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"Baby, come on, we're gonna be late," Karl shouted.
This was the second time he'd called for Dream to hurry up, and he doesn't mean to sound like an overbearing mother, but he swears to god if he has to call him a third time, he's going to flip out and go insane.
"Dream," Karl called out again.
No answer from his boyfriend.
It's 7:45 PM and their reservation is at 8. It's getting a little too close for Karl's liking. The restaurant is popular, it's going to be really busy, and Karl knew that if they were more than 5 minutes late, the restaurant would give their table away. And Karl was not okay with this.
Not on such an important night.
"Dream," Karl stomped his way to the bedroom. "Baby, come on," He rushed.
Dream was on the phone, whispering things so lightly that Karl didn't even know he was on the phone. Dream looked at Karl before turning away, facing his back towards Karl as he continued to duck into the phone call.
"I gotta go," Dream mumbled. "I gotta go, I gotta go."
Karl didn't like the sound of that. It was too rushed, too hurried, and sounded like Dream was nervous. Karl didn't appreciate getting Dream's back, though that much can be quickly solved by checking out his boyfriend's ass.
"No, no it's fine," Dream said. "I'll take care of it, you don't have to worry about it."
It's starting to sound worse, and Karl knew what Dream sounds like when he's trying to be cryptic and mysterious, saying things vaguely so that Karl would not know what he was talking about.
This has been happening a lot you see, the hushed phone calls that were done entirely in whispers that Karl didn't know were happening until he sees his boyfriend on the phone. And they're getting more frequent as of late that Karl's starting to feel uneasy.
"I'll be fine, don't worry about me," Dream said. "I'll see you soon. I'll talk to you later."
Karl's stomach turned ever so slightly.
"Yeah, bye," Dream concluded his phone call.
The way Dream turned off the phone and immediately shuts it off to black screen before putting it in his pocket, not allowing Karl to see any remnants of a caller ID or anything really, was almost methodical. Like it was trained.
It was established early in the relationship that Dream's phones were off-limits. Dream didn't exactly yell at Karl for snooping, or it didn't come up because Karl was caught trying to open it. No, it all started when they moved in together and Dream, above everything else, asked Karl very nicely if his phone could be the one thing that was off-limits.
Of course, Karl, being a love-sick puppy that he was about 7 months ago, told him yes, of course, a healthy relationship is based on trust and respecting boundaries, Dream, of course, you can make your phone off-limits from me, I won't touch it or try to snoop, I promise.
But now Karl was starting to regret that decision.
"Sorry, baby," Dream quickly put on the blazer to his suit (they are going to a fancy restaurant after all) before meeting Karl at the doorway of their bedroom and giving him a little kiss on the cheek. "You look wonderful, have I said?"
"You look better," Karl quickly recovered from his spiraling thoughts and smiled back up at Dream.
"Let's go, before we're late," Dream said.
Dream took Karl's hand as they both went down to the building's parking garage where they got into Karl's car and drove off to the restaurant.
"Traffic shouldn't be too bad," Dream said, checking the maps on his phone sitting on the passenger seat. "You usually speed anyway."
"I do not," Karl gasped. "I'm a law-abiding citizen-"
"You speed," Dream teased. "You are a speed demon."
"Well if it means we don't miss our reservation, maybe I should speed," Karl said.
They drop the car off at the valet with seconds to spare. Dream held out his arm to which Karl looped his hand around it as they walked into the restaurant.
"Reservation under Jacobs, please?" Karl told the hostess.
"Reservation for two under Jacobs, you're just in time," She smiled. "Follow me."
The ambiance of the restaurant was pretty great. It was certainly fancy, people in suits and dresses alike, it's a big celebration place, but it wasn't too uptight that it would make either of them uncomfortable. The waiter came and asked if they wanted wine for the night and told them the Chef's specials.
"Alright, I'll be back with your wine," The waiter told them before leaving to put in their order to the kitchen.
Dream and Karl let out a big sigh, sitting more comfortably in their seat as Dream held out his hand on the table. Karl smiled and gave Dream his hand, to which Dream planted a soft kiss on the back of his hand.
"Happy one-year anniversary, baby," Dream said. "It's been a hell of a year, huh?"
"Yeah," Karl giggled. "Yeah, it's been pretty great."
"Well that's because you're pretty great," Dream winked.
One year into their relationship and still the flirty, cheesy pick-up lines. Karl wouldn't change it for the world.
"One year," Karl said. "That seems like simultaneously so long ago and yet also like yesterday."
"It's because you still work at the bookstore, Karl," Dream joked. "It always seems like yesterday when you work at the place we met. It's like continuous reminiscing."
"I guess," Karl shrugged. "Aren't you glad I did though? That I was the one who helped you get that obscure German poetry book?" He said playfully. "You wandered around the bookstore for days until I helped you."
"Ah yes, my angel," Dream said.
It was about this moment that the whole table vibrated. Dream's eyes flickered to his phone, placed next to his plate, faced down as it always is. He looked at Karl, contemplating quickly in his mind, before letting go of Karl's hand to go check his phone. Bad choice, if Karl does say so himself.
"So uhm-" Karl cleared his throat, though, at that moment, Dream was distracted by whatever it was he's reading on his phone. "Who are you meeting?"
"Hm?" Dream hummed, not paying Karl any attention.
"Who are you meeting?" Karl asked again.
Karl tried what he can to ask little questions that might help his scratching curiosity without being completely pushy and an absolute monster of a boyfriend. So he tries to be casual about his interrogations.
"What?" Dream muttered, his eyebrows furrowed. Something told Karl that he wasn't answering Karl's question. He wasn't even listening. "Sorry babe, let me deal with this for a minute."
Karl pursed his lips and simply took a sip of his wine as he watched his boyfriend reply to a text or something like that. If his foot was tapping impatiently, it was hardly Karl's fault that he's feeling a little pissy.
"Right," Dream cleared his throat and placed his phone back, screen side down because lord forbid is anyone sees what he does on that thing, before turning back to Karl. "What was it that you were asking me?"
"Who are you meeting?" Karl asked the third time, his tone a little cold out of irritation.
"Who am I meeting when?" Dream questioned, picking up a breadstick from the basket.
"Earlier, before we left the apartment," Karl said. "You were on the phone and you said you were gonna meet someone soon. Who is it?"
"No one," Dream answered easily with a smile. "Don't worry about it."
"And who just texted you?" Karl interrogated.
"Nobody," Dream shrugged.
The classic. It's always no one, don't worry about it, nobody important. Karl is just about at his last nerve.
And on their anniversary, no less.
"Are you cheating on me?" Karl asked bluntly.
Dream immediately choked on the buttered piece of bread in his mouth. Karl simply waited until he finished coughing, though his piercing gaze never left Dream's face.
"What?" Dream sputtered. "Karl, I would ne-"
"You don't let me see your phone, like ever, which is a bit of a red flag," Karl began his ramble. "You are always on your phone, texting or calling. You never tell me who it is, which is very weird. If it was your family, you would've just told me. And that's another point, you always dodge conversations about your family, like you don't want me to meet them or something-"
"Okay, okay," Dream said softly. "Baby, calm down-"
"Don't baby calm down me, you're texting someone that you wouldn't tell me about in the middle of our one-year anniversary dinner," Karl exclaimed.
"Okay, I'm sorry," Dream hurriedly said. "I'm really sorry, something important came up and-"
"More important than our anniversary," Karl said. "Or me."
"No, no-" Dream attempted to do damage control, but honestly, Karl's a little too far gone.
"And you still won't tell me about it," Karl said.
"Baby I ca-" Dream started to say but was quickly interrupted by the waiter coming by with two plates of appetizer.
"I have with me the seared scallops with truffle oil and the spotted shrimp with mango salad," The waiter smiled brightly though the mood of the table was very much not the same as how he'd left it.
Dream and Karl were both silent as the waiter placed both their plates in front of them before excusing himself and leaving them to eat.
"Okay, I can explain just- Maybe at home?" Dream asked. "Do you think we can try and enjoy our dinner and celebrate?"
Karl was frowning. He was understandably upset, though Dream's sweet smile makes it especially hard to stay mad at him. So Karl shrugged.
"Fine," Karl said. "But you're buying me two desserts tonight."
"Oh, you can get as much dessert as you want darling," Dream laughed out of relief.
They weren't even halfway through eating their appetizer when Dream's phone buzzed yet again. The eye contact between Dream and Karl was much more intense this time, and Dream contemplated otherwise, opting to ignore his phone this time to listen to Karl talk about the sweet old lady that gave him madeleines the other day. His decision earned him a little smile from Karl.
The buzzing did not stop though. In fact, it's getting more frequent with shorter intervals in between. And slowly, and very surely, you can see Karl start to get even more irritated than before.
"Just get it," Karl sighed and rolled his eyes. "Just get whatever the person who's trying so hard to reach you, just answer them already."
"No, no," Dream said, taking his phone and putting it in his pocket. "It's our anniversary, it'll be fine."
Karl was delightfully surprised, a little smile creeping on his face.
But that was when something at the corner of Dream's eye caught his attention.
It was the couple sitting one table to their left, two back, that had water in their wine glass and no food at all.
Then it was the busboy passing through the dining area for the third time in the last ten minutes with nothing on his tray even though he keeps entering and leaving the kitchen.
It was the little things that Dream noticed as his training taught him to, and that was when he realized his mistake.
"Baby did you-" Dream asked nervously. "When did you make this reservation?"
"I didn't," Karl replied. "I thought you did and you just put my name on the phone, you know, because you hate putting your name in guest books. I just got a text notification about our reservation. I just assumed-"
"Right, were gotta go," Dream said in a low voice as he stopped eating immediately.
"Go? Why do we gotta go?" Karl asked.
"Just- trust me? Please?" Dream requested.
"You're being very weird," Karl said, but one look at Dream's very clearly anxious face told him enough and he begrudgingly obliged.
The second Karl placed his fork down on the plate with a little clink, that's when all hell broke loose.
Dream saw the hostess pull a gun that she'd stashed in a holster under her skirt. Dream lunged and pulled Karl down, flipping the entire table to cover their backs and that's when the shot started firing.
"Oh my god, oh my god!" Karl screamed.
It was the couple that stood up from their chairs and walked over carrying more than just a handgun. With apt precision, Dream took one of the steak knives scattered on the floor and threw it at the man whilst surging forward to pull the woman's arm and slam her head against a table.
More screaming and chaos ensued in the restaurant. Turns out they didn't clear the whole restaurant.
"Everybody get out of here, now!" Dream yelled as he took a chair and broke it against the busboy's back. "Baby, stay down. Karl, stay down," Dream told Karl.
The guy who was sitting by the window had stood up and begun shooting towards Dream, as well but Dream was not against using another guy's body as a human shield, especially if it had been the man that tried to stab him 5 seconds earlier.
There were people still bringing knives tho what was clearly a gunfight, and Dream took a gun from the man he was fighting and quickly emptied the clip, not a single bullet wasted. And when another man in a grey suit ran to tackle him, Dream brought his leg up to the man's shoulder and used his entire body weight to slam the hand into the ground, locking his arm until the man dropped the gun he's been holding.
Another woman in a burgundy dress pulled out a gun from her enormous handbag but Dream caught her before she started shooting and quickly choked her out before taking her gun and stashing it on his back.
There were more screaming outside, people yelling and shouting, and running to call 911 and the police altogether, but within a matter of 3 minutes of absolute hellfire, the restaurant was littered with only dead bodies.
Oh yeah and Karl.
"Oh my god!" Karl screamed in horror.
Dream's attention went to Karl and he cursed the life out of himself. Dream was covered in spatters of blood, and Karl wasn't exactly unscathed as well. Dream quickly ran to Karl and pulled him up from his crouching position on the ground.
"Oh my god, did you kill her?" Karl yelled.
"What? Her?" Dream's eyes flickered to the woman in the burgundy dress. "No, I choked her out, she's just passed out right now."
"And- and what- what about him?" Karl pointed at another man lying a bit farther away from them.
"Oh no, yeah he's dead," Dream said. "Anyway, we have to go-"
"He's dead?" Karl exclaimed.
"That's what happens when you get stabbed and shot, you tend to-" Dream started to explain but thought better than to do so. "Let's go, let's go-" He tugged on Karl's hand.
"No! What the fuck is happening? What just happened?" Karl was struggling out of Dream's grasp.
"It's complicated, I'll explain to you later, but right now we have to go," Dream said.
"Dream!" Karl scolded.
"Please," Dream begged. "Karl, please."
Both Karl and Dream were panting, the adrenaline high was nowhere close to going down. There were about 100 voices in Karl's head yelling for him to run, to not trust Dream, to forget about it, to be afraid, though the loudest single voice told him that it's Dream. It's Dream and he would never hurt Karl. So slowly, he nodded.
"Right we gotta go out back," Dream told him, the police sirens getting louder by the second. "Let's go."
The kitchen was completely abandoned when Karl and Dream ran through, exiting at a nearby alleyway next to the dumpsters. Dream ran out to the street amongst the crowd of people, Karl still attached to his hand. Their car was in the valet, that option was a no-go, though there were plenty of cars on the street.
"Dream?" Karl questioned.
Dream just placed a finger in front of his lips signaling for Karl to keep quiet and stay still. Karl doesn't even know how it happened. One second Dream's body was pressed against the door, and the next Karl could hear the door locks click open. A little nudge from Dream's head told Karl that he should probably get into the passenger side seat.
"You know how to hotwire a car?" Karl asked. "How- where- why do you know how to hotwire a car?"
"Doesn't everyone?" Dream asked jokingly as the car started revving up.
"No?" Karl exclaimed. "Why would an accountant ever need to know how to hotwire a car?"
"Well," Dream mumbled as he started driving away as slowly and discretely as possible, trying to leave undetected from the flashing police cars heading their way. "In case you still couldn't tell, I'm not an accountant."
"How do you know how to use guns?" Karl continued his interrogation. "And since when can you move like that? You with the legs in the air and spinning and-"
"Occupational necessity," Dream said.
"What are you?" Karl asked. "I swear to god, you- fuck, you fuck. You just killed a bunch of people and-"
"Okay, why don't you yell louder so the police and hear you and see us covered in the blood through these not-tinted windows?" Dream hissed and that quickly shut Karl up.
Both of them held their breaths as Dream drove away from the scene and straight through the traffic farther away from the police, especially in a stolen car.
"You're driving the wrong way," Karl piped up after a while. "Our- The apartment is that way," He pointed somewhere to the left just as Dream took a right turn.
"We're not going back to our apartment," Dream said. "They'll be there. If not the police, the people who tried to kill us will."
"Where are we going?" Karl asked.
"Safehouse," Dream told him. "It's just fifteen minutes away from here. Even less if you don't freak out if I speed."
"I won't," Karl mumbled.
And with approval from Karl, Dream pressed the pedal to the metal and off the got onto the highway. Just about this point did Karl regret his decision immediately and hold on to the grip at the top of the car.
"Holy shit!" Karl gasped, shutting his eyes closed as Dream passed car by car across the highway.
"Too much?" Dream asked. "Do you want me to slow down?" Though all this was said at about 40 over the speed limit. Karl swore Dream was gonna hit something, someone, or just drive them off the highway.
"You always yell at me for speeding!" Karl yelled. "And you make me drive everywhere."
"Yeah," Dream didn't even have a defense for himself. "Yeah, sorry about that."
Karl felt like he was going to vomit when the car finally pulled over at the back of an abandoned warehouse.
"Okay, we gotta hurry inside," Dream said.
"Gimme a minute," Karl covered his mouth trying to keep down the appetizer that he's just eaten half an hour ago.
The inside of the warehouse was bare. It was empty save a few steel lockers. Karl was wobbling, almost like he was limping into the warehouse, though Dream didn't miss this at all. Dream immediately walked to Karl's side, threw Karl's arm around his shoulder, and walked alongside him.
"You-" Karl cleared his throat. "You're bleeding."
The bloodstain just by Dream's shoulder was getting larger and larger.
"I guess I am," Dream said, attempting to give Karl a little smile.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," Karl pulled away from Dream's grasp. "I shouldn't be the one getting help when you're the one bleeding."
"It's not a competition, it's fine babe," Dream chuckled.
Karl's face fell, a little dark shadow cast over it. The word babe, or any pet name for that matter, started to feel awkward and uncomfortable. Every time Karl hears it, it feels like he's drenched in cold water.
"Are you ever gonna explain?" Karl's question was simple, though the answer behind it is not.
"Do you wanna sit down?" Dream was more of a suggestion than a question.
Karl slowly sat himself down on the nearest surface which ended up being an empty office chair. He sat quietly as Dream went to what he guessed was a bathroom and walked about with a basin of water and some towels.
"If you wanna clean yourself," Dream gave him a damp towel.
Karl hadn't looked in a mirror in a while other than catching a glimpse in the rearview mirror on their hellish drive to the safehouse, though he could guess that he probably looked horrendous with blood, food, and other disgusting things caked on his face.
As Karl started to wipe his face and his hands, Dream started taking off his clothes, wincing slightly whenever he moves a little too much. He unbuttoned his shirt, which is now permanently ruined with a bullet hole and way too much blood, a fact that Karl silently mourned for having gotten that shirt for Dream for Christmas.
And yeah, Karl was a little upset, but that didn't stop him from checking out Dream's abs. Though for the first time, Dream's abs weren't enough to distract him from how upset he was at the bleeding bullet hole on Dream's shoulder.
"I'm-" Dream began. "I'm- I guess I'm a spy?"
"You guess you're a spy?" Karl repeated slowly.
"I'm undercover," Dream said. "About 13-14 months ago I was sent to infiltrate a crime ring, and so I did."
Karl stayed quiet, watching closely and Dream opened a little first aid kit box that he took out from one of the steel lockers and started taking out the supplies he needed.
"I uhm-" Dream said. "Yeah. For the last 10 months, I've been slowly getting into the Castillo crime family, and in tangent, just about every other crime syndicate in the surrounding area."
"You-" Karl muttered. "10 months means you started when we've already begun dating."
"Yeah, it took me a while to get their trust and get invited into it," Dream sighed. "But that was the objective."
"So I-" Karl said. "I don't wanna sound narcissistic and try to make everything about me, but where do I come in? How do I come in?"
"You're not," Dream said simply. "The bookstore was a dead drop. It was big, there were a lot of people. I meet my handlers there, leave notes and messages through ciphers and codes embedded in popular books," He shrugged. "You just happened to be the cute store owner that caught my eye."
"Was it fake?" Karl gulped. "Did you- Did you start dating me only so it wouldn't be too obvious if you hang out around the bookstore a lot?"
"What?" Dream asked. "No, no-" He quickly shook his head. "Karl, you were- You were my mistake."
"Oh okay, that makes me feel a lot better," Karl scoffed sarcastically.
"No, no, I mean-" Dream chuckled slightly. "Don't pursue romantic relationships while undercover, that's like rule number 2."
"What's rule number 1?" Karl asked.
"Don't get caught," Dream told him, and Karl's lips twitched a little bit. "I shouldn't have started dating you when I was undercover, let alone moved in with you, or fall in love with you for that matter," He gazed into Karl's eyes. "None of that was fake. I'm only sorry I couldn't tell you the truth."
"So," Karl mumbled slowly. "You were hiding to me the fact that you were a bad guy that was hiding the fact that you're a good guy?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Dream nodded.
"And the phone calls?" Karl asked.
"Well, lately I've been getting closer and closer to gathering all the information I needed to take down like 95% of them, from drugs to weapons, to human trafficking, illegal labor, sex ring- But that also means more and more people are on my ass," Dream scowled. "Hence the people who tried to kill us."
Dream was struggling to clean and stitch up his shoulder wound that at this point Karl stood up out of frustration and walked over, pulling the alcohol-soaked cotton ball from Dream's hand.
"Let me," Karl offered. Dream didn't fight, simply sitting back and letting Karl help him clean his wounds.
"The drops and the meetings every week wasn't enough, we needed to talk more often, so that's why the call," Dream said. "Plus, I have a lot of information on my phone, that's why I didn't want you snooping around."
"I thought you were cheating on me," Karl muttered glumly.
"I would never," Dream whispered, placing his hands on Karl's hips as he pulled Karl closer. "Darling, I would never."
A feeling of warmth started to grow in the pit of Karl's stomach as he allowed himself to smile. Dream raised his uninjured hand and tilted Karl's chin up slightly for a little peck.
"I'm gonna stitch you up," Karl informed him, gently pushing him back. "It's gonna hurt."
"I have a high pain tolerance," Dream said proudly.
"You nearly cried when I tried to wax you," Karl said flatly.
"To be fair, that- that was different," Dream defended himself.
"And I'm still mad at you, by the way," Karl said quickly. "You shoot guns and you kill people, and you lied. You lied- You're a big liar."
"And you can be mad at me for as long as you need," Dream said. "I understand."
"Well, I will be," Karl insisted. "For a long time."
"Okay, Karl," Dream chuckled.
The air was light, almost like they hadn't just been in a life or death situation not even an hour ago. Though, Karl thought, maybe a fight in a restaurant that's absolutely filled with bloodshed is just another day's work for Dream.
"So who were the people trying to kill us?" Karl asked.
"People who know that I stole information from them," Dream said. "They're trying to get it back before I can turn them in.
"And when is that?" Karl questioned, starting to bring out a needle and thread.
"Right about now," Dream said as the giant metal door opened with a creak.
Karl panicked and spun around though Dream was quick to put his hand on Karl's shoulder to calm him down. Just behind the shadows, Karl can see two people walking towards them.
"It's fine, he's a friend," Dream told Karl.
"He? There's two of them," Karl said warily.
"Well, the other one's an idiot," Dream muttered.
"Oh, I missed you too Dream," A stark British accent cut through the air.
"You had to bring him?" Dream turned to the other one.
"He's insisted man," The other replied.
"Alright, baby," Dream sighed. "Meet my friends. This is Sapnap, and that right there is George."
"Tell him my government name why don't you?" George muttered snidely.
"He's harmless," Dream rolled his eyes.
"So this is who's been messing up all our plans," Sapnap smirked.
"Sorry," Karl quickly muttered an apology.
"No, no, Dream's bound to be an idiot at some point, that's not on you," Sapnap smiled.
"You ever do that before Karl?" George asked, carefully eyeing the needle in Karl's hand.
It took Karl a minute before it fully processed that no one had explicitly told George Karl's name, though he won't get into how George could possibly know.
"No," Karl confessed.
"Come, I'll teach you and stab your boyfriend in the middle of it," George volunteered as he took the needle out of Karl's hand. "You're gonna need to learn how to stitch up bullet wounds when you date a dumbass. I know I did," He said, glancing at Sapnap who simply rolled his eyes.
"You really ought to answer your phone more often, they tossed your place when you left," Sapnap said.
"That was my-" Karl piped up. "That was my fault," He said sheepishly. "Sorry."
"Did they break my TV because I swear to god-" Dream rolled his eyes.
"The TV is the least of your problems, you got exposed," George said as he began stitching up Dream's wound, getting Karl to press and stop the bleeding from the other side. "You're lucky we were on the field, the rest of the Agency is running around trying to close down the borders before anyone leaves overnight."
"How did I even get- Ow!" Dream yelped. "How did I- Ow, I swear to god George," Dream winced again when George's needle hit a little far.
"Stop being a baby," George said flatly. "Karl, you can do the backside later."
"Unimportant," Sapnap said. "So long as you have the file and we bring it back to HQ, we'll-"
Then suddenly Dream's phone started buzzing. The room froze as everyone's attention went to the buzzing phone, the tension suddenly rising to uncharted levels.
"What- Who-" Sapnap said. "Who's calling you? We're all here."
"Uh-" Dream gulped, checking the screen. "I, uh-"
Dream made a little gesture telling the entire room to be quiet as he pressed the answer call button and brought his phone to his ear.
"Jameson," Frankie Castillo's voice ran through the phone. "Jameson, Jameson, Jameson," He tutted. "Snitches get stitched, you should know that by now."
"What do you want?" Dream answered impatiently. "You've lost already."
"So you think, at least," Castillo chuckled darkly. "I'd like to think I still have some leverage."
"Do you now?" Dream pondered.
"If you don't give me back the file you took from me, my boys and I are going to torch your little boyfriend's shop," Castillo said. "And every other shop down the boulevard for that matter. Along with anyone and everyone that's in it."
Dream froze, swallowing a particularly large lump on his throat as his eyes quickly flickered to Karl.
"If we're going out, might as well go out with a bang, right?" Castillo chuckled. "Or in this case, a little fire."
"What do you want?" Dream asked again.
"Docks, in 5 minutes. For every minute you're late, we kill someone," Castillo said before ending the call.
"Hey, hey, whoa-" George protested as Dream got off his seat on top of the table while George was still stitching him up.
"What does he want?" Sapnap asked. "Dream, what does he want?"
"He's going to torch the boulevard if I don't give him back the files," Dream said. "It takes 10 minutes to get to the docks, he wants me there in 5," He continued, putting on a fresh clean shirt. "You get the guys to the boulevard, I'm gonna stall. There isn't enough time."
"Wait, wait, Dream-" Sapnap yelled.
"He's gonna start killing random people if I'm late, and if you know Castillo, he follows through on his threats," Dream was already walking towards the exit.
"You show up there, he kills you, you know that," George called out.
Dream stopped and turned, his eyes fell onto Karl who was silent and looked all around horrified. Dream walked back and pulled Karl into one last kiss.
"Hey, whatever happens tonight, you know I love you, yeah?" Dream whispered softly. "You're not a mistake, you're not a lie, you're not a cover," He caressed Karl's face softly. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me, and you're real."
"Dream, I-" Karl felt like he was going to sob at any minute. "You're still bleeding," He whined unsure about what he could even say.
Dream just chuckled and kissed him one last time before walking away.
"You keep him safe," Dream told Sapnap. "Both of you," He looked sternly at George.
Both his friends were protesting but Dream got into the car as fast as he could and began speeding away.
Honestly, when Dream got to the docks in about 4 minutes and 50 seconds after speeding like an absolute maniac down the road (an absolute miracle that he didn't crash at all), he didn't think he was gonna make it out alive. He certainly wasn't planning to.
"The Prodigal Son has returned," Frankie Castillo had his arms outstretched. "You know, I thought you were too good to be true. Didn't I tell you that Marcus? Didn't I say that Jameson was too good to be true?"
"I'm here Frankie," Dream said as he stepped out of his car. "Call off your dogs."
"You know you were like smart, and you knew a hell of a lot about guns," Castillo continued, ignoring Dream's words. "Your deliveries are smooth, you never get caught by the pigs. You were the perfect child."
"Call off your dogs," Dream repeated, even more sternly than before.
"Relax, what are you so worried about?" Castillo said dramatically. "I'll call off my dogs when I get the files you stole back."
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Dream asked. "No, if I have it with me, you would just kill me and get it back. See, then I'm dead and you can still burn a couple of houses," He shook his head. "Instead, I stashed it somewhere safe. If I don't get back to it in about 5 minutes, it goes off to the FBI, the Interpol, CIA, MI6- And then you kill me, and we both lose."
Was Dream telling the truth? Fuck no, he didn't have time to create some kind of dead man switch or a virtual hostage situation, this man was bluffing and lying out of his ass. But, he's very good at it.
"But see," Dream continued with a devilish smile. "I don't only send off your information, I send off every other crime rings' information with a little bow attached to it. And how would your business partners feel when they get leaked and one of your men -you know, me- was the one who did it."
Dream could see Frankie Castillo clench his jaw.
"Oh, they would have your head," Dream sang.
With a little quick little gesture from Castillo, two men lunged at Dream though he quickly fought back. However, more people came and it was too many too quick, and Dream was kneeling in a matter of seconds.
"I can't kill you, but that doesn't mean I can't hurt you," Castillo brought up a knife and pressed it against Dream's hand. "Which is your favorite finger? I'll cut that one off first."
Dream struggled, thinking to himself that he only needed to last so long. He only needed to stall for a few minutes, just a few minutes. The cold and sharp blade pressed against his knuckle as it began to cut into his skin when-
"Stop-"
Oh shit.
"Stop, stop, I have your files," Karl's voice was far too familiar and Dream closed his eyes. "Don't hurt him, don't hurt him please."
"Your boyfriend's real pretty isn't he?" Castillo whispered to Dream. "Come closer angel, I don't bite."
Karl walked into Dream's line of view from somewhere behind him though he couldn't really turn and look being actively held in place by about 4 heavily armed men. Karl walked closer and closer, now standing inches away from Castillo.
"Karl what- What are you-" Dream struggled to speak.
"I have the files," Karl repeated, ignoring whatever Dream has just said. "He- He left it with me, but I can't- Don't hurt him."
"Awh," Castillo cooed. "Isn't that sweet?"
Karl handed Castillo a little black flash drive before kneeling down right in front of Dream. The four people were very close to pushing him away but Castillo brushed him off as a harmless bystander. Karl brought his hand up to Dream's face, his eyes were teary in the midst of panic.
"What are you doing here?" Dream moaned.
"They're going to hurt you," Karl sobbed. "Sweetheart, I can't handle that."
"I'm gonna check this," Castillo said, waving around the little flash drive. "I'm not stupid."
"Check it, it's fine," Karl said. "I saw your files, you're kinda sloppy."
"What?" Castillo questioned.
"You're sloppy," Karl spat out. "Your paperwork, your forgeries, your tax receipts- You're the type of person to get caught for tax evasion."
Both Dream and Castillo were stunned quiet at Karl's absolute audacity and fearlessness, taking a stab at one of the most dangerous people who lived in the city right now.
"Your project management also sucks, you don't even streamline your paychecks," Karl continued to berate the largest crime boss of the city.
"How do you date this guy? He nags," Castillo asked Dream.
"He's right," Dream muttered. "Do you know how long it took for me to collect shit on you? I can't find shit all within all the mess."
"Shut up, I didn't ask for your opinion," Castillo sounded offended.
Someone brought a laptop out that neither Dream nor Karl could even figure out where it came from. It was tense, the seconds after Castillo plugged the little flash drive into the laptop. They were waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
"It's a bunch of numbers," Castillo said.
"Yeah, well, the bunch of numbers is your files encrypted, obviously," Karl told him.
"Well unencrypt it," Castillo asked.
"I don't know how to do that, he does all the work," Karl nudged to Dream. "I sell books for a living, I'm an English Major, why do you think I would know how to unencrypt something?"
"Fine," Castillo said. "Take him," He nudged his head towards Karl.
"Don't touch him, don't- Don't you dare-" Dream struggled though the two men have already left their grasp on him and went to hold on to Karl.
"Show me," Castillo commanded while the two remaining men forced Dream in front of the computer.
"Baby?" Karl called as Dream began typing on the computer. "You know Big Q right? He works for me."
"Yeah?" Dream mumbled hesitantly.
"Remember what his favorite animal is?" Karl said.
Dream turned and met Karl's eyes.
"Duck," Dream said.
A bullet rushed through the air and shot Castillo almost immediately, throwing his body back. Dream turned to see two very familiar figures running over with backup. George was a particularly good shot, while Sapnap was very good at protecting George.
Under the guise of harmlessness, it was a mistake on their part that they didn't check if Karl had any weapons on him, which he in fact does. Nothing too extreme, he doesn't still know how to use a gun, but a high voltage taser is more than enough to take down a remarkably tall man who's carrying a rifle.
Dream was quick to jump into action as well, thankfully having only two people on him this time was much more manageable than four. A punch to the face, wrestling a gun out from their hands and shooting the ones closest to Karl down.
It wasn't long until a helicopter flew over, floodlights pouring across the docks, and lines of agents and police running in and start restraining people attempting to run away. Dream ran and took Karl under his arm to cover him from all the gunfire.
Soon enough the fight died down, or as far as Dream was concerned, the fight was over. There were people still struggling and fighting away from their handcuffs, some bleeding out as ambulance sirens got closer.
"Walker," Dream turned around to see Bad walking towards him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm alright, sir," Dream nodded.
"Did you give him- Is the file on the laptop?" Bad asked as an agent came and picked up the smashed laptop off the ground, the flash drive still sticking out.
"Oh no," Karl piped up. "That's just a bunch of ISBN catalog," He admitted.
"I was wondering that they were," Dream hummed, planting a big smooch on the side of Karl's face. "Good stall. Is the flash drive yours?"
"Thank you," Karl grinned. "And yes, it is, if I could please get it back?"
"So-" Bad stared quizzically as he passed the flash drive from one of the agents to return it to Karl. "Where's the file?"
"I stashed it behind the TV back in our place. Guess they didn't find it if they still had to find me," Dream shrugged.
"I'll send agents to pick it up, we'll put the two of you in a hotel for the night," Bad smiled.
"That won't be necessary I'm-" Dream looked at Karl before looking back at Bad. "I know we still need to be debriefed and everything, but are we good to go back to my house? My old place."
"I- I guess so," Bad said. "Yeah, you've had a rough night, you could probably go."
"Thanks, Bad," Dream said.
Karl threw Dream's arm across his shoulder, supporting his weight on the uninjured arm.
"That's was extraordinarily smart," Dream groaned softly as they walked away from the ruckus. "Thank you for doing that."
"No problem," Karl answered curtly.
"No seriously," Dream said. "That was unbelievably fast-thinking, thanks for having my back."
"This is a very, very insane anniversary," Karl said as he opened the car door for Dream to sit on the passage seat.
"Yeah, that tends to happen," Dream smiled softly.
"Your name isn't even Jameson is it?" Karl asked once he sat behind the driving wheel.
"No, sorry," Dream said sheepishly. "It's Walker."
"I still have so many questions and I'm still mad at you," Karl huffed.
"I know love, you can be mad at me at home," Dream groaned as he settled himself into the seat.
"Oh no, we're not going home," Karl said. "I'm taking you to the hospital."
"No," Dream whined. "I thought we were going home."
"You're bleeding," Karl said as he began to drive.
"I was gonna show you my old place- or my current place, I guess. And I'm so tired," Dream stomped his feet on the floor like a child throwing a tantrum.
"We're gonna get you finished stitched up," Karl said, giving Dream a little glance. "Then we can go home."
Dream chuckled and tugged Karl's hand off the steering wheel to give him a little kiss at the back of his palm. Karl quickly shook him off, needing his hand back to drive. And then Dream's phone buzzed, yet again.
Dread filled the car as Dream pulled his phone out from his pocket.
"Who is it?" Karl asked.
"It's from Bad, you met him earlier, he's my supervisor," Dream said, squinting slightly to read the contents of the text. "Don't forget to bring your boyfriend in for debriefing tomorrow. He seems nice and useful."
"Nice and useful," Karl snorted.
"Nice and useful," Dream agreed with a laugh.
"So this is it then?" Karl questioned. "This is what I signed up for?"
"Optimistically less blood and life-threatening situations, but yeah," Dream smiled cheekily. "Only if you love me."
"Well, aren't you lucky I do?" Karl replied