Chapter Text
You always said I was a dreamer
But now I know who’s dreaming deep
You took me to the woods to show me something
But I’ll turn my face away
- ”The Woods” Stars
Mabel’s mind was gray, but it wasn’t flat. That was strange. Almost every mind was flat, like Kansas in the winter, or the ocean when you were stuck, just something else to hate about the Mindscape. And really, Mabel’s mind was mostly flat. But in almost every mind, the only color and texture was gray, except for the memories and anyone else who might be visiting.
In the middle of Mabel’s mind there was a giant pink bubble. A second gateway into the mind was normal, but the color was kind of new. Kansas in the winter. Except there was a rainbow.
Bill started to hum “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Vera Lynn could always improve his mood.
Okay, new thing: There was a lock on the bubble. Common (and predictable). One possible reason: yes, normal, just striking. Other possible reason: trap? Third possible reason: she was just an emotional mess. Fourth possible reason: she didn’t like him. Another reason: she was bad at the whole deals and possession thing. Was Mabel Pines really the kind of person to lock herself in? And should there be a lock there when she’d invited him in?
These questions, and more, to be answered shortly!
The lock fell away when Bill touched it. Maybe it was just decoration.
He strolled (floated) on in, then opened his eyes.
“Wait a second.”
Bill looked down at his (Mabel’s) hands, then looked around.
“Kid?”
He closed his (Mabel’s) eyes.
He could hear her shouting now.
WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT W A I T
Kid, he said. KID SOMETHING IS
WRONG, Mabel finished. Wrong WRONG!
HANG ON
WHAT
BUT I’M STILL HERE!
YOU’RE STILL HERE! Bill shouted. WHERE ARE YOU?
LET ME GO Mabel screamed.
YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE
This was bad. This was bad. This was bad.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
This isn’t right, Bill thought. This isn’t-
TOO LOUD! Mabel screamed. Bill squeezed his (her) eyes shut harder and dove back into the bubble.
Mabel was sitting in front of him.
I HAVE TO GET OUT WAIT
STAY, Bill told her.
WAIT
WAIT, he told her.
WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT
Dipper’s phone started to vibrate again. He shot another look at it. One call from Gideon had been one thing. Three calls was another.
Dipper bit his lip. He had what he thought was a very legitimate fear: if he pulled over to talk to Gideon, he’d end up talking to Mabel, and driving back to Gravity Falls. But… maybe not? Maybe she could tell him her plan? Maybe they could share a proper goodbye?
He pulled over, and reached for his phone. But he was too late, and Gideon went to voicemail.
His screen showed three missed calls. But more important, he had a text from Mabel.
Didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to you, Dipshit. Wanted to wish you luck and send you all my love. Don’t worry about me, I’m taking care of things. You might not hear from me for awhile, but I’m okay <3.
He smiled at the screen. Gideon started to call again.
Dipper answered on the second ring. “Gideon?” he asked.
“Dipper!” Gideon said, with so much volume that Dipper had to pull his phone away from his ear. He switched over to speaker and put his phone down
“Hey, man.”
“Did you hear my voicemail?”
“No, but listen, it's all good. Mabel just texted me and-”
“I lied! Mabel was here. She is here.”
“What?” Dipper had been moving to start driving again, but he quickly switched gears back into park. Gideon had lied about having Mabel. He instantly jumped to the worst conclusion: Mabel had been kidnapped. “She is? Why didn't you tell me? Did you-”
“She came over yesterday,” Gideon explained, speaking so fast it was hard to understand him. “She told me I couldn’t tell you she was here and that I was supposed to watch her sleep and not let anyone move her-“
Oh, Dipper thought, biting his lip. Oh.
“But then when she woke up this morning she was acting really strange,” Gideon said. “And she- well- she- she screamed at me and said some very hurtful things then locked herself in my attic to- she said she wanted- poor thing, I think you better get over here.”
Dipper nodded. “I’m on my way.” He shifted gears and turned Lisa around. Once again, his mind jumped to the worst conclusion. “What did Mabel say she wanted to do?”
“Well, she- said she wanted to- summon- a-“
“Summon a demon?”
“... Yes, a demon.”
Dipper calmed down a little bit. That hadn’t been his assumption. He’d kind of gotten worried about Mabel’s mental state for a moment. It hadn’t been good lately, and sometimes her bad thoughts could spiral out of control. Especially when she was sleep deprived.
“Did she say what demon?”
“No, but I- I could guess.”
It sounded like she’d probably tried to summon Tony. He had no idea why. Maybe she’d wanted to fight him, or had gotten tired of waiting? But if Dipper pushed the speed limit, he could probably get there in time to stop her.
“Has she done it yet?”
“Well… I don’t rightfully know. I can ask!”
“Bad idea. Just in case. But if it was a super bad situation, you’d probably know. Is she still upstairs?”
“Yes, I can hear her.”
“Good. I’m heading your way.”
“You’re not leaving town?”
“It was kind of a rushed decision, I'd really rather stay. Alright, I'm about to head into a thick bit of woods here. I'll be there in an hour. Don't let her leave unless shit goes down or something.”
Dipper floored the fucking pedal. He'd been driving for several hours, but made it back to Gravity Falls in one- without obeying the laws of traffic, and driving very unsafely for the weather.
The rain was getting stronger when he finally pulled up to Gideon’s at a quarter till five. The second he parked, the front door opened. Gideon rushed over with an umbrella, and Dipper ducked under it to follow him in.
“Thanks,” he said as the door shut. Gideon snapped the umbrella closed.
“Don't mention it,” he said coolly, as if Dipper’s presence had reminded him that, even if he could help out with Mabel, he still hated him. That was fine. Dipper didn’t like him either.
“So what's going on?” Dipper asked.
Gideon frowned. “I couldn't tell you. She'd gotten the room all ready, but I went in to check on her about twenty minutes back and she'd cleaned it all up. Oh, those are yours.” Gideon gestured to his kitchen table, where several books and folders were stacked neatly. “Some might be hers, too. I just took my stuff back.”
“Why'd you check on her?”
“I could hear her talking.” Gideon crossed into his kitchen. Dipper followed him and sat down. Gideon turned his sink on and started to wash his hands. He washed them twice before snatching a towel off the fridge to dry them. “Can I get you anything?”
“I'm fine, thanks. What was she saying?”
“I don't know. It sounded like she was talking to herself. Her… volume went up just over an hour ago, so I called you.”
“That's what, three thirty, maybe? Three forty five?”
Gideon nodded. “Sure you don't want coffee?”
Dipper hadn't heard a single sound since he entered the house.
“I'm fine. Where is Mabel now?”
“Upstairs, like I said.”
“You didn't say that.”
“Pardon me, I'm a little frazzled.” Gideon opened the fridge. “Can I offer you a snack?”
“No thank you.”
“Mabel, your brother’s here!” Gideon called, glancing up. He pulled out a pudding cup and sat down to eat it on the counter, opening up a drawer to fish for silverware. “I'm a bit of a stress eater.”
“What's there to be stressed about? Mabel's fine, isn't she? Nothing's happened?”
Gideon looked pointedly at his pudding cup, and stuck a spoon of it into his mouth.
“Gideon?”
“Mmph.”
“You're acting really-”
“Fucking fuck!” a voice upstairs screeched.
Bill grabbed his (Mabel’s) hair. This was so bad. This was so bad-
“What do you mean, you don't know?!” Mabel demanded, her voice ringing in his (her?) head. “You're the demon here!”
“This doesn't normally happen! It's-” shake the hand, give a pull, soul pops out! You just slide in! I “don't know what was different!”
“Stop shouting!”
“I'm not shouting!” Bill kicked his empty juice box over. “All the food is gone and I'm starting to panic!”
“You're probably freaking Gideon out! Stop acting so suspicious! Be cool!”
I am “cool!”
“And stop talking out loud!”
“I'm” not!
“You barely got him to leave when he came in earlier,” Mabel told him. “You're not gonna get lucky again-”
“Mabel, your brother’s here!” Gideon shouted from downstairs.
“Shit! Be cool, be cool. Shh. Drink some juice.”
All the juice is gone!
“Then just be cool. We’ll get more later.”
This is so bad, what if I'm stuck, if you die and I'm
“I'm not gonna die!”
Let me think!
“Stop thinking so loud!”
Oh, sorry! I'll just think quieter!
“Bill!”
“Fucking fuck!” Bill screamed, and immediately covered his mouth, then somehow fell over. “Shit, that one got out. Heck. Shit.”
“Okay,” Mabel said, in a reassuring tone. “We just need to calm down! And maybe stand up!”
But I tried that! I ate all the chips! It didn't help!
“No, now we have a reason to calm down. You're gonna calm down, tell Dipper we’re fine, and ask him to buy you a plane ticket to someplace nice. Then you go on vacation and try not to be too expensive.”
I hate this I hate this I hate this
“Calm,” Mabel said. “Think about whatever calms you.”
Ducks stuffed with spiders, Bill thought. Baby ducks filled with thousands of tiny spiders. Spider explosion! Ahh! So many!
“Okay,” Mabel clucked her tongue. “Whatever floats your boat.”
Bill wiped his (Mabel’s?) cheeks off. They’d gotten wet. There were footsteps on the stairs. Bill stood up, and grabbed the chair for support.
Gravity is-
“Annoying, now let go of the chair, you look like you can't walk. Humans with working legs can walk.”
Bill let go of the chair and decided he hated balancing. This was definitely his worst day of the last few years.
“I have sunglasses in my bag.”
Bill grabbed the bag and found them. Pupils! You're brilliant. He put them on. “Okay, we're good. Ungh, your depth perception is so- weird-”
“Just try to breathe evenly.”
“Mabel?” Gideon called from the other side of the door. “Dipper’s here.”
Door’s open!
“No, you have to use your mouth.”
“Door’s open!” Bill answered. Smile? Yes, people smiled at each other. He smiled at Gideon as the door opened. “Hey, ki- Gid. Eon. Hey!”
Gideon looked concerned, but not as put off as he'd been a little while back, when Bill had called him “pal” and “kid” within the same breath.
Dipper was right behind Gideon. “Mabel!”
He dove onto Bill and grabbed him.
Hug hug hug hug hug Bill thought.
“Just follow my lead,” Mabel said. Bill felt her guiding his movements, and wrapped his arms around Dipper.
Oh man. This is awful. Why do people touch each other? This is so awful.
“Remind me to hug you sometime. Now, talk to Dipper.”
I thought you were wait “I thought you were heading out of town?”
Dipper pulled back, and Bill nearly screamed with relief. “I don't know, guess I got turned around. Hey, do you need a ride back to the Shack? Where's the Stanley Mobile?”
“The… Stanley…”
“Don't worry, I’ll give you a ride back in Lisa.”
Bill nodded. He didn't have any idea what Dipper was talking about. Something else he didn't like about this situation.
Dipper grabbed his hand. “I'll meet you in the car, okay? Gideon, I can help you with the food wrappers.”
Bill nodded again. He reached for Mabel’s bag and didn't quite get it, thank you, depth perception, grabbed Mabel’s bag and moved toward the stairs. Leaning heavily on the railing, he made his way to the first floor.
“Get my folders,” Mabel said. “They’re on the table.”
Bill nodded and cut into the kitchen. He opened up Mabel’s backpack and shoved all the papers in, and then made his way outside, through the thick rain, and into the car. He pulled off the sunglasses to look at his (Mabel’s) eyes in the mirror.
“Okay,” he said. “I'm still visually possessing you. We're just having- transmission issues. Normally, you’d kind of- pop up next to me- like a, a little ghostie or something, but, um- where are you?”
“I don’t know, in my normal head?”
“So… we’re both here?”
“I guess.”
“Well, that’s, uh- great! That’s just- totally normal, no need to be worried. You good?”
“No. I'm upset.”
“Well, jeez! It's not my fault! He's coming.” Bill shoved the glasses back on. “Look, we’ll sort this out back at your house. I'll stick to the deal and leave them all alone, you just be quiet and let me do what I do. I'm a master of disguise.”
“But Bill, the Shack-”
Shh!
Dipper dropped into the driver's seat. “You ready to go?”
Bill folded his hands neatly and nodded.
“Cool. We should have leftovers from last night unless Ford ate them. Alright, we're off.”
Dipper stepped on the gas, and Bill pressed himself down in the seat. He wasn't used to fast cars. This was going to be a long ride.