Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

one: the beginning.

the darkness overwhelmed the sleeping blond, eye moving rapidly under his eyelid. distant shapes and familiar figures swirled in his dreams. stars all around him, filling the inky void with soft light but nowhere to shine.

the blond was pulled out of his unconscious state when he heard a knock on his bedroom door. he groaned and picked his phone up from the nightstand, unplugging the charger. the time read; 9:45 AM. he rolled his eye and shouted to the interruption behind the door.

“what do you want?”

the door creaked open and the small silhouette stood in the door way, smiling widely. the kid walked over to the side of his bed and spoke;

“there’s a fair. can we go?” the young boy asked quietly.

bill rolled his eye, scoffing in the process. he lifted the covers off of himself and gestured for the boy to move. after doing so, bill got out of his bed and started to stretch. his joints making uncanny sounds as each one was tugged out of their place. he glanced down at the giddy kid standing beside him, clearly waiting for an answer. and that answer came in the form of a swift, firm ‘no.’

the smile that the boy wore only seconds ago was gone and replaced with a disappointed pout. the kid followed bill as he went downstairs and into their kitchen, grabbing the coffee machine once he arrived.

“bill, come on! only for a few hours!” the kid whined. bill gritted his teeth as he grabbed a mug from the cabinet. he pulled out a mug that said in big, bold font; ‘i’m a-cutey!’ . one of steve’s horrendous presents. speaking of the kid, bill turned and looked down at the boy. steve had his arms at his side, balled into fists. he looked up at bill with a pout that couldn’t be scary even if he tried.

bill let out a chuckle at the display and turned to the machine, putting his mug under and turning it on. he turned back around and leaned on the counter before speaking.

“no. there’s too many people. what’ll happen if we run into the-?” bill was abruptly cut off by the boy.

“-the pines family? you say that every time i ask to go outside! they won’t even recognize you!” the boy shouted, exasperated.

bill squinted at the blond before sighing and pointing at steve.

“only a few hours. that’s it.” he said sternly.

steve lit up and jumped up and down. the boy rushed over and hugged the taller man’s waist. he looked up at the former demon with a wide smile. bill groaned and reached behind him for the coffee that had just finished.

“go get ready.” was all he said before the boy was rushing off upstairs.

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the pines brothers were peacefully having breakfast with their great nephew, dipper. they had been told by him that mabel was ‘too busy’ researching some sort of knitting wool. they shrugged it off and continued without the girl. now, they sit at the breakfast table, plates of eggs and buttered toast in front of the three.

dipper chatted with ford about his recent research and some of dippers own findings as-well. stan occasionally chipped in with a well placed quip, but was otherwise silent while reading the newspaper. until the three had heard a set of footsteps running down the stairs, and mabel had rushed into the kitchen with an excited smile.

“grunkle stan! can we go to the fair!?” she asked vigorously, rushing towards the aforementioned man. he glanced up from his paper and looked at her with a confused face. before shrugging and nodding.

“sure, if ya wanna get scammed outta your money.” the man said.

mabel grinned and hugged him while thanking him. ford had raised his eyebrow at stan’s words, was stan not a scammer as-well? he was about to point out the irony of his twins warning but was stopped by mabel rushing next to him. her brown eyes shimmered with enthusiasm.

“grunkle ford, can you come with us!? it’ll be SO fun!” she said while smiling profusely.

ford groaned internally, he hated fairs. they were too loud, had WAY too many people and they sell you overpriced junk and toys that’ll fall apart in a couple days. but alas, he still smiled at the girl infront of him.

“of course, dearest.”

mabel grinned and tugged on her brothers arm while dragging him to their room. ford presumed that they were going to change. he looked back at stan who had his nose in the paper. he picked his and dippers plate up and washed them off. he gestured to the door way and spoke to his twin.

“i’m going to get ready.”

all he got in response was a grunt and thumbs up. he rolled his eyes before heading down to his lab.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

bill cipher had never been a good man, well..triangle. at least that’s what he thought. i mean, can you blame him? he had been a god of chaos, an all powerful dream demon who had massacred many. he wasn’t a good being, he was an absolute monster.

but these idiotic doctors thought otherwise. they thought they could change him, fix him. they tried everything to get him to change; art therapy, one-on-ones, psychological evaluations just to see what was wrong. but they could never find it. they were disappointed each time he lashed out. every time they were proven wrong, he got thrown into his room. only accompanied by the deafening silence and harsh white walls of his room.

where he was now. he had been staring at his ceiling for what felt like a millennia. only looking away when he heard a noise outside of his room. he adjusted his body, and pushed himself up. he looked at the door and heard the sound of his lock being clicked. he glared at the therapist who entered the room, clipboard in hand and a warm smile on her face.

“the axolotl would like to see you, mr. cipher.”

bill scoffed before hopping out of his bed, utterly humiliated at how small his triangle form was compared to the doctor. had he always been this small? as she lead him out of the room, he could only think about inferior he must of seemed. the great bill cipher, reduced to nothing but a failed therapy case. bills powers had once made him a force to be reckoned with, but now he couldn’t even levitate. he had to look up at most people due to how jarringly short he was without his levitation.

the doctor stopped right infront of a door and bill had done the same thing. she opened the door for him and smiled when he stepped inside. bill hesitantly stepped in the room, only to be met with the large form of the axolotl. they were floating behind a large, also floating, desk. bill looked up at them, nervously. he looked back the doctor who just smiled and nodded to the amphibian before shutting the door.

bill glanced back at the axolotl. he sighed before speaking.

“hey, doc! what’s so important that you gotta talk to me? i’m a very busy triangle, you know!” bill said with faux confidence while looking up at them.

the axolotl hummed and waved their hand. bill was confused before he was suddenly floating, and directly infront of the large creature. he looked in their eyes before it spoke.

“hello, william. i’ve called you here to discuss a solution to your problem.” their voice echoed in the small office. if bill had eyebrows, one of them would’ve been raised.

“a solution? to what? my ‘bad attitude’? doc, i don’t think that’s gonna go away anytime soon! aren’t my meds working?” bill inquired incredulously.

the large being sighed before shaking its head.

“your meds work fine, william. but there are some things medicine cannot heal. the problem is your empathy and sympathy.”

bill squinted his eye at the words falling out of the axolotls mouth. he crossed his arms and retaliated;

“what about them? i think i’m pretty sympathetic! remember when we had that group session and kenndie said they were sad their parents died? i comforted them!”

the axolotl slightly moved their head to the side and shook its head once more.

“william, you told them to ‘get over it’ and that they cried like a baby.” bill rolled his eye and looked away. was that not comforting? he’d say that’s pretty damn nice! plus, they stopped crying. wasn’t that good?

“but, that is not the focus of this conversation. i have decided to release you from this place.” bills eye lit up before the axolotl spoke again “-and send you to gravity falls.” bills eye widened as he looked up at the creature. they weren’t serious, right?

bill started to laugh as he floated aimlessly infront of the creature. he wiped a single tear from his eye as he spoke.

“haha! you got me for a second there, axie! good one!” bill laughed while talking but slowly stopped when he saw that the axolotl didn’t reciprocate. that’s when he really started to panic, but before he could talk that damn creature cut him off.

“it is not a joke, william. this is non-negotiable.” the being stated with too much calmness in its tone. bill stuttered a bit before actually talking.

“there no way in HELL i will EVER go back to that godforsaken town! you can’t make me!” bill screamed up at the axolotl.

“we can, bill. and we are.”

bill looked up at the axolotl with nothing short of horror reflected in his eye. the axolotl began to talk again.

“you’ll be given a human form, a job and a house. do not worry about legal documents, we have already figured that out.”

bill couldn’t even form a single word. these freaks brought him in, basically tested on him and when he didn’t them the results they wanted, they kicked him right back out. it was almost laughable how god damn stupid this all was. bill glanced up when he heard the creatures voice.

“one last thing, you won’t be alone. ”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

bill finally came downstairs after 15 long minutes. bill had decided to keep it casual. he had decided on a pale yellow crop top with a black, sleeveless turtleneck under it. black cargo pants had covered his legs and were held up with a belt that had a triangle buckle on it, the one that steve had gotten him. on his feet were black boots that reached to his ankle. five minutes of fixing his hair had tamed it to its natural curly, jellyfish cut. (something that steve had told him about.)

steve’s face lit up when he saw the older man. the young boy sported a much lighter outfit. he had on a light purple graphic tee with a pale blue sweater under it. he also wore denim shorts with blue sneakers and white ankle socks. bill looked at the young boys face, which was framed with loose strands of light blonde hair, much lighter than his own hair. he made a mental note to give the kid a haircut when he patted steve’s head.

“okay, let’s go to this wreck.” bill said tiredly while grabbing his keys. he turned around and glanced at something on steve’s shoulder, something he hadn’t seen before. it was their rat. the rat that steve had shown him a couple months ago and begged him to keep. he so graciously did and she’s been with them ever since. her light gray fur was soft and she had a white marking that was shaped like a triangle on her left eye. her tail had been ripped off partially, only leaving about a half of it remaining.

bill looked at their pet and then back at steve.

“we are not bringing xiggy with us.” bill sighed out as he held his hand out infront of steve’s shoulder. steve made a noise of disappointment as xiggy climbed into bills hand. bill set her down on the floor gently. he looked down at the boy who now looked a little sad.

“we’ll win her a prize at the fair.” he sighed out as steve smiled up at him. bill made his way to the front door with steve on his tail. he opened the door and shut it when steve came out after him. he started the car and began to drive to the fair grounds with steve blabbering the whole way there.

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stan had abruptly stopped the car when the family had made it to the carnival. mabel and dipper jolted forward in the back seat, the only thing restraining them from hitting the seats infront of them were their seatbelts. ford, who had never let go of his grab handle the entire ride, glared at stan and unbuckled himself. he opened the car door as his brother and the twins stepped out. he looked around the parking lot for a moment before his eyes rested on a large ferris wheel. he squinted, discomfort present on his face.

mabel ran up beside him and grinned up at him. she had grown taller over the years, so there wasn’t as drastic as a height difference but ford still had a couple inches on her. she had decided to both color AND dye her hair a couple days into her stay at the mystery shack. her once long brown curls were now chin length and faded into a bright pink. she had one of her handmade pink sweaters on with overalls covering it, one strap loosely hanging off. the girl sported brightly colored purple and pink leggings with cats and stars on it. she wore some, highly decorated, converse.

the young girl linked arms with ford and pulled him along to the entrance of the fair. he bit his tongue when they finally got there, the overwhelming smell of sweets and butter made him sick. ford sighed and looked towards the wristband booth, walking towards it with mabel. they stopped in-front of the booth and mabel began conversing with the operator.

“four wristbands, please!” the teen said and grabbed her wallet out of her back pocket. she handed the operator the money and in turn, got their wristbands. mabel immediately put hers on and gestured for ford to give her his wrist. he obliged and the teen put the bracelet on him. she turned around, presumably to look for stan and dipper. she found them and walked towards them, waving their wristbands in the air. ford smiled and followed the girl.

‘this will be a long day.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the yellow car stopped in the parking lot. bill put the car in park before reaching into the back seat for his bag. steve looked at the tall ferris wheel in awe, his eyes looked like they held stars. bill got his bag and plopped it in his lap, rummaging around for a bit. he found what he was looking for and pulled out his sunglasses. he turned to steve and spoke.

“you want some? think i’ve got another pair in here somewhere..” bill trailed off as he began rummaging again.

steve shook his head and smiled, pointing to the dark purple glasses on his face. bill mentally face-palmed himself, how the hell did he forget the kid wore glasses? he shook his head and secured his bag closed before opening his door. he stepped out and put his triangular sunglasses over his eyes. (yet another present from the kid.)

bill heard the passenger door slam shut and flinched. he glared at steve who looked at him with an apologetic smile. he sighed and shut his door and locked the car. he began to get pulled along by the young boy who couldn’t contain his excitement. bill smiled for a single second before realizing said smile and frowning again. him and steve got to the booth and paid for their wristbands, bill continued to be dragged into the hellhole. he mentally sighed.

‘this is gonna be a long day.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

bill had soon found out what the axolotl meant when it said ‘not alone.’ and he was NOT happy. it was explained to him that he had to look after some cheap version of him to learn how to be empathetic. how the hell did they expect him to babysit a worse version of himself? he could barely take CARE of himself!

he met his counterpart and was gritting his (non existent) teeth. the kid introduced himself as ‘pyramid steve’. he looked relatively alike to bill, they both were yellow, floating triangles with one eye but that’s where the similarities ended. ‘pyramid steve’ had a bright blue iris and wore a purple bowler hat. while he didn’t have any visible arms, he had legs that were the same color as his eye.

bill hated him. this stupid optimistic, little jerk. he hadn’t even been born all that long ago! the story bill was told is that steve had been ‘misguided’ by someone he trusted and tried to take over the world (copycat) but two kids had stopped him. they took pity on the triangle and sent him to reform himself. that all happened a few days ago, apparently. bill glared at the not even century old triangle and scoffed.

the solution theraprism forced him into involved him to bond with the pyramid before being sent to earth to live out the rest of their lives. bill wanted to scream, and he did a couple times. but he eventually got through the bonding activities after a couple months. he had grown to tolerate the pyramid, he even found him funny sometimes. it wasn’t long after their last bonding session that they were called to meet the axolotl.

the two triangles stepped into the room which looked relatively different since last time. it had been turned white and two figures stood in the middle of the room. the axolotl floated next to them. when it saw bill and steve come in, they smiled and gestured for the two to walk over. bill sighed before walking along with steve clinging to his side. they stopped in front of the two figures and looked at the axolotl.

“hello, william and stephen. i’ve called you two to show you your human forms.” the voice echoed.

bill squinted at the figure in front of him. it had dark, warm skin and dark blonde hair. some parts of its hair seemed to be dyed black; a couple stray curls and the tips of the long hair strands that flowed down its chest. it’s hair was..weird. most of it was cut into a curly bob but out from the bottom of the hair came two thick, long strands on either side of it’s head. it reminded him of a sea creature, though he couldn’t say which one. it also had darker blonde eyebrows and lighter blonde eyelashes.

bill took a look at the figures face and grimaced, not because it was ugly. quite the opposite. but because of the long scar that ran across it’s right eye, the scar came all the way from it’s forehead and split off into three parts that went down his neck; the right side of the face, the middle and the left. there was also a thick part of the scar running across it’s nose. bill could see the same scar running down the figures hands and legs. the eye that wasn’t closed and scarred was a dark, grayish-blue. two black dots were found in its sclera. the persons dark skin was littered with random freckles and moles.

bill rolled his eye at the figure and looked over to the second one. this one was steve’s.

the figure was much shorter than the previous one, the body looked to be around ten years old. it had loose curly blonde hair that reached its chin, brown streaks appeared randomly in the otherwise blonde hair. the dark yellow hair from bills human body had been replaced with a light, pale blonde. it’s skin was also noticeably lighter and more cool toned, but still tan. it’s face was chubby and wore glasses. the figures eyes were two different colors, a dark brown right eye and a light blue left eye. its right eyebrow was light blonde while the other was brown—the eyelashes on their left side were also blonde. on the figures face were light freckles, more concentrated than bills form. the figures arms seemed to be made out of metal prosthetics, bill could see the electronics inside of the gray casing.

bill returned his gaze to the axolotl, and questioned it.

“when will we be dropped off?”

“tomorrow.” the reply came.

bill looked at the figures one more time before him and steve left. he still wasn’t ready.

he didn’t think he ever would be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

steve shot up, breathing heavily. he looked around, he adjusted his glasses. trees surrounded him, the dirt and rocks below him dirtying his clothes. steve hesitantly stood up and looked towards something in the distance; a house. he blinked before being startled by the sound of a branch snapping. he whipped his head in the direction of the sound and was met with the sight of none other than bill cipher.

steve sighed and looked up at the man. bill ignored him and continued to walk towards the boy. steve looked at bills back, he was carrying a backpack on it. when bill got close enough, steve pointed to the bag.

“what’s that?”

bill looked over his shoulder at the accessory and scoffed before looking back at boy.

“it’s the important stuff. legal documents, directions to my, ugh, job and the key to our house.” bill stated while walking forward.

steve walked beside him as they made their way to the house near the edge of the woods. when they got there, they were met with a backyard, a fence surrounding it steve glanced at the house and raced towards the front of it, hopping over the fence with ease. he heard bill yell something to him before the older man also began to run. they got to the front door in seconds and steve panted. it looked like a nice house, it seemed pretty far out from the town, only a couple houses were close. and by close, he meant about a ten minute walk.

he heard bill rummaging around in his bag as he walked towards the front door. bill followed suite and produced a key from the backpack. he slid it into the lock and opened the door. steve spared no time and ran inside, almost knocking bill over. he spun around in place, admiring the house. steve ran into different rooms while bill unpacked their important things. this specific house had two bedrooms diagonally across from each other and bathroom near the end of the hallway. downstairs was even cooler, they had their own living room, with a tv! walking across the living room floor led steve to the kitchen. it had a small dining table and two counters across from each other with a fridge tucked into the corner and a microwave right next to it.

steve sighed after his exploration and went back into the living room where he saw bill sitting on the floor, reading over their documents. steve plopped down next to him and grabbed his faux birth certificate.

‘name: stephen laevus pyramid cipher.

born: march 19th, 2004 at 8:49 AM.

sex: m.’

steve read over the certificate and blinked, how fun! he looked at bill who seemed to be looking at some sort of diploma, a hand on his chin. steve browsed through the documents until he found bills birth certificate and decided to read it.

‘name: william euclid cipher.

born: october 31st, 1984 at 3:00 AM.

sex: f.’

steve read the birth certificate and raised an eyebrow. he turned towards bill who had moved onto looking at his faux bachelors degree. steve questiond the man.

“why does your birth certificate say your sex is female?” the young boy inquired.

bill looked up from the paper and towards steve. he stayed silent for a couple moments, before speaking up.

“they said if i’m in a body with female parts, it’ll make me more ‘maternal’. i guess they want me to keep you safe.” bill answered and shrugged before moving onto another document. steve blinked up at the man and nodded. he looked back down at the birth certificates and organized them before putting them next to bill. the boy got up and made his way upstairs, he wanted to see his room. he got to the closer bedroom near the beginning of the hall and opened the door.

he blinked at the sight. the walls were painted a light blue and bed sat near the back of the room. steve walked farther in and noticed the closet on the right side of him. he made his way towards it and opened it, it wasn’t full with clothes but there were still a couple shirts, pants and jackets. on the floor of the closet were two pairs of shoes. steve shut the door and walked towards his bed. he plopped onto it and looked up at the ceiling, light green stars adorned it. he smiled and closed his eyes.

‘this feels like home.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

stanford pines was not having a good time. they were only about an hour into their fair visit and dipper had thrown up a total of four times. mabel apologized profusely after each time, dragging her twin on all those rides had not been a good idea! stan had talked to a couple game operators about their con tricks. the operators had brushed the old man off gently. ford rolled his eyes when his brother had come back from, yet another, operators booth.

the pines family walked towards their destination, the ferris wheel. mabel had squealed when she saw it and insisted that the family ride together. not wanting to disappoint the girl, the other three agreed. ford looked up at the tall structure and squinted. it didn’t seem all that safe, did it even get checked? he huffed out a breath and got into the back of the line with his family.

the younger pines twins killed time by chatting with each other about different subjects. mabel was the one mostly doing the talking but dipper seemed happy the entire time. the older twins didn’t talk as much. ford was too busy writing in the journal that he brought, against stan’s wishes, and stan was eyeing the other operations. ford was almost finished with his writing when he felt a light smack to his shoulder. he turned his head towards his twin and raised an eyebrow.

stan pointed at a ride in the distance, ford could vaguely make out the outline of a ship. he looked at stan, a slight smile on his face. he nodded at his brother and that caused stan to smile back. ford quickly went back to journaling after the incident, moving slowly with the line. his writing was, yet again, interrupted when he felt something collide with his legs. ford stumbled to the side a little and glanced down.

he saw a young boy with blonde hair holding a pair of glasses. the boy slipped them on and looked up at ford. he widened his eyes and spoke.

“sorry, sir! i was cleaning my glasses.” the boys voice spoke. ford noted the heavy british accent and smiled at the kid.

“it’s quite alright.” ford spoke. just as the boy turned to leave, his niece spoke up.

“hey! my uncle listens to that band!” the teenager said to the blonde. the boy flinched before he turned his head and pointed at his shirt. it was a purple tee that said ‘depeche mode’ on it. mabel nodded her head and the boy turned his body completely. he blinked up at the teen and they began conversing about the band. ford smiled at the display and continued to write in his book while thinking to himself.

‘this doesn’t feel so bad.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

bill looked around the crowded fair, holding two corn dogs. he huffed as he walked on. steve had decided to run off while he was getting food, bill was none the wiser until he turned to give the kid his corn dog. he had been walking for at least ten minutes, and he had started to panic. anxiety clouded his mind as he sped up his walking and looking everywhere. his single eye couldn’t find what he was looking for.

bills calls went unanswered, only gaining glances in his direction from passerby’s. the corn dogs had gone cold by the time he noticed a blond head of hair in the crowd. bill huffed a sigh of relief and began walking forward, only noticing when he got closer that steve wasn’t alone. bills eye went wide as he noticed the familiar face of mabel pines, conversing with steve. the corn dogs in his hand had been dropped and now rested on the floor. bills breathing became labored as he took in the fact that it wasn’t only mabel. it was the whole family; dipper, stanley, sixer.

bills legs moved faster than he could react. they went straight for steve. the boy was still laughing when bill grabbed his arm. bill saw the momentary panic on the boys face before he realized it was him. steve smiled and his mouth moved like he was about to speak but bill tugged his arm before he could. steve’s body was tugged towards bills form and he looked up at the man. bill looked down at him, his eye seemed like it had gotten darker. he wore a frown on his face that steve could see was slightly twitching. steve furrowed his eyebrows, what happened?

steve felt bills grip get tighter and his arm started to creak under the pressure. he tried to pull away but bill held his arm tight. he looked up at the man worriedly, wondering what he had done wrong. then suddenly, bill let his arm go and he recoiled back, like he had been burned. steve rubbed his dented arm and glanced up at bill. his eye was wide, fixated on steve. bill looked at the boys arm and hesitantly held his hand out, steve took it.

he turned around to say goodbye to his new friend, he saw her nervous smile and he shot a thumbs up. she returned the gesture and smiled. steve turned back to bill, eyes curious. bill was looking down at the ground, steve’s eyes slowly moved to where he was looking. on the grass laid two corn dogs. steve frowned as bill led him away from the ferris wheel and towards the exit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ford could only watch as the two blonds walked away. the display was certainly strange. ford had wondered if the boy knew the man, he had half a mind to step in between the two. but then he saw the way the man recoiled his body, not just his arm but his entire body away from the boy. ford saw just a hint of fear, or maybe guilt in the man’s eye for a split second. then he blinked and it went away.

the author watched the pair walk away, soon becoming nothing but a blur in the crowd. ford tried to shake the memory from his mind, just another strange occurrence in this town but something tugged at his mind. the older blonde looked so..familiar? but familiar didn’t seem like the right word, he was sure he had never seen the man before yet he recognized something about him. was it his eye, his hair, his clothes? ford couldn’t tell and bit his cheek as he waited in the line, contemplating in silence.

mabel snapped him out of his swirling thoughts when she tugged on his coat sleeve. ford glanced down at the girl and looked forward, they had reached the front of the line. mabel looked up at him with a worried gaze as she held his sleeve.

“are you okay, grunkle ford?” she asked in a soft voice.

ford smiled at the teen, she was always thinking of others and their feelings. ford patted her on the head and nodded. he cleared his throat, the dryness of his mouth had gone unnoticed whilst he was thinking. ford assured the girl that he was fine and she gave a small smile to him, pulling him and stan along as they entered their cart.

dipper looked out from the cart as they made their way higher and higher. his breath quickly became fast and uneven. mabel had patted him on the back and comforted him.

“chill, bro-bro! just think of puppies and sprinkles the entire ride, that’ll ease your mind!” the girl shouted at her twin. dipper glanced back at the girl and sighed before responding.

“mabel, i don’t think your ‘puppies and sprinkles’ will help right now. is this ride even safe? it looks like this has a hundred loose bolts!” the boy stated worriedly. mabel rolled her eyes and put a hand on her brothers shoulder.

“dip-dop, who cares? we’ll, probably, live! if puppies don’t work than think of your nerd research!” the teen said, flashing a toothy, braceless smile.

before dipper could respond, his grunkle cut in with a remark.

“or that blonde gal you like to talk about.” stan said while pointing at the boy. dippers stance went rigid and his face red at the mention of pacifica. he stuttered out a quick ‘i don’t like her!’ and his grave was already dug.

stan and mabel looked at the teen before smirking at each other and chuckling. ford turned his head toward the teen who was visibly sweating and spoke.

“you know, i could give you, ahem, dating advice.” the older man spoke. the other three whipped their heads around to face ford. it had only been a few seconds before stan burst out laughing. the older man keeled over in the small cart, rocking it. dipper shouted multiple warnings before stan settled his laughter. he wiped a couple tears from his eyes and casually looked over to the man.

“sixer, you couldn’t get a girl even if you tried. remember prom in junior year?” stan mentions the memory. ford cleared his throat, throughly embarrassed. he adjusted his glasses and shot his brother a look.

“if you must know, stanley, i once dated a siren.” ford stated. it wasn’t a complete lie, it just wasn’t the full truth. his siren didn’t live in the water or had a fish-like tail but it still gave him false promises and almost led him to his doom. ford shook his head gently and looked at his brother, about to say something about ‘not asking’ before mabel and dipper cut him off.

“YOU DATED A SIREN?!” they both asked in unison. their expressions were drastic juxtaposition of the reactions to the information. dippers eyes were wide and his mouth open, a mix of terror and confusion present on his face. on the other hand, mabel looked ecstatic. her pupils were blown wide and they sparkled with glee as her smile stretched wide. she vibrated in her seat at the information and began to relentlessly question ford.

“what was its name?”

“how long did you date?”

“was the breakup messy?”

“why’d you break up?”

“how did you meet?”

ford was bombarded with questions about his former relationship and he stuttered out a couple noises as he looked at the young girl. she looked up, expecting an answer. ford groaned internally, he did not want to go down this road but he figure it was his own fault. he sighed before he spoke.

“i will answer one of your questions. one. ” he stated firmly. mabel shrieked in excitement and put a finger to her chin, supposedly thinking. a lightbulb went off in the teens head and she looked up at her great uncle.

“why’d you break up?” she asked. ford looked at her and then dipper, then back at mabel. he sighed and adjusted his, already adjusted, glasses.

“i couldn’t do what he asked of me.”

mabel raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth before promptly shutting it. she remembered fords rule. the girl sat back in her seat and looked out from the top of the ferris wheel, her curls blowing in her face. she looked  across from her, to ford. mabel smiled at the man.

“then i don’t think he was right for you.”

ford smiled and looked out aswell. the sun clear as day shining in the sky. he rested his chin on his propped up hand and admired the scene.

‘this wasn’t so bad.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

in stark contrast to the ride there, steve was silent the whole way back from the fair. so many thoughts raced in his head, why had bill acted like that? why did he look so worried? so..scared? steve had glanced over bill, the older blondes eye was on the road and his knuckles had turned white from how hard he was gripping the steering wheel. steve had noticed when they got in the car that he didn’t hear a ‘click’ from bills seatbelt, he was going to make a mention of it but when he saw bills face he let it go.

the car stopped in their driveway. bill immediately took his keys and got out of the vehicle. steve clumsily followed after the man and stepped into the house with him. bill had already made his way up the stairs and to his bedroom by the time steve closed the door. the boy looked up at the stairs and frowned. he sighed as he walked up the stairs and to his room. right as he was about to open it, he felt something crawling up in body. steve flinched and looked around his body, only to be met with the sight of a rat climbing up his right arm.

steve huffed a sigh of relief and pet the rat when she settled onto his shoulder. the blond turned the doorknob and entered his room. the once empty blue walls now had posters and drawings steve had done. along with the posters were random dvds of obscure movies that steve liked, taped to the walls. empty space in the room was filled with a drawer, a desk and steve’s own personal painting space. steve made his way towards the bed and sunk down into the mattress. he stared up at the stars on his ceiling, now accompanied by small fairy lights that glowed a light yellow.

the boy turned his head to look at the mirror near his closet. while his face wasn’t visible, he could still see his legs dangling off of the bed. apparently the mirror had always been there, steve hadn’t even noticed when he first walked in. bill had one too but it was smashed not long after they arrived. steve recalled the memory of the event.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

it had been a few days since they moved into town and steve had no complaints. the scenery was nice, the house was spacious and the neighbors even brought them cookies! steve laid on his bed and read a human anatomy book bill had gotten him yesterday. he was on the section about the eye and it’s purpose when he heard a loud crash. steve flinched and looked at his bedroom door. he slowly put down his book and listened. only a few moments passed before he heard the sound of something falling. steve hurriedly ripped the blanket off of himself and opened his door. he peered his head into the hallway and his eyes landed on bills door.

steve nervously made his way towards the door and knocked on it. his response came in the form of complete silence. the boy looked around him in the hallway before huffing and slowly opening the door. he glanced around room before he saw a shadowy figure in the moonlight, he glanced at his watch. it was around 9:00 PM. steve walked hesitantly into the room and looked at the figure again, in front of them stood a tall mirror. the reflective surface was now cracked and warped as little shards of it laid on the floor.

“b-bill? are you..okay?” the young blonde had questioned, stepping closer to the figure.

bill shot his head in steve’s direction and glared up at the boy. his eye was wide and his eye-bags prominent. his skinny form was hunched in front of the mirror, tiny shards visible in his hands. steve noticed this and stepped closer. bill stood up at the action and looked down at steve. steve could see the blood dripping down bills hand, under his nails were caked with a glittering crimson red. steve shuddered and looked up at bill with a worried look.

“bill, what..happened?” his voice came out in a wavering, uneven tone. bill glared at the boy and scoffed. he then turned his head towards the mirror, then the floor, to the shards and finally back to steve. bill stepped closer to the boy and steve reflexively took a step back. bill stopped his movements before speaking.

“get out. now.” was all the man said. steve didn’t have to be told twice as he walked towards the door and slammed it closed. when he was finally out of the room, he let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. the boy made his way to his room and shut the door. in the other room, bill looked at his hands, slowly trembling. he felt his eye get damp but couldn’t say why. the blonde looked at the shattered mirror and huffed out a breath. he made his way to his bed and plopped down, making a noise of pain when his hands made contact with the bed. as he closed his eye, he only thought one thing.

‘this body isn’t mine.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the pines family had gotten back a couple hours ago. ford had made his way to the lab as soon as they entered the door. he had left a specimen of a rare moth species alone for the first time and had to make sure it didn’t escape, fortunately the critter was still flying about in its jar. ford huffed out a sigh of relief and continued to his desk to work on his research. it had been around 6:45 PM when he had heard the elevator ding. when he turned his head, out came mabel. she skipped into his lab before he could protest and laid her chin down atop his head. she stretched her arms and wrapped them around his shoulders, giving him a semi-hug.

“grunkle fooord! can we go get candy?” mabel asked, more like whined her question. ford raised an eyebrow and jotted down a one last note before closing his journal, he removed the girls arms and spun his chair around. he squinted his eyes at the teen as he spoke.

“why can’t stanley bring you? also, should you really be having sugar this late?” he gestured to the clock on the wall across the room. mabel turned her head and squinted at the clock before shrugging her shoulders. she turned back to ford and grinned at him.

“i can’t read that type of clock! and grunkle stan said to ask you!” ford sputtered at her words a little, how could she not read an analog clock? she wasn’t 12 anymore, she was 14! didn’t they teach this in kindergarten? ford adjusted his glasses as he peered at the girl. despite not having an answer, her smile was wide…and glitter filled? ford let out a sigh and waved his hand as he turned back to his journal.

“we can leave in fifteen minutes.” ford heard the girl squeal behind him and was subjected to a hug, a quick ‘bye!’ and the sound of feet pattering across the room. ford smiled to himself as he heard the elevator ding open and closed, writing in his journal about his new findings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

steve had slept for, what he thought, was about an hour. he was rudely awakened from a dream when he heard a loud set of knocks on his door. the blonde propped himself up and rubbed his eyes, looking at the door. or what looked like a door, he couldn’t tell without his glasses. as steve reached toward his nightstand, he heard the door open. the figure stepped in just as he slipped on his glasses. the familiar head of yellow hair came into his vision first. bill stood in the doorway with his keys in one hand, other on his hip. he flexed his thumb to behind him and spoke.

“hey, we ran outta hair dye. i’m gonna head to the store. wanna…come?” bill offered. steve smiled from his bed and yawned. bill wasn’t good at expressing his emotions, this was the closest to a ‘sorry’ steve was gonna get and he was fine with that. the boy lifted the covers off of himself and trudged towards bill who ruffled his already messy hair when he reached him. as they walked out, steve had half the mind to check his watch. the display read ‘ 6:45 PM’. he glanced away from the small device and back at bill.

he saw as bill shrugged on a yellow cardigan, buttoning it up before he slipped on some boots. steve took a random jacket off the coat rack and put it over his clothes, the light purple fabric giving him some warmth. he slipped on some blue sneakers with small baseballs on the sides, a gift bill had insisted on getting him for some reason. bill and steve walked out together and got into the car. as bill started the engine, steve rested his head against the window and closed his eyes.

‘he’s not such a bad dad.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ford chased after mabel as she ran out of the car and into the store. the elder man panted as he finally caught up to the teen, her candy senses weren’t wrong and she had wandered to the candy aisle. ford glanced around the aisle, cringing internally as he saw the sugary confections around him. the bright packaging taunted him as he stood beside his great niece. she had a finger on her chin, cheeks puffed out. she was so in focus that she didn’t even respond to ford when he said that he was going to get a basket, she just waved him off.

with ford’s ego slightly smaller, he walked to get a basket by the front of the store. after he had grabbed his item, he glanced around the place and made his way toward the book section. the man browsed a couple of science books before he heard a loud laugh from another aisle. normally, ford would have brushed this off. just another teen causing havoc onto innocent people. but his head looked up from the book he was holding and looked around. that laugh. that damn laugh. that damn laugh haunted his dreams. that laugh played on loop when he was in one of his depressive episodes. ford put down the book and hesitantly walked out of the aisle.

the loudmouth was found a couple aisles away in the hair section. ford held his breath as he was that met with the sight of the familiar blonde from the fair, the same kid next to him. the breath he held was quickly taken away from him when he heard the man speak.

“-and let me tell you, kid, it was not easy getting those rats.” the voice spoke, eliciting a small giggle from the child that hung off the cart. the older blonde was faced towards a shelf filled with dyes, eyeing them quizzically. the young boy had two feet on the bottom end of the cart and would have fallen off if the older man hadn’t gripped the carts handle. the blonde boy rested his head in his palms and spoke.

“don’t you think he was creeped out?” he inquired. the older man shrugged his shoulders and threw his dye selection into the cart and rolled it away, chatting with the young boy on the other end of it. fords mouth hung open as they exited the hair aisle, his eyes were blown wide.

no.

no.

no.

no.

no. it can’t be him. it can’t be. they defeated him. but that laugh, that voice, that..story. fords mind began to anxiously swirl. his breathing became heavy and he felt like he was going to throw up. the only reason he didn’t is because he was snapped out of his panic by a hand on his arm. he glanced down at the person. mabel looked up at him, worried. in her hands she held probably ten different candies. mabel had swiftly deposited them into the green basket and looked back up at her uncle.

“grunkle ford, you look like you’ve seen a ghost. what’s wrong?” it seemed like ford had been asked that question by the girl a lot lately. but it did feel like he saw a ghost, a ghost that should have been dead and buried years ago. his wide eyes softened a little at the teen beside him. he ruffled her hair and reassured her.

“nothing, dearest.” he said. mabel puffed her cheeks out, one eyebrow raised but a word never left her mouth as she grabbed the basket from her grunkle and head towards the checkout counter. ford looked at her walk and glanced back at the, now empty, hair aisle. he sighed and followed the girl.

‘nothing at all.’

Chapter Text

two: fords master (disaster) plan.

“this stuff burns!” the young blonde complained as he sat in a chair. the bathroom walls surrounded him as he sat in front of the mirror. he mindlessly scrolled through different ‘true crime’ podcasts on bills phone. speaking of the man, bill tilted his head rather roughly and scoffed.

“no, it doesn’t. you’re being a baby.” he delivered, reaching over to the counter to collect more dye on his applicator. steve scrunched his nose at the strong smell wading through the small room. he looked up at the mirror, seeing himself and bill in the reflection. bill was working on re-dying steve’s highlights, the blonde in his hair slowly being covered by the lighter, almost white, blonde. bill was in a much more laid back outfit; an off the shoulder shirt that had a picture of an eye on it with the words ‘see you’ under it. bill thought it was funny and got it on one of their mall trips. along with the shirt, bill had on black sweatpants and yellow socks. his fluffy, curly hair had been put into a bun, still waiting for the dye to set in.

steve’s outfit was also more casual; he wore a simple pajama set with a collared button up top and drawstring pants. his set was a light blue color with dark blue stars patterned across it. steve swung his feet back and forth while bill maneuvered his head. he heard the man let out a quiet ‘tsk’ above him.

“turn your head.” the man said and steve looked up from bills phone to the mirror. bill eye met his and he squinted at the boy. steve let out a huff and turned his head to the right. bill murmured out a quiet ‘thanks’ and went back to applying product. steve looked back down at the phone and continued to look for a podcast when the phone suddenly vibrated in his hand. he noticed the text message that came up at the top of the screen.

‘ Is this Bill Cipher? ’ was all it asked. steve quirked an eyebrow at the message and turned his head to look at bill. the older man hissed and scolded him quietly but soon stopped as he was handed his phone. the triangle charm dangling as he looked at the message. bill replied with a short ‘yes, why?’ and put the phone back down.

the phone vibrated a couple more times but bill couldn’t hear it over the talking, or the podcast steve had picked. the night ended with freshly highlighted and washed hair on both of their heads. bill shut his lamp off and put his phone on the charger, closing his eyes as one last text message was sent for the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

mabel had noticed that her grunkle had gone quiet. quieter than he usually was, at least. she noticed it in the store, she noticed it when they were in line and she especially noticed it in the car. the girl made attempts to start a conversation but was met with a short reply no matter how hard she tried. the teen watched ford rush behind the vending machine as soon as they got home, the loud ‘clank’ indicating he had shut it.

mabel sighed as she put the bag of candy on the kitchen counter. something was up with her grunkle, and she was gonna find out what it was. she was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the fridge door open. mabel turned her head only to be met with a figure of melody. the girl smiled at the woman and began walking over to her.

“hey, mel! did you guys just get back?” melody looked over at the girl and smiled, stretching her arms out. mabel laughed and hugged the woman who smiled at her.

“mabes, it’s so good to see you! we did just get back, sweetpea.” melody answered her while letting the teen go. mabel nodded and turned back towards her bag of candy. she began to take the candy out as melody took out a bottle of water. she pointed to the bag on the counter.

“that’s a lot of candy, mabel.” the woman stated. mabel grinned at her and unpacked the last candy bag. she then threw the plastic bag away and turned to melody. mabel threw up two finger guns at the woman.

“you know it! it’s mabel juices special ingredient…besides plastic dinosaurs.” the woman snorted and patted mabel’s head as she began to walk to the door. mabel watched the woman reach the doorway before shouting.

“i need help to plan an intervention!”

melody turned towards the teen and cocked her head to the side, a questioning look on her face.

“for who?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ford had borrowed his brothers computer a few nights prior to work on research. his fingers typed quickly as they looked up any information about a human in gravity falls name bill cipher. he found his answer when a number and address popped up. ford squinted his eyes at the bright screen, adjusting his glasses to read it.

‘you're in danger!

don’t worry! just call bill today!

text (xxx)-xxx-xxxx OR come visit my office located at 666 misterie road, gravity falls!’

ford scoffed at the ad before pulling out his phone. mabel had forced him and stan to get one so she could keep in touch with them when they were at sea. the man pressed each digit that the ad told him to. he sent a rather direct message, asking if the number was truly bill cipher.

not long after it was sent, ford got a text back. he checked his phone and a simple ‘yes, why?’ had been texted to him. he rolled his eyes before spinning a lie about how he had a case for him and asked if he was available to meet on monday. ford waited for a couple minutes, then a couple more and eventually it had been an hour and half, yet he still didn’t get a response.

ford grumbled and set his phone down on the desk, putting his head in his hands. he was just about to turn in for the night when he heard the elevator ding. ford spun his chair around and was greeted with the sight of the younger twins. he smiled at them, tiredly. mabel was the first to walk out, dipper had followed behind her hesitantly. the boy was visibly sweating, his cheeks red and his stance stiff. mabel made her way to ford and stood in front of him, crossing her arms.

“hi, grunkle ford! grunkle stan needs you upstairs!” she smiled at him as she spoke. ford raised an eyebrow, looking at the girl suspiciously. he cleared his throat before speaking.

“what for?” he inquired and the girl shrugged her shoulder, promptly turning away and making her way towards the elevator. ford furrowed his eyebrows and then looked at dipper, who seemed to shrink at his gaze. ford let out a sigh before standing up and walking to the elevator, dipper right behind him. mabel held the door open for them, which ford found unnecessary since he had safety measures in place so the door couldn’t close when something blocked it. the two walked in and the elevator doors closed as it began to move up.

the elevator dinged and the doors were slid open. mabel ushered ford into the living room where he saw six chairs, three that were taken by stan, melody and soos. ford glanced at mabel, an eyebrow raised and a question on his tongue. that question was shoved back down his throat when mabel suddenly pushed him into one of the chairs next to stan. her and dipper took their seats as well. ford tensed up when stan began to speak.

“okay, look. the kids wanted ya’ to talk. talk about what’s been getting your nerd brain all worked up today.” he stated. ford looked around the room, so this was a group therapy session? except he was the only one expressing his feelings and the others were only there to comfort him. ford cringed internally.

there was a lot of explaining to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

bills eye slowly blinked open as the rays of sunlight shone on his skin. he hissed out a breath and turned over. just as he was about to finally fall back asleep, his door burst open. bill shot up and looked at the source of noise. none other than his faux-son, the blonde boy smiling at him. bill groaned and lifted the covers back onto himself, why now?

bill heard as steve made his way to the side of his bed and stopped. bill cracked his eye open and looked up at the boy. steve gave him a gap-toothed smile not unlike bills own smile and spoke.

“i’m hungry.” was all the boy said. bill groaned and lifted himself up, looking at the blonde. he lifted the covers off of himself and sat at the end of his bed, the young boy right in front of him. bill quirked an eyebrow.

“then eat.” the man said as he got up from the bed. the older blonde pulled his phone off of the charger and slipped it into his pocket. bill heard the footsteps behind him as he made his way out of the room and down the stairs. as he reached the kitchen to make some coffee, he heard the boy speak.

“but i want a sandwich.”

bill looked at the boy, dumbfounded. he looked over towards the bread box on the counter, the boy could definitely reach it. and they kept the jelly and peanut butter in their fridge. there was nothing stopping the boy from making one. as bill grabbed his mug and put it under the machine, he answered.

“then make a sandwich, idiot.” the older man heard the huff behind him. he turned around and saw the way steve crossed his arms, his eyebrows furrowed. the boy looked up at bill and suddenly gestured his metal arms wildly.

“but i like the way you make it!” the boy whined. bill scoffed and rolled his eye. he heard the ‘ding’ from the machine and grabbed his mug. he walked over to the small table and set it down, turning to the boy after doing so.

“if i make you one will you stop whining?” steve nodded his head quickly. bill pinched the bridge of his nose as he went to grab a paper plate from the cabinet. steve settled in a chair at the table as he watched bill make his sandwich. the boy suddenly heard a couple chirps and looked at the source of the sound. he smiled when he saw xiggy on the dining table, looking up at him. steve smiled and pet her head with his finger.

a plate soon got tossed in front of him. steve looked at the crustless sandwich and then at bill who had migrated to chair across from the boy. the older blonde picked up his cup of coffee and took his phone out of his pocket. bill glanced at the text messages on his lock screen and groaned. steve raised an eyebrow, taking a bite out of his sandwich. with his mouth full, he spoke.

“what’s wrong?” bill looked at the boy and set his phone down. he took one last sip of his coffee before addressing the boy.

“some douchebag wants to talk about a case tomorrow.” steve was going to ask what the big deal was before bill spoke again. “at seven in the morning.”

steve now understood why bill wasn’t the happiest camper. his job usually started at eight in the morning. bill would have to get up at least an hour and thirty minutes earlier than he usually did. steve frowned at the information, he wasn’t sad but he knew bill had a hard time getting up as it was.

steve swallowed his sandwich and nodded at the information, he didn’t know what to say to make bill feel better. the boy saw bill text the person a reply and set his phone down. bill told steve it was apparently a ‘missing persons’ case. if steve didn’t feel bad for the man, he would’ve laughed at the fact that bill had to get up extra early AND the fact that bill hated missing persons cases.

steve remembers how bill told him about his job as a private detective, certainly not the worst job to be set up with but also not the best. the man had told steve about a couple cases, bills favorite being one about a cheating husband. bills office was about a five minute drive away, which bill wasn’t too keen about. steve assured him that it could be worse but the man just shrugged him off.

the older blonde shared his office building with a couple police officers, private investigators and, strangely, a reporter. bill couldn’t care less about his coworkers, never making an effort to talk to them outside of professional conversations—except for a select three.

steve looked at the man, who was now petting xiggy as he stared at something on his phone. the young boy finished his sandwich and put the plate in the trash, making his way to their living room. as he turned on the tv, he heard the sink turn on and dishes being clinked. steve thought hard as he looked at the cartoon on screen.

‘i’ll bring him lunch tomorrow.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the mystery’s shacks residents reaction to bills supposed life in gravity falls had everybody shaken. the younger twins both looked mortified, mabel fiddling with the hem of her sweater and dipper chewed on a pen he had in his pocket. stan’s reaction was yelling about how he was gonna ‘kill that little yellow jerk’. and multiple expletives made family friendly. melody and soos’ reactions weren’t as drastic as his stans but they both shared worried glances, distress present on their face.

after ford had calmed down his brother, he explained the step-by-step plan that he had created. the man was going to meet up with the former demon at his office, sedate him and bring him back to the shack. stan asked the question of what he planned to do when bill had entered the shack. ford truly couldn’t answer that question; the obvious answer was to kill him, no? but ford didn’t know if that’s what he truly wanted.

the demon deserved worse than just getting his brains splattered against the wall. he deserved to be hurt, the way he had hurt ford for over 30 years. and then some. ford looked at his brother and cleared his throat.

“we’ll decide that when he’s here.”

stan let out a grunt, clearly happy to just let the triangle die. ford looked at the younger twins and saw that mabel was now busy fiddling with her hair, stretching each curl and watching it bounce back up. the girl looked at ford from across the room, a worried expression on her face.

“what about the kid?” was all she asked. ford furrowed his eyebrows, he had given some thought to the young boy but he hadn’t thought about what he would when he realized bill was missing. the man just assumed bill had manipulated and brain-washed the kid like he had with mabel. one of his adoring worshippers, something that he once was. ford locked eyes with the worried girl and sighed.

“it’s likely that he has been manipulated by cipher. we’ll ask bill about the boy when he comes here.” ford explained. mabel looked away and nodded. a sad expression plagued her face and ford cringed internally, knowing he was the one responsible. he addressed the residents as he spoke.

“stanley, you’ll come with me. just in case cipher is stronger than he looks.” stan snorted at the comment and nodded his head. ford arranged for the younger twins to stay at the shack with melody and soos, responsible for getting rope and a chair ready for bill. after the plan was set, everyone headed to bed. ford made his way down the stairs and into his makeshift bedroom. as he set his glasses on the nightstand and clicked the lamp off, he could only think one thing.

‘what if he hurts them?’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

bill had gotten up at 6:15. he took a shower, brushed his teeth, did his hair, put on his mascara and eyeliner and got dressed. bill had just taken his keys and opened the door when he heard steve call out to him. bill turned his head and saw the boy at the top of the stairs, hair and pajamas still disheveled. it was obvious the boy had just woken up.

“are you going to work?”

bill nodded his head and put his keys in his pocket. the boy made his way down the stairs and walked towards bill. the younger blond hugged the man and wished him well, bill smiled for a second and patted the boys head. steve let him go and waved at him as he left.

bill started the car and began to reverse out of the driveway. he turned on the radio and it blared out ‘somebody to love’. bill sung along until he reached his office. he took the keys out of the ignition. bill sat back in his seat, he was a little early. his eye made its way to the rear view mirror. he smiled at the little rat charm hanging off of it, cheese in its mouth. steve had gotten it for him a week after they found xiggy.

the kid had gotten him a number of presents, one of which was present in his office. bill made his way up the flight of stairs and to his space. he unlocked the door and opened it, shutting it when he was inside. the man set down his leather bag next to his desk as he plopped down in the spinning chair. he glanced down at the digital clock on his desk; it read 6:55 AM. bill huffed out a sigh as he looked at the other side of his desk. a frame held a picture that steve had begged him to take. it showed the two looking at the camera; steve’s smile reaching the corners of his eyes, while xiggy was on his shoulder. the older blonde stood next to him and squinted at the camera, eyebrows furrowed, a frown on his face.

they had taken it at the mall. steve had the same picture on his desk. bill blinked and sighed before turning his chair around. his office had a big, oval shaped window that overlooked the part of town his office was in. it had a small nook directly under it. on the walls were conspiracy theory posters, ranging from the illuminati to aliens. bookshelves stood on either side of his office, on the same wall as the window. most of the books were about ethics, how to be a private detective and multiple popular cases.

bill shot his head around as he heard two pairs of footsteps coming down the hall. he turned his chair back around and straightened himself up. his hands had been intertwined and placed on the desk. when he heard the door open, he closed his eye and cocked his head to the side; a forced smile on his face. bill opened his eye, a greeting on his tongue but paused when he saw the two individuals. his eye widened as he saw their faces.

stanley and stanford pines.

before bill even had time to react, ford pulled out some sort of gun and aimed it at bill. the blonde had about a second to react as it was fired at him. his body sprang out of the chair and ducked behind the desk. he watched as the tranquilizer dart hit his window, a big crack forming. bill shot up from the ground and watched as ford reloaded another dart into the gun.

the blonde looked around his desk for a moment before picking up the clock and throwing it at the man. ford grunted as the gun was knocked out of his hands, glaring at bill as he pulled out a syringe from his coat. bill watched as ford gestured to his brother, stan nodding his head and walking towards bill. the blonde walked back as stan walked to him. using the only thing available, bill grabbed his chair and hit stan over the head. stan’s body knocked into the bookcase, knocking some of them onto the ground.

bill heard ford call out his brothers name, racing towards stan. after making sure the man was okay, ford turned his head towards bill. a couple tense moments passed before bill made the first move, running from behind his desk and to his office door. he heard fords footsteps as he desperately turned the doorknob. just as bill heard the door click open, he felt a hand pull on the back of hoodie.

his body was tossed to the floor, bill shot open his eye as he felt someone get on top of him. fords face peered down at him as he pinned his body down. the older man grabbed bills arm and lifted up his sleeve. bill kicked and screamed, scratching the man’s arm until it bled but to no avail. different variations of the word ‘no’ left his mouth as he felt the syringe go into his arm. it was taken out after a few seconds and bill pushed ford off of him. he scrambled to get off of the floor and glared at the twins.

ford held his hands behind his back as he watched the blonde, stan by his side. bills breath, uneven and heavy, hitched as his single eye widened. his eye looked down at his hands and then back the twins. bill pointed a finger at them, his body swaying.

“what the..what the hell did..?” he didn’t get to finished his sentence before his body fell to the ground, eye closing a few seconds after. ford sighed and began to walk towards the blonde before he heard the office door open. the man and his twin shot their heads to the door. a young boy stood in the doorway, his eyes wide. they soon landed on bill’s unconscious body and then they looked at the men.

then the boy ran.

Chapter Text

steve grabbed the paper bag from the counter and walked across the living room towards the front door. setting the bag on the floor, the boy tied his shoe and grabbed the spare key. he turned around and looked at the rat on the floor. the blonde kneeled down and put his hand out, the rat settling into it. steve smiled and set the rat in his coat pocket, xiggy giving a small chirp in reply.

steve grabbed the paper bag and made his way out of the house. he admired the neighborhood as he walked to bills office. the woods that surrounded the small town were always a comforting sight. the boy had played in the woods a handful of time while bill was at work. he didn’t have much to do besides homework that bill had given him for the summer.

bill had the choice between enrolling steve at the public school in the town or homeschooling the boy. the man chose the latter for a reason that steve still isn’t sure of. the homework he received had been a breeze, turning it all in after a few days. to bills surprise, every single paper was a perfect score. that’s the day that bill decided to move steve up to high school work.

steve smiled as he reached the building. he saw bills car parked outside, along with another older looking car. he stared at the car a moment longer before opening the buildings entrance door. steve looked around the office before he heard a squeak below him. he looked down at xiggy and saw as her nose pointed to the stairs near the back of the space. the boy thanked the rodent and began to walk up the stairs. just as he got to the hallway, he heard a slight commotion coming from the end of the hall.

steve walked towards the door located at the end. the door read ‘ bill cipher; private detective .’ as he stopped in front of it, he heard bills muffled voice. and then heard heard something fall. the boy stayed still for a few moments then put his hand on the doorknob. he twisted it and door opened to reveal the scene in front of him.

the rooms usually neat appearance had been flipped upside down. the window behind bills desk had a large crack in it, the source seemed to be some sort of dart. the bookcase to the right side of the room had most of its books on the ground in front of it. a chair laid not too far away from the bookcase. steve drew his eyes to the body laying on the ground; it was bill. his eyes went wide as he noticed the blood next to him. the boys eyes shot to the two figures in the room. they looked similar, around sixty. steve saw the way that both their eyes widened when they saw him. the blondes mind was screaming at him to run.

so then he ran.

the boy bolted, rushing towards the staircase. the paper bag he had been holding was tossed to the side. he heard a couple shouts, then footsteps behind him. steve looked behind him, horrified at the fact that both men were chasing him. the terror he felt only intensified when he noticed one of them was holding, what looked like, a gun. the boy was too busy watching the man reload the gun that he hadn’t noticed the stairs right in front of him. steve’s body tumbled down the stairs, his head hitting the hard floor at the bottom. before his vision went black, the last he saw were the two men looking down at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

bills eye blinked. then it blinked again. and again until it finally pried itself open. the blonde groaned as he felt his head pounding. he looked at his surroundings and found that he was in a dingy room. it was almost empty besides a desk, an air mattress and the chair he was currently tied to. bill growled under his breath, quickly noticing the tightly wound rope that was wrapped around his wrists. he flexed his fists but that just made the bindings tighter. his legs were also tied to the wooden chair. bill thought of an idea, not thinking about it logically before throwing himself on the ground.

much to his dismay, the chair was still intact. his head had made contact with the floor, his previous headache intensifying. bill wiggled his body around on the floor for a couple minutes before he heard a pair of footsteps outside the door. due to his little stunt, bill had his back turned to the door. he tried to crane his neck back to look at it but that resulted in a wave of pain being sent to his head. all he could do was look at the wall as he heard the door open.

bill held his breath as the footsteps made their way towards him and then stopped. a few agonizing seconds past before the chair, and him, were lifted up. the chair stood upright once again and bill opened the eye he didn’t know he had closed. he looked up at his abductor; none other stanford goddamn pines. bill gritted his teeth and shouted multiple swears at the man before ford rolled his eyes and pulled out a briefcase.

any quip that bill had died on his tongue as ford pulled out a knife. ford looked into bills eye as he got up and came towards the blonde. if wasn’t freaking out before, he sure was now. his body recoiled in the chair, not doing much to help him move. bill babbled out a couple half-hearted threats as ford stopped in front of him. the words quickly were replaced by screams as ford plunged the knife into his thigh.

the scream that ripped through his throat filled the small room. bill began hyperventilating, looking down at where the knife pierced his skin. the searing pain was unlike anything he felt before, the blood flowing out of the wound. his muscles felt like they were on fire, his eye watered up. bill blinked as a couple tears rolled down his cheek. his once blue jeans had been stained in a glittering red, little specks of silver lay in the crimson. bills mind ran in circles as he wore his throat out. only being able to whine and flinch as the knife sliced deeper.

“why are you here, cipher?” ford had asked. the blonde looked at him with watery eyes and growled under his breath.

“not for you, that’s for sure.” was all the blonde said. ford was about to question him when he felt something wet hit his cheek. he wiped it off with his sweater sleeve and looked back at the blonde. bill grinned wide, a small trail of saliva falling from the corner of his mouth. ford furrowed his eyes at the man and twisted the knife in his leg. bills screams, once again, filled the room, his worn out out voice very noticeable. after a couple minutes the man calmed down, now only making small whimpers and protests when ford moved the knife.

“i’m not kidding, bill. tell me.”

“‘m not either, fordsie. i’m not here for you..or your stupid family.” bill replied, squinting his eyes at the man crouched in front of him. ford didnt seem to like that answer and dragged the blade down towards bills knee. the blonde couldn’t even scream this time, his eye wide as he let out little pleas. ford stopped the blade at bills knee joint and twisted it, effectively shutting the man up.

ford heard the blondes shaky breaths as he turned around, grabbed the briefcase and set it on the desk. he surveyed the materials before pulling a bottle of rubbing alcohol. ford turned his head towards bill who was glaring at him. ford closed the briefcase and turned around, relishing in the way bills eye widened at the bottle in his hand. more pleas filled the space as ford made his way towards the man. he uncapped the bottle as he reached the blonde.

‘thank tesla this room is soundproof.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

steve shot up, his head pounded. his eyes glanced around the room as he adjusted his glasses. his hand dug into the mattress as he looked around the bedroom. a small chirp came from somewhere near him. his eyes widened as he pulled the covers off of himself, looking around for the source of the noise. the boy quickly found the rat, sitting on the nightstand. steve put his hand out in front of her and she climbed on. he brought his hand to his shoulder, smiling as xiggy climbed onto it.

the boy made his way to the door and turned the handle. he huffed out a breath when it opened, peering his head out. the small hallway was empty, the blonde took a step out. he immediately headed for the staircase at the end of the hall. as he walked down, he heard the sound of a couple different voices. the boy made his way down another hallway, peeking into a doorway where he saw a group of people.

“when is he gonna wake up?” a familiar voice asked. steve drew his eyes towards the girl, the one from the fair. he furrowed his brows as he heard another voice speak up.

“dunno. the kid hit his head pretty hard.” said an older man. steve’s breath hitched when he realized it was one of the men that was in bills office. steve glanced around the room. he noticed a young teen boy who was visibly sweating. two adults stood near the tv, one of them was a lady with light brown hair and had her arms crossed. the other was a larger man who wore a green shirt with a question mark on it. steve double checked every inch of the room without actually stepping into the room but each time yield the same result; the other man from bills office wasn’t present.

just then, steve heard someone clear their throat behind him. he shot his head behind him. the blondes eyes widened as he saw who he had been looking for. steve let out a short gasp and stumbled backwards into the living room. his breath quickened as the group turned to notice him. steve’s eyes went between the group of people and the older man. his legs chose the man as he ran to the doorway, trying to push the man away. the older man grabbed his arm and held him in place.

steve’s eyes began to tear up, scanning the man’s face. the boy brought his gaze to the clothes in the man’s other hand. the blonde stopped breathing when he noticed the yellow hoodie amongst the clothes. the one he had gotten bill a couple months ago, the once pale yellow color now had little dots of glittery crimson on it. that’s when the tears fell; when he put everything together. that’s when the screams started, the flailing, the kicking.

the shouts from multiple people as his breath got quicker and quicker, taking in so much air but never exhaling. the boy hiccuped as he scratched the man anywhere he could. steve heard as the man shouted an order to someone in the commotion. the blonde kicked the man in the stomach and that’s what made him let go. steve rushed down the hallway, never looking back as he heard the man chase after him. his vision was blurry as he navigated around the house, tears spilling from his eyes.

steve was quickly knocked on the ground when he ran into something, or someone. he lifted his head up and was met with the sight of the girl from the fair. her face looked guilty as she held a tranquilizer gun infront of her. steve’s eyes widened as she pulled the trigger, lodged the dart into his chest. he felt a few more tears fall as his head hit the ground. the last thing he heard was the girls hushed voice.

“i’m sorry.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

bill awoke with a gasp. his eye looking wildly around the room. he was laying on a mattress in the corner, on the floor no less. he tried bringing his hand to his head but was stopped with a metal clinking sound. the blonde turned his head towards the noise. he groaned as he saw that his hand had been handcuffed to a pipe on the wall. bill looked down at his thigh, and noticed he wasn’t wearing the clothing that he put on.

the yellow zip-up hoodie, white button up and denim jeans had been replaced with a baggy t-shirt and shorts that were too big. he cringed at the fact that ford had undressed him. the thought was shoved from his mind as he saw his thigh. it was neatly bandaged, the pristine white now stained a glittering red color. bill moved his leg to see what would happen, and what happened was a burning pain shooting through it. bill hissed and stilled his movements.

the blonde glanced around the room, seeing the chair that he once was tied to was now sitting in a lone corner. bill stood up on his left leg, making sure not to move his right one too much. the pipe allowed for his handcuffs to be slid up, bill looked at the metal pipe beside him. he tugged his arm as hard as he could, but alas the cuffs didn’t budge. bill huffed out a breath, looking around the room for anything helpful.

his eye landed on a discarded knife. bills stomach did flips when he saw the dried blood on it. he cringed as he knelt down onto the floor. the pain in his leg made him even more eager to get this over with. he stretched his arm out and reached for the knife. bill grinned as he felt the handle in his hand. he brought knife back towards him and stood up. his hands sweat as he brought the tip of the blade to the tiny keyhole.

bill fiddled with the blade as it entered the hole. he scrunched his face in frustration when the lock hadn’t budged. his escape plan was soon interrupted by the sound of footsteps outside of the door. bills eye went wide as his movements became more frantic as the steps became louder and louder. that would be his undoing; after a particularly hard movement, the knifes blade slipped and pierced his wrist.

the blondes eye shut as the familiar searing pain overwhelmed him. he quickly grabbed the knife and flung it across the room, hearing it clatter as it hit the ground. just as he was calming down, bill jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice behind him.

“that’s what happens when you play with knives, cipher.” bill rolled his eye and turned his head towards ford. the older man had his hands behind his back, a frown evident on his face. bill scoffed at the man before turning his head back towards the pipe. the blonde saw the blood leaking from the cut in his wrist. he cringed as he licked his thumb and rubbed the wound.

the man hissed as his finger came in contact with the cut. he wiped the fresh blood on his shirt and turned his body around. ford now had his hands in front of him, a bottle of water in one and a sandwich in the other. bill looked up at the man, only now noticing their height difference. bill had his height checked when he brought steve to the emergency room one night. the kids right eye had started bleeding profusely and had to get rushed to the hospital.

bill remembers how the doctor look perplexed, no medical history for either of them. after bandaging the kids eye and giving him a prescription to pain medication, the doctor did the usual checkup for both of them. bill grimaced when his height was found to only be 5’3. steve’s height was around 3’5. after getting their weight measured and blood tested, the pair finally went home. steve assured him on the ride back that it could’ve been worse. bill only grunted in response as he pulled into their driveway.

now that he was truly faced with someone that didn’t have the growing body of a ten year old, bill shrunk under the man’s gaze. ford raised an eyebrow before stepping closer to the man, the blonde stepping back in response. the older man huffed out a breath before placing the items in his hand on the ground.

“what did you do to the child, cipher?” bill squinted at the man, his eyebrows furrowed. what the hell did steve have to do with this? the blonde scoffed and sat back on the mattress, picking up the sandwich as he spoke.

“the kid doesn’t matter. he’s not here right now, anyway.” just as bill was about to take a bite of the food, he saw fords gaze shift to an empty corner in the room. bill immediatly threw the sandwich back on the plate and shot up. he glared at the taller man, pointing a finger at him.

“stanford, if i ask you if the kid is here and your answer is anything other than ‘no’, i will raise hell on this household.” ford rolled his eyes, crossing his arm. he raised an eyebrow at the blonde before speaking.

“you and what army, cipher? you can’t do anything while chained up.” bill growled under his breath as stanford replied. an idea popped into the blondes head as he looked up at the man. he gestured to his bandaged leg and gestured for the man to come over. ford looked at him skeptically but eventually walked closer to the blonde. as soon as the man stopped in front of bill, leaning over him is when bill put his idea into motion.

in one quick move, bill had punched the older man across the face. bill giggled as the man stumbled back, clutching his nose. ford glared at the man as he drew his hand away from his face, blood running from his nose. bill smiled even wider when he saw the blood. after laughing for a couple more seconds, he raised his head to ford.

“how’s that for being chained up, brainiac?” bill snorted out, eye shut as he had another laughing fit. when he opened them, he saw ford standing directly in front of him. he giggled as he came up with another comment. the only thing that came out was a scream as ford dug his fingers into bills bandaged wound.

bill choked on his own words and started coughing. the blonde desperately grabbed onto fords wrist, pleas leaving his lips. fords only response was to dig deeper. bill began to hyperventilate, tears falling from his eye. the blonde gave a sigh of relief as fords fingers twisted one last time and finally exited the wound. that relief was short lived as the blonde watched ford walk to that briefcase on the desk. his heart rate beat faster each second ford stood, looking into the case.

bills single eye shot wider, wider than it ever had as he saw ford pull out a blowtorch. the man made his way towards bill, the blonde flinching and shutting his eye. after a few moments of nothing happening, bill opened it back up. ford was crouching down near the ground a few feet away from him. all the fear came back into the blondes body when saw ford pick up the discarded knife. as ford walked closer to him, he turned on the blowtorch and heated the blade up. bill pulled his body as far his could away from the man but to no avail.

ford stood in front of the man, a red hot blade in one hand and bills arm in the other. bills screams filled the small room as ford pressed the blade down into his wounded leg. all the searing pain from before came back tenfold as the blonde felt the tissue in his leg slowly being burned away. he shouted pleas, promises to never come near the family again, a couple threats here and there but ford didnt budge. if anything, he pressed the burning blade deeper into bills wound. the last thought the blonde had before his vision blacked out had been a hopeful one;

‘please let the kid be okay.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the door to the bedroom opened, startling the young boy awake. he rubbed his eyes as he stared at the doorway. the brunette girl from the fair stood, smiling. in her hands was a bowl and a juice box. steve glared at the girl as she walked closer handing him the juice, then the bowl. the boy took the juice but hesitated when he saw the contents of the bowl; it was cereal.

steve grimaced and shook his head, placing the juice on the nightstand. the girl frowned but before she could speak, steve explained.

“i’m allergic to dairy.” it was an allergy that he had the unfortunate luck of finding out after he had just drank a glass of milk. he remembers bill freaking out because of his swollen, red throat. vomit had been expelled from the boys stomach all over the living room floor. the boy had never seen the man drive so fast before that night. bill demanded an allergy test to be performed on the boy, also getting one himself after steve had begged him to. that was the day that bill found out he also had a dairy allergy. that was also the day they switched to oat milk.

the girl nodded her head and set the bowl on the nightstand. as she did, a chirping sound startled her. she glanced down at the small rodent who was now next to the bowl. steve turned his head towards the rat and smiled, patting the space next to him in bed. xiggy took his cue and skittered next to the boy. the brunette smiled at the display in front of her, sitting on the edge of the bed. the boy recoiled his body away from her, glaring at the girl.

the girl huffed out a sigh before putting her hand out. steve scoffed at the gesture, crossing his arms. the electronics inside made a whirring sound. the girl put her hand back on her lap. she looked at the boy and spoke.

“i’m sorry. can we just start over? my name is mabel pines.” steve shot his head to look at the girl. mabel pines? one of the teens that defeated bill a couple years ago? the boy had been told a little about the pines family, both from bill and the therapists at theraprism. the one family member that stood out to him was stanford pines. he remembers bill telling him a couple offbeat stories about the man. all steve knew is that bill had some muddy history with the man and he apparently had six fingers. that was the only distinguishing factor between him and his twin brother, stanley pines.

steve furrowed his eyebrows at the girl, her nervous smile never faltering. he huffed out a breath before introducing himself.

“stephen cipher. just steve is fine.” mabel bit the inside of her cheek, nodding. she raised an eyebrow after a few moments, a question evident on her tongue.

“is that your..actual last name? or did you change it to follow bill-“ steve immediately shut the girl up with a firm, hasty reply.

“it’s the name that’s on my birth certificate.”

mabel glanced away, to something else in the room. the boy heard a small chirp by his ear. he looked down to his shoulder where xiggy was sitting. he smiled as he put his finger up to pet her. as the rat nuzzled into the digit, an idea popped into the boys head. he looked at the teen girl for a couple moments before sticking his hand out. the girl turned her head and smiled at the boy, reaching for his hand.

just as they were about to make contact, steve mumbled a small ‘sorry’ before grabbing the girls arm and throwing her off the bed. he winced at the ‘thump’ her body made before sprinting towards the door. he heard the girl shout something from behind him but he didn’t care, he needed to find bill. now. steve felt as xiggy skittered down his body into his coat pocket. the boy rushed down the stairs only to be met with one of the men from bills office.

the man made an attempt to grab him but the blonde hopped over the railing at the last second. after a perfect landing, steve ran down the hallway towards a door. he turned the corner in a quick movement and looked around, groaning as he realized he was in a gift shop. steve looked at the entrance door and rushed towards it, he looked back as he suddenly heard a noise. the boy saw as a vending machine hissed open, the same man that had grabbed him stepped out. steve turned his body fully and glared at the older man, who looked surprised to see him.

just then, the man from the stairway rushed into the room, panting. the vending machine closed as the man in front of it raised an eyebrow.

“stanley, what are you doing?” the man from the vending machine asked. great, now he had a face to a name. using his logical thinking, steve mused that man from the vending machine was stanford, or sixer as bill loved to call him. still panting, stanley threw a finger at the boy. steve crossed his arms and glared at the man. after the man had regulated his breathing, he spoke.

“blondie here tried to escape.” steve scoffed as he rolled his eyes. stanley glared at the boy and mumbled under his breath. stanford turned his head back to the boy and sighed. the older man pinched the bridge of his bandaged nose and spoke.

“he’s probably scared, stanley. who knows what lies bill has told him about us?” steve gasped in offense to the question, if anything bill was pretty honest. he remembered how bill had told him that santa and the tooth fairy were both fake, steve’s dreams had been crushed. or when bill had told him that his grown-out hair made him look like a frat boy. bill had never lied to him about the pines family, granted bill chose to deny the pines existence but still!

steve was about to protest the question but then he thought for a second. where was bill? wasn’t that his goal, to find him? he raised his head towards stanford, the tall man looking down at him. the blonde glared as he put his hands to his side, balling them into fists. he could hear the metal casing creaking under the pressure but he persisted.

“where is he?” ford raised an eyebrow at the kid, turning his head towards the vending machine behind him then back at steve. the blonde paused for about a second before rushing to the vending machine, trying his hardest to pry it open. the boys attempts were busted when he was lifted up by his coat collar. his feet dangled in the air as he was brought face to face with stanford. steve stuck his tongue out at the man, the latter just sighing.

“you shouldn’t go near bill, whatever he is offering you isn’t worth it.” steve raised an eyebrow at the man. bill had never offered him something, maybe small things but never anything major. the older man must’ve seen the confused look on steve’s face as he began to explain.

“the deal you made with cipher; whatever he’s offering you will never be worth it.” steve blinked at the man before giggling. his metal hand came to rest over his mouth, stifling the sound. he grinned up at the man, relishing in the way he furrowed his eyebrows at the boy.

“i never made a deal with bill. where’d you get that idea from?” the blonde watched as the older man sputtered a bit before speaking.

“what do you mean you never made a deal with cipher?” the boy raised an eyebrow, how the hell was this the ‘smart twin’? ford nodded at the boys reaction, accepting the answer at face value. the man cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses.

“well it would still be wise to keep the both of you here. lest cipher goes and wreaks havoc.” steve glared at the man as he was put down. he crossed his arms, a determined look on his face.

“let me see him.” ford clicked his tongue at the boys command.

“cipher isn’t in the best state, currently.” steve noticed the way stan’s head shot to his brother, a questioning look on his face. steve, on the other hand, looked furious.

“what’s that supposed to mean? is he..okay?”

“he’s alive.”

steve felt his eye twitch as he glared at the man in front of him.

“what did you do to him?” ford glanced away from the boy and brought his gaze to the vending machine.

“nothing he didn’t deserve.”

those words were all it took before steve lunged at the man, fully intending on choking him. his efforts futile as the man’s brother grabbed him before he could reach ford. the blonde kicked and shouted as he was wrapped in the man’s tight hold. he glared at stanford as he was dragged off.

“i hate you, stanford pines.”

Chapter Text

whenever ford came down, it was mostly the same; interrogate bill, not get the answer he wanted, ridicule him and leave him. ford brought down water and sandwiches most of the time but today was different.

bill rolled over to face the door as he heard ford come in. he glared at the man as he shut the door behind him. the blonde noticed that the usual meal had been replaced with milk and cookies, how childish. sixer set the glass and plate next to bill’s mattress. he scrunched his nose and looked up at the man, who now had his hands behind his back. just as bill was going to tell the man that he couldn’t eat this , ford spoke.

“melody baked some cookies, these are leftovers. you should feel thankful she even thought of you.” bill snorted at the man before turning back over on his mattress. the blonde waved his hand as he spoke.

“appreciate the sentiment, sixer but i can’t eat that.”

“would you like to tell me why not?” ford gave bill the illusion of free will. bill turned his head towards the man, grinning as they locked eyes.

“dairy allergy, would you like a demonstration?” the blonde laughed at the way ford nose scrunched as he shook his head. ford picked up the plate and glass, bill saw the way his eyes glanced to nothing in particular as he spoke.

“you’ve infected the boy. he’s becoming more—difficult.”

“i’m not a disease, dumbass. i can’t infect anybody.”

ford cleared his throat as he looked at bill, who was turned away from him. he squinted his eyes at the blonde, huffing out a breath as he turned away and exited the room.

‘what are you planning, cipher?’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

steve stared up at the popcorn ceiling, distaste evident on his face. xiggy slept in his coat pocket as he contemplated. the boy glanced at his watch, the time read ‘8:38 PM’ . he huffed out a breath as he sat up, glaring at the locked door. a feature that was planted after he tried to escape for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. mabel protested against it but when her great-uncle saw the bruising on her arm from steve’s stunt, he wouldn’t budge.

the blonde focused his blurry vision back to the door, the sound of a click and the doorknob turning startling him. the familiar brunette stood in the doorway, smiling at him. he crossed his arms as she made her way to him. the girl set down a plate of pasta and a juice box, the boy grimaced at the pasta. steve looked at the food then at the teen. mabel awkwardly smiled at him before heading back towards the door. just as she was about to exit, she looked back at the boy before speaking.

“hey, i don’t think anyone deserves to be kidnapped and locked up; even if their dad is bill cipher.” steve was about to explain that technically bill wasn’t his father but he was cut short when he heard the door close. expecting to hear the familiar ‘click’, the boy reached over to the nightstand for the juice. but after a few moments, he still didn’t hear it. he waited for a couple minutes, then a couple more minutes and by the time he realized the door wasn’t locked, it was already 9:30 PM. the blonde blinked a couples times before slowly, and silently, making his way to the door. he opened the door with just as much carefulness and peered out.

it was dark, the boy could barely make something out two feet in front of him. the blonde adjusted his glasses as he slowly made his way through the inky hallway. he flinched when he heard a noise, closer listening determined that it was a loud snoring sound. the boy mentally face-palmed himself as he crept his way down the stairs, the snoring getting quieter and quieter until it was just a faint buzzing. after a couple anxiety-filled minutes, steve made his way into the gift shop. he eyed the blue-hued glow from the vending machine, quietly rushing to it after a few seconds.

his first attempt came up futile after he tried prying the machine open, only stopping when he realized it wasn’t budging. (and scratching the casing on his arms.) the boy glanced up to the illuminated keypad, bingo. he huffed out a laugh as he stood on his tippy toes. the blonde raised an eyebrow, how did this even work? suddenly, the boy felt a skittering across his body. steve flinched until he noticed xiggy on his shoulder, looking up at him. the rat then crawled her way across his metallic arm and rested in the palm of his hand. steve looked at the rodent before realizing that she was pointing with her nose, steve followed the nose and his eyes landed on the keypad.

the blonde smiled as he realized what the rodent was insinuating, lifting her up to the keypad. after pressing a couple buttons with her nose, the door hissed open. steve laughed quietly as he set the rodent on his shoulder, making his way into the elevator. after looking at the floors, he decided to just click every button. what could go wrong? as the doors closed and the elevator descended, he turned his eyes to xiggy and smiled at her.

“have you been sneaking out, xigs? don’t worry, i won’t tell!” the rodent squeaked in response and steve let out a small giggle as the doors opened. the blonde stepped into the space, it looked like a hallway. he vaguely heard the doors close as he began to walk down the corridor. he shuddered as a cold draft swept over him, pulling his coat closer to him. the stone walls around him reminded him of a prison. the boy blew his bangs out of his face, adjusting his glasses when he saw a door at the end of the hallway. steve stopped walking and looked around the dingy place, all or nothing. with a few strides, he reached the door. inhaling a breath, he opened it, hearing the familiar ‘click’ of a lock as he did.

steve smiled a gap-toothed smile when he saw the face of bill peering back at him, wide-eyed. the boy rushed over to the man, hugging him with a giggle. the older blonde flinched before sighing and rolling his eye, patting the boy on his back.

"yeah, yeah, cute reunion and everything, kid but can we focus on getting outta this dump?” the boy gave one last tight squeeze and let go, beaming up at the man. steve looked around the room, surveying the area. he cringed as he saw the living conditions; much worse than his own. the boy brought his gaze back to bill and then to his arm, handcuffed to a pipe. steve frowned as he saw the red markings on bills wrists, raw and bloody as if he were struggling. and steve knew he had been, despite not being blood-related; they both shared their stubbornness.

the boy glanced around the room, his eyes landed on a discarded knife. steve stood up and walked towards the knife, almost picking it up but he paused; there was something on it. he flinched back when he noticed that it was blood, the crusted up crimson taunting him as he glanced at bill. bill widened his eye for a split second before glancing away from the blonde, a forced look of apathy on his face. steve frowned as he spoke.

“bill, what did he do to you?”

“doesn’t matter, ‘m alive.”

“but..he hurt you?” a few seconds of silence, then a nod.

“how? w-where..?” steve watched as bill gestured to his right leg, turning away from him. steve pouted as he turned back and grabbed the knife, gagging.

“i’m sorry, bill. you don’t deserve that.” bill snorted out a laugh as steve walked towards him. bill turned his head towards the boy, a wild look in his eye.

“kid, if there’s anyone in the multiverse who deserves this; it’s me. i was a monster to the pines.”

“but you’re not a monster, not anymore. can’t he see that? you’re a better person!” bill laughed once more as steve stuck the blade into the small keyhole.

“i don’t think he’ll ever see me as a person, not anymore.” steve furrowed his eyebrows at the man, the handcuffs unlocking with a ‘click’. the two blondes watched as they clanged to the floor. bill rubbed his sore wrists as he stood up, keeling over after a few seconds. steve quickly put his arm around the man to steady him, glancing at the man’s leg. it was tightly bandaged, turning a light glittery pink color from the blood seeping out of the cut. steve huffed out a breath as he walked towards the door, bill limping beside him despite the boys arm around him.

steve couldn’t feel as xiggy skittered up his arm and settled into bills messy, curly hair as he turned the door knob. both of the blondes peered into the hallway, looking left then right, then slowly making their way into it. the two limped their way through the stone corridor. steve glanced back down at bills leg, a frown on his face. so maybe bill wasn’t the best person, he’s not exactly the poster child for that sorta thing but that wound. it seemed so..deep? it looked like hell. the younger boy looked up as they got to the elevator doors, helping bill inside and propping him against its steel walls.

after pressing the ‘up’ button, steve leaned against the cool steel next to bill. before even thinking about it he laid his head on the man’s arm, feeling him flinch in response. but ultimately, the boy wasn’t moved and they sat in silence as the elevator jostled to life. steve’s eyes closed for a moment, he was content. he was content with the life they had. he was content with his weird, fake dad and he was content with his pet rat. he was content in the little family they built over these past few months. but then he walked into that office. when he first saw bills body, the boy thought that the man was dead. killed by some sort of psycho or hit man or..something. he thought the small life they had built for themselves was going to be ripped from him.

but then he saw bill breathe. then he felt himself breathe; a breath he didn’t know he was holding. after a few moments, his eyes landed on the two men. he didn’t know what to do, so he ran. he left bill to fend for himself. what’s wrong with him?

the sound of the elevator doors opening pulled him out of his thoughts. steve put his arm around bill, steadying the man as he lead them out of the elevator. the boy peered around the dark gift shop, squinting his eyes as he tried to make out the door. the familiar shape of it was made out after a few moments, making the boy huff out a laugh. the pair slowly made their way towards the entrance, only stopping when bill needed to take a break. steve smiled as they finally reached the door, his metal hand resting on the door knob. twisting it and opening it until he was interrupted by the sound of creaking behind him.

both of the blondes whipped their heads around at the source of the noise; none other than mabel pines. she stared at the duo, a bewildered expression on her face. the pair could only stare at her with wide eyes. steve’s mouth opened, a plea on his tongue. until the girl spoke softly, her sad expression illuminated from the moonlight shining in from the open door.

“you should hurry. grunkle ford is probably going to wake up soon.” the teen glanced away from the pair to a lone shelf. steve looked  between the girl and bill, before saying a quick ‘thank you’ and walking out the door. bill closed the door behind them, letting out a long sigh as he felt the breeze in the air. the duo walked off of the porch and into the woods. the tall pine trees loomed over them as the pair walked through the forest. steve led them throughout the grassy expanse and to bills job. the man had mentioned that they wouldn’t have any keys to get inside their house if bill didnt HAVE the keys. the keys just so happened to be in bills bag; which was in bills office.

the two reached the building, steve glancing at their car as they passed it to enter. bill had tried twisting the door handle, but to no avail. bill let out a groan before pausing and raising his eyebrow. the older man glanced down at the boy, an idea forming. steve raised an eyebrow when bill pointed at him, specifically his arms.

“you can’t feel your arms, right, kiddo?” steve nodded, a perplexed look on his face. that look went away as bill looked to a window next to the door, smiling when steve caught on. the boy giggled as bill blinked his eye, accompanied by the man saying a soft ‘wink!’. the young blonde was soon lifted up into bills arms as the man walked in front of the window. bill lifted steve directly in front of it, saying a small ‘let at ‘em, kid!’ before the boy brought his metal fist down on to the glass. he was rewarded with the sound of the surface shattering as bill let out a laugh behind him. steve giggled with him as he was set down and pat on the head, the two making their way through the small entrance.

steve glanced around the dim space as bill sprinted to the stairs. or sprinted as fast as he could with a messed up leg, steve quickly catching up to help the man. the boy put his arm around bill as they traversed the stairs. when they finally got to bills office, the older blond turned the handle and walked inside. steve glanced around the room as bill limped his way towards his desk. the room was still a mess, books on the floor and a cracked window were proof of that. bill made a quiet ‘a-ha!’ sound when he saw the familiar leather bag.

he grabbed the handle and put it on his desk, rummaging through it. the blond sighed in relief as he felt the cool metal of his keys on his hand. he quickly fished the keys out and slung the bag over his shoulder. bill looked at steve who was still looking around the room, the older blond cleared his throat. steve’s eyes looked at him and the boy sheepishly smiled, bill snorting out a laugh. he made his way over to the boy and led them outside of his office.

bill huffed out a sigh when he finally sat in the drivers seat. he put his head back as he heard the passenger side door open, the sound of rustling and the door closing. after a couple moments, bill put his keys into the ignition and turned it. he internally thanked the axolotl as it clicked and settled the car down. he put his hands on the steering wheel, grabbing the gear shift and putting it into ‘drive’. as he left the empty parking lot, he looked over at the passenger seat; a sleeping steve coming into his vision. bill cracked a smile and turned back to the road, driving towards their home.

Chapter Text

three: deciphering a cipher.

“it can’t hurt, grunkle ford!” the teen girl said as the residents of the shack sat at the dinner table. it had been about a week since ford discovered that both bill and the boy had escaped. at first, he wanted to leave immediately to find them, to bring them back. but after a couple hours of pleading from mabel and some talking from stan, they decided to just leave them be. ford doesn’t truly know why the young girl was so insistent to let their former captives be free but as long they don’t come near the shack, he’ll deal with it.

ford focused back on the girl that sat across from him. he cleared his throat as he set his fork down.

“we don’t know what he’ll do now that he’s free. he could hurt you, mabel.” the elder man responded as mabel puffed her cheeks out. the girl had suggested that they throw an ‘apology party’ for cipher. ford can’t even begin to fathom how she thought that bill cipher was worthy of an apology. she had mentioned that it wasn’t only for bill, but for the boy aswell. ford still didn’t get how she could feel bad for a lost cause, the boy was too far gone into ciphers brainwashing.

“he hasn’t tried to kill us this past week! doesn’t that mean something?”

“hardly, dear.”

mabel frowned at the man, slumping back in her chair. ford thought the conversation was over before dipper began to speak.

“well, with an ‘apology party’, we’d be close to bill. we could study him! see what he’s planning!” the young boy beamed at ford. ford sighed and shook his head.

“it’s too dangerous.”

“c’mon, sixer. he’s a human now, i could punt that twink into next tuesday if he tried anything!” ford cringed at his brothers referral to bill. he glanced around the table before taking a deep breath in.

“fine. but i do not want cipher in the shack.”

mabel shrieked in excitement as she reached into her pocket. she produced a phone, pink and glittery with a rainbow popsocket on the back. she smiled at ford as she unlocked it.

“you have his number, right?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the young blond woke up with a gasp, tears streaming down his face. he wiped them away with his sleeve as he glanced beside him, an empty spot greeted him. the boy frowned as he grabbed his glasses from the nightstand and slipped them onto his face. steve lifted the covers off of himself and rose out of bills bed. after a couple minutes of making the bed, he walked towards the bedroom door and opened it. as he walked down the stairs, his nose picked up the familiar scent of peanut butter. steve softly smiled as he reached the kitchen, seeing bill with his back turned to him.

the older blond was underdressed, only wearing a binder and shorts. he had a butter knife in his hand, smearing some peanut butter onto a piece of bread. steve came up to his side and looked up at the man. bill put the knife back into the jar and glanced down at the boy, ruffling his hair. he brought the two pieces of bread together and handed the sandwich off to steve. the boy gratefully took it, biting into it almost immediately. steve made his way towards the table as bill cleaned up the counter, soon turning on the coffee machine.

steve at the table, xiggy greeting him from the surface. he smiled with a full mouth and pet the rodent.

“how’d you sleep, nicks?” steve glanced towards bill when he spoke. steve made a ‘so-so’ motion with his hand and bill nodded. the boy turned back towards his sandwich, about to take a bite before he felt a vibration on the table. he glanced around the surface and saw bills phone, steve looking at the man who shrugged and nodded his head at the boy. steve smiled before grabbing bills phone, the screen lighting up as he clicked on the message. he stared at it as he read it, confusion clouding his face.

‘you’ve been invited to mabel’s totally awesome apology party! come talk about your feelings with the pines family! located at carlos callowicks restaurant, 7:30 PM. don’t forget to rsvp! - mabel pines :D’

the boy blinked a couple times before looking at bill, the older blonde grabbing his mug of coffee. as bill made his way over towards the table, steve read the message aloud. bill snorted as he sat down, sipping his coffee before speaking.

“they can’t possibly think that we’re going.” bill laughed out. steve frowned as he slid the phone back to bill, crossing his arms.

“what if…we just go?”

“hah, no! you’re funny, short-stack!”

steve glanced away from bill as he pouted. bill rolled his eye at the boy, setting down his mug. he sighed before rubbing his temple.

“listen, nicks, for all we know they could try kidnapping us again.”

“but it’s at a restaurant! there’ll be people, bill!” the boy responded. bill glanced away from the boy, thinking for a moment. he let out a long sigh as pinched the bridge of his nose

“..fine. BUT if they try anything, we’re making a scene.”

the boy giggled before nodding, finishing his sandwich and leaving the table. he switched on the tv, a cartoon popping up. he laid on the ground as the colorful animation moved. steve only had one thought on his mind;

‘please don’t let it go horribly.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“why do we have to wear suits again, pumpkin?” stan questioned as mabel combed through his hair, her sparkling pink dress reflecting light onto him.

“we gotta make a good impression, grunkle stan!” mabel stopped her movements and looked at her great uncle, admiring her hard work. the elder man was dressed in a dark burgundy suit, a white button-up and black tie accompanying it. stan grunted as he looked down at himself. the pair were interrupted by the sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs. mabel smiled as she saw dipper and ford.

her twin had on a white button up and dark blue jeans, a blue bow tie on his neck. in his hands were a notepad and a ballpoint pen. mabel rolled her eyes at her brothers antics and looked up at ford. the suit she picked out looked amazing! the dark brown silk complimented her great uncle, the suit jacket fitting him perfectly. he wore a dark red tie and had changed his glasses to ones with a golden rim. mabel shrieked as she saw them, running up to hug the two.

“you guys look so good!”

“mabel, why do we have to look ‘fancy’ again?” her twin asked. mabel released the two and put her arm around dipper.

“because bro-bro, we gotta. make. a. good. impression! and carlos callowicks is a top-end restaurant!” she hollered. dipper cringed at her loudness but eventually just huffed out a breath. the pines family heard the front door open, soos stepping into the house. he pointed his thumb outside and spoke.

“hey, dudes, the cars ready to go!”

mabel dragged her brother outside and into the car, blabbering about how this was gonna be ‘so fun!’. ford stepped out into the cold night, sighing and standing on the porch. he felt a hand wrap around his shoulder, looking over to see stan. he smiled at his brother and looked back towards the vehicle, watching as the younger twins sprinted towards it.

“he won’t try anything, and if he does, i can always kill him again, sixer.”

“what if he does do something? what if he hurts the kids again? i would never forgive myself if something happened to them.” ford put his head in his hands as he spoke. he heard as stan grunted next to him. the hand left his shoulder as he lifted his head back up.

“the kids are older now, and stronger. nothings gonna happen to ‘em. that triangle should know better after getting his ass handed to him last time.” ford snorted at his brothers comment. he fixed his hair as him and stan made their way to the car. stepping inside, melody made sure they had everything they needed. after making sure, soos started the car and they drove to callowicks. ford looked out into the night and frowned.

‘please don’t let him hurt them.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

steve put xiggy in her cage as he heard bill walking up the stairs. he said a quick ‘ta-ta!’ to the rodent and opened his bedroom door. bill stopped his movements on the stairs as he saw the boy come out of his room. the older blonde looked the boy up and down a few times before giving him a thumbs up. steve had opted for a light blue suit vest, bills white button up rested under it along with his matching dress pants. the boy adjusted his purple tie as he walked towards bill. he smiled as he reached the top of the stairs, grinning down at the aforementioned blond.

bill wore a yellow vest with matching flared pants. his suit jacket laid on his shoulders, the black fabric held in place with a small chain across the collar. on his feet were his usual black heels. his usual mascara and eyeliner had been upgraded to also include a golden colored eyeshadow, aswell as a sparkling lip gloss. bills usually black lips became a shiny, inky color.

steve hopped down the stairs, passing bill as he made his way towards the front door. he heard bill grumble something behind him accompanied by creaking sounds. steve eyed the man behind him, an eyebrow raised as he looked at bills leg.

“do you have your leg brace on?”

“..of course i do! why wouldn’t i, kid?”

“the way you’re walking says otherwise, bill.”

bill groaned before going back up the stairs to retrieve his brace. steve frowned as the man went back upstairs. the doctors said the leg brace would help bill with walking, with the pain. so why didn’t bill wear it? it would make things so much easier! the boy sighed as he looked at the ground. this was all stanford pines’ fault, if that asshole hadn’t taken bill, he wouldn’t be wearing that brace! steve gritted his teeth at the thought of the man, he had grown a larger hatred for him this past week. he really started to despise him when he noticed how much it seemed to hurt bill when he walked, the limping man scrunched his nose every time he had to. or when steve was woken up by bill gasping beside him, clearly just experiencing a nightmare. the boy pretending to sleep as he heard bills small cries and hiccups. that’s when he started loathing stanford pines, started to absolutely hate him.

steve was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when he heard bills voice, the blonde man staring down at him from his side. steve shook his head and looked up at the man. bill squinted his eye at the boy as he spoke.

“you okay, kid? you were spaced out.”

“i’m fine. we should get going, it’s already-“ steve checked his watch. “-7:36.”

bill stared at the boy for a few moments before sighing and opening the front door. steve followed the man to their car and got into the passenger seat. he looked out of his window as he heard bills voice start up the car, closing his eyes as they drove towards the restaurant.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ford looked around the dining establishment, an uncomfortable expression plaguing his face. the lights were too bright, the people were too loud and the smells were too much. he looked at mabel who was currently conversing to her brother, a smile on her face. ford sighed and checked his pocket watch, 7:40 PM. cipher was ten minutes late, ford wasn’t exactly surprised.

“mabel, dearest, how do we know cipher is coming? it’s already 7:40.”

mabel paused her conversation and looked over at her great uncle, a grin tugged at her lips.

“don’t worry, grunkle ford! he rsvp’d! he’s totes coming!” the girl exclaimed. dipper eyed her from the side but just shrugged and began to write in his notepad. ford was about to respond to the girl until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“relax, sixer! the triangle’ll be here soon, maybe.” stan said to his twin. ford squinted at the man before adjusting his glasses, intertwining his hands on the table.

“i hope, for his sake, that you’re right.”

melody piped up from her spot beside soos.

“with that attitude, i don’t think we’ll get any information from him!” she laughed out. ford shrugged and looked away from his family. he sighed, it’s just like cipher to not care. not care about showing up on time, not care about his great nieces ‘apology party’, not care about him. ford blinked as he saw a familiar head of blonde hair walking towards their table, mabel squealing as she noticed it aswell.

cipher was here.

Chapter Text

“y’know, short-stack, it’s not too late to back out.”

“are you scared, bill?”

bill gasped in offense as he took the keys out of the ignition. the older man glared at the boy in the passenger seat as he opened his door. steve did the same and they made their way towards the entrance.

“i am NOT scared! i’m too powerful to be scared!”

steve giggled at bills words as he opened the door, letting bill step in first before following him. the boy was in awe when he stepped inside, it was a fancy place! the marble floors shined beneath him, the pristine tiles enamored him. as him and bill walked towards the front counter, he took note of the golden accents. the fountain in the waiting area gleamed a gorgeous color, along with the pillars beside the front counter.

bill cleared his throat before speaking.

“table for...pines-?”

the waiter looked down at the man before checking something. he then smiled at bill before speaking.

“right this way, s-“

“can you just tell me where it is, sweets?”

the waiters cheeks were tinged with a light pink as he pointed towards a table near the back of the restaurant.

“r-right there, sir.” the man stuttered. bill chuckled and blew the man a kiss before walking away, steve right beside him. steve looked at all the people in the restaurant, they were all dressed to the nines. pearls and gold shimmered on their bodies as they conversed. steve pried his eyes away from the people as he felt bill stop beside him. steve looked to where bills vision was, a smiling, waving brunette greeted him. he squinted his eyes and adjusted his glasses, reaching for bills hand. bill flinched as he felt the boy intertwine their digits and looked down at him. steve smiled up at him, and after a few moments, bill smiled back.

bill huffed out a breath as steve led him towards the table. the two stood next to it awkwardly. mabel then spoke up.

“i knew you were gonna make it! we saved you guys seats!” the girl pointed to a couple empty spots across from the rest of the table members. bill grimaced as he sat down, steve following him. after the boy sat down, bill looked at the people across from him. everybody was staring at him and steve, it made him nervous. not that he would ever admit it, but still. bill cleared his throat before looking at mabel, raising an eyebrow.

“sooo, star, how is this gonna go?”

“easy, we’re all gonna take turns apologizing!”

bill scoffed and rolled his eye, looking at the menu in front of him. the blond opened it and scanned the contents, vaguely hearing mabel talk about how the order of apologizing is gonna go. he glanced at the drinks as he heard mabel speak up.

“i’ll go first! steve, bill, i’m sorry we kidnapped you. and steve, sorry for shooting you with a dart.”

“you what.”

bill had brought his eye up to the girl, his frown twitching as he spoke. the girl chuckled nervously as he glared at her, only stopping when he felt a cool metal on his arm. he glanced down towards steve, a pout on the boys face.

“it didn’t hurt, bill. look at me, i’m completely fine.” bill sighed as he nodded his head at the boy before bringing his gaze back towards his menu. it was soon brought back up as he heard another voice speak.

“yeah, uh, listen, cipher. i still hate you for what ya’ did but maybe i shouldn’t have kidnapped ya’. sorry for also dragging your kid into all this.” bill looked at stan and blinked a couple times before snorting out a laugh. he waved a dismissive hand at the man, now moving onto the food section.

steve turned his head towards a teen boy across from him as he cleared his throat.

“steve, sorry for knowing about you and not saying anything. that was wrong of me, man. are we..cool?” the boy said. steve thought for a couple moments before nodding his head. the boy looked over at bill, who was reading his menu. steve scooted closer to the man, trying to look as well. bill raised an eyebrow but eventually turned the item so steve could look with him.

“you have your own.” bill gestured to the menu in front of the boy. steve made a noise and shrugged. he looked up as, yet another, voice spoke to apologize.

“yeah, dudes. kidnapping you guys prolly wasn’t a good idea! especially the little guy.”

“as my fiancé said, it wasn’t the best idea to abduct you two. i apologize.”

steve looked at the man and woman, blinking. he nodded before looking back at the menu, his head resting on bills arm. it was quiet for a few moments, steve brought his gaze to across the table. every person was looking at a man who sat directly across from bill, stanford pines. steve furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the man. stanford saw the way steve glared at him, clearing his throat.

“steven, i apologize for bringing you into this, no child should be brought into an adult matter. especially one including bill cipher.”

steve gritted his teeth at the man. he spoke in a low, hasty tone.

“stephen.”

“pardon?”

“it’s not ‘steven’, it’s stephen—pronounced with an f. and don’t talk about bill like that.”

stanford rubbed the back of his neck, glancing away from the boy.

“apologies, stephen. but do you know what cipher has done?”

steve balled up his fists as he glared daggers at the man.

“yes, i know what he’s done. but he’s not like that anymore.”

“i wouldn’t believe anything he tells you, stephen. ciphers a known-“

“a known liar? yeah, the kid knows, sixer.” bill cut the man off as he flipped through the menu. steve giggled at the blonde, earning a pat on the head from him. ford stared at the display before sighing.

“cipher, i didn’t think that you would stoop so low as to manipulate a young child.”

steve saw the way bill tensed up at stanfords words, the boy glared at the man across from him. he pointed an accusatory finger at him.

“bill didn’t manipulate me, where are you even getting that idea?”

“it’s bill cipher, it’s his nature to prey on the innocent.”

“you don’t know anything about him.”

“and you do?”

steve glared at stanford as he spoke. he rested his head back onto bills arm as he crossed his metal arms. bill glanced down at the boy before bringing his gaze to ford.

“listen, sixer, i couldn’t care less about what you have to say about me. hell, say whatever you want; it’s probably true! but don’t even think about talking to the kid like that, he hasn’t done shit.”

bill glared at the man as he spoke, bringing his eye back down to the menu when he was done. ford sputtered a bit before adjusting his glasses, a response on his tongue before he was cut off.

“okay, mabel can sense the bad energy at this table! how about we order some drinks?” mabel exclaimed. the group replied with nods and a couple ‘that seems good’s. mabel smiled as she grabbed her menu and scanned through it. bill sighed as he handed his menu off to steve, already deciding on what he wanted. the boy took the menu and glanced through it, eventually putting it back on the table after a few moments. he tapped his fingers against the table, eventually stopping as he heard mabel call over a waiter.

the waiter stopped beside the table, notepad in hand. after the table ordered their drinks, bill  ordering a dirty shirley, and steve ordering apple juice, the waiter left. the table was left in awkward silence as they sat. bill fiddled with a button on his vest as steve’s head laid on his arm. mabel cleared her throat, everyone turning to look at the girl. she smiled as she spoke.

“okay, bill! now it’s time for your apology!” bill blinked at the girl before letting out a long sigh. he crossed his arms before speaking.

“i’m..sorry for trying to take over the world.”

“and?”

“and for trying to kill you.”

“and?”

“and manipulating you guys, especially sixer.”

mabel shot the blond a thumbs up. bill smiled internally at the girl before bringing his attention to steve. the boy was playing with his hair, bouncing each blond curl. bill returned to playing with a button on his vest, soon stopped by mabel talking, yet again.

“soo, steve, you like depeche mode, right?”

steve stopped fiddling with his hair and looked at the girl, an eyebrow raised. he adjusted his glasses and squinted.

“yes..why?”

“just wanted to know what other artists you like!”

the boy immediately shot up, his eyes sparkling at the question.

“okay, so they’re a band but i love the b-52s!”

bill smiled before eventually choosing to ignore the kid’s conversation. he could vaguely hear steve talking about his favorite artists. bill glanced back towards the menu, deciding on what he’d like to order. until, he was stopped by someone clearing their throat. he looked up, seeing both ford and dipper staring at him. the blond raised an eyebrow.

“what?”

“we have some questions we’d like to ask you.”

“oh, gee, sixer. enlighten me.”

ford squinted his eyes at the blonde, his gaze was skeptical. the teen beside him had his notepad open and was glaring at bill in a similar fashion. bill rolled his eye at the pair and gestured for them to continue. dipper cleared his throat and bill groaned internally; this little wannabe, loser nerd. he’d honestly prefer sixer to start shooting him than hear the kid talk. bill looked at the teen as he spoke, clicking his pen.

“why are you here? why gravity falls?”

bill squinted his eye at the kid before huffing out a sigh.

“you think it was my choice? ‘oh yeah! let me go to this dingy little town where everyone hates my guts!’” bill mocked the boys question. but before either of his interrogators could speak, he continued.

“anyways, no. i got sent here by a certain place called ‘theraprism’. that’s where i met this dork.” bill ruffled steve’s hair when he spoke about the last part. bill chuckled as the boy stuck his tongue out at him, still conversing with mabel. ford raised an eyebrow at the blonde, his great nephew writing in his notepad.

“theraprism?” bill nodded at fords question.

“you went to therapy!?” mabel suddenly squealed. steve covered his ears at the volume of the girls voice, flinching towards bill. bill put his arm around the kid, watching as mabel put on a sheepish smile.

“yes, shooting star. i went to..therapy.”

“how’d that work out for ya’?” stan’s voice cut through the silence as he spoke. bill shrugged and let go of steve, the boy calming down after a few moments.

“it worked out..fine, i guess. i don’t really care.”

“when are you going back?” dipper asked, chewing on his pen. bill turned his eye towards steve, who was already looking at him. after a few seconds, both blondes bursted out laughing, tears forming in their eyes. the other table members stared at the two as they laughed, watching as they settled down after a minute. bill cleared his throat as he wiped away a tear.

“we’re not, pine needle. this is it.” dipper raised an eyebrow at bill statement, jotting down something in his notepad. ford adjusted his glasses as he looked at the blonde.

“what do you mean ‘this is it’?”

“i mean that this is it, sixer. i die in this body, i die forever. go to the golden gates or whatever you meatsacks believe in.” ford glanced away from the man as he spoke, his mouth tasted bitter. bill cipher, the demon that once haunted his dreams, was reduced to this. reduced to a scrawny, average (and rather attractive) man. it was almost laughable how far the former demon fell from grace.

“what’s steve to you?” dipper asked incredulously. bill snickered and turned towards steve, who was still talking with mabel. he leaned down and put his left cheek on steve’s right one, earning a laugh from the boy.

“he’s my fake kid! don’t we look alike?” the two blondes smiled. ford had to say that they did look rather similar. they both shared the same gap-toothed smile, left blue eye and blonde hair. the younger blonde seemed to be just a lighter version of bill; lighter eye color, lighter hair, lighter skin, lighter freckles. ford also recalled how mabel had told stan that steve was allergic to dairy; just like bill. though, some of steve’s features were oddly reminiscent of ford himself—the nose shape, the round eyes, hair texture and even the boys expressions.

the older blonde leaned back up and picked up his menu. ford shared a questioning glance with his great nephew, the boy writing something in his notes after a few seconds.

“so, the boy is your….pseudo child?” bill nodded at fords question. ford bit the inside of his cheek. who thought it was a good idea to give bill cipher a child? the man’s honestly surprised the boys not dead yet. stephen looked actually pretty unharmed, except for a scar on the left side of his neck; something that ford took notice of when him and bill sat down.

“ooohh! can i ask a question!?” mabel’s voice shouted from beside ford.

“is it gonna be a real question, mabel?” her brother asked with an eyebrow raised. the girl blew a raspberry at him, smiling slightly.

“isn’t every question a real question, bro-bro?” mabel was met with a sigh as her brothers response. a smile formed as she turned her gaze to bill, the man tense under her eyes.

“what’s your favorite color?”

bill blinked his singular eye at the girl, looking dumbfounded. the blond glanced away from the teen, deep in thought for a few moments. he brought his gaze back to her, the two locking eyes as he answered.

“blue.”

“bet it’s cause of your stupid fire powers.” dipper spat out at bill. bill glared at the boy before huffing out a breath and burying his face back into the menu.

if bill was being honest, one of the reasons blue was his favorite color was because it reminded him of being powerful. but his most important reason was because it reminded him of his mother, and recently, it reminded him of steve as well. the older blond was so used to hating seeing anything blue, the sight of his old flames sickened him. it seemed as though a curse was put upon him every time he used his powers. or when he got red when he was angry; it was a cruel irony. but every since he met steve, it became different. the boys eye wasn’t a dark, deep blue; it was a light, bubbly color. every time he looked at the younger blondes eyes, something tugged at his heart, it made him sick. not just mentally but physically sick; he remembered throwing up after the boy had hugged him goodnight. it sickened him, it made him hate the boy showing affection.

but he still did. steve still cared about him, even after he knew what he did. steve suffered the same way bill had made others suffered, but he still smiled at him. that stupid gap-toothed smile. his eyes held no distain, no hatred. just admiration. it hurt, to look into the boys eyes. to feel burned after every touch the boy gave to him. but he still reciprocated it. bill put his arm around the boy when he was scared, he patted his head just…because. as much bill hated to admit it, he cared for the boy. he wanted the boy to care about him, he…loved him. he hated it. he hated it so much. bill wasn’t cut out to be a parent, to love. that wasn’t who bill cipher was but the boy had flipped that perspective upside down. whenever he looked at the boy, he felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time; at home. breakfast, lunch, dinner; all spent at home. steve had given bill the familial bond that he craved; the bond he lost so long ago. and he was gonna mess it up again. he knew he would, he always did. what if he hurt the boy? what if steve grew up to hate him? to never talk to him?

what if he killed him?

bill blinked a couple times as he was snapped out of his thoughts. he vaguely felt somebody shaking him, looking down to be met with the sight of steve. bill blinked at the boy, a frown evident on his face. steve pointed to something on the table, bill bringing his eye to the item; his drink. he felt his face flush as he quickly snatched the beverage and put it infront of him. he quickly took a sip as he heard steve open the juice box he had been given. the alcohol burned his throat as he heard ford speak.

“so, did you get to choose this..form?” bill snorted out a laugh at the scientists question, shaking his head at the man.

“neither me or short-stack here got to choose our bodies. they just stuffed us in whatever flesh prison they created.” bill shrugged as he spoke, taking another sip of his drink. the blonde briefly heard ford say the word ‘nor’ but he didn’t care enough to listen. he brought his gaze up to stanley, the elder man clearing his throat.

“okay, my turn. what’s up with the ugly scar?”

bills eye widened as he coughed, choking on his beverage. his back was met with a couple hard, and painful, hits from steve. the action made him produce a weird gurgle sound, which made his coughing fit even worse. he felt tears prick at the corner of his eye, watching as steve looked around hastily. the boy decided the best course of action was to get up from the table, for what bill doesn’t know. his body worked faster than his brain and he grabbed the boy by his prosthetic arm, pulling back into their booth. tears continued to fall down his face even when his coughing slowly stopped. steve looked at him and squinted his eyes, pointing at bills face.

“your makeup got ruined.” bill groaned at the boy before pulling out his phone, clicking the camera button as he finally answered stan’s question.

“an old geezer gave it to me. the asshole was a real idiot.”

“guys got common sense.” bill snorted as he looked at stan, a grin on his face. he shook his head with a smile, redirecting his gaze to his ‘mirror’. he quickly fixed his makeup, shutting off his phone when he was done. he put his device back on the table, bringing his gaze to the other side of the table. bill set his elbows on the table, putting his head in his hands.

“anything else you wanna ask me, detective brainiac?” ford glared at the blonde, adjusting his glasses. he put a fist over his mouth, clearing his throat.

“why choose to be a private detective?” bill rolled his eye at the question, how do these idiots not get that he didn’t get to choose?

“i didnt choose anything, fordsie. everything i have was given to me. trust me, i wouldn’t have picked a private detective; i would’ve picked a cult leader! something interesting!”

bill grinned at the way both ford and dippers eyes widened; they’re both so easy to spook! the blonde snickered as he took another sip of his drink. as he swallowed the sweet drink, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. bill turned his head to steve, who was reaching for bills phone. he glared at the boy but let him be, he couldn’t get in it anyways. just as he was about to take another sip, steve’s voice came from beside him.

“bill, what’s your passcode?”

“and why do you need my passcode, four-eyes?”

“i want to show mabel something!” bill raised his eyebrow, bringing his gaze across to the teen girl. she smiled at him, a braceless smile. he groaned as he looked back at steve. the blonde took a sip of his drink before answering.

“0-3-1-9-0-4.” steve smiled and nodded, punching in the code. after tapping a couple things, he turned the the screen towards mabel, a smile on his face. that’s when bill decided to tune out, as long as the boy didn’t look in his private browser, he didn’t care. he was brought back by the sound of a pen against paper. looking across from him, he saw dipper writing hurriedly in his notepad.

“the hell are you writing, pine tree? is me just sitting that interesting? gee, get a life. ” bill laughed at the way the boy glared at him.

“firstly, never call me that again.” bill shrugged his shoulders, gesturing for the boy to continue. “secondly, i’m writing your passcode down. i suspect it may be a code!”

bill blinked at the teen before squinting at him. stars, this kid was paranoid. or just a freak. probably both! to prove his point; the blonde put his arm around steve, a large grin on his face. the boy looked up at bill, puzzled before bill began to speak.

“hey, short-stack, when’s your birthday again?” steve blinked at bill before adjusting his glasses, confusion plaguing his face.

“translated into the earth calendar; my birthdays march 19th.” the boy answered before glancing back towards mabel. bill mockingly raise his eyebrow, a look of faux confusion on his face.

“what year?” the boy re-unlocked bills phone, getting back to where he was with his conversation. without taking his gaze off the phone, steve answered;

“2004.”

bill brought his at back to the table, hearing as steve continued conversing with mabel. he brought his eye back to dipper, a grin on his face, as he picked up his beverage. the blonde saw as the teen quickly wrote down something in his notepad, a look of disappointment coming quickly after. bill snickered at the display; it really was pitiful!

“so, find that secret code , pines?” bills laughs became louder as dipper glared at him, obviously trying to be intimidating. the blonde finished the last of his drink as he saw the waiter come over. right, food!

he picked up his menu, hearing as steve gave his order of chicken tender and french fries; how plain. but no matter how plain, he still found himself smiling as he looked through the dishes; his face being hidden by the menu.

Chapter Text

ford felt himself sweat in his suit as the temperature in the car got even hotter. ciphers human form apparently had the small flaw of always being cold. the scientist brought his eyes to the passenger seat, bill was doing god knows what on his phone. the blonde was also occasionally conversing with his faux child in the back seat. ford brought his gaze back to the road, a sigh leaving his lips.

he was forced to drive the two home because somebody decided to get intoxicated off of multiple dirty shirley’s and couldn’t drive safely. ford originally was going to put the weight on stanley to drive the blondes but stanley refused to drive a ‘drunk and annoying pest’. the scientist thought about it more and, maybe, if cipher did try to hurt someone in his car, it would be ford and not his twin. with that, he reluctantly took bills cars keys and started to drive towards the blondes house.

ford had to admit, ciphers car was a lot nicer than he thought it would be. it was a relatively new toyota prius, having only came out earlier that year. the outside of the car was a light yellow, the inside a inky black. on the rear view mirror dangled a small rat charm, something that immensely confused the scientist. the glove box and dashboard had little stickers and drawings on them; ford guessed they were done by stephen.

speaking of the boy, he perked up when he heard stephen speak.

“would you have given me some?”

“sure, kiddo, we have some at home.”

ford raised an eyebrow and glanced over to bill. the man’s makeup was beyond help, his mascara and lipstick smudged; ford was interested to see how the latter happened. though he could guess by the way bill had came back from the bathroom during dinner to flaunt a ‘brand new twenty dollars’ to steve. his once pristine suit jacket was being used as a blanket, on top of the heating.

“ooh! is it the expensive kind?”

“yes, it’s the expensive kind. you think i’m a cheapskate?” bill stuck his tongue out at the boy which earned him a giggle. ford furrowed his eyebrows, what were they talking about? using his practical thinking, he deciphered that they were talking about alcohol. well that’s not good parent material; not surprising for cipher. ford cleared his throat before addressing the blonde.

“what excellent parenting, cipher. i’m certain you’ll be the best father of the year.” fords statement was dripping with sarcasm; cipher could tell immediately. the blonde furrowed his eyebrows, a frown on his face. he pointed his phone towards the scientist.

“the hells that supposed to mean, sixer?”

“you know what it means, cipher. i thought you were all-knowing.” ford saw the way that bill glared at him, straightening himself before speaking.

“you shut the hell up, iq. you don’t know anything you’re talking about.” bills tone was fiery and quick; ford almost had him.

“i do, actually. i think it would be right to assume that you, the monster who almost ended the world, would not be a suitable parental figure.”

“bills a great parental figure!” steve’s voice came from the back seat.

“you don’t have to lie for him, stephen.”

even though he couldn’t see the boy, ford felt the way steve stared daggers at him. it almost made him feel hotter; though he would never admit to a kid making him nervous.

“oh, right ! fordsie here is an absolute genius! he has 12 phds so we have to believe him!” bills voice was on the edge of yelling, almost there.

“12 phds is certainly better than the fake one they most likely gave you. what were you occupying yourself with in therapy; manipulating the vulnerable minds of people who trusted you?”

that’s what made bill explode. that’s what made stanford get the reaction he wanted.

“listen, brainiac. if you don’t shut the hell up right now , i will make sure that this car will be painted red by the time i’m done with your ass.”

ford held back a smirk as he brought his gaze to the rear view mirror; hoping to see steve’s horrified face. something that showed he wasn’t a lost cause, that he wasn’t fully under bills control. some opposition. but all he was met with was the piercing eyes of the boy. he quickly brought his gaze back to the road; so this kid was a lost cause. it made ford bitter, he  should be the one to blame. he brought bill into this town, into this world and he let another innocent mind get infected with his lies. ford sighed as he addressed the blonde.

“such vulgar language isn’t good for a child.”

“stars, do you ever stop? i couldn’t care less about what’s ’good for a child’! you don’t know him!”

“well, of course, you wouldn’t. you’re a terrible person, cipher. and most definitely a terrible parent; i’m surprised stephen isn’t dead yet.”

he paused for a moment.

“though, knowing you, you’ll do it when he least expects it, when he trusts you.”

ford saw the way bills body tensed up; an almost hurt expression on his face. ford felt guilt for a split second before realizing it’s bill cipher; a demon who doesn’t feel anything. his thoughts were cut off by stephen screaming in his ear.

“what the heck is wrong with you!? disabling him wasn’t enough, now you need to be a jerkbag about him being a parent? stars, you suck!”

ford raised an eyebrow. disabling? disabling cipher? nonsense. just as he was about to speak, bill cut him off.

“drop it, kid. the assholes not worth it.”

“no! he needs to know-!“

“ kid .”

the boy shrunk as bills tone became wary, leaning back in his seat and letting out a huff. bill turned his body back towards the front of the car. the blonde turned his eye to the drivers seat, a frown on his face.

“when my kid goes over to the shack on saturday, if i hear anything about you saying something to him; i’ll make sure weirdmaggedon becomes a reality.”

ford felt himself tense up at bills comment; just as destructive as always. the scientist wondered why mabel even insisted on an ‘awake-over’, (where everyone stays awake, akin to an all nighter), with steve. sure, the boy was nice, if not a little dense, but he was still bill ciphers ‘child’. the girl seemed determined though, as she begged not only stanley, but ford and bill as well. stan gave in relatively quickly, but ford and bill were harder to budge. surprisingly, bill was the hardest to convince. after a couple minutes of pleading from steve and mabel, the blonde relented. only on the condition that steve called him every hour to check in.

ford huffed out a sigh of relief as bill told him to stop. the pale yellow house greeted him as he put the car in park, stopping it in the driveway. the elder man stepped out of the car, throwing the keys on bills lap in the process. bill scoffed as he opened his door and got out, steve following him. ford saw soos’ car stopped near the sidewalk, a smile on the aforementioned man’s face. he began to walk towards it, looking back only to see the front door closing.

‘thank goodness that’s over.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

steve quietly opened the bedroom door, peering at the bed. the face of a sleeping bill greeted him. he giggled softly as he made his way over to the bed. the boy made it to the side and stared at bill for a moment, xiggy making a chirping noise after a few seconds. steve brought his eyes up and smiled at the rodent on his head. the boy brought his gaze back down to bill, a smug smile on his face. he cleared his throat before yelling.

“BILL!”

bill shot up out of bed, a worried look on his face. the blondes breathing was heavy and labored, his eye darted around the room before it landed on steve. after a few moments, he noticed steve’s small smile. the older man glared at him when he saw steve’s grin. bill grunted as he got up, flicking the boy on his forehead in the process.

“never do that again, four-eyes.”

steve giggled as bill made his way towards the bathroom, following after him. the older blonde turned on the light and rummaged around in the sink drawers. steve dragged over a stepping stool that was resting on the wall, placing it in front of the sinks counter. the boy hopped onto it, bill closing the drawer as he did. he stared at himself in the mirror, then at bill, a grin on his face. bill rolled his eye as took his mascara out of the drawer. the man applied it, unblinking as he stared into his reflection. steve watched him before opening a drawer on his side of the sink, feeling as xiggy scurried off his head. the boy took out a tooth brush and toothpaste, placing them onto the counter as he closed the drawer. he heard as another one opened on bills side, the man searching for something.

bill closed it and brought out his own necessities. steve smiled at him as he watched xiggy climb on top of the faucet, perching herself as she watched the blondes. the boy turned the faucets knob, putting water on his toothbrush. he applied the toothpaste as he watched bill do the same thing, putting the brush in his mouth after a few moments. steve smiled at bill as the man applied his toothpaste; bill raising an eyebrow at him.

after brushing their teeth, the pair exited the bathroom, xiggy perched on bills shoulder.

“you sure you wanna go, short-stack? you’re not much of a sixer fan.”

bill leaned on the kitchen counter, a cup of coffee brewing behind him. steve looked at him from the dining table, mouth full of pb & j. the boy swallowed his fill before he spoke.

“i’m not there for stanford, i’m there for mabel!”

bill snorted and shrugged as he grabbed the now-ready coffee mug. he walked by steve, patting the boy on his head as he walked into the living room. the man plopped down onto the couch, shouting to steve as he picked up the remote.

“you packed?”

“yep! i got everything i need, bill.”

“alright, kid. remember to call-“

“-call you every hour and when i go to sleep. i know!”

bill put on a small grin as he flipped to the horror movies channel. settling into the couch as ‘frankenstein’ began to play. steve finished up the last of his food before putting his plate in the sink, rushing past bill and to the stairs.

“i’m going to take a shower!”

bills only response was a grunt as he took a sip of coffee. steve went up the stairs and grabbed a towel from his room, a gap-toothed smile on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“you positive you got everything, blondie?”

“yes, bill! and you’re blonde too!”

bill chuckled as he put his keys into the ignition and started the car. almost immediately after they exited their driveway, steve grabbed bills phone. the older blonde paid no mind to it until he heard new wave music coming from the radio. he scrunched his nose and turned his eye to steve, who was turning up the volume.

“the actual hell is this, blue?”

“it’s the talking heads!”

bill blinked at the boy as steve smiled up at him. he frowned as he brought his gaze back to the road, his ears being tortured. bill had heard of the band before but didn’t care much for them. he hated synthesized music, it hurt his ears.

“it’s disgusting. my ears are bleeding, kid.”

bill heard steve scoff next to him, the boy crossing his arms. the music played for about two more minutes before stopping and going to another new wave song. bill grimaced and snatched his phone out of steve’s hands, earning a ‘hey!’ from the boy.

“you had your turn, nicks. lemme show you some actually decent music!”

the man then proceeded to put on bohemian rhapsody. steve squinted his eyes at the radio in distaste, leaning back in his seat. a few minutes into the song, bill glanced over to the boy only to see him nodding his head to the music. bill let out a snicker, which caused steve to turn to him. the boy stuck his tongue out at the man and smiled; bill ruffling his hair in response. steve giggled as he reached for bills phone, the man giving it to him. and that’s how the car ride went; the blondes taking turns playing music. steve giggled, catching bill humming to eurythmics once. the older blondes face was red, adamantly denying it.

the pair were about five minutes away from the mystery shack when bill turned down the blondie song steve had just put on. the boy was about to protest until he looked at bill, the man’s expressions serious as he stared at the road. bill cleared his throat before speaking, gripping the steering wheel.

“stevie-sweetie, y’know you don’t have to go, right? you can just tell shooting star that you got the bubonic plague and-!”

“bill.”

bill shrunk in his seat when steve spoke, an almost uncomfortable look on his face. the boy sighed before speaking.

“i can tell you’re worried,” a gasp of offense came from beside steve, “but i’ll be fine. i’m a century old, i’ve been around the block!”

“that’s absolutely nothing, kid. you don’t know half the stuff you need to. and i am not worried; i just don’t feel like saving your ass if you get kidnapped.”

steve let out a quiet giggle at the man. he smiled as he vaguely made out the silhouette of the shack. the boy straightened himself in his seat, bringing his eyes back to bill. the man let out a sigh.

“bill, i’ll be fine. think they should know better than to mess with a kid who’s parent is law enforcement!”

“i just-..what? i’m not law enforcement!”

“but you work with law enforcement!”

“that’s not-! ugh, nevermind. just..promise to call me, okay?”

steve looked out the passenger side window as they parked in front of the mystery shack, smiling as he responded;

“okay.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

mabel grinned as she heard a knock on the door, rushing to open it. she pried open the door, smiling at steve who was carrying a backpack. next to him was bill, a frown on his face.

“eek! i’ve been waiting for you! come in!”

the girl dragged steve along, making the boy drop his luggage near the door. bill furrowed his eyebrows before stepping inside the shack, shutting the door behind him. he headed straight for the kitchen, passing mabel and steve in the living room, overhearing their conversation briefly. bill walked into the kitchen, leaning against the doorway. inside he saw the three other pines family members, all looking to stare at him.

“he’s here, i’ll be back on sunday to pick him up. if anything goes wrong, you have my number.”

he turned to leave before craning his head back to look at ford, glaring at the man.

“also, kids allergic to dairy.”

the only response he got was a nod. bill scoffed as he left the kitchen, now making his way to the living room. he peered in, smiling internally when he saw mabel and steve on the floor, talking. bill cleared his throat, grabbing the pairs attention.

“‘m heading out, short-stack. i’ll be back on sunday.. probably. ”

steve giggled as bill said the last word, knowing that he would never. he got up from his sitting position and rushed over to bill, hugging his legs. steve looked up at the blonde and smiled.

“okay, ta-ta, bill! promise to call you every hour.”

“you better, nicks.”

bill ruffled steve’s hair, feeling as xiggy climbed off his shoulder and settled into the boys hair. he snorted as he shot a glance to mabel, giving her a small wave before making his way to the exit. the blonde stopped outside, closing the door behind him. he sighed before heading to his car, opening the door and sitting in it. bill sat in silence for a couple moments before putting his keys in the ignition, reversing out of the shacks front area.

the car ride was uncomfortably quiet. usually steve would be blabbering on about anatomy, or historical paintings or anything that he liked. if it wasn’t the kids voice, it was his awful music. the music that bill hated, the music that made him want to rip his ears off. but it was silent, nothing but bills breathing and his car moving. he hated it. he really did. he realized that he hated the silence a lot more than the god-awful new wave music. because, at least, the music reminded him of steve. but the gnawing silence didnt remind him of steve. it reminded him of his thoughts, left alone with nothing to think about but them.

they started out tame enough; what he wanted for dinner, a case he was working on, something mundane. but then they started to get darker, more irrational; what if steve got kidnapped again?, how was he gonna deal with the deafening silence in their house?, what is he gonna do when steve leaves him?. he shrugged it off, just intrusive thoughts. humans have them all the time, only acting on them sometimes! so why does it matter? but then he came to a stoplight. his hands gripped the steering wheel as he blinked. in the split second of darkness, he saw a swirl of red and blue. his eyes widened, no. no. no, cipher. you’re just imagining it! but then it happened again, he tried not to blink but he could only go for so long.

another image, now a blue flame. he began to sweat.

no.

no.

don’t think about that.

why would you?

don’t.

stop.

then he blinked, his eye beginning to tear up.

screams filled his ears as he saw a yellow triangle standing above a roaring blue fire. he vaguely heard a raspy, feminine voice speak.

why did you do it?

the screams got louder as his breathing got faster. he blinked again and in front of him was ford, a smile on his face.

-call me a friend!

no.

he wasn’t like that anymore.

that wasn’t him.

another flash of ford came, a now angry look on his face. his hands were tied, they were in the fearamid.

i won’t let you into my mind!

another second of darkness came and he saw steve. or what he assumed to be steve, he couldn’t tell with how much blood covered the young boy. multiple flames surrounded them, burning the boy. but not bill, why can’t he get burned?

let him get burned.

steve raised his head to bill, a weak gap-toothed smile on his face. tears flowed out of the boys eyes, which were covered by the foggy glasses he wore. blood poured out of the boys mouth as he spoke.

why’d you do it, dad ?

the flames got higher, turning a darker shade of blue. bill felt himself sweat, but not get hot. his body remained cold, a chill running down his spine. even with his eye opened, he saw the image in front of him change.

the figures of ford, steve and.. her flashed rapidly. his ears were filled with whispers that soon turned into yelling, that eventually turned into screeches. bill tried to cover his ears, but he couldn’t. he was in his triangle form, he didn’t have anything to cover. all he could do was stare as tears fell from his eye, labored breathing coming from his form. the three voices screamed at him.

why did you it, bill?

why’d you do it, dad ?

why did you do it, billy?

why did you hurt mommy?

bill gasped as he heard a blaring car horn behind him. he brought his gaze to the rear view mirror, seeing as a truck incessantly honked at him. looking at the stoplight, he realized it had turned green. he sniffled as he pressed on the pedal. he vaguely felt the wetness coming from his eye, going down his face but he chose to ignore. he chose to ignore the way he trembled when he pulled into his driveway. he chose to ignore the fact that he wobbled to the front door. he chose to ignore the deafening silence of the house when he got inside. he chose to ignore the way he sobbed into his pillow.

and he definitely chose to ignore the aching pain in his entire body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“-so you got a date with..maria! now you call her!”

steve stared at mabel as she explained the game. he blinked as he looked down at the fake phone the game required, cringing internally. next to mabel sat dipper who was conversing with his grunkle ford. the elder man sat on a small stand next to the living room chair; which currently held stan pines. soos and melody were off on some vacation with abuelita. steve brought his gaze back to mabel, a grimace on his face.

“do i…have to?”

“if you wanna win, then obviously!”

“well, what’s she gonna say?”

“that’s the fun part; we don’t know!”

steve blinked a couple more times before sighing, picking up the toy phone. he swallowed as he heard a cheery female voice speak.

“hey, babes! you’re totes coming to our date, right? i know you are, hot shot! can’t wait to stare into your beautiful eyes as the candle illuminates your-!”

steve slammed the toy phone back down, almost breaking it. dipper jumped as the noise rang through the room. steve breathed heavily as his blurry vision cleared back up, bringing his gaze to mabel, who had a worried look on her face.

“steve, you..okay?”

“i don’t like this game.”

“what, why? what’d your girl say that was so bad? you can’t treat your girlfriend like that, steve-!”

“ she is not my girlfriend. ”

steve seethed, glaring at the toy phone. mabel blinked, raising an eyebrow. she looked at dipper, a questioning look on her face. her twin shrugged and she groaned internally, clearing her throat as she looked back at steve.

“i mean in real life, blondie! ya can’t treat a girl like that!”

steve’s glare was now directed at mabel. the girl thinks that the kids definitely got some of bills traits, like putting immediate fear into people. steve gritted his teeth as he spoke.

“i don’t intend to have a girlfriend. ever. ”

“what about a boyfriend? i bet i can-!”

“ no. ”

“well, then what will you have?”

“nobody. i don’t want a..partner.”

mabel frowned as she looked at steve’s face. he sighed before continuing.

“i haven’t told anyone this but..the thought of anything romantic..or intimate sickens me. it made me throw up once.”

mabel giggled quietly, earning a short glare from steve. she put her hands up in defense. just as she was about to speak, her grunkle stan did.

“so, what? ya ain’t gonna fall in love? sounds pretty miserable, blondie! and i know misery!”

steve put his knees up to his chest, wrapping his prosthetic arms around his legs.

“i knew you wouldn’t get it.”

mabel frowned before speaking.

“i..think i get it! so, you don’t wanna date anyone? nothing romantic, intimate, anything?”

steve nodded his head quickly.

“i think there’s a term for that! here, lemme-!”

the girl scooted closer to steve, pulling out her glittery phone. she quickly typed something up, shoving the screen into steve’s face when she was done. the boy squinted and adjusted his glasses before staring at the screen. the words ‘ aromantic-asexual ’ stuck out to him. he read the information then brought his eyes back to mabel.

“that seems...accurate.”

mabel’s brown eyes filled with a shimmer. she put her arm around steve, a large grin on her face.

“i’m gonna make you so much pride merch!”

steve smiled, not knowing whatever the girl was talking about. he just shrugged as him and mabel put away the game, settling for uno instead.

Chapter Text

ford slowly pried open his eyes, searching for his glasses on the nightstand. he slipped them on and pulled the covers off of himself, putting on his slippers as he stood up. the moonlight illuminated his room as he trudged to his door, yawning as he opened it. he stepped out into the dark hallway, making his way down the stairs. he passed the living room, smiling as he saw the three kids sleeping, the tv playing an old horror movie. steve was lying on the chair, a blanket covering him. mabel and dipper were infront of the furniture, heads resting on each other, a knitted blanket atop the twins. so much for an ‘awake-over’.

ford looked at the twins before continuing to walk. he finally got into the kitchen, stepping towards the cupboard. he opened the small wooden space, reaching for a glass. after getting one out, he walked towards the sink. he turned the handle on the faucet, his hand getting cold as the glass was filled with cool water. ford turned the stream off and sipped a bit from the glass, turning around. he nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the dark silhouette of steve, part of his face illuminated by the moonlight coming from the kitchen window. the boys glasses were barely on his eyes, almost falling off. his hair and pajamas were both a mess. his blonde curls stuck up at weird places, frizzing up in most of them. that wasn’t what caught ford off guard, though. he looked closer at the boy, squinting his eyes.

he was crying.

tears streamed down the boys face, the wetness shining in the light. steve was sniffling quietly, trembling as he stood in the doorway. snot ran from his nose as he opened his mouth, shaking as he did so.

“ i wanna go to bill.”

“bill isn’t here currently, stephen. what seems to be-?”

“ where is he? ”

the boy sounded frantic, his eyes widened. ford cleared his throat, stepping towards the boy. steve stepped back.

“he’s at your house.”

“ what did you do to him!? ”

“what? i did nothing. cipher is currently at your place of residence.”

steve glared at ford.

“ liar! tell me where he really is! ”

“i’m not lying, stephen.”

ford walked towards the boy, steve too busy in his own rambling to notice. the scientist grabbed the boy by his shoulders, leaning over him. what ford didn’t expect is steve to start screaming and thrashing. the boy cried loudly, mostly asking for bill or to let him go. ford didnt know what to do, so he tried stabling the boy. this proved to worsen things when steve suddenly fell to the ground in a heap of sobs. his metal hands intertwined in his hair, staring at the floor, yelling about how he wanted to go home.

the kitchen light was turned on, ford turned his gaze to the doorway. stan, dipper and mabel stood there dumbfounded. stan gave ford a skeptical look as mabel rushed over to steve’s side. she put a hand on his shoulder, almost immediately being slapped away. she winced and retracted her hand, rubbing the forming bruise. the boy curled into a ball, his sobs becoming louder. mabel looked at her grunkle, a distressed look on her face.

“grunkle ford! what’s wrong with him!?”

“i don’t know, mabel. i tried comforting him but he just collapsed to the floor!”

“what’s ‘comforting’ to you, sixer?” stan asked.

“he came into the kitchen, crying and talking about how he wanted to go to bill, so i tried soothing him by putting my hands on his shoulders!”

stanley blinked at his brother.

“you’re kidding, right, sixer? blondie comes in having a panic attack and you start crowding him?”

“i was not ‘crowding him ’, stanley.”

stan rolled his eyes as he looked at steve. the boys sobs had quieted down but he was still trembling. stan let out a sigh and brought his gaze back to his twin.

“‘m gonna take the kid home.”

“can i come!?” mabel piped up.

“if mabel’s going, i’d like to go!” dipper added.

“no, i’ll just bring stephen. i know where bills house is anyways.” ford spoke as he pinched the bridge of his nose. he looked at the younger twins as he spoke.

“and no. you cannot come, it is currently 3:10 AM .”

the twins groaned as stan ushered them upstairs to their room, sharing a glance with his twin as he left. ford brought his eyes to the now-unconscious steve. the scientist sighed as he picked the boy up, heading towards the shacks exit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the blonde shot up as he heard a loud banging sound. his eye shot around the room for the source of the noise. after a few seconds of nothing, he shrugged it off as being an auditory hallucination. bill laid back down, resting his head onto the pillow, his single eye closing. not even a second passed before the loud banging sound came back. he groaned as he pulled the covers off of himself, stomping to his bedroom door. he opened the door and headed down the stairs, eyeing his front door. his suspicions were confirmed as he heard three loud knocks against it. bill walked towards it, gritting his teeth.

‘this better be good or i swear to axolotl-‘

the blonde opened the door, looking up to see ford. bill blinked, a question on his tongue until he brought his eye down to something ford was holding. that eye widened, and twitched, when he saw an unconscious steve in his arms. bill glared at the man, an angry smile on his face, stepping closer to ford.

“sixer. you have three seconds to tell me why my kid is currently unconscious in your hands. make it snappy.”

“he fell asleep at the shack, it’s a long story.”

fords arms reached out in front of him, handing steve off to bill. the blonde held the boy, steve’s legs wrapped around his waist, his head on bills shoulder. bill raised an eyebrow as he stepped back inside the house, making his way towards the stairs. ford did what bill wanted him to do and entered in after him. the scientist closed the door as bill began to climb the stairs. when he got to the top, he walked towards steve’s door, opening it. he sighed as he walked to the boys bed, laying him down in it. steve stirred a little but ultimately stayed asleep, trembling. bill frowned and covered the boy up with his blankets, turning around and exiting the room.

once he got downstairs, he saw ford standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room. he snorted at the man, walking past him towards the kitchen. bill stood on his toes to reach the cupboard. he got a mug from the cabinet, calling out to ford.

“coffee?”

“oh, sure?”

bill picked up another mug and began to brew the coffee. he made his cup first, of course, mostly made up of oat milk and sugar. then he made fords cup, one sugar and a splash of milk. he brought the mugs into the living room, sitting next to ford who had found himself on the couch. he handed ford his mug, a red heart  design that read the words ‘#1 adoptive parent!’ , a gift from steve for ‘fathers day’, as humans loved to call it. he snickered as he turned the tv on, making sure the volume wasn’t enough to wake up steve. him and ford sat in silence for a moment, watching as ‘dracula’ played.

“how long is a ‘long story’, sixer?”

ford cleared his throat.

“it shouldn’t take more than five minutes.”

“then shoot, i’ll time ya.”

ford let out a quiet chuckle, taking a sip of his coffee before he started.

“well, i went to get a glass of water. next thing i know stephen is standing in the doorway and laminating about he wanted to see you. i then try comforting him but that made him collapse.”

“what the actual hell, sixer? how-?”

“i’m not finished, cipher. so the other residents woke up and i decided to bring stephen home. he was asleep when i put him in the car and only woke up once for less than a minute.”

bill blinked at ford. the blonde took a slow sip of his coffee, frowning as he finished it.

“the kid wanted me ? you sure it wasn’t some other blonde named bill?”

“i’m certain that it was you. unless you know another male with blonde hair that goes by the name bill.”

bill made a noise of understanding as he stared at the tv. ford cleared his throat as he looked at the movie playing.

“can i ask you a question?”

“depends on what it is, brainiac.”

“ why do you have stephen?”

bill blinked and brought his gaze to ford, looking up at him. the blonde sighed as he gestured with his hand.

“theraprism wanted me to learn empathy, the kid needed a guardian and they were optimistic.”

“why was stephen in therapy?”

“tried to take over the world.”

bill saw the way fords mouth opened but he cut him off.

“he was manipulated, brainiac. kid has the maturity of a child, it’s disturbing.”

“how so?”

“he could get hurt, he’s so vulnerable. anyone could manipulate him. hell, i probably would if i was century younger!”

ford blinked at bill before looking away, to a lone corner.

“so you…haven’t manipulated stephen?”

“i thought we went over this; no.”

“surprising. maybe therapy did do something to you.”

“gee thanks, sixer.”

ford rolled his eyes and took another sip of his coffee, it was surprisingly good. he had noticed it before but now he could tell that it was tailored to his tastes. the scientist doesn’t know how bill remembered something he told the blonde 30 years ago but he shrugged it off.  ford was about to ask another question but was cut off by the sound of footsteps. the pair turned their eyes to the stairs, after a few moments steve came down. he stood on one of the middle steps and peered down into the living room, a worried look on his face.

“bill? and... you. ”

ford swallowed nervously, averting his gaze from the boy who was currently glaring at him.

“hey, kid. you good?”

“can you…lay with me for a while?”

bill blinked for a couple moments before shrugging and finishing off his coffee. the blonde stood up and walked towards the stairs.

“sure, four-eyes.”

bill brought his gaze to ford.

“you’re free to leave, sixer.”

“are you asking me to leave?”

“did i say that? no. i said you’re free to leave, brainiac.”

bill rolled his eye as he ushered steve back upstairs. ford vaguely heard a door close and then silence. he sat awkwardly on the couch and looked at the movie playing.

‘i can stay for a little longer.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ford awoke with a gasp, feeling a cold wetness over his body. he blinked and looked up from where he was laying, steve stood with an empty glass. the boy furrowed his eyebrows and frowned.

“oops! that was a total accident, mr. pines!”

ford raised an eyebrow at the boy, planning on saying something before bill walked into the living room.

“kid, that was definitely not an accident. we need to up your lying skills.”

bill took a sip of…something from his mug as he smiled at steve. the boy pouted before going into the kitchen. bill brought his eye to ford, who was now fully up. the scientist glanced around the living room.

“morning, fordsie! y’know when i said ‘no’ to your question of leaving, didnt think you would stay for this long!” bill snorted at the man as ford got up from the couch.

ford looked around the room, searching for something. he brought his eyes back to bill, adjusting his glasses.

“what time is it currently?”

bill took his phone out of his pocket, looking for the time.

“it’s 8:30...annndd he’s gone.”

bill watched as ford ran to the door and pulled it open, slamming it behind him. the blonde looked at the trail of water the man left behind, groaning internally. he brought his gaze beside him when he heard steve talk.

“thank stars!”

bill snorted as he sipped his coffee, patting steve’s head as he went back into the kitchen, the boy following behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

stan let out a sigh of relief when he heard the door open, three pairs of footsteps coming in. he looked at the living room doorway, seeing as mabel, dipper and, thankfully, ford entered. ford had apparently been followed by the kids, who were previously outside doing…god knows what, when he came back. stan grinned at his brother.

“took ya long enough, sixer! the hell were you doing all night?”

ford brought his gaze to stan, clearing his throat.

“i may have…misjudged the time while i stayed there. i may have ended up asleep.”

stan cackled out a laugh.

“geez, ford! the old age is really catching up to ya!”

“we are the same age, stanley.”

stan shrugged before bringing his gaze back towards the tv. he briefly heard mabel talking about making steve and bill sweaters for their trouble, something ford surprisingly agreed with. stan tuned his family out as some cheesy romcom played.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“stephen?”

the triangle didn’t respond.

“stephen!”

steve flinched, now bringing his gaze up to his mother. her large green eye stared at him.

“sorry, mama.”

she sighed as she floated farther up, towards the stars. the white walls of their house were absent above them, opening their gazes to the beautiful nebula that lay above.

“i’m worried about you, stephen. me and your mother have tried to help you.”

steve floated up besides the larger purple triangle, resting his top angle on one of her sides.

“i don’t need help, mama! i feel okay!”

“you’ve begun to look down, you aren’t supposed to do that.”

“so i’m meant to follow some dumb rule thats been around forever?”

“it keeps us safe, stephen!”

“from what!?”

to that, his mother stayed silent. her green eye dropped and she looked away. just then, steve saw a flash of light orange beside him.

“stephen, don’t speak to your mother like that.”

steve brought his blue eye up to his mom, her yellow eye looking down at him. he glared at her before floating farther up and looking down at the two triangles.

“you don’t get it! why don’t you believe me!?”

“stephen, please-“

“no! i’m done with these stupid rules!”

the boy floated away, quickly leaving the pairs sight. verus put an arm around her wife, looking at the stars.

“he’ll come back, castifico. he always does.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“i don’t get it! why don’t they believe me?!”

the young triangle shouted to nobody in particular. not like anybody would be able to hear him anyways, he had went down. a direction they swore to never go. steve groaned aloud before stopping, hearing something. he looked around the endless expanse of stars, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. but then the noise came again, from below him. he brought his gaze down, seeing a small white line.

‘what the-?’ he thought.

then the noise came again, a laugh of some kind. steve looked around nervously before floating farther down, coming directly above the line. if it could be called a line. it glowed a faint white color, the edges of it seemed to be cracking out into the cosmos around it. steve blinked before squinting a little more as he heard another laugh. he was suddenly startled when, from the milky whiteness, came an eye. it looked up at him, seemingly smiling from the way it crinkled. its black iris searched around, looking at their surroundings, before bringing its gaze back to steve.

“hello, little one. what are you doing here?”

steve blinked once more, the deep voice catching him off guard. it somehow echoed through the endless stars.

“i..i got into a..fight. with my parents.”

“what for, little one?”

steve flew closer down, making eye contact with the eye.

“for looking down.”

“how peculiar. so you’ve decided to come down instead of just looking?”

steve nodded his form, or nodded as best he could without a head. the eye made a noise of understanding, looking off into the stars.

“what is your name, little one?”

“stephen. stephen pyramid.”

“what an unusual name.”

steve chose to take that as a compliment.

“what’s yours, mister?”

“kalumnia. it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

over the next few weeks, kalumnia and steve became friends. whenever he had a fight with his moms, he would go to kalumnia. the eye always seemed to know how to help him. that where he was right now, floating above the white rip. he was currently venting his frustrations to his friend.

“-don’t get it! they won’t believe me! i can’t make them look down, kal.”

the eye stayed quiet for a moment, humming after a while.

“may i make a suggestion, little one?”

“course, kal.”

kalumnia looked up at the triangle, a serious look.

“maybe, the people of sideralis would benefit from a change of routine.”

“what type of change?”

“a forceful change.”

steve squinted his eye at his friend, confused. kalumnia must have noticed because he continued.

“this change shall make them see down.”

steve’s eye lit up at the prospect. everyone could finally look down, they could finally see what he saw! his moms wouldn’t think he was crazy.

“what’s the plan, kal?”

Chapter Text

steve looked up from the floor of the living room, hearing a knock on the front door. he turned his head as bill got up from the couch behind him, walking towards it. bill opened the door, rubbing his eye. he brought his gaze to the teen girl standing there, next to her was her twin. great, the pines family.

“shooting star,” bill brought his gaze to the elder twins standing behind the teens, “and co.”

bill let out a noise of surprise when he felt a force knock into him. he hissed as his right leg got hit, definitely making his chronic pain flare up. bill glared down beside him, steve’s remorseful face looking back at him.

“ooh, sorry bill! is your leg okay?”

“it hurts more now, think you hit it when you knocked into me.”

steve frowned and looked away. bill sighed and ruffled the kids hair, looking back at the pines family.

“so, why’re you all here?”

“i made you guys sweaters!”

mabel produced a small bag, stretching it in front of her. bill blinked and raised an eyebrow at the girl, only being met with a large grin. he sighed before taking the bag from her, handing it off to steve. the boy smiled as he went back into the living room.

“that all?”

ford cleared his throat.

“cipher, you are a private detective, right?”

bill squinted at the man, where was this gonna go?

“yeah? what about it?”

ford looked around their surroundings, gesturing to the front door.

“it may be best if we talk inside.”

bill groaned before exiting to the living room, hearing the door shut after a few moments. an object was shoved into his face, another groan leaving the blondes mouth. he saw steve standing on his toes, grinning up at him, holding a sweater. bill rolled his eye before taking the piece of clothing. it was a pale yellow color, a small eye on the front of it. bill blinked before looking back down at steve, the boy already having his sweater on. the cloth was a light blue, a small rat on the front. speaking of rats, xiggy was perched on steve’s shoulder looking up at bill.

bill let out a huff before side-stepping the boy, returning to his seat on the couch. he saw as mabel looked around in awe, a stark contrast to her brother who was sweating nervously. both stan and ford had a neutral look on their faces, bill guessed it was because the latter had already been there. steve sat down next to him, grinning at their guests. bill scoffed and gestured for them to sit, the pines taking their seat on the floor.

“kay, so what’s this about, sixer?”

ford pulled out a paper from his trench coat, tossing it to bill. the blonde caught it and unrolled it, steve scooting closer beside him. the paper showed a young woman, maybe 20, with red hair and green eyes. she had a short wavy bob, and light freckles scattered on her face. bill squinted at the paper, he didn’t need to read her name to know who she was.

“liana j. smith.”

the blonde brought his gaze back to ford, the man nodding at bills statement. bill sighed and handed the poster off to steve, rubbing his temple.

“the name gives me a headache. donny’s been such an ass about making us find her.”

“donny?”

“my boss. my buildings been trying to find this chick for almost a month, it’s basically a lost cause at this point.”

“i wouldn’t be so sure, cipher.”

bill raised an eyebrow before ford produced another piece of paper. he gave it to the blonde, a serious look on his face. bill blinked before unrolling it, seeing a map of some sorts. a couple seconds of examining it told him that it was a map of the lakes in gravity falls. bill huffed out a breath, steve adjusting his glasses. the boy turned his eyes to ford.

“soo, what’s this supposed to mean? you could’ve at least come up with something presentable.”

bill snickered at the boys comment, ford glaring at him.

“well, stephen, we think there may be something cryptic at play.”

bill rolled his eye and grinned lazily at ford.

“what, champ the lake monster?”

“sirens.”

bill blinked before sighing.

“y’know, my expertise doesn’t lie in sirens, sixer. it lies in missing people, cheating spouses, shit like that.”

“is liana j. smith not a missing person?”

bill raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

“the hell does that redhead have to do with this?”

ford gestured to dipper, the teen nodding in response. the boy pulled out a journal, one that had a pine tree symbol on it. he flipped through the pages before stopping, turning it around so bill could see.

“i’ve made a diagram! 89% of all missing people in gravity falls were last seen by a lake!”

the teen beamed, clearly proud of his hard work. bill scoffed before getting up and grabbing the journal out of the boys hand, earning an angry ‘hey!’ from the teen. bill read the page, skeptical of dippers accuracy. but the closer he read, the more the kids findings began to make sense. some of the missing persons names stuck out, bill having worked on their cases. he read them in his head.

ralph dustin; found eviscerated by the east lake.

penelope adams; found with throat slit by the west lake.

sal jenkins; found with multiple chunks taken out of arms and legs by the south lake.

liana j. smith; still not found.

bill blinked before looking back at the family.

“some of those ‘missing people’ aren’t missing, pinetree.”

“they were found?”

“yeah, found dead.”

the room was quiet for a moment, a tense atmosphere. bill sighed before closing the book and tossing it back to dipper.

“listen, i don’t know what you’re suggesting but it’s a stupid idea.”

“it could help you find liana.”

bill glared at ford as he spoke. just as the blonde was about to say something, he remembered a detail about lianas case. he walked over to the couch, grabbing his briefcase from beside it. bill sat down and opened it, steve peering inside next to him. he shuffled through the files, pulling outs lianas. he skimmed through it until his eye caught what he was looking for, a smirk appearing on his face.

last known location: the northern lake.

bill brought his gaze back up to the pines family, a grin on his face. he locked eyes with ford.

“you might be on to something, sixer.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

steve adjusted his overalls as he heard bill shout from downstairs. he looked at himself in the mirror, smiling. ford had recommended to wear light clothing, something that was easy to move around in. the boy had chosen a light blue sweater, courtesy of mabel, and some denim overalls. he went over to his desk and picked up a fanny pack, clipping it around his waist. he giggled as he heard xiggy chirp from inside it, sticking her head out to look at him, steve smiled at the rodent and turned to his door as it opened.

bill leaned in the doorway, a smirk on his face. the blonde was wearing a yellow hoodie with a black vest over it, accompanied by denim shorts. steve glanced down at bills leg, sighing in relief when he saw the brace on it. bill gestured to the hallway.

“c’mon, kid, sixers got a problem with patience!”

steve giggled as he followed bill downstairs. the two put on their boots, bill shoving something into his inner vest pocket. steve raised an eyebrow and bill put his finger over his lips, a smile tugging at them. steve shrugged it off and opened the door, hearing as bill closed it behind him. the boy ran up to the car, mabel opening it from the inside. she grinned from the back seat.

“you’re wearing my sweater!”

steve smiled at the girl as she helped him inside, the boy sitting in one of the middle seats. bill patted himself down, making sure he had everything. after his brief search, he rounded the car, hopping into the other middle seat. ford adjusted his body, looking to the back of the car.

“does everybody have their seatbelts on?”

mabel and dipper answered with a verbal ‘yes!’ while bill clicked on his seatbelt. he looked over to steve, who seemed to be zoned out. he snapped his fingers in front of the boys face, earning no response. bill sighed and undid his own seatbelt, reaching over to click steve’s in. the boy flinched when bills arm reached across him, sighing when he recognized it was bill. the older blonde clicked the youngers belt in, moving back to click his own. bill looked at steve, who was smiling at him. bill smirked back.

stan started the car and off they were, to certain death. bill really doesn’t know why he agreed, and he especially doesn’t know why he let steve come. the kid was perfectly capable on his own, he knows how to make microwave mac and cheese—the kind without dairy! that should mean something, right? but no, steve pleaded and begged with bill until he agreed. literally, the kid clung to to bills side every moment until the man allowed him to come. it was almost endearing, in an annoying child way, but still endearing.

bill blinked as he looked out the window, endless trees flying by them. he sighed internally and slumped back in his seat, glancing over at steve. the boy was currently talking to mabel, the girl explaining how to play ‘pebble-tree-unicorn’. bill squinted at the two before looking back out the window, thinking; humans and their rituals.

he had decided early into their stay that some human rituals weren’t bad; one that came to mind was celebrated on ‘new years’. steve and him had just come to earth when the new year hit, the boy instantly looking for common traditions. steve found one he liked and showed it to bill; eating 12 grapes one-by-one between 12:00 and 12:01. bill scoffed at the idea but still indulged in it. and he had to admit, it was kind of fun. not that he would ever tell the boy, but it was a small thrill in this stupid life. bill also came up with another tradition; new year, new fear. the basic premise was to watch multiple horror movies together on january 1st. whichever person gets scared the least wins! (bill is proud to admit he won their first tradition.) the two had set up clickers that they could count whenever the other flinched, screamed or gasped.

bill smiled at the memory of both him and steve letting out a high pitch scream at a particularly well timed jumpscare. the former demon turned red when he stopped screaming, glaring at steve as he giggled. the blonde stopped smiling as he felt the car come to an abrupt stop, letting out a noise of surprise.

he glared at stan who was currently cackling, opening the drivers side door. bill sighed before unbuckling his seatbelt and stepping out of the vehicle. after a few moments, he heard the sound of running and turned his head. steve was rushing to his side, a smile on the boys face. the young blonde grabbed bills hand and ran to catch up with the pines family, much to bills dismay. they jogged their way there, bill limping all the way. the group finally made their way to the boat stand. bill looked out into the lake as he heard the worker speak.

“hello, welcome to gravity falls northern lake! what can i help you with?”

ford cleared his throat.

“how much would a…boat be for six people?”

the worker hummed before looking at the group, taking note of everyone. he looked down at a screen before looking back up after a few moments, a smile on his face.

“one of our medium sized boats should be about 500 dollars for a full day.”

stan audibly sputtered from his place besides ford. the elder man cleared his throat and put a shoulder around his brother, spinning him around. the two were now facing the rest of the group, stan whispering to them.

“listen, i say we distract the freak and rob ‘em.”

he apparently didn’t whisper quiet enough because the worker piped up.

“did you say you need one of our fishing rods?”

stan turned around to face the young man.

“no. i said ‘m gonna steal one of your boats.”

“stanley!”

ford yelled at the man as the worker squinted at the group, a strained smile on his face. the worker cleared his throat before gesturing to them.

“listen, sir…if you’re planning on stealing from us, i’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“fine, fine. i just—holy moly! what’s that?”

stan pointed to nothing in particular, making the worker turn his head. stan then sprinted towards the boats, climbing onto one of them while gesturing to the group. the other five people blinked at him, dumbfounded. the worker turned his gaze back towards the group and raised an eyebrow, a frown on his face.

“does he know that he has to have a key?”

“no, i do not think so.”

ford sighed before grabbing a wallet out of his coat pocket, taking something out of it. bill made a move to stop him, grinning up at the man.

“don’t worry, fordsie! this one’s on me!”

“i assure you that is not necessary, bill. i have the funds.”

bill shrugged as he pulled his wallet out.

“maybe but can’t i do something nice?”

“no, i can pay for it.”

“just let me pay for it, sixer.”

“i do not know why you would like to.”

bill rolled his eye, handing a card off to the worker.

“just take my card.”

ford huffed before pulling out his card, taking bills card from the worker.

“no, just take mine.”

bill glared up at the man, reaching for his card. ford made a move to hold it above the man.

steve watched as the two argued, bill trying to get his card back and ford insisting that he’ll pay for the boat. the boy could only share confused glances with the twins as they bickered.

“-it’s not even my money, sixer! my job gives me money for work related shit!”

ford blinked at the man before giving bill back his card, the blonde snatching it. bill had just turned to give the worker his card when the employee held a card and a receipt out.

“thank you for renting with us!”

bill blinked as ford took the receipt and card, smirking at the blonde. bill glared at the man as ford made his way to the boat, mumbling under his breath as he followed him. the three kids blinked once more before mabel grabbed the boys and ran towards the boat.

the worker sighed as the group made their way on the boat.

‘what a bunch of weirdos.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ford looked out into the lake, sighing as he leaned on the boats railing. he turned his head when he heard a noise, seeing as bill walked up to him. the blonde grinned at the man as he hoisted himself up, sitting on the boats railing. ford huffed out a breath, bringing his gaze back to the flowing water.

“that is not a safe way to sit, bill.”

bill snickered and shrugged as he looked at ford.

“surprised you care about my safety, sixer. don’t you hate me?”

ford sighed, resting his head in his propped up hand. he looked at the blonde who was currently grinning.

“i will not say that you aren’t still annoying and insufferable; because you are,” an offended gasp came from bill “but you do not seem to be as sadistic as you once were. you seem to have..changed.”

“aww, sixer! you’re making me blush!”

ford sputtered at the man, a response on his tongue. he was distracted by the sound of shouting and footsteps. the scientist watched as dipper and mabel ran, steve chasing them. ford smiled as the twins passed him, steve coming up behind them. the boy must have gotten too close to the railing because he ran into bills legs, effectively making the blonde lose his balance. bill let out a worried noise as he began to fall. ford panicked and grabbed the blonde by the front of his hoodie, which made bills legs reflexively wrap around his waist. bill grabbed ford by his coat as he breathed heavily, trembling slightly.

it took about three seconds for bill to lift his gaze from the water behind him to the man infront of him. the blonde blinked before cackling out loud as he saw fords face. the scientists cheeks had been tinted red, a bewildered look on his face. ford stared at bill as he laughed, his face getting even redder. the man pulled bills hoodie and stepped back, the blondes legs getting tighter around his waist. that was the only reaction bill had as the man kept cackling. ford glared at bill, grabbing onto his waist in an effort to get him off.

“bill, get off.”

“i can’t breathe! you shoulda seen your face, sixer!”

ford rolled his eyes, moving his hand to get bills legs off of himself. after forcefully removing his left leg, he began to work on the right one.

“ow! watch it, brainiac.”

ford raised an eyebrow, but relented and slowed his movements. when both of bills feet were on the ground, ford brushed himself off. bill wiped a tear from his eye and grinned up at the scientist.

“that was hilarious! we gotta do that again sometime!”

“what? no, we are not doing that again.”

“whatever you say, fordsie!”

ford glared down at the blonde, bill grinning up at him. the twos stare off was interrupted when they heard steve call for bill. bill yelled back and walked towards the boy, waving to ford as he left. the man blinked as he watched the two blondes walk away, a faint blush on his face.

‘get a hold of yourself, stanford.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the group was huddled together near the back of the boat, putting on their headphones. ford had the smart idea of wearing them so the sirens couldn’t hypnotize them. bill adjusted his pair over his ears, snapping next to them to make sure they worked. after testing, he looked down at steve, the boy smiling to himself. bill snickered and patted the boys head, looking up at ford as the man spoke.

“does everybody have their headphones on?”

the man’s shouting was met with nods from the group. ford cleared his throat and paced in front of the group.

“okay, here’s the plan; we spread out equal distance around the boat, looking into the water. sirens have bioluminescent properties so they should be easy to locate. if any of us were to see anything, we blow our whistles.”

ford gestured to the metal whistle around his neck. the man opened his mouth to speak before he was cut off by a high pitched noise. bill flinched as he brought his eye to the noise, steve grabbing onto him. mabel grinned as she brought her whistle from her face, looking at ford.

“sorry, grunkle ford! i had to make sure it worked!”

“that’s…fine, dearest. is everyone ready?”

mabel and dipper both nodded, the girl taking out a grabbling hook, much to her twins confusion. bill shrugged and patted his vest, steve holding onto him. stan made a show of putting on his brass knuckles. ford looked around the group and nodded, pulling his laser pistol out of its holster. the six people made their way to their stations, three people on each side of the boat. bill was situated at the right-front of the boat, looking down into the water.

the blonde sighed as he leaned over the railing, his head in a propped up hand. the man was humming to himself as he looked into the dark waves, his mind not truly focused on the water. bill blinked as the water splashed against the boat, rocking it gently. it gave him some sort of peace, as much peace as there could be in their situation. the man looked to his side, seeing mabel and stan; the two looking down into the waves. mabel was placed on the right back of the ship while stan was placed on the right middle.

bill turned his head to the other side, only being able to see fords back turned to him. he couldn’t see dipper nor steve but he knew that the older boy had been given the left back and steve had been given the left middle. the blonde sighed as he brought his gaze back to the water, a frown on his face. what a terrible way to waste his sunday. he could’ve been watching ‘frankenstein’ with steve while eating popcorn but no , he decided to come along this stupid trip. his inner thoughts were cut off by a hand tugging on his vest. he glanced next to him and saw steve, the boy grinning up at him. bill raised an eyebrow and fully turned his body towards the boy.

“what are you doing up front? thought sixer put you in the middle.”

bill gestured to ford who was still looking down into the water. steve glanced at ford and shrugged, reaching for bills hand. bill almost flinched when he felt the boys cold hand come into contact with his, odd; steve was basically a human heater. his prosthetics heated up pretty fast due to working hard—only the best for his fake kid! bill shrugged it off, they were at sea, it was pretty cold.

“c’mere! i wanna show you something!”

bill blinked as the boy guided him to the railing, hopping up to sit on it as he grinned at the man. steve patted the empty spot next to him, bill rolling his eye and hoisting himself up to sit on the railing. the two looked down into the water, a smile on steve’s face.

“see any sirens yet, four-eyes?”

steve giggled before shaking his head, looking up at bill. steve leaned to put his head on bills arm.

“hey, bill?”

“yeah?”

bill brought his gaze to the boys face, reflexively looking into his left eye; something he had a habit of. expecting to see blue, the older blonde was met with brown. bill blinked before looking at steve’s right eye; the light blue staring off into the water. bill stiffened as he examined the boys face closer, steve looked up at him and smiled, putting a hand on bills back.

“oops!”

bill had no time to react before he was pushed over the edge and into the dark water. his eye widened as he swallowed a handful of water before holding his breath. the blondes eye looked around frantically, not being able to see two feet in front of him. the man turned his head as he heard a loud splash a few feet in front of him, seeing as two floating dots came closer to him. the blonde frantically tried to swim away towards the direction of the boat. he was stopped with a firm hand on his arm, bringing his gaze to the entity.

stanford pines floating in front of him, a smile on his face. bills eye widened as the man’s hand caressed his cheek, grinning at the blonde. bills mind couldn’t register the fact that fords hand only had five fingers, he could only register the warmth of the man’s palm against his cheek. ford raised his other hand, moving it to the headphones bill was wearing. bill gently shook his head, invisible tears falling from his eye but made no move to stop the man. ford grinned as he removed the headphones, throwing them off into the dark sea. his brown eyes made contact with bills blue one.

“there we go, my muse.”

those words are what made bills mouth open, what made him start breathing. the blondes eye was glazed over as he felt the burn of the water going to his lungs. ford held him in place, sinking his teeth into bills shoulder. the blonde made a gurgled noise as he felt ford rip off a piece, red blood swarming around the two. this is what he wanted, right? it’s all he’s ever wanted. fords all he’s ever wanted. his tears  began to flow faster as bills vision darkened, a small smile on his face. just as he was about to pass out, he felt a force pull him up.

the blonde made a noise of pain as his back hit a hard surface, his vision not fully restored. he vaguely heard multiple voices shouting, blinking as he saw a figure looming over him.

“-ill! bill!”

steves worried face came into focus, ford standing behind him. the boy was leaned over bill. the older blonde then coughed violently, gagging as he shot up. bill keeled over as he expelled liquid from his stomach, the foamy pink color covering the deck. he felt a hand rubbing his back and looked beside him, seeing steve’s teary eyed face. bill looked to the boys left eye; a light blue stared back at him. before bill could think, he tackled the boy into a hug, steve making a noise of surprise. bill laughed tiredly, a pain in his throat present. the boy started audibly sobbing in bills arms, sniffling.

“i-i-! i thought y-you were d-dead!”

“i thought i was dead, kid!”

the tears from his eye fell onto the deck, a smile on the blondes face. he glanced to the pines family, specifically to ford.

“think you were right about those sirens, sixer.”

fords eyes widened as he rushed to the edge of the ship, aiming his laser pistol into the water. bill coughed as steve helped him up, the two limping towards the edge of the boat. the group looked down into the water, watching as multiple glowing orbs surrounded the boat.

“hey, look at that! it’s the whole siren family, sixer!”

bills raspy voice earned a glare from ford. the blonde let out a laugh before coughing, which made him throw up again. steve patted the man’s back and turned his gaze towards ford.

“what’s the plan, exactly?”

ford looked out into the water, a frown on his face. stan piped up from beside him.

“i say we punch ‘em in the gills!”

“that wouldn’t be wise, stanley.”

bill glanced at the twins bickering before bringing his gaze down to the water. after a few moments, he heard a beautiful sound. it was screaming, but it was the most angelic screaming the former demons ever heard. bill felt his eye water as he leaned farther off the railing, looking down into the glowing blue orbs. the blonde would’ve jumped off if he wasn’t pulled back by ford, the man staring down at him. bill didn’t register anything the man said, watching as his mouth moved. the serene voice still coming from the water.

“he doesn’t have his headphones.”

steve glared at ford when the man spoke, crossing his metal arms.

“what’s that mean?”

bills head was turned towards the sea, only to be turned back to fords as the scientist put his hands on either side of the man’s face.

“it means that he is able to be hypnotized.”

ford looked down at bills face, the man wearing a blown-out expression. the blondes eye was glazed over, glossy while tears threatened to spill. the man’s mouth twitched as it hung open, a faint blush on his face. ford blinked before swallowing, a red tint coming to spread across his own cheeks. the scientist turned back towards the group, clearing his throat.

“i will put cipher somewhere safe. stanley, keep the children safe and make sure they keep their headphones on.”

stan grunted at the command and brought his gaze back towards the lake. steve shot a glare to ford before huffing and looking at the sea.

ford ushered bill towards the back of the boat, the man limping the way there. after a few minutes of walking, they only made it to the left side before bill clung onto fords arm. the scientist looked down at the blonde, bill grinning lazily at him.

“y’know, sixer, you’re really hot. have i ever told you that?”

fords face became laughably red as bill giggled.

“right, uhm, bill..let’s just keep moving.”

bill groaned, not budging as ford began to walk. the blonde was effectively weighing the man down, ford gritting his teeth.

“fordsie! can you carry me?”

“what? no, bill-“

“pleaasee, doctor ?”

the nickname made ford sputter, a pink tint on his cheeks. the man huffed out a sigh as he gestured for bill to stay still. the man vibrated in turn, ford leaning down to put his hand on the inner part of bills knees, bringing his other hand to bills upper back. the blonde let out a sequel of excitement as ford picked him up, carrying him in his arms.

“content now, cipher?”

“course, sixer!”

ford groaned before resuming his walking, being interrupted by bill a couple seconds later.

“fordsie, the screams! they’re so pretty! can you bring me to them?”

bills head was lolled back, looking towards the ocean. ford adjusted his arms, bringing bill closer to him. the man brought his gaze to the blonde, a frown on his face.

“do not listen to them, cipher. look at me.”

bills head stayed staring at the ocean. ford let out a huff and adjusted his right arm so bills head was higher. the blonde was persistent and didn’t move his head. if anything, he moved more, a giggle escaping his lips.

“bill, turn to me.”

bill hummed but still continued to squirm in fords arms. ford huffed out a breath as he thought, an idea forming in his mind. he cleared his throat, looking at bill.

“my muse.”

that made bills head shoot up, a delirious smile on his face. the blonde giggled wildly, bringing a hand to his mouth.

“you called me your muse!”

“an occurrence that will never happen again.”

bill laughed and tucked his face into the crook of fords neck. he quietly blabbered about ford calling him ‘his muse’, much to fords embarrassment as he resumed his walking. the scientist let an undignified gasp as he felt something wet on his neck. he glanced down and saw as bill kissed it. the blonde left a small bite mark, kissing fords collarbone. bill let out an audible kissing sound for each piece of flesh his lips touched. his lips rested on the front of fords throat, suckling and nipping at the skin.

“b-bill. what are you doing?”

bill didn’t answer as he worked his way to fords shoulder, sinking his teeth into the pale flesh. ford hissed as bill bit down particularly hard, certainly drawing blood. the scientist continued to walk, his legs feeling like jelly. he was acutely aware of the sucking sensation on his neck, his breathing ragged. why didn’t he stop him? ford had the means to; so why didn’t he stop him? they finally made it to the back of the boat, much to fords relief. bill was sucking on his neck when he put the man down, earning a whine from him. ford sighed as the man clung onto him, the scientist leaning over the smaller man.

“fordsie, cmon!”

“what are you asking of me?”

“ugh, i don’t know! something!”

ford blinked as he looked down at the man, who’s face had gotten redder. there was a small drop of saliva by the corner of his mouth.   ford grumbled and turned away, much to the dismay of bill. he reached for his bag, discarded on the back deck. inside were three spare headphones, just in case. ford pulled a pair out and turned back towards bill, leaning over the blonde as he situated them on his head. bill blinked a couple times before shaking his head, a grin on his face.

“hey, look at that! don’t hear their screams anymore, sixer!”

“thank tesla.”

bill got up and stretched his arms, laughing at the audible pop they made. ford stood next to him.

“do you remember anything?”

“hm, lemme see!”

bill thought for a few moments before a grin appeared on his face.

“okay, so, i was at my station when short-stack came up to me-!”

“do you mean stephen?”

“yes, brainiac. anyways, me and him sit on the edge of the railing together, he pushes me off, i get a piece of my shoulder torn off!”

bill gestured to his right shoulder, the cloth ripped and a bleeding wound greeted ford.

“then i get pulled back up, get hypnotized, flirt with you and this is where i ended up!”

ford blinked before his eyes widened, a blush across his face.

“you..recall flirting with me?”

“course, sixer! it’s like when i took control of you, you could see and feel everything happening but it wasn’t you. ”

ford cleared his throat and looked off into the ocean.

“so, you didn’t mean any of that?”

“hold your horses, brainiac! i never said any of that!”

bill looked up at the man with a smirk, ford glaring at him. the two were interrupted by the sound of screams, the pair snapping their heads towards the front of the boat. their eyes looked at each other, wide before they both ran. well, ford ran and bill limped. the scientist looked back at the blonde before huffing, picking him up with one arm and rushing towards the noise. bill was still in his arm as ford reached the front, widening his eyes.

stan was leaning over the edge, the three kids trying to pull him back. a bird-like figure was climbing onto the boat, screeching. ford still held bill as the blonde reached into vest. the blonde pulled out a gun of some kind, fords eyes widening. bill whistled, gaining the attention of four people and one siren.

“hey, fishy!”

he pointed the gun towards the monster, a large grin on his face.

“this might be shocking!”

bill clicked the trigger and the siren screeched in pain as the electric shock overwhelmed its body. bill flung the taser over the edge, throwing it into the ocean, the siren going with it. the water below them filled with an electric current, earning the sound of multiple screams. bill grinned smugly, looking at the four. stan blinked as mabel slipped the headphones back on his head, standing on her tippy toes.

“how was that for a pun?”

“it was terrible.”

bill glared at dipper, the boy crossing his arms. steve ran towards bill, ford putting the blonde down. the boy hugged bills legs, a smile on his face.

“bill!”

“stevie-sweetie.”

steve giggled as bill ruffled his hair. the tender moment was interrupted by a raspy screech, the group turning their gaze to the ocean. bill huffed before pulling another object out of his vest, passing one of them to steve. the boy laughed as he caught the pistol in his hands, watching as bill cocked his own gun. ford looked at the two, laser pistol in hand.

“why did you give him a gun!?” the scientist asked. bill shrugged and walked closer to the edge, the two following him. the group looked into the water, everyone holding their respective weapons. they turned their heads as they heard a splash, ford firing his pistol. the man apparently missed as another splash came.

“a bit trigger happy, eh, sixer?” stan grinned. ford rolled his eyes before bringing them to the other splash. the man brought up his pistol, aiming it into the now-still water. after a few seconds, another splash came. ford fired and he seemed to hit the target, by the sound of the pained screech and then silence. the groups paused, waiting for anymore noise. after about a minute, mabel cheered out and grabbed her twin.

“we did, bro-bro! go team pines!”

mabel grabbed her grunkles and brought them into a group hug, a large smile on her face. the two blondes watched, standing beside each other. steve looked up at bill, a nervous smile on his face.

“team cipher?”

bill snorted and picked the kid up, spinning around. the act elicited a loud giggle from the boy, a gap-toothed grin on his face.

“team cipher, kid!”

bill stopped spinning after a few more seconds, placing the kid down. the kid wobbled, to which bill cackled. the blondes conversed, ford walking up to them. the scientist cleared his throat, the pair turning to him. steve glared while holding onto bill, the older blonde giving ford a grin.

“cipher, i will say this only once; thank you for your assistance.”

“aw! no problem, fordsie!”

“there definitely was a problem..” steve grumbled, earning a snicker from bill. the group was suddenly lurched forward, their boat coming to an abrupt stop. they all ran towards the back of the boat, seeing as they stopped near land. bill looked down at the grassy ground, trees further away. the blonde squinted as he saw a blurry figure laying on the ground, unmoving. the red hair stood out to him, his eye widening. in one swift move, he hopped over the railing and onto the grass beneath. he rushed over to the figure, the group yelling at him as he did.

his eye twitched as he looked down at a woman’s body. her torso was ripped open, blood and intestines showing. the crimson substance pooled around her on the grass, staining her clothes. bill brought his eye up to her face, a grimace on his. half of her face was gone, the pink brain being exposed. blood still dropped from her head as bill looked to her eye; it was still glancing around wildly .

stars, she was alive. bill sat down next to the woman, a frown on his face. the girl looked up at him, fear in her eye.

“you’re liana j. smith.”

bill smiled sickly as the woman began to tear up.

“my boss is gonna be so happy i found you.”

after a few moments of hearing pained gasps, the woman eventually became silent. her eye was glazed over as bill looked her over one more time.

liana j. smith; found emboweled and with half of face missing near the north lake.

bill sighed as he got up, heading back towards the boat, fishing his phone out of his pocket. steve helped him climb back up as he dialed a number.

“hello?”

“hey, boss. remember liana j. smith?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“bye steve, bye bill!” mabel yelled and waved to the blondes as they pulled out of their driveway. steve smiled and waved back as bill unlocked the door, stepping inside. the boy followed him and the door closed.

mabel slumped back in her seat, a smile on her face. her twin sat next to her, writing in his journal. mabel hummed to herself as they began to drive, being stopped by a tap on her shoulder. she glanced over to his brother, who had a serious look on his face. he gestured for her to come closer, the girl leaning in. the boy put a hand next to his mouth, whispering to his sister.

“mabel, does grunkle ford seem weird right now?”

“not anymore weird than an old man can get!”

dipper rolled his eyes and continued.

“no, it’s just—he has marks on his neck. i think bill tried to strangle him.”

mabel looked over to ford who was sitting in the passenger seat, writing something down. a quick glance at his neck confirmed dippers words, a couple dark spots lay on it. the girl brought her gaze back to dipper, an eyebrow raised.

“dippy-dopper, i don’t think that happened! plus, wouldn’t we have heard grunkle ford shouting?”

“then what else explains it, mabel? it’s bill cipher—he’s not above it!”

“don’t know, don’t care, bro-bro! you can’t let bill get you all paranoid.”

dipper huffed out a breath before leaning back in his seat, quickly writing something down. mabel giggled at her brother before turning her gaze to the window. she wanted to think bill had changed, she really did. but what were those marks? maybe ford had scratched his neck? she did see him scratching the back of it when bill and steve were talking, before he walked up to them. maybe that’s it! yeah, grunkle ford just scratched his neck too hard.

but a little voice in the back of her mind told her it had something do with bill. no, can’t let dippers nerd ramblings get into her head! she was supposed to be the positive one—if she didn’t believe in bill, then who would? she had to forgive him, she had to be the kind, bubbly girl everyone thought she was.

she had to be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“—think you can do that, little one?”

steve nodded his body and floated closer to the white crack below. he reached a leg out, recoiling back as the white abyss seemed to burn him. he squinted his eye before letting out a sigh; ‘for my moms. for sideralis.’

steve pressed his leg into the crack, tears forming in his eye as he felt a scalding hot burn on his leg. the boy persisted, hooking his leg into the white space. he floated to the side, bringing the crack further to him—further into the endless stars. then, he floated up, a white hot sensation spreading throughout his form. he opened the eye he hadn’t realized he closed—the pain overwhelming him.

the screams were the first thing he heard, filling the white void. his eye darted around wildly, gray flames met his vision. multiple triangles, multiple shapes were floating around aimlessly—screeching in what seemed to be pain. out of habit, he yelled out.

“mama!? mommy!? where are you guys!?”

“stevie!”

steve turned around, met with the sight of his parents. their forms were being burned by gray fire, ashes floating from them. tears sprung from the boys eye as he flew to them and hugged their forms.

“no, no! i’m so sorry, mama! i’m so sorry!”

“stevie..”

steve brought his gaze up to his mothers, their eyes were crinkled. until they were burned away, ashes replacing them. then their bodies disappeared, steve’s arms now hugging nothing but floating ashes. his mothers hat in his hands. the screams were still ringing in his mind when he full on sobbed, reaching for the ashes—but to no avail. they flew up and out of his sight, no matter how high he floated.

he eventually heard the screams stop after what felt like hours, tiredly glancing around the white void. into his vision came the familiar eye, looking around. kalumnia let out a deep chuckle at the floating ashes, eventually bringing his gaze to steve.

“oh, you’re still alive? you are tougher than you look, little one.”

kalumnias full form now turned around. the eye had gotten bigger, a black circle now surrounding it. the black circle had four lines protruding from it, all equal distance apart. on each side of the lines held two x’s. the black circle seemed to be engraved, white writings of kalumnias name forwards and backwards—along with the word ‘indubito’ etched near the bottom. the space between his eye and the circle was a a dark gray, the edges of the circle glowed a faint white color. his pupil was no circle anymore, it was a cross—along with protruding lines from each inner corner, like a terribly drawn north star.

“kal..what did you do?”

the eye blinked and was suddenly floating directly in front of the triangle.

“the question you should be asking, little one—is what did you do?”

steve looked up at the entity and shook his form, kalumnia continuing.

“you allowed me into your dimension. technically, you’re to blame.”

“no—no! i would never-!”

“but you did, little one. you killed the people of sideralis, you killed your mothers.”

steve’s eye widened and twitched, tears falling into the white void. he looked up at the floating ashes in horror.

“you’re a monster.”

“stop it—stop this, please!”

“you cannot undo anything that you’ve already done, little one.”

the pain and emotions mixed inside the young triangle, hiccuping and sobbing as kalumnia continued.

“i’m the only being who would be around you after this—in fact, maybe i should leave. i wouldn’t want to stay around a mon-“

“no, please! please don’t leave me, kal!”

the eye smiled at the begging, contemplating.

“fine, i shall stay. but you’re lucky i’m even allowing you that privilege.”

“t—thank you, kal.”

“thank goodness you’re not a complete monster—you still have manners.”

steve didn’t answer to that, the burning sensation overwhelming him as he looked around the empty void.

“now—let us get out of this boring void. there’s nothing else i need from this dimension.”

the eye blinked and steve found himself in another place. he couldn’t even register where they were as he closed his eye, tears still flowing.

‘i’m a monster.’

Chapter Text

steve hurried back in the house after checking their mail, a grin on his face. he slammed the door shut, rushing into the kitchen where he knew bill would be. the man was currently sitting at their dining table, multiple papers in front of him, his eye wide and unblinking. steve ran up to bill and slammed a paper onto the pile already there, earning a shout from bill.

“kid, what the hell!? this is an important case!”

“but look!”

steve shoved the paper into bills face, a groan coming from the man. bill took the paper from the boy, examining it for a few moments. a sigh left his lips and crumbled the paper up, tossing it back to steve.

“human parties are a lot more boring than you think.”

“aw, cmon, bill!”

“no. what’s the point of a party if there’s no fire? or cannibalism? or both!? plus, a party by that hillbilly seems extra boring!”

steve pouted at bills words, uncrumbling the paper. it was dirty and straightforward—a party at the mcgucket mansion. a mansion!

“but biiilll!! it’s at a mansion!”

“mansion, schmansion, kid.”

steve let out a huff, crossing his arms. bill sighed before snapping his fingers a couple times in thought.

“i’m spoiling you way too much, nicks.”

steve squealed when he heard bills words, that meant yes! he hugged the man and jumped up and down.

“thank you, bill! i swear it’ll be fun!”

“i doubt it, blue.”

bill brought his gaze back to his papers, a smile making its way onto his face.

“i doubt it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“why can’t we just wear what we wore to callowicks?”

“because, dip-dop! we can’t be known as outfit repeaters!”

dipper blinked at his sister before adjusting his tie. mabel had gotten him a navy suit vest, the coat was currently tied around his waist. he wore matching trousers. his twin had opted for a puffy pink dress, her star earrings dangling from her ears. her hair was styled into two space buns.

the twins heard as their grunkles bickered near the front door. mabel grabbed her brother and ran towards them. she shrieked and pulled the men into a group hug, earning a surprised gasp from ford.

the man was wearing a burgundy suit, the corduroy material fitting perfectly onto his skin. ford adjusted his black tie, adjusting his glasses as mabel let the two go. stan was wearing a matching black suit, complimented by a burgundy tie. mabel thought it was a smart idea to invert the colors—she was right!

“okay! is everybody ready for mcguckets super awesome mansion party!?”

“why do you have to mention that he’s in a mansion?”

“because, bro-bro! mansions are cool!”

mabel grabbed the three, stan grabbing his keys as she dragged them out to the car. this was gonna be a fun night!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ooh! can you do my makeup!?”

bill was currently in the bathroom applying his mascara, steve sitting on the counter, kicking his legs back and forth. bill scoffed and glanced at the kid, capping his mascara.

“sure, kid. just gotta add a few finishing touches!”

the boy smiled at the man, xiggy popping out of his coat pocket. the rat had a small bow on her head, something steve thought of. the boy was currently wearing a light blue suit with black accents—bill was sure it was the same one that ford had worn when he was younger. the man snorted at the thought and reached for his lipgloss, steve handing it to him. he briefly thanked the boy and applied the product, his lips shining in the bathroom light.

bill looked at himself and grinned, he didn’t look awful. he was wearing a black mini dress, the off-the shoulder neckwear complimenting his collarbones. on his hands were bright yellow gloves, accompanied by matching yellow tights, both sparkling in glitter. his waist held a triangle belt—a gift from steve. on his feet were black heels. steve had braided the two long strands of his hair, something that mabel apparently taught him. the boy adding little clips and beads into bills hair.

bill brought his eye to the boy and smirked, reaching into the makeup bag.

“kay, short-stack! let’s make you glamorous!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

mabel jumped out of the car, dragging dipper along with her. her grunkles followed the twins, ford looking up at the large mansion. her squinted and adjusted his glasses as the family walked inside. fiddleford was talking to a woman ford didn’t recognize when he spotted the pines, waving to them. after saying their goodbyes presumably, the man walked over to them.

“pines family! thought y’all wasn’t gonna make it!”

mabel hugged the man, a large grin on her face.

“we’d never miss a party in a mansion by you!”

fiddleford chuckled at the girl as she let him go.

“well, just holler if ya’ fellers need anything!”

the family nodded and made their way into the crowd, mabel looking around in awe. she dragged her twin along, the elder men right behind them.

“this place is so fancy!”

“haven’t we been here before, mabel?”

dipper stared at his sister, confusion plaguing his face. she rolled her eyes.

“yeah! but that was when it was paz’s mansion!”

dipper shrugged. ford looked around the large space, cringing internally. it was way too bright, the lights giving him a headache. the noise of multiple people talking overwhelmed him to a disturbing degree. he was startled when he felt an arm wrap around him.

“you good, sixer?”

ford sighed and looked at his brother, nodding.

“yes—it’s just..”

ford gestured his hand, stan nodded. his brother shrugged and removed his arm, a response on his tongue until the family was suddenly stopped. mabel let out a small shout, having bumped into someone. everyone brought their gaze to the individual, mabel gasping in glee when she saw who it was.

“steve!”

mabel grinned and hugged the boy tightly, the blonde flinching.

“mabel—and pines family.”

mabel let the boy go, now holding onto his shoulders. she eyed the boys outfit and smiled widely.

“your suit, it looks amazing!”

the boy adjusted his glasses and smiled nervously at the girl.

“thank you. bill said something about how ‘we can’t be outfit repeaters’.”

the girl let go of steve, backing up so she was back to her brothers side. she shot finger guns to the boy.

“couldn’t agree more! where is bill, anyways?”

“right here, star!”

mabel and dipper whipped their head back as they heard a voice behind them. ford let out a surprised noise as bill suddenly appeared next to him, drinking out of a red solo cup. stan laughed at his brother as bill walked towards steve, situating himself next to the boy. he handed steve another cup, the boy happily taking it. bill grinned as he eyed the pines family.

“gotta say, estrella, love the chaotic outfit!”

mabel giggled and twirled, her bright pink dress rustling. she grinned at bill, gesturing to his dress.

“i have to agree, yellow! you look great!”

bill raised his cup to the girl, some sort of mock toast, before drinking it.

ford blinked at bill, a faint blush on his face. oh tesla—he looked amazing. his accessories sparkled in the harsh lights, glinting onto fords lenses. the black dress hugged his hips perfectly, and sagged slightly near his chest. his black eyeshadow complimented the dark attire, the glittery lipgloss shining as he smiled. ford furrowed his eyebrows and cleared his throat.

“i am..surprised you look so put together, cipher.”

bill snorted at fords comment and downed the last of his beverage.

“why? i was dressed up at stars little apology party!”

ford glanced away from the man, his face getting hotter. bill snickered at the obvious blush on fords face. he brought his gaze to steve, grinning as the boy finished his drink. he bent over, leveling his face to steve’s.

“hey, kid! think that’ll be your last drink for the night?”

steve raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

“most likely—why?”

“good! let’s go spike the punch!”

steve’s eyes widened before the boy smiled, bill hoisting him up, carrying the boy on his side. steve giggled from bills side, cheering.

“okay, let’s make a beeline for the punch table, my arm already hurts.”

bill left into the crowd, the family staring dumbfounded. ford then rushed off in the direction that bill left, obviously trying to stop him. mabel giggled as she dragged her brother to dance, leaving stan standing alone.

“what the hell just happened?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

steve sat on the table, kicking his legs as bill pulled a bottle out of his purse. ford was next to the man, urging him to not.

“cipher, i do not think it would be wise to spike the punch.”

bill uncapped the bottle and shrugged, pouring the contents into the red liquid. he smiled as he grasped onto the ladle, stirring the contents. ford glared down at the blonde, adjusting his glasses.

“please tell me it is not a strong alcohol.”

bill shook his head and stopped stirring, turning towards ford.

“nah, it’s just isopropyl! nothing serious!”

“WHAT!?”

fords eyes widened as he yelled, his mouth hanging open. bill raised an eyebrow before picking up a cup and pouring the drink into it.

“geez, sixer. what’s all the fuss for?”

fords eye twitched as he watched bill bring the cup to his mouth, about to drink it. ford grabbed his wrist, effectively stopping him. bill glared up at him.

“brainiac, i’m over a trillion years old—i’m old enough to drink!”

fords eyes widened even more, how the hell was he being so calm?

“bill. that is isopropyl alcohol.”

“yes?”

“that is pure alcohol.”

“ding, ding, ding! we should get you a prize, i.q.!” bill responded sarcastically.

“that will severely damage your body if you ingest it.”

“never hurt me before.”

“you were not human before.”

“ooh! i wanna try!” came steves shout, the boy scooting across the table to snatch the drink out of bills hand. fords face went pale as he knocked the drink out of steve’s metal hand. steve glared at the man and pouted.

“neither of you are drinking this. in fact,” ford reached into his inner suit pocket, pulling out a piece of paper and pen, scribbling something onto it, “nobody at this party is drinking it.”

ford stuck a paper in front of the punch bowl. it read: ‘lethal to drink—do NOT ingest.’

bill scoffed and rolled his eye, grabbing another cup. he instead reached for the ladle in the water bowl, something he found laughable. who has a designated water bowl at a party? the blonde poured his drink and pointed at the two men—well, one man and one child.

“you nerds have fun, i’m gonna go party!”

ford sputtered at the blonde as he walked away. he brought his eyes to steve, the boy glaring at him. ford cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses, eyeing the boy.

“you…you know, i’m certain i wore the same exact suit to my high schools prom.”

steve scoffed and looked away, crossing his prosthetic arms.

“great, i’ll be sure to burn it when i get home.”

ford sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“listen, stephen..i know we may have gotten off on the wrong foot-“

“wrong foot? wrong foot!? you disabled my dad and criticized his parenting! you didn’t even apologize to him!”

ford cringed as the boy yelled at him.

“bill is not truly your father-“

“he’s the only father i’ve ever had! and it’s going to stay that way until i die! or until he..—”

fords eyes widened as steve looked away from him, tears forming in his eyes. the scientist frowned.

“stephen..”

“don’t call me that! leave me alone, stanford!”

ford flinched as the boy snapped at him, glaring at the man through teary eyes. ford sighed before nodding his head and making his way into the crowd. steve jumped off of the table and ran to the nearest door—which happened to lead to a supply closet. after slamming the door shut, he curled into a ball, sobbing in the dark room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“little one?”

steve raised his eye to kalumnia, the entity floating above him.

“yes, kal?”

the entity floated in front of the triangle.

“have you heard that bill cipher has been defeated?”

if steve had eyebrows, one would’ve been raised. who was that?

“i..don’t think i know who that is, kal.”

“oh, just one of the bastards that didn’t hold up their end of the deal.”

steve hummed.

“that sucks, kal.”

the comment had came up more sarcastic than he’d hoped. the triangle flinched as kalumnia stared at him, his eye crinkled.

“what did you say, little one?”

“i—i didn’t mean it like that, kal! i promise!”

kalumnia let out a deep laugh.

“i think we need to fix your attitude, stephen.”

steve flinched as his body was held in place, a white glow emitting from it. he hiccuped as kalumnia stared down at him, humming thoughtfully. those hiccups turned into screams as he felt a searing pain envelop his left side. his eye darted to the side, seeing as his arm was slowly torn off. the triangle screamed, tears falling from his eye.

“kal—kal! i’m sorry! i didnt mean it!”

“it’s too late, stephen. in any case, a monster like you deserves this.”

steve sobbed and screamed as his arm was fully pulled off, blue blood dripping onto the ground. his screams hitched as he heard two other voices—two familiar voices. he glanced up at kalumnia, where they were coming from. he hated when kal did this—hated when he made his voice sound like his parents.

“you’re a monster, stevie.”

steve closed his eye as his other arm began to be torn off, sobbing quietly. his moms words rang in his mind.

“your mothers right, stephen. i can’t believe we ever loved you.”

steve’s sobs became louder, trying to drown out the voice of his mother. no. no.

“why did you do it, steve?”

his moms voices played simultaneously as his arm fell to the ground, along with his form. he wheezed and twitched, tears flowing from his eye. kalumnia looked down at him, the eye smiling. his deep voice invaded steve’s mind.

“get up. we have much to do, little one.”

and steve could only obey, the searing pain overtaking his body as he floated up to kalumnia, watching his detached arms leave his vision.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

steve opened his eyes, tiredness plaguing him. he looked around the dark space, shoot! how long had he been out? checking his watch said about only five minutes, much to his relief. the yawned and rubbed his eyes, stepping out into the party. he looked around the crowd before walking towards a familiar head of blonde hair. the boy made his way to bills side, the man conversing with ford. steve glared at the man before holding onto bills hand, startling the blonde. bill looked down and smiled at him.

“there you are, blue! thought ya died!”

steve smiled slightly, resting his head on bills arm. a song blared over the speakers, quickly fading into another. bill grinned and looked at the speakers.

“hey, i love this song!”

bill shook his arm softly, steve looking up at him.

“stevie-sweetie, come dance with me!”

steve grinned and nodded, following bill further into the crowd. the lyrics started up as bill took steve’s hands.

“we can write—the chapters of existence, starting now!” bill sang, as steve put his feet onto bills. steve had heard this song before, bill played it in the car a lot. so he was proud of himself when he sang the next verse.

“starting now; we’ll throw it all down!”

bill chuckled at the boy as he moved his legs, effectively moving steve with him. the older blonde couldn’t do much with his messed up leg but he made the best of it.

“i can see the shadows in the water, on the ground!”

bill spun around, eliciting a giggle from steve as the man sang. steve giggled harder as bill dipped the both of them down, the man groaning in pain before shooting back up.

“on the ground, they follow me around!”

steve sang as bill laughed, spinning the two again. the chorus came; much to the pairs delight.

“behind every story, there’s a quick end!” bill belted.

“behind every smile, there’s a clown!” steve sang.

they sang the next part together, a grin on both their faces.

“to understand it—guess i’d have to be a dead man!”

bill leaned down to be face level with steve as they both belted.

“trying not to laugh. out. loud!”

steve giggled as he removed his feet, now just swaying with bill as the man sang further.

“i can hear a lonely operator on the phone!”

steve laughed as he sang.

“on the phone—she can’t call home!”

bill snickered, twirling the boy.

“overseas— the burns are third degrees.”

steve ignored the way bills tone got colder at the last line, singing his part.

“and the collections plates been passed—and received by me!”

that’s when the two bursted out laughed, keeling over as the song continued. many people in the crowd glared at them but they didn’t care. steve wiped a tear from his eye as bill hoisted the boy onto his shoulders, a grin on his face.

“wanna go wreak havoc, short-stack?”

“harmless havoc?”

bill groaned but never stopped smiling as he walked with steve on his shoulders.

“fine! but you owe me!”

steve laughed as they made their way into the crowd.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ford smiled at the two blondes dancing, taking a sip of water. he felt someone hit his back rather roughly. ford grunted before turning his gaze to his brother.

“heya, pointdexter! how’s the party?”

“we are at the same party, stanley.”

stan shrugged and took a sip of his drink, immediately spitting it out. he made a noise of disgust as he looked into the cup.

“gee, the hell’s in this? tastes disgusting!”

“please do not tell me you just drank the spiked punch.”

“i thought it woulda had alcohol, not poison!”

ford furrowed his eyebrows, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“it is alcohol, stanley. isopropyl alcohol to be specific.”

“the disinfectant?”

ford nodded.

“the purest form of alcohol.”

stan scrunched his nose and tossed the cup, someone making a noise of surprise in the crowd. stan snickered as ford shook his head. the scientist sighed as he sipped the clear liquid, stan raising an eyebrow at him.

“what’s on that big brain of yours, sixer?”

ford glanced at his brother, a frown plaguing his face.

“it’s—bill. stephen just looks so—happy.”

the elder twins looked back at the blondes as they heard the two cackle. after a moment, bill lifted steve onto his shoulders and they disappeared into the crowd. stan grunted before looking back at his twin.

“ain’t that a good thing?”

“yes, but i can’t help but feel like there’s more to it.”

stan put an arm around his brother, sighing.

“ford, ya can’t let the triangle get to you. the guy seems to have changed, at least enough to take care of a kid.”

ford looked away to the ground. maybe stanley was right, maybe he had to trust his brother. but the words ‘ trust no one ’ were etched into his brain—a mantra he had made himself learn. but then mabel stayed up with him one night, sifting through the book bill had made. a last ditch attempt to be brought back into the world. ford remembers repeating his mantra to the girl, a pout on her face.

//

“grunkle ford! you gotta trust someone!” she had said. the man smiled at her and ruffled her chin length hair.

“not after what i’ve been through, dearest.”

mabel frowned and looked away; back at the book. she rested her head on fords arm.

“does that mean you don’t trust us?” she asked. fords eyes widened, quickly backtracking.

“no, pumpkin! you misunderstand me!”

“then phrase your words better, grunkle ford!”

the two remains silent for a moment, a tense atmosphere in the room. just then mabel grabbed fords journal that was laid besides the man. she flipped a couple of pages before stopping, pulling a glittery pink pen out of seemingly nowhere. she jotted something down, much to fords protests.

“sunshine—i would prefer you did not doodle over my notes. i know you ‘stress-create’ as you call it but—“

ford was cut off when his journal was shoved in his face, earning a grunt from him. he took it from the girls hands and read over the page, squinting.

it had been the part where he wrote in big, bold letters; ‘ TRUST NO ONE. ’

the pink glittering handwriting had crossed it out, not effectively covering the words but drawing attention to the other pink handwriting.

‘ trust some one! who’ll have your back when you don’t have your own? - mabel pines, your grand-niece! <3’

ford brought his eyes back to the girl, mabel smiling nervously at him. he set the book aside and hugged her, a soft smile on his face.

“thank you, dearest.”

//

the men’s conversation was interrupted by mabel. the girl ran into them, clinging onto her brother. mabel panted, a giddy smile on her face.

“grunkle stan! grunkle ford!”

stan patted her head and snorted.

“what’s got you all excited, pumpkin?”

she put her brother into a headlock, dipper groaning in annoyance.

“karaoke!”

stan opened his mouth to say something before someone interrupted—what is with people and interrupting?

“y’know, i used to be pretty good at karaoke, starlight!”

bills voice came from behind the two younger twins, dipper flinching when he heard him. steve was situated on his shoulders, drinking a bubbly beverage.

“bill! wait—what do you mean ‘used to’?”

bill shrugged as the family turned their gazes to him, a grin on his face as he bit into some sort of reddish fruit. he chewed and swallowed, looking at the girl.

“haven’t sang in a while, estrella!”

mabel grinned and looked back at dipper, the boy shaking his head. mabel stuck out her tongue and turned back to bill.

“wanna come karaoke with us!?”

“mabel, no!”

mabel frowned at her brothers exclamation. bill cackled as he took a large black sphere from the fruit, presumably a seed, and plopped it into his mouth. he talked while chewing, something ford found disgusting.

“never change, pinesap! there’s always gotta be at least one paranoid freak in the pines family, who knows how long sixers got left?”

bill knew the answer to that but tried not to think about it as he swallowed the seed. ford and dipper glared at him, causing both him and steve to laugh loudly. the blondes settled down after a moment, bill wiping a tear from his eye.

“karaoke does sound fun!”

steve perked up from bills shoulders. mabel grinning up at the boy.

“see! stevie gets it!”

“of course, i wouldn’t be involved in it.” steve added.

“nevermind, stevie does not get it.”

steve shrugged and sipped his drink.

“i don’t really like social gatherings; they unnerve me.”

“your loss, blue!”

with that, bill lifted his arms and picked up steve, depositing the boy onto the marble ground. he stuffed the last bit of the fruit into his mouth, large seeds and all. grinning at the group, he pointed behind him.

“welp, you losers have fun with karaoke! i’m gonna go throw my guts up!”

fords eye twitched at bills words.

“what in the world are you on about, cipher?”

“that fruit—ackee—its seeds are poison, plus it wasn’t ripe yet.”

ford sputtered as the blonde walked away, following the shorter man. he briefly waved goodbye to his family, tagging behind cipher.

“if you knew that information, why eat it?”

bill shrugged as he beelined for the bathroom door, laughing as ford tried catching up to him.

“because—you humans love to go on about how ‘you only live once’ but never do anything fun! it’s sooo boring!”

the two stopped infront of the door, bill swinging it open. the bathroom was in pristine condition, shiny marble painting the floors and an ivory color on the walls. ford blinked as bill made his way to the toilet, leaning over it and opening the lid.

“so, you just gonna stand there the whole time, sixer?”

“i’d like to make sure you are not suffering anymore symptoms besides vomiting.”

bill shrugged and leaned over the bowl, ford closing the bathroom door behind him. the scientist leaned against the sink, crossing his arms. bill looked over the bowl, an empty expression on his face.

“‘m sorry, y’know.”

“you’ve said so.”

bill turned his head to the man, a frown on his face.

“do you forgive me?”

ford furrowed his brows and looked away. bill made a noise of understanding, turning his head back to the bowl. after a few moments of silence, bill scoffed and leaned back up.

“why’s it take so long to puke? you meat sacks are super weird!”

ford rolled his eyes, looking back at cipher.

“it happens when your body finally digests and—“

ford was cut off by the sound of bill coughing, the blonde leaning back down towards the bowl. bill expelled bile after a second, ford sighing.

“like that.”

bill heaved for a few more seconds before panting and bringing his head up. the blonde rested his cheek on the side of the bowl, ford grimacing at the action. the scientist walked closer to bill, adjusting his glasses.

“are you…feeling alright?”

bills teary eye looked up at ford, opening his mouth to speak. just then, bill coughed up more bile, eventually throwing up a second time. the red liquid dribbled down the blondes mouth. ford could do nothing but watch as bill finally stopped.

“that was not good pain.”

“is there any ‘good pain’, cipher?”

bill wiped his mouth and stood up, flushing the toilet. he walked past ford to the sink, turning on the faucet. he stripped off his gloves and put some water in his hand, drinking it.

“yes! like, stabbing yourself—or burning your hands! that was not like either of those!”

ford looked at the man, dumbfounded. how was that ‘good pain’? cipher turned off the sink and slipped his gloves back on, sighing. he made his way towards the door and opened it, gesturing for ford to go through it first. ford quickly walked to the door, saying an awkward ‘thank you’ to the blonde.

bill cackled and closed the door. the pair vaguely heard singing, the crowd having gathered together to watch something. the two made their way to the crowd, bill sprinting and ford walking. ultimately, the two walked about the same pace due to bills leg but they made it there eventually. bill grinned as he saw the display, ford squinting his eyes.

“holy hell! they actually did it, sixer!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

steve grinned as he watched the three family members sing ‘boys just wanna have a good time’ at the top of their lungs. a crowd has gathered around the small platform they were currently standing on, cheering for them loudly.

he flinched when he felt a cold hand ruffle his hair, relaxing when he saw the familiar blonde hair. steve rested his head against bills arm, holding his hand while they smiled at the family. ford stood on the other side of bill, softly grinning at his families antics.

“hell yeah, shooting star! hit that high note like it owes you money!”

bill shouted, raising his fist into the air. ford scrunched his nose, feeling the coldness radiating off the blonde. he turned his gaze to bill who was cheering loudly.

“are you cold?”

bill looked at ford, still smiling and raised an eyebrow.

“‘m always cold, fordsie. this stupid meat bag doesn’t retain heat well.”

ford nodded and cleared his throat. his eyes stayed on bills form, an unreadable expression on his face. against his better judgement, he started to unbutton his suit. bill didn’t seem to notice, still hyping the three up. ford made note of the way bill slightly shivered and fidgeted with his free hand as he slipped his suit coat off.

and, again, against his better judgement, he slipped the coat onto bills shoulders and abruptly left into the crowd. bill blinked as he felt the warm material rest on his shoulders, watching as ford scurried away. he snickered as he slipped the coat fully on, the sleeves going past his hands. he was too busy cheering to see the way that steve glared at the piece of clothing, recoiling away from it. the boy huffed as he brought his head from bills arm, still holding onto his hand.

‘gross, it smells like old people.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“wasn’t that a party!?”

mabel shouted as the six people made their way out of the mansion, the moonlight illuminating the sky. dipper raised an eyebrow at his twin, a frown on his face.

“mabel, you drank spiked punch.”

“it didn’t taste very spiked!”

“what does even mean?”

mabel shrugged her shoulders and skipped to the car, dragging dipper along with her. bill and stan both snorted at the scene, the latter turning to glare at the blonde. bill rolled his eye and pulled out his key, adjusting the sleeping steve that was on his shoulders. stan walked faster to the car as the younger twins had already reached it. bill looked up at ford and smirked.

“suppose you’ll be wanting your jacket back, sixer?”

“firstly, it’s a coat. secondly, you can keep it—i have no use for it.”

“aww! you’re such a gentleman, fordsie!”

ford glanced away from the man, his cheeks a faint red color. he walked away towards the families vehicle.

“goodnight, cipher.”

bill snickered as he opened the passenger side door to his car, picking up steve to put him inside.

“night, doctor !”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“doctor!? he’s not even a doctor!”

bill whisper-yelled to himself as he drove home, occasionally looking beside to see steve still asleep. the blonde blinked as he drove through the roads, watching as trees flew past them.

“…is he a doctor?”

bill questioned aloud, to himself. maybe he was insane, maybe those doctors were right! maybe he’s just crazy and needs to go back to therapy and—

bills thoughts were interrupted as he saw the familiar yellow of their house, sighing as he turned into the driveway. he pulled the keys out of the ignition and exited the vehicle. bill rounded the car and quietly opened the passenger side door, pulling steve out. he held the boy in his arms as he walked to the front door.

the dark, silent house was a welcome change from the bright, loud party they attended. bill threw his keys on the table and headed upstairs, steve stirring a bit. he reached the boys bedroom and opened the door, slowly making his way to the bed. bill set down the blonde and covered him up, waiting for a few moments. after the boy stayed asleep, bill leaned back up. he smiled at steve, the boy yawning as he moved a little.

bill quietly snickered and carefully took off steve’s glasses, setting them on the nightstand. he saw as xiggy climbed out of steve’s coat pocket, chirping up at the man. bill stuck his tongue out at the rodent and put his hand out to her. she climbed onto his palm and squeaked at him. bill smiled and made his way over to her cage, depositing xiggy in it when he got there. she gave him one last chirp before she curled up into a ball.

bill snorted and made his way back to the bedroom door. he opened it and smiled at the sleeping figure who was currently snoring softly.

“sweet dreams, kid. don’t trust any triangles you might see.”

bill chuckled to himself and closed the door, leaving the room in silence once more.

Chapter Text

four: ford pines, bill suffers.

“mabel, dear, it would be best to not do that.”

mabel was currently riding a shopping cart down the aisle, pushing herself with one foot. dipper was standing at the end of said aisle, reading something. mabel laughed as she pedaled herself to her brother, accidentally hitting him when she got there. dipper flinched and glared at his sister.

“mabel! what the heck?”

“oops! sorry, dip-dip! whatcha reading?”

dipper handed the book over to his sister, the girl closing it to look at the cover. it had multiple creature from urban legends, the dark background creating a sense of dread.

“urban legends and cryptids!”

mabel blinked then blew a raspberry at her brother. she threw the book back at him, dipper catching it while glaring at her. she crossed her arms, shaking as she balanced on the front of the cart.

“sounds like nerd stuff to me!”

dipper only blinked, before he lifted his foot and kicked the cart a couple inches back. the action caused mabel to lose her balance and fall to the floor, dipper smirking as he went back to his book. ford approached the fallen girl, who was now wiping off her purple sweater and skirt.

“dearest, are you alright?”

the girl shot up and grinned at her great uncle.

“psh! that’s nothing, grunkle ford! i’ve been trapped in a reality bubble before!”

“so i’ve heard..”

mabel giggled and headed back to the cart, jumping in it. dipper eyed her before tossing his book inside the cart and walking to a separate aisle. ford sighed as he pushed the cart, pulling out the grocery list they had. or, what groceries they could get at a walgreens.

the man wheeled mabel to another aisle, passing by stan who was currently stuffing a bunch of stuff into his pocket. ford shook his head at his brothers petty theft and wheeled the cart into the dairy aisle. mabel snatched the list from him and read it to him as he looked around.

“kay, so we need…milk!”

ford nodded and opened the refrigerator, grabbing the milk they all drank. he put it in the cart and looked at mabel, the girl crossing something out with a glittery pen.

“ooh! and eggs!”

ford scanned the eggs before picking up a carton and carefully laying them in the cart. mabel ticked that off and started again.

“finally, ice cream!”

“that is not healthy.”

despite his words, ford rolled a little farther down the aisle to the ice creams location. mabel pouted as she hung her arms off of the cart.

“yeah but it’s delicious!”

“i never saw the appeal.”

mabel rolled her eyes and giggled, leaning back down into the cart. ford opened the fridge and picked a generic vanilla ice cream. he plopped it into the cart and wheeled down to another aisle, looking for stan and/or dipper.

“hey, grunkle ford?”

“yes, sunshine?”

mabel was laying in the cart, her feet dangling off of one end and her head resting on the other end.

“why was bill wearing your suit coat?”

ford froze for a split second before continuing his movements. the man cleared his throat and averted his eyes.

“pardon, dearest?”

“at the party a couple days ago—bill was wearing your coat.”

fords face became red as he turned the corner to an aisle, seeing both stan and dipper at the end of it. he shook his head.

“you misunderstand, dearest.”

“grunkle ford, my matchmaking senses are never wrong!”

“who’re you matchmaking this time, mabel?”

dippers voice came from a few feet away, the boy walking towards the cart. he threw a couple items in, earning a quiet ‘ow!’ from his twin.

“nobody, my boy.”

stan came up behind dipper, startling the boy. the man snickered as he put a couple things into the cart. mabel looked over everything and checked a couple things, giving a thumbs up to her family members after doing so. the pines made their way towards the checkout counter.

when they reached it, they saw a young man looking around nervously. he stiffened when he saw them but soon relaxed, putting on a small smile.

“hello folks! checking out?”

ford nodded and began to take the products out of the cart, handing them off to be scanned. after every item was scanned, the cashier read their total. ford pulled out his wallet, rummaging around for a moment.

“hey, have you folks seen a man with brown hair and shades recently?”

ford paused his movements, raising an eyebrow. mabel answered for all of them.

“no, why? is he cute!?”

the cashier blinked before smiling awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“he’s a missing persons. saw him early in the store, thought you folks might’ve seen him.”

“and you didn’t call the police?”

ford asked, incredulously. the cashier shook his head

“no, i did—well...kinda.”

“what does ‘kinda’ mean?” dipper chimed in, leaning on the counter. his journal was already open.

“called a detective, the guy should be here any minute.”

dipper wrote something down in his notebook before pausing, squinting up at the man.

“detective?”

“yes. i thought since that’s their specialty, might as well call ‘em in!”

dipper blinked but before he could say anything, the family heard the entrance doors ding open. the five people turned their heads, mabel smiling at the new person, or people that entered.

none other than bill cipher had walked in, fake kid in tow. he was wearing triangle sunglasses, pushing them up to his forehead as he walked inside. he grinned when he saw the pines family, making his way to the counter.

“pines family! you losers stalking me?”

“like we would stalk a monster like you.”

dipper glared at the man, crossing his arms. bill rolled his eye, looking at the cashier. he pulled something out of his coat pocket, handing it off to the man.

“william cipher. we talked over the phone.”

the cashier examined the id before smiling, handing it back to bill.

“of course, sir. just let me finish with these customers.”

bill nodded and leaned against the counter, watching as steve hoisted himself up to sit on it. the boy kicked his legs and looked around the store.

ford watched bill pull out his phone and scroll through—who knows? all he could focus on was bills coat. bill was wearing the coat ford gave him. bill cipher was wearing his coat. that made fords stomach do somersaults, something he would never admit. the fact that bill had put fords coat on with a casual outfit made him feel hot, not in a weird way but it made him feel flushed.

ford handed the man his card, looking around the space.

“so, kid, where’d the guy exit from?” bill started.

the cashier took fords card, swiping it.

“…i actually didn’t see him exit the store.”

bill quirked an eyebrow, turning his body to the cashier who was handing ford back his card. the scientist quickly put it back in his wallet.

“what the hell did you just say?”

the cashier started visibly sweating as bill glared at him.

“i—i just…thought that y-you’d be able to h-help, s—sir!”

“so you’re telling me, a fourteen year old kid that is MISSING, came in here and hasn’t left for the past,” bill checked his phone, “FOUR HOURS!? and you just now said that? the hell was i over here twiddling my thumbs for!?”

the blonde shouted at the cashier, steve trying to calm him down. amongst the commotion, ford saw a hooded figure pass the group. ford squinted at them, eyes widening as he saw their brown hair peeking out from their hood. ford shook bills shoulder, the blonde snapping his head to the man. bill glared at him before ford pointed to the figure. the blonde blinked and cleared his throat.

“jeffrey springfield?”

the figure paused and turned their head slightly. the sunglasses covered their eyes but ford could assume they were full of surprise. after a few moments, the figure started to run, bill groaning as they did. he sprinted after them, limping as he shouted back to the group.

“sixer, watch short-stack! i’ll be back soon!”

ford blinked as he saw both blondes disappear through the entrance door.

“wow! a cop chase, how action movie of them!” mabel shouted. her twin raised an eyebrow from beside her.

“ciphers a detective, not a cop.”

mabel shrugged while grinning. dipper thought for a moment before blinking.

“wait—does he even have the authority to chase after that guy? now i’m really questioning your choice of calling a detective.”

dipper glanced at the cashier who shrugged with a sheepish smile. steve hopped off of the counter and blinked, adjusting his glasses. the cashier looked at the boy and squinted, an eyebrow raised.

“is that—is that a rat in your hair?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“donny, this is WAY above my pay grade!”

bill yelled as he ran, holding his phone to his ear. he heard a small groan on the other end as he turned a corner, seeing the figure run off.

“cipher, just get the kid. his ma’s worried.”

bill scoffed and rolled his eye, looking around the dead end. he blinked as he heard rustling beside him, groaning as he ran into the forest.

“i expect a raise after this, donello!”

“if ya get the kid, i’ll consider it.”

the line went dead as jerry hung up, bill letting out a frustrated yell. the blonde hopped over a mud puddle and slowly stopped. he looked around, trees were on every side of him. after a few moments of silence, he heard a small groan. the man snickered as he walked towards the noise. he saw a young boy, desperately trying to get his foot unstuck from a vine. the boy looked up as bill walked closer to him, fear in his eyes. his struggling increased, bill scoffing and rolling his eye.

“kid, the fightings useless. i suggest you just quit it!”

bill stood a few feet away from the boy, glaring down at him.

“no, no! let me go!”

“i’m not holding onto you, dumbass.”

the kid glared up at him, eventually stopping to examine bill. the boy raised an eyebrow.

“ you’re a police officer?”

the boy asked incredulously. bills eye twitched as he frowned, crossing his arms.

“i’m a detective.”

“then why’d you chase me? i don’t think you have the authority to do that!”

bill pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“because i’ve been assigned to your case AND because you decided to run like a little wimp.”

the boy frowned and looked away, crossing his arms.

“you can’t make me go back.”

“your moms worried about you, or whatever donny said.”

the boy rolled his eyes and looked at bill.

“she doesn’t care about me.”

bill snorted and sat next to the boy.

“why’d you figure that?”

the boy flinched away from bill but continued.

“she only cares about the child support she gets from my dad. she…isn’t very nice to me.”

bill blinked and nodded his head.

“where’s your dad live?”

“kansas.”

bill snorted and shook his head, the boy raising an eyebrow.

“that’s the worst place to live, at least in the 1950s!”

the boy blinked, squinting at the man.

“the hell are you on about, old man?”

“for your information, brat, this body’s only 29 years old!”

the boy shook his head.

“so, jeffrey, why’d you run away?”

the boy brought his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs.

“my mom—she…gets drunk sometimes—and she told me not to tell anyone or else but—!”

“so she hits you?”

jeffrey flinched before looking away and nodding. tears formed in his eyes. bill sighed and got up off of the grass.

“listen, brat, i’ll tell my boss about your situation. you…can live with your dad in kansas.”

jeffrey’s eyes widened, his head looking up at bill.

“really? you’ll let me live with my dad?”

“well, the court decides that but by the way you described your mom; probably.”

for the first time since their interaction, jeffrey smiled. bill rolled his eye.

“stop that—kansas is even worse than this hillbilly town!”

the boy let out a small laugh as bill brought out his phone, watching as jeffrey worked to untangle the vine on his ankle. bill dialed a number and put the device to his ear.

“cipher. did ya get the kid?”

“yes but it’s a little more complicated than that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“i say we stop waiting for the jerk.”

dipper piped up as they put their groceries in the car. steve and mabel stood beside him, mabel putting a couple items into the trunk.

“oh, cmon, bro-bro! it hasn’t even been twenty minutes!”

steve picked up the ice cream from the shopping cart, gesturing to it.

“i think your ice cream melted.”

dipper raised an eyebrow and looked at mabel, unamused. mabel rolled her eyes and took the ice cream from steve, throwing it in the trunk. ford sighed from beside them, putting the last item into the trunk.

“dipper, please! just a few more minutes!”

mabel begged to her twin. dipper rolled his eyes.

steve giggled and stan closed the trunk. the man pushed the shopping cart off into the parking lot, earning a reprimand from ford. just then, a vehicle rolled into the parking lot, hitting the cart. stan cackled as the driver came out of the car. it was a older man—maybe mid-forties—that had glasses on. he wore a brown cardigan with a button-up and jeans. his brown hair was neatly combed back, a small mustache on his upper lip.

the man looked at the cart, then at the family and raised an eyebrow. he pointed at steve, a hand on his hip.

“steve? the hell are you doing here, boy?”

the pines all turned their eyes to the blonde. steve smiled sheepishly and walked towards the man.

“bill brought me with him.”

the man blinked and shook his head.

“that ain’t very safe. that cipher…i swear.”

“what’s that supposed to mean, donello?”

bills voice came from behind the two, steve smiling and hugging the man.

“just saying, bill. you shouldn’t bring a kid to this typa thing.”

“sitters are expensive, jerry!”

jerry rolled his eyes and eyed the figure next to bill. he walked up to the boy, the kid flinching under his gaze.

“jeffrey springfield, i presume?”

“yes, sir.”

jerry blinked and pulled out a notepad, writing something down. he sighed after finishing, clicking his pen as he looked at jeffrey.

“you’ll be coming with me, boy. we’ll get this all situated.”

jeffrey looked at bill, a nervous expression on his face. bill nodded and gestured for the boy to go. jeffrey looked back at jerry and jerry nodded to the car. jeffrey made his way to the vehicle and stepped inside to the passengers seat. jerry sighed and looked back at bill, a grin on the blondes face.

“i’ll think about it, cipher.”

“oh, cmon! i did all of that and you’ll ’think about it’!?”

jerry rolled his eyes and let out a breathy laugh, walking past bill to his car.

“have a good night, bill.”

“it’s afternoon, donny!”

the man didn’t respond to that, only getting into his car and starting it. the man waved to the blondes as he reversed and left the parking lot.

the group was left there alone, the silence overwhelming them.

“so he was cute!” mabel shouted. dipper rolled his eyes and got into the car, his twin following him. stan huffed out a breath before hopping into the drivers seat. ford stared at bill for a moment, clearing his throat.

“cipher.”

“fordsie!”

steve rolled his eyes at bills words, tugging the man to their car. bill snickered as he waved bye to ford, the scientist returning the gesture. ford watched as the two made their way into the yellow vehicle, smiling slightly. ford flinched as he heard his brother honking the horn at him, earning a glare from the man. ford rolled his eyes as he stepped into the passenger seat and closed the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

steve rushed into the house, running up the stairs. bill rolled his eye and hung up his coat. he tossed the keys on the side table and walked to the living room, sinking into the couch when he got there. after a couple minutes of watching whatever was on tv, he heard steve yell to him.

“bill! i’m going to bed!”

“okay! have interesting nightmares!”

bill heard steve giggle and shut his door, silence falling over the house again. bill blinked as he watched the horror movie on tv come to an end. he yawned and got more comfortable on the couch, closing his eye as he heard another movie begin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

steve stared at the cup of hot chocolate in front of him, a frown on his face.

“what is the matter, small one?”

steve brought his eye to the man across from him. he shrugged at kalumnia and looked back down at the cup.

they were in a dimension akin to earth—except it was slightly different. the usual blue sky was orange, the trees and bushes a red color. the inhabitants looked like humans but the most common-looking person had red hair and grey eyes with dark brown skin. anybody with lighter skin or darker hair was seen as uncommon.

but kalumnia, ever the attention seeker, decided to have his human form have long black hair and pale skin. he made steve’s human form a tad different, the boy having short black hair and fair skin. steve hated the human form, he would much prefer to have blonde hair and tan skin. but he knew he couldn’t argue with kalumnia or else he would be punished.

kalumnia finished the last of his coffee, putting the black mug down. the man grinned at the boy who was staring down at his drink. kalumnia brought a hand to across the table, slapping the side of the boys head. that got steve’s attention, the boy letting out a small noise of pain. kalumnia chuckled as he exited the booth, steve hesitantly following behind him.

they exited the coffee shop, kalumnia turning right. steve walked right beside him, looking around the dimension uncomfortably. it looked exactly like earth, despite having the colors be opposite. they were currently walking on a marble sidewalk, a few bright purple cars passed on the white road. the boy blinked as they came to a crosswalk.

“kal, what are we doing here?”

kalumnia looked both ways before walking across the road, steve hurrying after him. the man had his hands behind his back as he stepped onto the marble sidewalk.

“i believe that this dimension has something we need.”

steve raised an eyebrow as they walked into a building, a person standing behind the front counter. the boy frowned as they made their way to the counter, kalumnia smiling at the woman.

“hello, my dear. i heard that you’ve a wide range of mechanical parts. is that true?”

the woman smiled and nodded her head, walking from behind the counter.

“i can show you our wonderful collection!”

“that would be amazing, love.”

the worker walked them down a couple aisles, showing them different parts. steve tuned out their conversation, choosing to quietly escape to another aisle instead. he let out a sigh of relief as he got to the book section, looking for ones on historical artworks to pass the time. the boy found what he was looking for, letting out a squeal of excitement as he opened it. he stared in awe at the paintings done centuries ago. the beautiful oranges, purples and reds captured him as he read on.

they boy was interrupted when he heard a couple giggles. he brought his gaze up, looking to the source of the noise. the noise came from  the end of the aisle, two kids greeting his vision. they had curly light red hair and dark skin, they were basically identical. steve blinked as they pointed to him, his face getting red. did he do something wrong? the kids bursted out laughing, one of the boys shouting at him.

“you’re super weird! look at your hair!”

steve’s eyes widened and he crossed his arms, a frown on his face.

“no—no! look at his skin! get some sunlight, weirdo!” the other boy shouted.

steve’s eyes started watering as he rushed out of the aisle, dropping the book he was reading. tears flowed down his face as he saw kalumnia in a separate aisle, running towards him. the boy hugged the man, kalumnia pushing him off a few moments after.

“don’t touch me. why on earth are you crying?”

steve sniffled as he looked up at kalumnia, the man glaring at him.

“kal—am i…am i weird?”

kalumnia snorted, looking back towards the mechanics.

“of course you are, little one. why do you think i’m the only being who wants to be around you?”

steve’s eyes widened and he sniffled once more, frowning.

“but..”

“no buts, small one. now stop crying, you’re embarrassing me.”

steve nodded as he wiped his eyes, looking down at the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“kid!”

steve shot up, hyperventilating. his eyes darted around the room, landing on a familiar blurry figure. he sniffled as bill handed him something, the boy taking it. he slipped the glasses onto his face and looked up at bill.

“you okay, nicks? heard you crying from downstairs.”

steve’s felt tears flow down his face, hiccuping as he curled up. he shook as bill rubbed circles into his back, his breathing slowing down. after a few minutes of just sitting there with bill, he spoke.

“bill..?” his raspy voice asked.

“the one and only, blue.”

steve let out a weak laugh and looked up at bill, still shaking.

“do you..think i’m weird?”

bill blinked and smirked.

“yeah but so what? i’m weird, you’re weird, everyone’s weird! you tryna out-weird me, kiddo?”

bill playfully elbowed the boy, steve letting out a giggle. the younger blonde shook his head.

“no just—a dream.”

“‘bout what?”

steve looked away, his eyes tearing up again.

“him.”

bill rolled his eye, laying next to steve. the boy was sitting up, looking down at bill.

“can’t believe i knew that guy!”

steve let out a small laugh, smiling.

“you weren’t the best person at the time either, bill.”

bill shrugged and closed his eye, his hands intertwined on his chest. steve looked around the moonlit room, a frown on his face.

“why don’t you hate me?”

steve blinked and looked back at bill. the blondes eye was now open and staring at the kid.

“why should i?”

“you serious, stevie-sweetie?”

steve nodded and bill sighed.

“because i’m a monster! y’know the monster that also abused people the way HE did?”

steve just stared at the man.

“you’re using past tense language; you’re not like that anymore.”

“how do you know, nicks? i could be manipulating you right now! sixer could be right—!”

“you’re not!”

“how do you know!?”

“BECAUSE I DO!”

the two blondes stared at each other as they yelled, steve tearing up.

“because i do, okay?”

“kid..”

“no! kal didn’t comfort me when i cried! kal didnt put my birthday as his passcode! kal didnt let me keep a rat that i found! he didn’t care about me! he never cared!”

bill furrowed his eyebrows.

“but you do, bill! you can pretend you don’t but you do!”

bill locked eyes with steve’s teary ones.

“and i care about you! just—i cant lose another parent! i—i cant! i cant lose you too—“

bill cut the boy off by grabbing him and pulling him into a hug. steve sobbed into the man’s chest, shaking as they sat there. the boys sobs quieted down after a few minutes, steve pulling away from bill. he sniffled as he looked up to the man.

“you’re not gonna lose me, stevie-sweetie. we’re in this stupid human life together.”

steve smiled and wiped his eyes as bill laid back down.

“mind if i sleep in your bed, short-stack? the couch is super uncomfortable!”

steve giggled and laid next to bill, feeling as something scurried in between the two. both blondes smiled at the rat that had settled between them.

“i don’t mind, bill.”

“good.”

Chapter Text

ford tapped his finger against the desk, his eyebrows furrowing. his journal sat in front of him, fresh ink lining the page. the writings varied but they were all about one thing; bill cipher.

multiple different notes littered his journal. a sketch of bill here, a note about his biological structure there—just the key things. a couple things about steve lay around the page but those weren’t as important. his eyes reread the list he made over and over, his frown twitching. the black ink boldly read;

//

06/27/2014:

cipher is back. i thought after stanley punched him, he would have stayed gone. i must have miscalculated! he doesn’t seem to be alone, a boy follows him around. i’m not quite who the young child is but i will get to the bottom of it. i have constructed a plan to get cipher to talk, i will initiate it tonight.

06/30/2014:

my plan was mostly a success—save for one small deterrent. the boy walked in whilst stanley and i were picking up ciphers body. he then ran, i tried to yell to him but to no avail. the boy then fell down the stairs—something that was not my doing. stanley and i decided to take both cipher and the boy to the shack. they are both still unconscious, i will go to interrogate cipher later this evening.

06/31/2014:

cipher has not said anything useful. he’s made a few witty comments but nothing more. i justifiably got upset with him and i may have injured him. it should not have any long term side effects—i did make sure to heal him. (though, i do not think he deserves it.) the boy tried to escape but i had mabel retrieve the dart gun. i hate to harm the child but there was no other way.

07/02/2014:

i have learned the boys name; steve cipher. mabel informed me of it after she put some ice on her arm—an injury caused by steven. the boy seems to not like me, if his declaration of hating me is anything to go off of. i assume cipher has manipulated steven into following him; like a puppet. i will make it my goal to free the boy from cipher.

07/03/2014:

both steven and cipher have a dairy allergy. why would bill make the poor boy suffer just because his human form has a dairy allergy? also, i’ve been thinking—where did cipher get this form? i do not think i recognize it as a resident of gravity falls, so has he possessed another person? i will ask cipher about it later this day.

07/04/2014:

cipher has escaped. he seems to have taken steven with him. i immediately wanted to go search around for them but mabel encouraged me not to. trust me, i tried arguing with her but then stanley decided to side with her! how infuriating! i agreed, but if cipher even thinks of coming near the shack, i’ll shoot him with my laser pistol.

07/09/2014:

mabel has suggested an ‘apology party’ for cipher and steven. i argued against it but was, again, shut down by both stanley and dipper! i truly don’t know how my family can not see how dangerous this is! mabel has texted cipher and is planning to host the party tomorrow at carlos callowicks restaurant. i will pack my laser pistol just in case.

07/10/2014:

cipher arrived with stephen, late no less. he has told me some valuable information, though. apparently, he didn’t die—he was sent to a place called ‘theraprism’. it is akin to therapy; something i doubt worked on cipher. cipher then met stephen inside this ‘theraprism’ and the two were sent to earth. presumably until they both die. i don’t know how much i believe cipher but stephen seems relatively unharmed. i did tell him off for offering stephen alcohol when we drove back in his car, something i hated every moment of.

07/12/2014:

i accidentally slept over at bill ciphers house. i slept in the same house with the demon that tried to kill my family! what is wrong with me? cipher woke me up and i immediately left after i heard the time. dipper and mabel greeted me when i arrived back at the shack, a welcome distraction. and unfortunately, i think i’ll have to go back later today. firstly, mabel wants to give them sweaters that she made. but i have my own reason—sirens. there have been reports of numerous missing persons by large bodies of water. cipher apparently works as a private detective—i figured that he may be able to help with this.

07/13/2014:

i was, as per usual, correct. cipher helped to defeat the sirens and also found a missing woman he has been searching for. him and stephen seem to have a good relationship—it’s a tad concerning. i can not help but feel like he’s planning something. that and the fact he flirted with me. cipher—flirting with me! it is important to note that he was under the sirens control but it still perplexes me.

07/15/2014:

i’ve made a terrible mistake. i got too close to cipher, again. it’s strange; he is like a drug to me. something i find myself wanting over and over again. i should hate him—i think i do so why do i feel so hot around him? why do i want to be close to him? no. get a hold of yourself, stanford! it’s bill cipher—the demon that tried to kill your family. the demon that manipulated you. the demon that you hate. but maybe he’s changed. no! ugh, i’ll sleep on it. hopefully these odd feeling will go away.

07/18/2014:

cipher seems to follow me everywhere i go, it’s infuriating. whilst me and my family were out grocery shopping, bill decided to walk into the store! granted, it was for his job, but still! i feel like i’m going crazy—the ruthless demon who manipulated me and my great niece, tried to kill her and everyone else—seems to have carved his way back into my heart. the way his stupid outfits always compliment him amazingly, the way he cares about stephen, the way he looks at me—UGH! it’s terrible. i will take this to my grave.

//

ford blinked at every single entry he wrote, groaning as he put his head in his hands. tesla, he was so stupid.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

steve stared up at the ceiling, vaguely thinking about historical paintings. bill was asleep next him, the man stirring slightly. the boy blinked before sitting up, looking at bill. he then brought his gaze to the nightstand where bills phone was located. he needed to know the name of that one painting.

the boy reached over bills sleeping figure and grabbed the man’s phone. he punched in the passcode and went to google, bringing up the search bar. his movements paused when he read the previous searches;

why do i get nervous around my ex

how to apologize to your ex after manipulating him

why do i still like my ex

how to flirt with an old man

steve’s eye twitched as he scowled at the searched. he looked at bill then back at the phone before swiping to delete them. the last thing bill needs is that asshole. the asshole that disabled him—and still hasn’t apologized! steve scoffed at the image of ford in his head and typed up his original inquiry. he found his answer in a matter of minutes, shutting bills phone off. he quickly placed it back onto the nightstand, laying back down.

he rested his head on bills body, a bitter taste in his mouth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“bill!”

bill raised his head up from the papers he was examining. the man squinted and adjusted his glasses.

“what?”

“stanford’s calling you!”

bill saw as steve waved his phone, the triangle charm swaying with the device. the man gestured with his hand and steve walked to him. the boy handed off the phone before going back to watching hannah montana. bill rolled his eye at the absurd show and looked down at his phone.

‘sixer🫀’ is calling!

bill smirked before answering it.

“yellow?” he greeted.

“bill. are you and stephen currently busy?”

bill looked to the boy who sat on the living room floor, then back to nowhere in particular.

“nope! what’s the problem, brainiac?”

bill heard as ford let out a pointed sigh on the other end. the blonde picked up a piece of his chocolate chip pancake as ford spoke.

“mabel wants to go swimming.”

he stuffed the food into his mouth, an eyebrow raised.

“then shooting star can go swimming? why are you telling me this, fordsie?”

another sigh.

“mabel wants to go swimming with stephen. she has already collected two other children and wants to invite stephen.”

bill blinked and swallowed his food.

“okaaayy! i’ll ask ‘im!”

“thank you, cipher.”

bill snorted and put down his fork.

“hey, kid!”

steve’s eyes remained on the tv.

“what?”

bill rolled his eye.

“do you wanna go swimming with shooting star and couple other nobodies?”

bill heard ford make a noise of disapproval on the other end but shrugged it off.

“when?”

“good question, nicks! hey, sixer, when are you guys going?”

ford let out a groan and bill snickered.

“in about an hour.”

“in about an hour, kid!”

“okay! i’ll go!”

bill nodded and directed his focus back to ford.

“kid said yes.”

“i heard.”

“righto! well, i’ll see you losers in an hour then!”

before ford could say anything else, bill hung up the phone. he got up and threw his plate in the sink, stretching as he walked upstairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ugh! this pool, like, totally smells of old people!”

pacifica complained as the family set up their spot. stan rolled his eyes at the girls antics and sat in the chair they had prepared. ford raised an eyebrow but ultimately sat on the ground next to his brother.

“cmon, paz! it’s not that bad!” mabel shouted to her friend. dipper piped up from his spot on the towel they laid out.

“mabel’s actually right. it could be worse! remember that one time you and gideon got—?”

“DIPPER!”

pacifica shouted as her face turned red. gideon appeared from behind the cooler.

“i’d like to forget that night, folks! ‘twas not a fun experience being stuck up there.”

the four kids burst out laughing as they recalled the memory. they quieted down after a moment, all grouping up. mabel counted everyone and frowned.

“we’re missing steve!” the girl shouted.

“who’s that?” both pacifica and gideon asked in unison.

the group heard a cackle behind them, everyone turning their heads at the sound.

“bill cipher!” pacifica and gideon yelled in unison again. bill giggling at the two.

“guilty as charged! aww, look at your little clique—just like ‘mean girls’!”

gideon raised an eyebrow.

“what’s ’mean girls’?”

the three other kids whipped their head back around to look at him.

“YOU DON’T KNOW MEAN GIRLS!?” they all asked. gideon blinked and shook his head. mabel sighed and shook her head disappointingly.

“wait—how do you guys know that’s bill?” dipper asked.

pacifica and gideon shared a look before they both raised an eyebrow.

“some weird salamander came to town—told us about the triangle coming here. also, he worked with my parents on some case.” pacifica stated.

the pines family blinked in unison before dipper yelled.

“you guys were told about him!? everyone?!”

pacifica nodded and shrugged her shoulders.

“we just got used to the freak after a couple months.”

“i’m still here, llama!”

“i know.”

bill rolled his eye and threw his bag next to ford, earning a glare from the man. steve clung to bills side, looking nervously towards the group.

“who’s the blonde kid?” pacifica asked.

steve shrunk at the question, holding bill tighter. bill raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off, crossing his arms.

“my kid.”

“YOU HAVE A KID?” gideon shouted, laughably loud.

steve flinched at the noise and looked up at bill. bill returned the look and ruffled the boys hair.

“fake kid, freckles.”

mabel rushed over to steve, pulling the boy off of bill. the boy made a noise of protest but still let the girl drag him to the group of other kids.

“gideon, pacifica, this is steve!”

“how’s it like being the kid of a terrorist?” pacifica inquired. steve blinked at her and shrugged nervously. mabel laughed and pushed the group away towards the pool.

“kay, bye, grunkle ford. bye, grunkle stan!”

“don’t get hurt!” ford shouted.

“kid, don’t trust any horses near the pool!”

bill snickered as he saw steve giggling. ford raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off as he opened his book. bill promptly sat down next to the man, a bored expression on his face. the blonde pulled out his phone and laid on his stomach, kicking his feet in the air. the three adults sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the peace and quiet.

“your swimming shorts are horrendous.” ford stated as he turned a page. bill looked back at him, glaring at the man. his shorts were a bright yellow with little triangles patterned onto it. bill looked ford up and down. the man was wearing dark red trunks with a trench coat on.

“and your getup is any better? you look like a serial killer, sixer!”

ford raised an eyebrow at the man, rolling his eyes. he shrugged off his trench coat, setting it to the side.

“better?”

bills eye twitched as he looked at fords chest, his face heating up. he cleared his throat and turned his head back to his phone, his cheeks getting red.

“still look like a freak.”

ford hummed but that was all the response bill got as they fell back into their comfortable silence. after a while, bill could feel ford staring at him. he tried focusing on his phone as he felt fords eyes watch him.

“why are you breathing like that?”

bill glared back at the man.

“like what?”

bill let out a deep breath.

“like that. is your shirt too tight?”

bill raised an eyebrow and looked down at his chest. he was wearing a binder, one that steve got him for swimming. it was meant to be tight!

“it’s not a shirt, brainiac.”

ford quirked an eyebrow and looked at bills binder.

“a tank top—whatever you call it. it seems too tight.”

bill rolled his eye and got up, wincing as he felt a slight ache in his chest. okay, maybe sixer was right.

“it’s supposed to be tight, fordsie.”

“if this is one of those absurd fashion trends—“

“it’s a binder.”

ford blinked. then blinked again. and blinked a couple more times before his eyes widened.

“i see…how long have you had this one on?”

bill stood up and shrugged, stretching his arms above him.

“just put it on an hour ago—had one on before that.”

“how long did you have the previous one on?”

“dunno, i slept in it.”

ford sputtered and stood up, looking down at bill.

“it is not safe to be binding your chest that long!”

bill shrugged once again.

“don’t have any other forms of support for these stupid lumps!”

ford blinked and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“you need to take it off.”

“i don’t have anything else to put on.”

ford groaned as he turned to search through his bag. after a few moments, he pulled out a brown sweater and tossed it to bill. the man pointed to the pools bathroom. bill looked at the bathroom and then at ford.

“it’s not exactly easy to get this thing off, sixer!”

“please don’t say you need my assistance.”

“okay, i won’t!”

ford sighed and glared at bill. he gritted his teeth before walking towards the bathroom, bill cackling behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“you know how to undo it, sixer?”

“yes, bill.”

bill snickered as ford unlatched the backings of his binder, looking at himself in the mirror. ford unlatched the last part and immediately turned away from bill, opting to face the wall. bill let out a laugh as he slipped the binder off. a sigh of relief came from the blonde as he stretched.

“gee! forget how tight that thing is!”

“i would not recommend wearing it for at least a day. allow your…chest to relax.” ford stated.

bill hummed and grabbed the brown sweater, slipping it over his head. he adjusted the baggy clothing and grinned at himself in the mirror. he picked up the discarded binder and folded it.

“‘m done, sixer.”

ford turned his head back around, his gaze falling to bills chest. bill snickered at the obvious staring.

“your chest does not seem like it needs binding.”

bill shrugged and wiped himself off.

“told ya, fordsie! don’t have any other forms of support!” bill spoke.

“also, this sweater is a tad big! i can assure you my chest is bigger than this!” bill continued as he gestured to his chest, giggling as fords face turned red. they stared at each other for a moment before ford looked away.

“i would like to check if there’s any further damage to your chest.”

bill cackled.

“is this just an excuse to get me to take my clothes off?”

fords eyes widened, a red tint on his cheeks. bill snorted and shrugged.

“kidding, brainiac! i don’t know why you humans have such a weird relationship with nudity!”

“it is mostly reserved for people you are close to.”

bill blinked and raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side. sure, his home dimension had clothing that people would wear but that was completely up to the individual. if anything, it was encouraged to embrace your natural form.

“that’s bogus! y’know if it wasn’t for the laws around it, i would walk around shirtless most of the time!”

ford shook his head and sighed. bill laughed and worked the sweater off of himself—what a waste! why ask him to put it on just to take it back off? fords eyes stayed on the wall behind bill for a long while before they looked at bill. his face in particular. bill rolled his eye once again.

“thought you said you wanted to look at my chest, fordsie.”

“it’s just…a tad embarrassing.”

what is it with humans and nudity?

“i’m not embarrassed! you’re the only one who’s making this weird!”

ford let out a long sigh before finally bringing his eyes down to bills chest. his eye twitched as he stared at the blonde. they sat like that for about two minutes, bill just wanted to see how long it took for ford to talk. the blondes patience finally snapped and he waved a hand in front of fords face, the scientist flinching.

“well? what’s the news, doc?”

ford swallowed and brought his gaze back to bills face.

“it seems to be slightly irritated but other than that—there seems to be no damage.”

bill hummed and stretched his arms above his head, relishing in the way he heard fords breath hitch. the elder man cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.

“who usually helps to…remove your bindings?”

“eh—usually short-stack but i haven’t removed it in awhile.”

ford blinked and raised an eyebrow.

“what is ‘awhile’ to you, bill?”

bill blinked and put a finger to his chin. last time steve helped him was about five days ago.

“‘bout five days ago!”

“WHAT?”

bill glared at the man as he shouted, crossing his arms.

“chill, brainiac! i’m not dead yet!”

“yes but it is still not safe! have you had any back pain? any difficulty breathing?”

bill thought for a second and nodded. ford inhaled loudly and pointed at the blonde.

“we need to get you another form of support.”

bill looked down at his chest—this lumps weren’t too big! then again, his binder did give him back pain and he did hate the way clothes felt when he didn’t have anything under them. he hummed for a moment and shrugged.

“sure! if it means my back gets a break!”

ford rolled his eyes and sighed. the elder man picked up the discarded sweater and started to put it over bills head. just then, they heard the door open. the pair turned their head and saw steve gaping at them.

“hey, kid!”

steve stood there for a couple moments before slamming the door shut. fords face became even redder as he slipped the remaining part of the sweater over bills head. the blonde adjusted the baggy clothing and grinned up at ford.

“think you forgot to lock the door!”

Chapter Text

mabel was sitting on their chair, grunkle stan beside her. she was talking to pacifica about some girl drama when she saw steve rush away from the bathroom. she grinned and waved at the boy.

“steve! there you—!”

steve ran past them, opening the pools fence door and walking out. a few moments after that, bill and ford came walking to the group. bill looked around, his eyebrows furrowed.

“where’s short-stack?”

“he ran into the woods—he looked like he was gonna barf!” pacifica piped up.

bills eye twitched as he glared at the girl.

“which way did he go?”

mabel and pacifica pointed towards the fence door. bill let out a huff and walked towards the woods. ford was left standing there with bills folded-up binder in his hand. dipper raised an eyebrow at him.

“grunkle ford, what’s that?”

“nothing, dipper!” came fords nervous reply as he stuffed the item into bills tote bag. dipper stared at him for a little while before shrugging it off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“nicks! cmon, let’s just talk about it!”

bill called out into the woods. he groaned as he, yet again, received no answer. bill made his way through the bushes, looking in every direction. familiar blonde curls caught his eye as he walked towards the figure. the man sighed as he saw the boy curled against a tree.

“see any horses by the pool?”

steve brought his eyes up to bill and glared at the man. bill cringed as he sat down next to the boy.

“you mad at me?”

steve blinked as he looked into the forest.

“i’m mad at stanford. and you.”

bill snorted as he leaned on the tree.

“why ford?”

steve looked at him like he had two heads.

“oh, gee. i wonder why. not like the guy disabled you or anything! AND DIDNT APOLOGIZE!”

bill cringed once more as steve shouted into the woods. the boys words echoed throughout the trees.

“kid, i’ve done way worse to him.”

steve glared at him.

“but that was over 200 years ago!”

“it was only 2 years ago for him.”

steve blinked and slumped back onto the tree.

“and i’m mad at you because you don’t care. why don’t you care that he hasn’t apologized!?”

“because i don’t deserve it, kid.”

that made steve even angrier apparently. he gestured his metal arms wildly.

“you keep saying you don’t deserve it! i think you do, he can at least treat you with human decency!”

bill cackled.

“because i don’t deserve it, kid! i tortured sixer!”

“again, past tense! you’re not like that anymore!”

bill rolled his eye.

“you don’t know that! how do you figure that?”

“because i know you, bill!”

bills eye twitched.

“no, you don’t, kid!”

“yes, i do!”

“you’re just a dumb, gullible kid! you don’t know shit about me, stop thinking that you do!”

bill slapped a hand over his mouth, regret plastered on his face. steve’s hurt expression made that regret ten times worse, bill reached a hand out to the boy. steve stood up abruptly, staring at the ground.

“i’d like to go home.”

bill stood up, shakily nodding his head.

“o—okay. let’s go home.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ford didnt miss the way steve glared at him as bill packed up their stuff. something work-related came up—according to bill. ford swallowed as bill called out for steve, the boy still glaring at the man.

“kid!”

steve rolled his eyes—something ford had never seen him do. at least towards bill.

“stars, i’m coming!”

steve shot one last glare to ford before he stomped off to bill. bill squinted his eyes at the boy, his eyebrows furrowed. steve walked past bill, the older blonde yelling at him. the two made their way out of the poolside and towards their car.

ford blinked as he watched them drive off, he couldn’t help but think this was his fault.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ever heard of that old saying?” bill asked in the silence of the car. the usual new wave music that would be playing was absent—steve had his entire body facing towards his window. bill heard steve let out a bitter laugh.

“that hardly narrows it down, cipher.”

bill glared at the boy, his eye twitching. stars—this kid was just like sixer. both of those nerds called him by his last name when they were mad at him. bill cleared his throat before continuing.

“‘something old, something new.’”

bill saw the way steve turned his head to look at him. bill smiled internally as he finished the saying.

“‘something borrowed, something blue.’”

“isn’t that an old wedding saying?”

bill shrugged and grinned.

“yeah but—don’t ya think it describes us?”

steve blinked and raised an eyebrow, unamused.

“how do you figure that, cipher?”

bill pointed to himself.

“something old.”

he then pointed to steve.

“something new.”

bill pointed to his own gap-toothed smile and blonde hair.

“something borrowed.”

steve blinked as he played with a loose curl, a faint gap-toothed smile on his face. bill snickered as he brought his finger to steve’s glasses, tapping the left lens.

“something blue.”

steve let out a snort and crossed his arms, trying to hold back a laugh.

“if you think that’s gonna make me feel better, cipher; it’s not.”

bill rolled his eye and smiled.

“geez, you’re just like sixer sometimes! but seriously, kid, i’m sorry. i shouldn’t have called you that, blue.”

bill snickered at the gasp steve let out when he compared him to ford. the boy sighed and looked back out the window.

“sorry for not knocking.”

bill let out a cackle which made steve giggle. bill took his hand off the steering wheel and rustled steve’s hair, the boy blowing a raspberry at him.

“we good, blue?”

“we’re good, bill.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the gravity falls shopping mall was not where ford expected to be on a saturday afternoon. he squinted his eyes as bill trailed beside him, steve clinging onto the older blonde. the three had entered the mall, expecting to find bill some support for his chest. but they eventually got lost after steve started to get overstimulated and bill had to calm him down.

“okay, soo—hey, look, kid!” bill exclaimed as he pointed to something on the map ford had picked up. steve peered at the paper, furrowing his eyebrows as he read it.

“a…playground? in a mall?”

bill hummed as he shoved the map back into fords hands. the elder man made a noise of protest but didn’t say anything beyond that. he surveyed the map and brought his eyes to the blondes. steve was holding onto bills long reddish-brown skirt, fiddling with the hem of his jacket. bill was adjusting his yellow sweater, a neutral look on his face. ford cleared his throat and the pair brought their eyes to him.

“alright. bill and i will go into ‘sarah’s untold’ while stephen can go to the playground.”

“why do i have to go to the playground?” steve whined. bill chuckled and ruffled the boys hair, pulling out something from his tote bag. the man handed a book off to steve, the boys eyes lighting up.

“okay, i’m fine with this plan!” the boy exclaimed as he hurriedly opened the book. bill snorted. ford pointed in the direction of the playground, steve grabbing the map from the man. the boy said his goodbyes—to bill only—and walked to the playground with his nose stuck in a book.

“alright! ‘sarah’s untold’ here we come!” bill exclaimed.

the pair walked for a few minutes before actually reaching the store. fords face felt hot as bill led him into the shop. the blonde looked around, a confused look on his face.

“do you…know your cup size?”

“no! all the cups i have at home are different sizes!”

ford blinked at the man—oh, he was serious. ford sighed pointedly.

“your chest size.”

bill looked down at his chest and made a move to remove his sweater, something ford stopped almost immediately. his six-fingered grasp laid on ciphers wrist as they made their way to an attendant.

the pair soon found a worker, a blonde lady. ford cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of the woman. she smiled at the two, putting her hands on her hips.

“hello! is there anything i can help you with?”

“we need to get a..chest measurement?”

ford gestured to the man beside him, bill currently looking all over the store. the woman grinned and nodded.

“of course! what’s your name, ma’am?”

bill didn’t register the woman’s voice, still looking aimlessly around the shop. ford cleared his throat and bill turned to look at him. the man gestured to the worker, bill turning his eye to her. the woman smiled.

“i asked your name, miss!”

bill blinked and raised an eyebrow.

“bill.”

the woman’s eyes widened, a small look of confusion in her smile. she looked bill up and down before shaking her head.

“i’m so sorry, sir!”

bill shrugged and put his hands into his skirt pocket.

“okay, let me get my measuring tape!”

the woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a small measuring tape. she walked towards bill and put the measuring tape across his chest. she hummed as she took it in, moving it to bills underbust. the process continued for about a minute until the worker stepped back and smiled, putting the measuring tape back in her pocket.

“you seem to be a ‘b cup’! we have a wonderful selection of bras over there!”

the woman pointed to a rack and bill was off, ford quickly following behind him after giving the worker a quick ‘thank you’.

ford cringed as bill picked up a bright yellow bra with small lace detailing. the blondes eye shimmered as he looked at it, throwing it back to ford who caught it.

at the end of bills small shopping spree, he had picked out six bras he liked. they all ranged from a dark red to a light yellow—some having patterns on them. the two made their way to the changing room, bill humming as ford carried his selections. the blonde stopped infront of one of the changing room doors, grinning up at ford.

“lucky number six!” bill exclaimed as he opened the door. he stepped inside, ford handing him off the bras. bill threw them onto the small chair and pulled ford in by his arm, the man sputtering. bill closed the door behind him and locked it, turning his gaze to the clothing pieces.

“bill, what on earth am i doing in here?”

bill hummed as he picked up an orange bra with a corduroy texture—how fun!

“i need a second opinion, sixer!”

“this is highly inappropriate.”

bill raised an eyebrow at the man.

“how? we’re not doing anything.”

ford sputtered once more as he gestured his hands to bill.

“you are going to strip in front of me and that’s not inappropriate?”

bill blinked.

“no?”

ford sighed as bill worked off his sweater, throwing it on the ground.

“seriously, fordsie—your species needs to learn that nudity isn’t inherently sexual! i think it can be a form of fleeting purity but you meatsacks twisted it into something perverse!”

ford blinked as he watched bill walk towards the mirror shirtless. his chest was exposed, something ford tried not to think about.

“that is…actually quite a smart thought process, cipher.”

bill rolled his eye as he unclamped the bra.

“duh! i’m over a trillion years old, brainiac! i’m bound to be a genius!”

ford hummed as bill slipped the garment over his chest, confusion plastered on his face. bill tried to reach back to clasp the bra closed but soon stopped when the straining started to hurt.

“sixer—how the hell am i supposed to do this?”

ford sighed as he walked towards bill, looking at the blonde in the mirror. the man quickly clasped the bra closed, raising an eyebrow at bill. the blonde grinned at him in the mirror, adjusting the garment. he hummed thoughtfully, turning around to face ford. bill held his arms out to his sides, a smile on his face.

“soo? you like it, fordsie?”

ford looked down to bills chest, his face getting hot. he slowly nodded and swallowed. bill grinned up at him and turned back around, fords hands moving to unclasp the garment. bill stretched once again as ford threw the garment into a seperate seat from the first one.

“okay—five more to go!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the pair made it about five steps out of the store when steve ran up to them. he clung onto bills skirt, tears in his eyes. bills eye widened and he gave his bags to ford.

“kid, the hell happened?”

steve’s sobs quieted down for a moment as he hiccuped.

“they—they stole m-my book!”

bills eye twitched, an angry look on his face.

“who?”

steve pointed towards the playground as he sniffled. bill scoffed and walked towards it, steve and ford following right behind him. when they arrived in the small play area, bill had set his eye on the target immediately. two boys a little older than steve were sitting reading a book, laughing. bills eye twitched as he stomped towards the boys.

“give it back, you brats.”

the boys both raised their heads to bill. they had the audacity to look angry, that’s rich!

“no way, asshole! it’s ours now!”

“it’s not yours, you little shits. you stole it from MY kid.”

“hey! what are you saying to my babies?”

bill raised an eyebrow as he heard a high-pitched yell. he glared at the woman who walked up to him, an angry expression on her face.

“your brats here stole my kids book.”

the lady scoffed as she looked behind bill towards steve.

“that things your kid?”

bill gritted his teeth as he glared at the woman.

“the hell did you just call him?”

“he looks so…ghastly. look at his weird eyes!” the woman looked back at bill, smirking “though, i guess he gets it from you.”

she gestured to bills right eye.

“i recommend you shut the hell up and give me the book.”

the lady let out a laugh.

“oh, please! or what? you’ll pry it from me—all over some sped-looking ki—?”

the slap that followed the lady’s words was loud. her shocked face was something bill relished in, along with the red mark on her cheek. the blonde grabbed the lady by her collar, grinning wildly.

“ listen here, bitch. if i ever hear you say anything about my kid again, i will disembowel you by shoving my hand down your throat and bringing your intestines through your esophagus and out of that loud mouth of yours. ”

the lady stood there in shock as bill let go of her, redirecting his gaze towards the two boys. he leaned down to them, the kids shrinking under his gaze.

“i’m not above hitting a kid—so i’ll say this again; give me the book. ”

the boys didn’t have to be told twice as they immediately held the book out, bill taking it with a grin. he walked past the woman who was still in shock, smiling at ford and steve. ford mouth was agape, his eyes blown wide.

bill snorted as he handed steve back the book, the boy thanking him. steve held his hand as they walked off towards the other stores, ford following hesitantly behind them. the man cleared his throat as he came to walk besides bill.

“that was…a tad violent, cipher.”

bill shrugged and smiled.

“got the point across, didn’t it?”

ford swallowed, he couldn’t argue with ciphers logic. as twisted as it was, the blonde had some sort of a point. bill stopped as they reached a part of the mall, ford halting with him. the blonde pointed to a door, the words ‘restroom’ on it.

“kay, you nerds stay here—i’m gonna head to the bathroom.”

ford blinked as bill let go of steve’s hand and walked through the door. it closed and ford stood there nervously. the two sat there in awkward silence before steve spoke.

“stanford?”

ford brought his gaze down to the boy.

“yes, stephen?”

the boy grinned and looked up at the man, his eye twitching.

“if i ever see you like that with bill again—i’ll kill you.”

ford blinked down at the boy as he began to giggle—yep, definitely ciphers kid. steve looked back at the bathroom door before continuing.

“also, i want to hear that you apologized to him when we return home. or else i’ll make sure to haunt your dreams.”

definitely bills kid.

“a—apologize for what?”

steve scoffed and crossed his metal arms.

“i dunno—for disabling him?”

ford blinked and raised an eyebrow.

“what—what are you talking about, stephen?”

steve let out a bitter laugh as he glared at ford.

“you know what i’m talking about, stanford. he told me about what you did to him in that dingy basement of yours.”

“that…that should not have disabled him.”

another cackle.

“well it did, stanford! you don’t see how he limps? you haven’t noticed the leg brace? stars, how are YOU the smart twin?”

ford thought about it for a moment—now that the boy mentioned it, cipher had been walking weird. the blonde wasn’t able to run regularly, or put too much weight on his right leg. oh—oh no. ford disabled bill cipher—that thought made him somewhat happy. as disgusting and sick as it was, he had hurt cipher for life; the same way bill hurt him. ford blinked once more, a response on his tongue, but was interrupted when bill stepped out of the bathroom.

steve grinned at the man, bill ruffling his hair.

“hope you nerds didnt have too much fun without me!”

steve grinned up at stanford, his eye still twitching.

“not at all! right, stanford?”

the boy gritted his teeth as he spoke, ford swallowing and nodding.

“right, stephen.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the three were in a clothing shop, bill dragging ford around with steve next to him. they currently stood in the woman’s clothing section, bill looking at crop tops as steve looked at jackets. ford was stuck awkwardly standing beside bill, hands tucked behind him. bill grinned as he picked up two items, showing them to ford.

one crop top had the words ‘stay weird’ printed upside down—the other had ‘don’t hate me, it turns me on’ stitched onto the fabric. ford blinked and raised an eyebrow at bill, a disapproving look on his face. that made bill cackle as he threw both shirts into their shopping cart. ford rolled his eyes, looking around the store.

“bill?”

“yes, kid?”

ford brought his eyes to steve, the boy already looking at him.

“i’m going to the bathroom.”

steve gestured to bill with his eyes, holding up five fingers. ford blinked and must have looked confused because steve mouthed the words ‘five minutes’ while still holding up his metal hand.

“kay—don’t get kidnapped again!”

ford nodded as the boy laughed at bills comment, going off into the store as he shot ford one last glance. he mouthed ‘get it right’. ford let out a sigh and turned his eyes back to bill. what should he even say? whenever he was faced with a social dilemma, he thought about mabel. what would she do? well, she would apologize to the person, then make them a sweater, then a cake, then a party, then—okay, he’ll just stick with apologizing.

“bill.”

bill hummed in acknowledgment as he moved the shopping cart with him, the pair walking down the rack.

“i’m sorry.”

bill stopped the cart, looking back at ford. he raised an eyebrow, a confused grin on his face.

“for what, brainiac?”

ford cleared his throat, gesturing to bills leg.

“for…disabling you. i let my emotions get the best of me—i apologize.”

bill blinked.

“wait—how’d you know that you messed my leg up? it’s not obvious, is it? dammit! i thought the brace was working—!”

“stephen told me.”

bill blinked and grimaced.

“that kid.”

the blonde shuffled through the clothes on the rack.

“i don’t need your apology, sixer.”

“are you upset with me?”

bill shrugged, making a so-so motion with his hand.

“half-and-half. a part of me doesn’t blame you—hell, i deserved it! but, another part of me hates that it hurts to walk without this stupid brace on.”

ford cringed as bill lifted up part of his skirt, exposing the leg brace underneath. there seemed to be a long scar running down his thigh to his knee—almost drowned out by the other large scar that travelled all the way down bills leg. ford adjusted his glasses.

“you may have deserved it in a different time—i did not give you the chance to explain yourself. you seem to have…changed?”

fords last sentence came out more like a question than a statement. bill snorted and waved his hand.

“ehh—200 years’ll do that to ya’!”

“yes, and—wait, 200 years?”

bill nodded and hummed as he pulled a pair of flared jeans from the rack. he surveyed the pants before throwing them into the cart.

“you were in therapy for 200 years?”

“yeppers, sixer!” bill snorted.

ford blinked, deciding to shrug it off. the two sat in comfortable silence before steve came running back to them, hopping into the cart. he glared at ford, an eyebrow raised. ford nodded, swallowing. steve blinked as he crossed his arms, rolling his eyes as he looked over to bill.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“hello.”

bill looked to where the voice came from, his eye twitching. the triangle was currently staking out in some random dimension—watching as the inhabitants screamed, white flames burning their bodies. bill blinked at the entity in front of him, a eye of sorts.

“the hell do you want, kid?” bill spat, crossing his arms as he floated higher.

the eye hummed floating up next to bill, a white glow emanating from him. the eye squinted, the circled around it spinning for a moment.

“you’re bill cipher.”

bill rolled his eye.

“yeah, and? you want an autograph, asshole?”

the eye laughed, the white glow around it pulsing with each sound it made. it shook its form, the eye crinkling.

“nothing like that, mr. cipher.”

the eye turned its gaze down, to the burning entities that littered the ground. the eye smiled, the circle around it spinning again. bill side-eyed the being but brought his eye down as well, relishing in the chaos.

“you know, mr. cipher, this is my doing.”

bill snorted and summoned a cocktail, transforming his eye into a mouth as he downed the beverage.

“you want an award, asshole?”

the eye crinkled as it watched bill throw the empty glass onto the ground, the glass hitting someone when it landed. bill cackled as he saw, the eye humming.

“no—i’d like to make a deal with you, mr. cipher.”

bill blinked, if had eyebrows one would be raised. in his few years of being a cosmic overlord, he had only made one deal; and it was with the being who appointed him. he was smart enough to know that making deals could be risky, planning to pull a fast one if he needed to. but, looking at the burning dimension, his eye crinkled—a laugh exiting his form.

“what type of deal, smart-guy?”

the eye hummed.

“a deal where we both benefit, mr. cipher. where we both reign supreme over any being.”

“i already have that, idiot.”

“i can open your eye to so much more. you’re thinking inside the box, mr. cipher. i can change your world.”

now, bill wasn’t dumb—far from it but he was still a ‘kid’. he was technically 18 years old but lied and said he was 180. he was still the, slightly naive, kid who destroyed his dimension on his 12th birthday. so, he blamed his still developing brain—or lack there of—when he agreed to the deal.

“i’ll be the judge of that, x. what’s your name, anywho?”

the eye laughed, blinking as he summoned something. it was a black ‘x’ that glowed a faint white color. he pushed it towards bill, the triangle grabbing it. an immediate burning sensation overwhelmed him—but only for a second. the pain was over as quick as it started, bills body feeling lighter. the triangle glared at the eye—the latter laughing—as he conjured up a small blue flame. he hadn’t quite gotten a hold of his powers but this would do.

he blew the flame towards the eye, watching as it hit the pupil of it. the eye blinked, it’s sclera flashing blue for a second. the eye crinkled as it looked at bill.

“kalumnia laedere. it’s a pleasure to meet you, bill.”

bill snorted as he snapped his fingers, a small portal appearing in front of him. the triangle gestured for kalumnia to go first, the eye thanking him. the triangle looked back at the burning dimension—a burning feeling in his form—before he made his way through the portal, the screams fading away.

Chapter Text

bill scrolled through his phone in the passenger seat, humming along to the song ford had picked. steve was in the backseat, reading a book. ford cleared his throat, turning down the music. bill looked up from his phone, ford side-eyeing him.

“bill…you know—stuff about portals, right?”

bill blinked and grinned.

“why, you trying to build me another one, sixer?”

“absolutely not. just answer the question.”

bill shrugged, putting his feet up on the dashboard—ford scolding him.

“i know the universe-y stuff about it, like what they do and where you’re most likely to end up, but don’t know about logistics!”

ford blinked and sighed, a nervous gaze on the road.

“remember how you burned my journal?”

“yeah—it came back, sixer! don’t blame me!”

“i will continue to blame you. but, moving on, some pages seem to have been burned permanently out.”

bill blinked and raised an eyebrow.

“really, how’d you figure?”

“an experiment. i was looking through my journals for crucial information for a test—but i was met with ashes where the page should have been.”

bill grinned widely, putting a finger to his chin.

“interesting! so, what does that have to do with a portal, i.q.?”

ford cleared his throat again.

“i was thinking…if i could go back into the past, i could see if i could retrieve the pages from an older version of my journal.”

bill cackled at the man.

“you’re gonna steal from a younger you? how scandalous, sixer!”

ford sputtered and adjusted his glasses.

“i am not stealing, just borrowing.”