Karl, Sapnap and George were sat in their room, trying to figure out how to get to Dream. None of them knew anything about "solitary". They didn't know if it was just one room, or if there were multiple rooms, or where it was. And they didn't know how to find it, either. It had been about 30 minutes since their encounter with Schlatt, and they'd come up with nothing.

"I just- I don't get why he'd refuse to cooperate? He heard all of us say it was fine, and he knew that we were all okay afterwards," George stated while rubbing circles into his temples with his fingertips.

The room was silent for a few moments after that. Sapnap was the one to break it. "Maybe he didn't."

"Sap, that doesn't make sense. They wouldn't take him away without a reason." Karl responded sadly.

"How do you know that? We know nothing about this place," Sapnap shot back, his voice rising slightly.

"Okay, let's calm down. Sapnap, I think you may have a point," George added, standing from his spot on Dream's bed. "Do you guys remember how angry Schlatt was at Dream for choking that guy out when the girl... you know..."

"Exactly! He's always had a problem with him, since the first day. Dream had no reason to refuse the tests. He's not stupid, guys. He wouldn't do that. What if this is just Schlatt's way of punishing him?" Sapnap said excitedly, happy that their conversation was actually going somewhere.

"But- but that's not fair!" Karl cried from his bed. "He can't... he can't just do that!"

"Schlatt runs this place, Karl. He can do whatever the fuck he wants."

"Language!"

The three boys' heads all whipped around towards their now-open door. Bad, Skeppy, Antfrost and Callahan all stood in the doorway.

"Hey guys!" Karl greeted politely, offering the others a smile.

"I don't think you should be allowed to 'Language' me in my own room." Sapnap complained, rolling his eyes sarcastically.

"We heard about Dream." Skeppy blurted out, everyone's eyes landing on him.

"What? How? We just found out, like, half an hour ago." George questioned.

"Apparently word travels fast around here. We heard about it from Ranboo and Tubbo. Anyway, I think I can help," Antfrost explained. "Well, we can help." He added, placing a hand on Callahan's shoulder.

"Hold that thought," George said, rushing out of the room. He didn't know what it was, but something deep inside of him was urging him to go find Ranboo. He felt like Ranboo deserved to know what was going on. The connection between them was still confusing to him, but he decided that it would make life much easier if he just didn't question it anymore.

He walked a few doors down and stopped in front of the door labeled "B6". He quickly tapped his knuckles against the wood, hoping the younger boy would be inside. After a few moments of waiting, the door swung open and he was greeted by Wilbur.

"George! What's up?" He greeted, pulling the smaller boy into a quick hug.

"Hi Wilbur. Is Ranboo here? I need to talk to him." George said after pulling away from their embrace.

Wilbur looked confused, perhaps even a bit irritated, but he stepped aside nonetheless and revealed the interior of the room. Ranboo and Tubbo were sitting on one of the bottom bunks, hunched over what George assumed was a card game.

"Ranboo, George wants you," Wilbur said dryly.

He stood and quickly walked towards the doorway, stopping when Wilbur shot him a pointed look.

"Hey, George. Are you alright?" He asked, concern written all over his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Could you... come with me for a second?"

George noticed Wilbur furrow his eyebrows out of the corner of his eye, but he decided to ignore him.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Ranboo agreed, stepping out of the room. He turned to Wilbur and added, "I'll be right back," before joining George in the hallway and following him to his room.

When they walked in, everyone turned to look at them. "Oh, hey Ranboo," Karl said.

Ranboo lifted his hand in a wave and George walked over to Dream's bed, gesturing for the other boy to take a seat.

"I want him to hear," George said plainly. "Go ahead, Ant."

Antfrost just shrugged before explaining. "So, we've been thinking a lot about Dream. Obviously we don't know him as well as you guys do, but we don't think he actually refused to comply like Schlatt said he did. I mean, why would he?"

"That's exactly what we were thinking," Sapnap agreed. "Go on."

"Callahan and I know where the solitary wing is."

Everyone's eyes went wide as they processed what Antfrost had said.

"Wait, WHAT? How did you not tell us this?" Skeppy asked, fake betrayal laced in his tone.

"We wanted it to be a surprise...?" Antfrost said, a pained smile making its way onto his face. "We just had to make sure that we were right before we told anyone."

"Well? How do you know?" Sapnap asked skeptically.

"We met this one guy from group B5 at lunch last week. He was telling us about how someone in his group backtalked Schlatt and was thrown in solitary for a day, and his friend told him all about it. It's back towards the Meeting Hall down a secret corridor. I say secret because the door blends into the wall." Antfrost explained.

"Awesome! So, when are we going?" George asked excitedly while fidgeting with his hands in his lap.

"Uh, about that... there's no way you're getting in there. I didn't tell you guys about this so that you could plan some rescue mission. I just thought you'd like to know."

"What do you mean, 'there's no way you're getting in there'?" Sapnap asked harshly.

"You need a key to get through the first door. And apparently it's guarded. By like, actual security. And they're armed." Antfrost said patronizingly as he glared at Sapnap.

"Armed? With, like, guns?" Bad asked, his voice squeaking a bit.

"Yes, guns. But not the kind you're thinking of. Apparently they shoot little web-like bullets that electrocute you. They're like big tasers."

"There's no way you know all of this, Ant. How much could that guy possibly know?" Skeppy butted in, cocking his head.

"Well, we have nothing else to base anything on, so this is the best we've got." Antfrost replied, running a hand through his hair out of exasperation.

"There has to be a way in," George thought out loud. "Maybe if we go at night there'll be less guards?"

"Maybe," Sapnap agreed. "But we'd probably need an in. Someone on the inside."

George snapped his head towards Karl and they locked eyes. "Quackity."

"Do you really think he'd help us, though? I mean, sure, we're friendly with him, but this is his job." Sapnap reasoned, rubbing his face with his hands.

"He might. There's only one way to find out," George reasoned. "Ranboo, how close is your group to Techno?"

"To be honest, not very. Wilbur and I get along with him, but Tommy and Tubbo just get on his nerves," he replied.

"Do you think he'd be willing to help us with this?" George pressed.

"Um, I'm not really sure. Maybe if we got Quackity to help persuade him? They seem to be close." Ranboo answered, looking down at his hands. "But, um, maybe let's not tell Wilbur about this?"

"What? Why?" Karl asked curiously.

"It's just... he seemed pretty happy about the whole thing. You know, Dream being taken away. I don't think he'd be on board with us trying to break him out. Or going to see him, or whatever we're doing."

"Okay, that's fair enough. So we go to Quackity first, and then Techno. Sound good?" Sapnap concluded, clapping his hands together.

Everyone nodded their heads in silent agreeance.

"Alright, let us know what happens," Bad said before moving to leave the room. The rest of his group followed after quickly waving goodbye.

"Woah." Ranboo said, sighing.

"Yeah, shit just got real." Sapnap agreed, hopping down from his bunk. "Ranboo, I gotta go to the bathroom. Want me to walk you back to your room?"

"Sure, thanks." Ranboo smiled graciously as he stood.

"Oh, Ranboo," George said, tugging on the taller boy's sleeve. "Don't tell anyone about this. Not Tommy, or Tubbo, or any other friends you've made."

"Not Tubbo?" He asked sadly, his face dropping slightly.

"I'm sorry, but it's too risky. Maybe we can tell him a bit later?" George reasoned sympathetically.

"Alright," Ranboo agreed reluctantly. "Well, bye guys," He said as he waved to George and Karl and followed Sapnap out into the hallway, the door closing silently behind him.

George sighed, flopping down onto the bed. "I need a nap."

Karl shook his head fondly at his friend, who was already on the brink of consciousness.

George awoke to the sound of a door being slammed. He shot up, still a bit groggy and out of it. He saw Sapnap holding someone by their collar up against the door, and after rubbing his eyes, he realized it was Quackity.

"Sapnap! What are you doing?" George yelled frantically, getting up and rushing over to them.

"This prick won't help us." Sapnap seethed, knocking the smaller boy against the door once more.

"What do you even want from me? I can't help you get into the solitary unit. I don't even guard it!" Quackity cried, trying to pry Sapnap's hands off of him.

"Sapnap! Let go of him!" Karl yelled, walking up to Sapnap but keeping his hands at his sides.

After one last annoyed glance, Sapnap dropped his hands and Quackity let out a sigh of relief.

"What the hell, man?" He asked, clearing his throat excessively.

Sapnap just rolled his eyes as Karl guided him over to his bed.

"Are you sure there's nothing you can do to help?" George asked, patting the older boy on the shoulder.

"I- I don't know. I mean, technically there is-"

"Then fucking do it!" Sapnap interrupted, Karl jumping at his sudden outburst.

"It's not that easy. I know two of the guards who might help, but they aren't on duty for another four days."

"So we'll go then. You're sure they'll let us in?" George asked.

"I- What are you even gonna do if you get in? Try to break him out? That's not happening."

"We just want to see him." George explained, crossing his arms over his stomach.

Quackity sighed, looking between the three boys. "Fine. I'll see what I can do."

"Yes! Thank you Quackity!" George exclaimed, wrapping his arms around the boy.

"The bare minimum." Sapnapp grumbled, Karl smacking him on the arm.

"I have to go. I'll let you guys know what they said tomorrow." Quackity said quickly, rushing out of the room.

"That was odd." Karl observed.

"Whatever. We're gonna see Dream, that's all that matters." George replied, climbing onto his bunk.

"Awww, does someone miss Dweamie?" Sapnap teased.

"Oh my god, shut up Sapnap."

Karl and Sapnap burst into laughter as George settled himself into bed. It had to be somewhere around 4 P.M, but he was already exhausted. He let his heavy eyelids close and soon enough, he was asleep.

AN: hey guys i'm back!! (with another late night upload ofc) sorry that i took so long to come out with this chapter :(( i wasn't planning on taking a break but i've been dealing with some family stuff and just didn't have lots of motivation. i'm all good now and hopefully i'll be back to regular uploads soon!! thank you all for being so patient with me :3

also i'm sorry this chapter had so much dialogue, it was a pain to write and i kinda got a little lazy towards the end, but the next chapters will be much better!!

i didn't really proofread before posting this because i just wanted to get it out, so i apologize for any mistakes!

as always, thank you all for reading. while i've been gone this story hit 5.5k reads. holy shit. thank you all so much for the support, it means the world. i love you <33

and YES i'm making antfrost and callahan a dynamic duo because they're simply the best what about it

GUYS DONT WORRY i know there wasn't a lot of dnf in this chapter for obvious reasons but there will be plenty in the next chapter so just bare with me!!

word count: 2105