CHAPTER 12 - TROUBLE

Despite his hands being forced into an unnatural place behind his back, George managed to drift to slumber. With the low hum of the car echoing in his ears. 

——

Orlando, Florida, Tuesday 3:21 p.m.

George awoke to unpleasant sights, at least three people were towering over him as if he were in a hospital with urgent needs. Taking in a grasp of air, like the first in hours. The breath alongside his thoughts, he questioned how long he had passed out, or how long he had been here.

After the memories came to life more vividly, he panicked, heaving himself up. When his senses caved in, his mightiest worry was the safety of;

"Dream? Where's Dream?" Quickly raising himself to see his surroundings, a shiver overcame the brunette's body, this was a replica of the time travel from weeks ago. Wanting to further investigate, he slid off the over-packed bed.

"Er, Omega please sit back down on the bed." A voice spoke from behind, George turned to the lab tester, almost disgusted at the object-like nickname. "My name is George" he corrected.

  But soon turning his head around, "Where is Dream?" he repeated, pestering to get his way, even if it's the simplest demand in the situation he's in. He wanted to know if his friend was okay.

He was in a small, packed room with unknown equipment. The bed he had just sat up from was facing an exposing window. It cleared most of the front wall, with doors on both sides of him. The brunette guessed one door leads to the opening he was looking out at. Through the tinted glass, to his right, he saw rooms similar to his own.

"He is fine, now lay back down" A voice croaked after George disobeyed the first set of orders. The Omega didn't care about the commands, continuing to slowly move forward. Nevertheless, a painful trudge came from his left arm. The brunette was no doctor, but what he was seeing was an IV line trailing from inside his arm veins to a standing machine. "Omega, come back before we have to force you."

George's eyes drooped when he couldn't find the Alpha. But with an ear twitch, he noticed Dream in a solitude-like room. Almost in disbelief at the restricting conditions he was in. George could feel an invasion of privacy for dream, a big window covered most of the front wall, and he was facing the other way on a bed. Seeming to be in a restless sleep.

"Omega." The lab tester with a deep voice appeared from behind. Releasing a commanding scent that made George soften.

Finding himself following the orders given, while realizing this wasn't his doing, he was easily being walked over by scents. The Omega gritted his teeth in frustration, he had become soft and obedient. It must have been something the testers did in his unconscious sleep. Hating the way he didn't have free will, hated the way he was being used like an object, being called an object-like name. 

With no self-control, he walked back to the bed where he sat back down. Looking beside him he saw a thin blanket scrunched into many crinkles. George turned body to the tester once more, and he spoke.

"Now, you will stay here until instructed to move." The lab worker made sure he was clear in his words. George felt an unpleasant shock overcome his body as fast as the small blood needle in his finger. Finding out that the jolt was him coming back into control, something seemed to lurk around him.

"Why would you take Dream? You only need me"

He was ignored. He felt he was being given the bare minimum of his needs. Questions continued to be asked, but no answers. He had no idea where he was, the only connection he had with this place was the time travel with Karl. But even then it was never this realistic, the travel in time almost felt like a hazy dream. Giving up on asking questions, he decided he would observe instead.

Noticing the lab testers who were commanding him around like a lost dog. His looks seemed to be well proposed. His hair was a thin brown and almost curly, it drifted off to one side in a messed clump. Like brambles and bushes in nature,  circular glasses fogged most of his face. Wolf's ears pierced atop his head, tore with stories to tell.

  His eyes were a greying brown like they were fading slowly to grey from stress, just like how hair does. But looking past the color, the Omega knew he saw another person through the hue. But if George hadn't known he was a lab worker, he would've befriended the man. His looks made him seem like a friendly man past his eyes.

"Call me Dr. Soot." He seemed to notice George staring and took an introduction. The Omega only scoffed, and even though the wolf's looks seemed to be friendly, George never wanted to meet this man in any other circumstance. 

"We are now just going to do some updates on you're health now that you are awake." 

With a simple request, George flattened his ears and looked away. All he could do was accept it, what else could he do? He was under the command of Dr. Soot, and many people were watching him. He was spun around on the bed sitting upright with his legs extended in front of him.

Pairs of gloves were being laced on the hands behind the brunette. Others were prepping in front of him. Without a straight realization, his right arm was outstretched, palm facing the ceiling. His left was already exposed from the IV line. But now was when he felt his boundaries being stumbled over as if the line was a useless decoration. One worker was piercing a needle into his wrist vein, much more intimidating than the previous smaller test one.

Dr. Soot was examining the line of his hands and fingerprints as if they were mazes and the wolf was trying to escape it with his eyes. The Omega watched with interest as the worker's passion.

"Blood sample complete, 3:34 pm." George saw the lady who was taking his blood communicate with another who was urgently scribbling.

As the blood tester was taking away the line that followed to a plump bag full of his fresh blood. It was carried away to a room where the Omega could no longer see.

Extra swipes of blood oozed out of the mess the lady left, it felt like his whole heart was thumping inside the broken vein.

George could only guess a short time had passed, and Dr. Soot had cleaned the wound the lady left behind. Nevertheless, that lady returned, her brain was almost exploding with information. 

"Dr. Leaf put this information on the Omega's file." The brunette's voice croaked about to correct the lab worker on her object comment. But was more interested in the clipboard being shared between the now-known Dr. Leaf and the blood tester.

The two walked side by side, inaudible to hear their whispers. But Dr. Leaf pulled away from the conversation, sitting on a chair belonging to a desk with a computer. But they came close once more, their murmurs gave George a hard time straining his ears to listen.

"Blood type, O-positive" She explained, pointing a few things on the clipboard. "Last in the heat was a week ago" The Omega flushed a hue of red, hoping the other lab workers wouldn't hear of the whispers.

"Does that mean--" Dr. Leaf's voice was cut short. George had now turned to hang his legs over the side. Embarrassed his private matters sounded like a normal conversation to them, even exciting for them.

"Alright, prep the equipment for heat incision" The Omega didn't already know what he was brought here for, and it was coming at him like a relentless knife.

George betrayed his previous negative powerless thoughts, he seemed to break out of Dr. Soot's menacing command lurking behind him. His fear scent must have overpowered the ordering ones. He was able to struggle up from the bed, and thrust away the IV line, it stung but he would refuse to become submissive to them. 

He started to race for the opposite door the blood tester came through, his tail flagged behind. He came near the door and didn't hesitate to rush towards it. He soon made contact side-on and slammed into the exit. The brunette was desperate to fiddle with the handle but to his avail, it would not budge.

The aftershock came to him after the adrenaline wore off, and the Omega felt heavily winded from the crash. 

"Lay on the bed Omega." Dr. Soot's voice was coming close to him. George couldn't tell if it was him slightly crouching hard against the door but the lab Alpha seemed much bigger. The brunette swore, for a split second, the doctor's pupils thinned. 

George knew Dr. Soot was commanding him to sit on the bed, but with all he had left, the Omega fought it. He held a tight grasp on the door handle, knuckles turning pale. His ears were flat on his head, hard.

The Omega had now put his full weight on the door he was already leaning on, no longer having the strength to hold himself up. But instead, he put all his focus and power into refusing to give in to the commanding orders then got miserably intense by the second.

The brunette's body would twitch from time to time. Dr. Soot stared more threatening than the last. But the doctor would soon crunch if fist into a tight ball. 

"He isn't listening!" Dr. Soot spun around in fury, grabbing the nearest object and thrashing to the ground. George flinched at the shatter of the empty needle. But he felt a surge of pride that he'd won.

He picked himself up, his chest rising and falling rapidly, the adrenaline was wearing off and the aftershock would soon kick in. As George peered in front of him, Dr. Soot had slammed the opposite exit from him open. 

But to his despair, the lab Alpha was now being seen through the front glass window. Making furious strides with the floor, heading towards the side George was resting on. 

"Do you think he is doing it this early?" George had picked up one of the testers whispering from behind his view. 

Doing what early? The brunette questioned himself. He began to shuffle his way away from the door from his fears. Dr. Soot was now out of window view, and he could burst through the exit he was beside any moment. 

Staggering to his feet, he plummeted to the window, desperate to see a sense of direction in the lab tester's movement. To his surprise, the doctor was not heading for the door next to him. He was now fidgeting with the door to the room Dream was kept in.

For a split moment, George's surprise turned into horror, would Dr. Soot take his anger out on Dream?  The lab tester had now pestered around with the handle enough to budge it open. Even in the distance, he still heard the loud bang with Dream's door collided with the wall.

The Omega's tail quivered, worried about the safety of his Alpha. He stared cold-heartedly, it put his nerves to the edge of a gaping cliff to watch Dr. Soot wake Dream. 

Suddenly, one of the unrecognizable lab workers burst through the same door Dr. Soot had come out of. As if the Alpha doctor knew his co-worker was coming, he turned around almost instantly to greet him.

From two windows afar, it was hard to make out what they were doing. But barely, George saw the lab worker handing handcuffs to Dr. Soot.

Before George knew it, Dream was being cuffed, even though Dream wasn't looking at the brunette, he saw how much exhaustion affected his posture. The Alpha had almost immediately accepted the unknown reason he was being cuffed. No energy left to fight, just like himself.

Thouthenow Dream was being half shoved towards George's room, his arms painfully stretched behind him. Finally, as the Alpha was walking across the large window, he spotted the Omega. George couldn't help but think Dream perked up a little from seeing that he was awake and all right.

The two did not leave each other's eyesight, too desperate to lose the other once more. They only broke their contact once Dream was pushed into a door to George's left. Never-the-less appearing again. Relief seemed to flood both their hearts.

"Dream!" The Omega exclaimed as if they hadn't seen one another in centuries. "George!" Dream imitated the brunette's joy. They were walking towards each other self-consciously, only realizing when George was pushed away by other lab workers.

"Now Omega," Dr. Soot began, the brunette trailed his eyes to the lab Alpha. "If you won't listen to me. You will listen to him." He directed at Dream.

"What?" The blonde sounded just as frightened as George but in words. "Alpha, command the Omega to sit on the bed and stay there." The head lab tester continued. "The Omega cannot fight a main Alpha." Dr. Soot flicked those last words with a vicious tongue.

"I'm not commanding him to do anything." Dream held his ground, even in his powerless state.

"Very well," he stated though, before the blonde and brunette could react, he spoke again. "Then you won't mind him getting marked in front of you."

It felt like the brunette wasn't even there, or it was like he was a precious object. But he was shivering to the core of his bones thinking of being marked. Dream continued to uphold his words, but was flailing. 

Dr. Soot drew closer to the Omega, he tried to back away but was trapped between the other lab workers. George felt his ears ring, and couldn't help but think of his previous question cycle in his head: Why would you take Dream? You only need me.

His chin was lifted by the hands of the head lab tester, his neck exposing to him. But he was side-tracked to a stress scent mixed with a challenging one. Focusing on Dream, his pupils were dilated and that's when it hit George.

Dream was challenging Dr. Soot. But his aggressiveness was blinded by his rut.