listening to the scraps of their conversation. Clay said, "Zak, send the van back over. We found my sister, she can be picked up."
Jaimie protested, "Clay! Let me stay, I'm more helpful here!"
"No, Jaimie," Clay said sternly, "we'll find Wilbur on our own. I don't want you getting hurt."
"What if you get hurt?"
"I won't," Clay reassured her, putting his hand on hers and rubbing it gently. "Now, I want you to leave. Zak will open the locks for you and you should be out in minutes. The van will pick you up outside the double gates in the front. Zak will open those too. I'm assuming Wilbur has long known that we're here, so you need to leave as fast as possible, got it?"
Jaimie nodded reluctantly and stood up. Clay stood up as well and gave her one last hug before she left. Clay said, "Zak, make sure she gets out of here safely."
"Don't worry, I've got it covered," Zak responded.
Clay sighed in relief and walked towards the windows. George followed him, feeling a little uneasy walking over because nothing was between them and the ocean other than the floor and those beams. The ceiling to floor glass allowed them to see all the way to the horizon, where the sea met the sky.
The sight was beautiful, but George knew they had a mission. Clay looked down, his eyes landing on a tiny boat below them. George smiled, but it faded when a click sounded from behind them.
George turned around, his blood running cold. Clay turned around as well and stiffened, spitting, "Wilbur."
The man himself stood several meters away from them, holding a gun up. His curly brown hair was styled above his forehead and his skin was unmarred after years of having people doing his dirty work for him. He was dressed in plain khakis and a loose fitting, button up shirt.
George reached for his gun, but Wilbur pointed his gun at him, tutting, "I don't think so."
George lifted his hand away and raised both of them, his face cold. Wilbur tilted his head. "It's nice to finally meet you, detective."
George said nothing and Wilbur continued, "I thought you would be dead, but Clay wouldn't kill you. You weren't one of my targets, but when Clay got involved with you, I tried persuading him to kill you, but he wouldn't. I guess I see why... You have a very pretty face."
Clay snapped, "Stay away from him."
Wilbur looked to Clay, a twinkle in his eyes. He said, "It seems as though you've had your little family reunion. Too bad I'll have to kill you. It's a shame that your sister will never see you again."
"You can't kill me, I'm your most skilled assassin," Clay replied evenly.
"You were not, actually," Wilbur corrected. "You were barely in the top five."
"I did everything you asked and yet you still put my sister through the program?" Clay asked, ignoring Wilbur's statement.
"You should know this more than anyone, Dream," Wilbur taunted, a malicious grin on his face, "we are both liars. I am not a man of my word, I would've thought someone like me would be able to tell."
Wilbur paused, his grin growing. He added, "You were just a pawn. I didn't care how you murdered, just that you did it. I saw your effort to keep me focused on you and not your sister, but no one can out play me."
"You're a monster," George gritted out.
"Actually," Wilbur chuckled, "Dream is the monster, isn't that right? I mean, you did call him that first, didn't you?"
George didn't reply, instead lifting a hand to his earpiece. "Quackity, Sapnap, first floor now."
Wilbur shot twice, missing George and hitting the glass behind them. The wall of glass shattered, shards falling down below. George covered his head, flinching as glass hit his back. Thankfully, his outfit didn't allow any glass to rip the fabric.
George glared at Wilbur. "You missed."
"I never miss."
George's eyes narrowed, his chest filling with relief as he heard Sapnap and Alex running down the stairs. Clay let out a strangled noise and George's head whipped towards him.
Clay's eyes were wide and his hands clutched his stomach, coming back bloody. George's heart dropped and he rushed to put his hand on the wound to stop the bleeding. He tried to pull Clay away from the open edge.
Clay pushed his hand away and hissed, "Give me your gun."
George was confused, but he handed Clay the gun when Clay shouted, "Now!"
Clay pushed George out of the way and fired, shooting Wilbur, who had his gun pointed and ready to shoot at Alex and Sapnap. The gun fell from Wilbur's hand, clattering to the floor. Wilbur fell as well, thumping to the ground, dead.
George went to look at Clay with wide eyes, but Clay had stumbled back a step from the force of the gunshot. His eyes met George's and he fell back, over the edge.
"No!" George screamed, his hand reaching out to grab Clay, but it was too late. Fabric slipped through George's fingers and Clay fell, down, down, down.
George heard Alex and Sapnap shout and run towards him, but George ignored them and jumped after Clay. He remembered learning about how to fall into water, so he spread himself flat, facing the water and holding his limbs out. The wind tore at his hair with harsh fierceness and George's eyes burned. As he neared the water, he straightened vertically and pointed his toes down, falling into the water.
The waves were quite strong, which was both good and bad.
The moving water allowed for George to have a better fall, but it also made it hard for George to stay above water.
His limbs screamed at him as he clawed his way to the surface. George gasped for air, water shoving it's way into George's throat. His eyes and nose stung from the salt, but all he could think about was Clay.
"Clay!" George screamed, treading water as best as he could.
His hopes fell as he saw nothing, but a sliver of black against the blue caught his vision. George swam desperately towards it, clinging onto it. He flipped it over, finding Clay's face. George sobbed in relief and looped Clay's arm over his shoulder.
Clay was unconscious and blood was pooling out of his stomach at a deadly pace. The red mixed with the blue and George hoped there were no sharks.
A motor revved towards them and George saw a boat. "Help!" he screamed, "over here!"
The boat neared him and George saw Karl, laughing in relief. Karl and the boat officer scrambled to the edge, pulling Clay up first and then George.
George didn't care that the officer was female or that she was shouting something at him. He just rushed to Clay and put his ear to Clay's chest. The officer shoved George out of the way and started doing compressions.
George could only watch in silence, shivering. Karl wrapped a blanket around him and grabbed George's hand. Water spurted out of Clay's mouth and Clay coughed, turning to his side to get the fluid out of him.
"You're okay, you're okay," George repeated, grabbing Clay's hand.
But he could see that Clay was far from okay.
His face was deathly pale and there was blood still seeping through his clothes. George gripped Clay's hand with one hand and used the other to brush Clay's hair off his forehead.
Clay's eyes were terrified and full of pain, but he still leaned into George's touch. He spoke, his teeth chattering, "Do― do you remember what you told me... i-in the training gym?"
The motor started up and the boat officer drove the boat at a high speed over the bumpy waves. George tuned out the loud noises and tried to think about Clay's question.
But George couldn't think about that, all he could think about was Clay, so he shook his head. Clay said hoarsely, "You said I was your superhero, but sometimes superheroes can't save everyone." George's eyes filled with tears and Clay added, his hand shaking in George's, "I guess I couldn't save myself... but that's okay, because all that matters is that you're okay, you're safe."
"No," George whispered, "you're okay. We're gonna get you out of here. There's a hospital nearby." Clay's eyes drifted from George's and George panicked. He shouted, "Clay! Stay with me! There's gonna be a nice doctor! I know the food is shit, but there are tvs. We can watch movies together... doesn't that sound nice?"
Clay coughed, loud enough to be heard over the motor, the wind, and the waves. His lips moved, but George couldn't hear, so he leaned forward.
"George," Clay whispered weakly, "I haven't been completely honest with you."
George's stomach dropped, tears running down his face. He grasped Clay's hand tighter, desperate for Clay to squeeze back.
But Clay didn't. He coughed again and whispered, "I― I love you, George."
"I love you too," George replied instantly, his eyes squeezing shut.
He looked to Clay, but Clay was unconscious, his eyes closed and mouth parted. George's heart fell. He shouted, panicked, "Clay, you can't leave me, I need you!" He cupped Clay's cheeks, feeling a faint, weak breath come from Clay. George pressed his forehead to Clay's and whispered, "I love you."
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a/n - do you think he'll live?
"You said I was your superhero, but sometimes superheroes cannot save everyone." - quote from Hayd's song - Superhero
I hope you're all enjoying this story, ty for reading! Bye! <3