The Hyenas {Dreamnotfound AU}

33. What If

George's POV

"I-.. I really don't know, Dream. This sounds dangerous, and I doubt it'll even work," Tubbo says, after hearing our plan.

"I'm very convinced it will," Clay states confidently though.

"What makes you think that? I'm sure Tommy has long forgotten about me, he doesn't care," Tubbo mumbles, pain lacing his every word. 

"That's not true," I cut in, making both their eyes turn to me. "You see this?" I point at my throat. He nods. "Tommy did that when I was waiting for Dream to come back from your place. He didn't recognize me, and was afraid I was going to hurt you, so he wanted to kill me in order to protect you." Tubbo's eyes grow wide.

"He has a picture of the two of you in his room at the Hyena base. He cares about you a lot, even when you can't be friends anymore," Clay appends, and Tubbo looks at his hands, tears gathering in his eyes. 

"Why? He left me alone out here," he says, picking on his cuticles.

"I think he did it all to protect you," I tell him, and he closes his eyes, a frown on his forehead. 

"If you can trust us, we can help you try and get Tommy back to you. You can be friends again, and return to the city, just like we are going to do," Clay tells him, and I look at him. Just like we are going to do. We. He looks back at me and flashes me a quick smile while Tubbo still has his eyes closed.

"And what happens if your plan fails?" he asks, opening his eyes again. 

"It's not going to fail, Tommy won't let anything happen to you. This is going to sound harsh, but we can all use that," Clay continues, earning his gaze. "As long as you're with us, he won't let anything happen to us either." He sighs deeply.

"You're asking a lot from me here, Dream," he says. 

"I know, but we need to finish this once and for all. And we need your help for that," Clay answers, looking at him intently. "I promise I'll protect you, okay? Nothing is going to happen on my watch." He sighs again. 

"Okay. I'll help."

Hope gathers in the form of warmth swirling around in my chest. With Tubbo tagging along, nothing is going to happen to us. 

Fundy and Karl join us as well about an hour later, so we can go over the plan one last time before it starts tomorrow. Tomorrow, we're putting an end to all of it. 

The four longest weeks of my life will finally be over. I'll get to see my family again, my friends. I get to tell my parents they won't have to worry any longer. I can't wait to hug them again, to be with them again. 

It'll be the end of two awful years for Clay as well. He's done so much to survive out here. He's done absolutely everything. And he did everything right. He may think he made mistakes, but in reality, he did everything he could. I intend on getting that through to him as soon as we're safe, as soon as we're across the border together.

My eyes land on Bad, who is leaning against a wall and looking over the five of us from a distance. I get up from the couch and walk over to him, getting comfortable standing next to him. He looks at me from the side and sighs.

"Are you feeling okay?" I ask him, meeting his gaze. 

"I don't know, I guess I'm just worried about Skeppy," he says, now looking at the ground.

"I don't know if what Technoblade said is true, I have no idea if they actually have him there, but if they do, I'm pretty sure they've kept him alive to lure us there," I tell him in an attempt to comfort him. "He could very well be out of their hands as well, you know. He seemed very smart when we met him, like he knows where to hide when shit hits the fan." Bad laughs sadly, nodding.