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Patient number one hundred and three.
He was one of the most dreaded patients for the vast majority of employees at the Gravity Falls Psyche Ward. Key word being 'majority.'
Dipper Pines was the only worker that seemed to actually tolerate the madman, and was always the one other employees fell back on when they didn't want to deal with the lunatic (which was quite often). Not that Dipper minded, of course, claiming some of the patient's ranting about the conspiracies of the universe and obsession with triangles fascinating (not to mention it was extra earnings in Dipper's paycheck).
Just what had driven this man so stark raving mad? That was a question Dipper frequently asked himself, and why he kept going back to listen to Bill Cipher, who was as cryptic as his surname.
Lately, Cipher's usual rants that had been about how he wasn't a crazy human being but actually a demon of the mind that knew quite an extensive amount of things, had changed. Specifically, they had changed to how Bill knew Dipper.
What was worrisome for Dipper, was how correct the seemingly insane patient was.
–
On one of Dipper's first weeks of work, he had been bitten by one of the more unstable patients. He persevered, however, set on returning to the Ward.
The day had started innocently enough with Dipper's morning routine. Get ready for work, say goodbye to the Stans and his twin sister Mabel, and finally go to work to feed and occasionally listen to his assigned patients at the Ward.
Of course, working at a building housing a plethora of people with various degrees of insanity was never innocent.
Dipper clocked in, grabbed his list of patients, and started his rounds. There was Gibbany, a rather young woman that believed she was a video game come to life and had an unhealthy obsession with one of Dipper's friends and the Mystery Shack's handyman Soos; Gideon, a short and chubby man around Dipper's age of twenty-three who nearly destroyed the entire town and insisted Mabel was his soul-mate; among a few other patients Dipper found pretty dull for being crazy people; and, hastily scribbled in with pencil, was Bill Cipher, accredited for being one of, if not the, craziest patients to ever enter the Ward (not like that was much of an accomplishment considering how small the establishment was).
After delivering all other meals and medications (with quite a bit of struggle with some patients), Dipper approached the door of Bill Cipher's cell, said occupant murmuring something Dipper couldn't understand. Despite how dangerous Bill was, Dipper always found himself entering the cell anyway. Maybe because Bill was in a straightjacket so he didn't try carving anymore symbols into his flesh, maybe because the man was so insistent about 'Pine Tree' visiting inside the cell rather than behind the door and not giving up until it happened.
With his entrance, the mumbling cut off and there was a cheerful greeting of 'Pine Tree!' from one of the corners of the padded room. And there he was, the mad man Dipper had become so fascinated with; tan skin, blond hair, and with eyes that burned like blue fire, Bill Cipher was ridiculously good looking. However, his personality was what chased most away and earned Dipper 'Cipher Duty' most days.
“You're late, Pine Tree! I'm starving.” Bill was ridiculously annoying and smug, despite his lack of sanity.
Dipper snorted. “I'm barely late by a few minutes because some of your fellow 'patients' aren't very cooperative. And it isn't my fault you refused last night's dinner.”
“It is your fault because you left early.” Bill had a malicious grin that made the teasing glimmer in his eyes much more alarming.
“I got my hand bitten and had to get a few stitches, I couldn't get to half of my scheduled patients yesterday!” Dipper pointed out the wound to further prove his point, grabbing the food tray designated for Bill.
“And yet you're here, working, instead of letting it heal.” Bill had let his grin shrink into a satisfied smirk.
Dipper sighed, stalking towards Bill. “Right, because if I did stay home to let my hand heal I would have to deal with you complaining much more than you are now.”
“I could whine more if you want!” Bill offered, mischief now taking over his features.
“Oh for the love of God, don't.” Dipper rubbed his forehead. As fascinating as Cipher was during his raving speeches, sometimes listening to him wasn't always worth it.
“God doesn't exist, Pine Tree. God is just something you silly humans created to put your belief into for the things you couldn't explain. So, how does something that doesn't exist love, and why should I worry about it's nonexistent love anyway when I know as many things as I do?” Bill was once again satisfied with himself.
Dipper wasn't about to let that smug look remain, “Alright, Bill, I'm curious. If you know so much, why don't you share that with me? What could you possibly know about me?”
Bill's humor seemed to snap away like a brittle stick that was just stomped on, being replaced by a cold seriousness, “I know more about you than you may think, Pine Tree. Where should I start? Maybe with the first time you came to Gravity Falls? Where your nickname came from? Not that I blame you for choosing to go by that instead, of course, considering how ridiculous your real name is!” And Bill kept talking; stating everything from Dipper's birthmark to his twin Mabel, who earned the nickname Shooting Star, their first visit to Gravity Falls, the mysteries of the town that were uncovered, all the way up to Dipper taking a job at the Psyche Ward.
Dipper was shocked to say the least, hearing the bigger events of his life's history being repeated by a mad man who shouldn't have known hardly any of those things. He gripped the tray in his hands harder, frustration seeping in as he failed to come up with a logical explanation for how Bill knew so much. Dipper rarely spoke about himself to the employees, and the only patient that could tell anyone even some of those things would be Gideon, who would only distort everything, anyway. Not only that, but Bill wasn't even allowed to leave his cell, so how could he possibly even be able to talk to the other patients past the garbled, echoing shouts that often got cut off by a sedative began taking effect.
How crazy could Bill actually be when he proved to have knowledge Dipper couldn't logically explain away?
__
It was a few weeks later, after Dipper's hand had mostly healed (apart from a pale scar), and the incident with Bill, when said patient became exclusively Dipper's responsibility. It wasn't much of a change, really. Dipper almost always got Bill on his schedule, and now it seemed like he was the only worker that Bill would actually tolerate.
Dipper entered Bill's cell, tray of food in hand. The brunet was on guard when the common exclamation of 'Pine Tree' was absent. Bill was silent, laying on his back in the middle of the padded room, not even bothering to open his eyes to look at the door.
“...Bill, what are you doing?” Dipper asked, cautiously approaching the other man.
“Pine Tree,” Bill finally spoke, pausing to squirm into a sitting position. When he had finally succeeded, he stared up at Dipper, the blue fire that made up his eyes crackling with more madness than ever, “why do you keep coming back here?”
Dipper frowned, confusion and anxiety mixing together. “What do you mean, Bill? This is my job, I have to keep coming back until I either quit or get fired.”
He jumped as Bill barked out a harsh laugh.
“That's not what I mean at all, kid! I already know why you chose to work here and why you keep returning! The question is, do you?” Bill had an unnaturally wide grin as he spoke, predatory and unsettling.
“The pay is pretty decent, I get to keep an eye on some of the people I know that are in here, I might be able to help a few…” Dipper trail off, his confusion only grew as Bill continue laughing.
“Still wrong, Pine Tree! Either you don't know yourself that well or you're denying it.” Bill, who had been scooting away since the start of the conversation, reached the wall and used it to help himself stand. He then approached Dipper, who stepped away. “Face it, Pine Tree. You're here because you want to be. You don't want to help the people in here, you enjoy the insanity. Everyone is their own little mystery you can't wait to solve. I'm your favorite, though, aren't I? The biggest perplexity of them all. Just how do I know the many things that I do, when I'm just a psychopath? You aren't here for any of those things you listed, not really. You just want to solve all the enigmas that reside here.”
Dipper swallowed, backing further away from the man before him. As he left, he felt guilt and anxiety gnaw at him. Bill was right, he knew something about Dipper that the brunet didn't even realize about himself. Everyone had their own unique story, their own mystery, to be learned and solved. And Dipper had decided that he wanted to be the one to do that.