Chapter Text
Ford and Mabel stood over Dipper’s bed as the boy thrashed around as if he were in pain. Mabel gently moved back the sweat-soaked curly brown locks from the boy’s forehead, perfectly showing off his little dipper birthmark.
“I told you he was lying to us about the nightmares, they’re becoming more and more frequent, Grunkle Ford,” Mabel said, worry easily taking over her usually happy composure.
“I see, there might be a way to help him, but it won’t be fun and can cause him more pain if something goes wrong,” Ford replied, carefully inspecting the state his great nephew was in.
“I’ll do anything if it means Dipper will be okay.” Mabel’s eyebrows narrowed as she locked eyes with her Grunkle.
“Alright, then follow me.” With that, Ford was out of the room, leaving Mabel hovering over her brother.
“It’ll be okay Bro Bro.” Mabel lightly hugged her brother and left the room.
----
In the basement, Mabel found Ford rummaging through a large closet-looking room. There were many gadgets, machinery, and tools throughout the room, organized in a way only Ford (or maybe Stan) would understand. In the very back, Ford was hunched over a large cardboard box. As Mabel inched closer, Ford suddenly stood straight with a tool in his hands.
“Aha! I found it, Mabel!” Ford exclaimed with a proud look on his face. Without a second thought, he gave Mabel the item in his hands.
“Grun…Grunkle Ford? Is this what I think it is?” Mabel carefully inspected the item in her hands as her eyes grew with realization.
“It sure is, Mabel, the very first version of the Memory Gun. Sadly, the other one would’ve been better for this, but hopefully this one will work just as well.” Ford snatched up the gun from Mabel and started for the elevator to the rest of the Shack.
“But Grunkle Ford! Are you sure this will be safe? The townspeople kind of got addicted to using the other Memory Gun, what if the same happens to Dipper?” Mabel asked.
“It’s not likely, Dipper won’t ever know his memories were erased, and those people were trying to use the device as a means of escape. However, I do worry about one side effect this might cause to Dipper.”
“Side effects?”
“This device is known to cause severe headaches that get increasingly worse, especially if he’s reminded of the memories we erase tonight. It’s why the second version was created and revamped,” Ford said, looking down at the memory gun in his hands.
“We should still do it.”
“Mabel, are you sur-“
Before Ford could finish his sentence, Mabel grabbed the Memory Gun from Ford’s hands and headed for her and Dipper’s shared bedroom.
“Yes, I’m sure Grunkle Ford, it’s either the small chance of Dipper knowing about Bill’s previous existence or him suffering from traumatic dreams that keep him from sleeping!” Mabel argued. Her face glowed red, and Ford half expected smoke to pour out of her ears. In response, he silently nodded and followed the teenage girl up the stairs to the twins’ shared bedroom.
----
Once in the bedroom, the two hovered over Dipper’s sleeping form. The boy seemed to have calmed down and was now sleeping peacefully with tiny puffs of air leaving his mouth. Mabel and Ford shared an uneasy look before Mabel set the gun to forget Bill Cipher and pointed it straight at Dipper. With one click, Mabel easily fired the gun, hopefully erased any memories Dipper had of Bill Cipher. Unfortunately, the flash from the gun stirred Dipper from his slumber. Ford quickly moved to leave the room as Mabel got down to encounter Dipper when he awoke.
“Mabel?” Dipper asked, sleepily.
“Yeah, it’s me Bro Bro.”
“What are you doing up so late?”
“I was just getting a glass of water,” Mabel replied, before she realized that she didn’t actually have a glass of water with her. Thankfully, Dipper was too tired to question the lack of stability to Mabel’s answer.
“Oh, okay. You should go back to bed.” Dipper said, laying his head back on his pillow.
“Wait! Um, I have a quick question for you.”
“What is it?” Dipper mumbled.
“Do you know who Bill Cipher is?”
“Who?”
“Never mind, go to sleep,” Mabel smiled.
“Okay, night Mabes,” Dipper said before easily drifting back to sleep.
In one movement, Mabel quietly sat on her bed and let out a sigh of relief. The plan worked.