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Drip.
Dream ignored the feeling of heat on his side. The dampness that soaked through his skin and ran down to his pants and boot as he ran. He didn’t dare let himself stop. To allow himself the chance to feel the wound that was burning into him.
It didn’t matter.
Not right now.
Drip.
The sewer system was dark. Damp and dripping and he could hear the footfalls behind him.
Dream was the leader here.
Drip.
Dream couldn’t let them down.
Drip.
He was the reason this mission had turned the way it was now. Dream leading them through the sewer systems under the city because all of the law enforcement and criminals alike would be hunting for their heads. The cost of being spies, he supposed.
They weren’t meant to be on this mission but Dream had heard Oversight trying to cover it and the ones they were going to send were newer agents and he couldn’t let that happen.
Not when he knew his mission was borderline a suicide mission that was going to leave them without help until they crossed out of a certain point.
They couldn’t be in the city. Their governments at war but that was why they were the ones that were pushed in. Focused on getting the information and getting out as fast as they possibly could. Working toward the ultimate goal and Dream was supposed to be making sure the intel was correct.
He’d thought it was correct.
He was the reason their mission was failed.
They got caught. A trap set into place that was leaving them all running for their lives through the wet tunnels underground. Racing with the adrenaline pumping in their veins and making their steps a little heavier as they got themselves all lost inside the maze of pipes.
Drip.
George and Sapnap were moving behind him. The two of them sticking close while Techno was bringing up their rear. He had been training the new recruits and followed along with Dream when he had volunteered his team. It would be better for them to have another person and he appreciated the assist in order to keep the kids safe.
It was the best chance they had.
Besides, Techno had been on their team before Oversight shrunk them down to be teams of three.
It was easier to manage that way, that’s what they were told.
Drip.
They’d gotten caught in the worst place they could have. Pushing them to race through the ensuing firefight and dodging the bullets as best as they could.
Techno had been clipped. His should sluggishly leaking blood down his arm and over his fingers. His grip on his gun remained steady.
George had taken a hit to the calf but he was still walking. Limping but he was pushing. The adrenaline was helping him but there was a limited amount of time for how long that was going to last.
Sapnap nearly got shot in the head.
A graze, that was what George told them. A line of blood through his scalp and hair and his friend had yet to give them any sign of consciousness since it happened. He was breathing. That was enough for them to work with and move.
George was carrying him. Slung with an arm around his shoulders and pulling him forward. His body was still trying to work even though he wasn’t really with them.
Dream was the only one not hurt.
Drip.
Dream was the only one that they didn’t see be hurt.
“How the hell are we supposed to be getting out of here?”
George’s doubt was fair. Dream was the only one who had seen the maps before they went on the mission. They weren’t meant to ever end up down here or using these tunnels so it wasn’t a point that he’d given to the others but now that it was their only saving grace to get out of this with the chance of heartbeats, he was regretting that.
He was going off of his memory. The adrenaline making it hard to focus but he was trying to keep on the mission. To keep track of the turns they made and reconcile it with the placements of the paths he’d looked at before.
“We trust Dream. He’s going to get us out.”
Techno’s voice held something that almost sounded like mirth but he didn’t have the energy to waste on acknowledging it.
Drip.
The bullet wound in his stomach was making sure he didn’t waste it.
It was about all he could do right now to be watching his breathing and make sure that they weren’t going to catch on that something had gone wrong. Right now they needed him to be the leader that never backed down and made it out of the fights. Right now they needed him to be the man that was famed for his agility among spies and nations and the fact that he’d dodged bullets more times than not.
Right now they needed something to give them hope.
Dream was their hope.
“How close are we to that, Dream?”
There was strain in George’s voice. It wasn’t his doubt in him that was causing it but rather the pain that was flooding through him. He knew that the rest of his team was suffering and they were doing their best. He knew that they were handling their wounds as best they could with the wrapping they’d managed to take care of already. They were working. They were trying.
They knew they still needed medical attention.
“We’re getting there.”
He laid a hand over his middle. Feeling the dampness that would be hidden by the darkness of his clothes. He was trying to make it through this but he could feel the bullet still moving inside of him. Turning and twisting with each step he forced his body to take. Feeling it press in deeper to him and he tasted blood at the back of his tongue.
His stomach hurt. Tight and building in pressure but if he stopped now and threw up blood then they were going to know that something happened and right now he couldn’t afford that.
They wouldn’t move with him hurt like this.
They wouldn’t let him be up and walking.
They would choose him over all of them and that wasn’t an option that he was going to let them take. Not when they could make it through this so long as he kept it together.
Dream had to keep it together.
That was all.
Drip.
“Really building the confidence there, Leader.”
Techno was joking with him and Dream knew that it was a joke but he still felt his nerves burning through his skin. The worry and the doubt that was curling in his gut along with the blood of the wound and he tried to breathe a bit to settle it.
It nearly made his vision black out from the pain.
He couldn’t do this.
He had to anyway.
Drip.
“How’s Sap?”
He was worried for his brother in all but blood. He was worried about all of them but the fact that he hadn’t roused yet was making him worry for how bad the head wound was. They all knew the risks of them. They all knew that this was something that could happen but the chances of Sapnap being shot like this and never waking up worried him enough that he wasn’t sure what to do.
Sapnap nad him had been friends through nearly everything. All of their training and all of their schooling. All of their missions they’d done together pretty much. Outside of a few solo missions here and there, they were never apart.
He was worried.
“His pulse is steady, so is breathing. He’s good.”
Dream clenched his jaw. He heard Techno tutt.
“Since when does being shot in the head constitute as good?”
“You knew what I meant.”
Dream tried to keep his breathing steady. The pull through his stomach as he led them around a corner was nearly blotting out his sight. He was trying to breathe even.
He could feel his hands shaking.
He wasn’t walking straight.
His head was heavy. It was too light at the same time.
“Dream?”
The voice sounded far away. Like he was being held underwater. He couldn’t get his sight to clear. He couldn’t get anything to work. His sock was wet. His leg was wet. His clothes were soaked and growing heavy. He wanted to gag.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
“Dream!”
He hit the wall. Jolting him sharply and making him take a breath that would actually fill his lungs. He tried to take in the breath without moving his stomach too much but he still felt it pull. He jerked himself back upright as fast as he could. Sucking in a breath again as the previous one got caught inside. Coughing and feeling the blood splatter against his glove but he ignored it.
His vision focused again. He saw the tunnels around them again.
“You good?”
“Yeah,” His throat was rough. He swallowed back the nausea at the taste of his own blood. “Yeah, I’m good.”
“You sure?”
Dream nodded. He took another step. The quiet between them only lasted the first ten steps. All things considered, Dream was a little proud it took them that long to breach it.
“What was that?”
“What was what?”
He knew what they were likely asking for but he also wasn’t really trusting his hearing anymore considering they both still sounded a bit far away and he knew they were just behind him. If he missed something from one of their enemies then he would have to put his pride and determination on hold in favor of being able to actually protect them. If there was a fight and he was missing the signs then he needed to know so he could lead them out of it or have one of them take over.
They could leave him behind if they needed to. At least some of them could make it off this mission.
He knew what it was when he took it. They all did.
They’d put their faith in him to lead them through it and get them back home.
“You fell over.”
Nothing that serious then.
Drip.
“Just tripped.”
He heard Techno’s disbelief before he even started talking.
"You looked like you were passing out.”
Dream bit his tongue. If they hadn’t yelled for him then he might have. He heard George’s concern at the lack of his response.
“Dream?” He stifled a cough. George kept going. “You weren’t hit, were you?”
They would stop moving if he told them. He could deal with the pain that was getting through the adrenaline. If he was right about the amount of blood he’d lost so far then it wouldn’t be long before he was going into shock and that would dull the pain. He could get them out of here. He could do this still.
He could save them.
He had to save them.
Drip.
“No.”
He was lying. He could apologize for that later but right now he had to focus.
Turn after turn on a map that he was using from memory. One that he’d looked at for only thirty minutes the day before. It was hazy and foggy but he prayed to gods he didn’t believe in that he was right.
His team stayed following. The dim echoes of their footsteps and the dragging from Sapnap was all he focused on. Working to keep himself awake off the steps they were taking and the need for him to be taking his own. He was working and he could do this. He could make it through this.
Turn after turn.
Dream pushed himself forward.
His stomach building in pressure and his heartbeat slowing by the moment. He was dizzy. He saw light at the end. He heard his friends celebrating.
“Holy shit, Dream.”
George was laughing. Even Techno was chuckling. Relief was flooding both their voices.
“I can’t believe your paranoia just saved us.”
“You can look at as many weird maps as you want to from now on.”
“I don’t know how you did that, that was insane.”
They were laughing.
They were safe.
He got them safe.
Dream stumbled as he stepped forward. His heart slamming against his ribs now as he bent forward.
Drip.
He tried to blink the spots out of his eyes but it was only making them worse. Sickness catching up through his throat until he was feeling his path warp around him. The world blurring on the edges until his shoulder was hitting a wall again. His breaths catching in his lungs as he started to slip down.
Hands were on him in moments. Guiding him down to sit in a patch of concrete that wasn’t wet with sewage water. He felt gloved hands on his face. He heard the rustle of cloth before cool fingers were pressing into his pulse point and another hand was cupping his face to hold it up.
“Dream? Dream, wake up.”
He wasn’t asleep. His eyes were dark. He couldn't—
He’d closed them.
“Dream!”
“Techno, what’s wrong with him?”
“I don’t know yet.”
He felt the fingers leave his throat and move down his body. Jostling him bit by little bit and pushing at him until he felt a blinding heat through him. Sinking into his stomach and making him choke out a half scream before a hand was covering his mouth and pushing his head back into the wall.
“What was—”
“He was shot.”
“Dream?”
He forced his eyes open. His breaths turning shallow as he tried to push himself together. To remember where he was and what he was meant to be doing right now. His head rolled over to the side. He saw the light that was there. The end of the tunnel.
They were beyond the city limits.
They could call for their help. They could get out of here.
They just had to wait.
“Hey,” He was being shaken. “None of that. Stay awake.”
Techno was crouched with him. He blinked and caught sight of George and Sapnap sitting and slumped against the other side of the tunnel. Sapnap laying on the ground with his head and chest pillowed and leaned on George. Fingers were still pressing into his throat over his pulse.
“You’ve been blacking out on us. You need to stay awake. You’ve lost a lot of blood.”
His stomach hurt. He tried to reach for it only for his hand to be caught.
“I packed it. Don’t jostle it. Oversight knows we’re all hurt. It’s a medical exfil. We’re gonna be fine you just cant move right now.”
He was supposed to save them. He was supposed—
“You got us safe, Dream.”
He was comfortable. He was warm.
His body felt numb.
“You got us out of the mission alive and out of the tunnels. You did it.”
He saved them.
“You just need to let us save you now, okay?”
Dream nodded. Weak and slow and it made his brain feel like it was rattling inside his skull but he did it all the same. The dryness in his throat making itself known with the cracking taste of metal.
“Just stay with us, Dream.”
The fingers were on his pulse again.
“You hear me, Nerd? You stay awake.”
He heard him. He was trying his best.
“Sapnap’s breathing. All of us are breathing. You need to keep doing that.”
He was so tired.
“You’re such an idiot. You should have told us.”
He forced his mouth to work.
“Had…. Had to get y’out…had…safe….wouldn’...”
“We would have figured something out.”
Dream heard his own whimper. How broken it sounded. How weak.
“Don’t work yourself up. We’ll talk later.”
He wanted to sleep.
“Stay awake.”
He wanted to sleep.
The sound of water dripping. The feel of his blood dripping. Dream’s eyes slipped shut. The sounds of his friends around him. The feel of their arms. They were safe. They were all—
Drip.