Bill Cipher was good at what he did, and that was making deals. He would let himself into people's dreams and manipulate them. The majority he gave nightmares too, and they would be forced to take his deals to get rid of them. Others, only a select few, he let them dream what they wished. They could have any and everything they wanted, but only in their dreams. For them, this became a danger to their very existence. They would force themselves to sleep nearly constantly with drug use. Some never woke up, and these were the ones Bill had trapped in the mindscape. They could not communicate and would be forever alone, or at least until they turned into a twisted, nightmare version of themselves that he could manipulate. (How he adored his Henchmaniacs!) He enjoyed causing these puny skin-bags pain. It was a riot to watch them wriggle and writhe beneath his thumb, all in vain. Once he'd had enough of them, he would bend them until they broke and move on to the next.

Since his return to Gravity Falls thanks to Gideon, he loved visiting the dreams of the townsfolk and casing them nightmares. This night, he had entered into the dreams of a young girl, and gleaned her name from the thoughts that he gathered. Jamie Forrester. Something felt…familiar about this particular dreamscape. Hmmmm. A tree image followed by triple question marks popped up in his eye. He narrowed his eye after getting the image off. "Is this one related to Pine Tree and Shooting Star perhaps?" He tapped his finger near his bow tie as he hovered above the forest in her mindscape. Suddenly, his ponderings were cut short as a swarm of paper airplanes erupted from below him and just as suddenly turned into a flock of swallows that winged away chirping happily. "So this one knows how to manipulate the mindscape huh?" Despite knowing better, his curiosity grabbed him and he could not shake it. He drifted toward the open forest clearing and found the kid there.

Jamie could feel a change in the atmosphere. What had been a light, fun environment now took on a forbidding darkness. However, she turned around and greeted her visitor with a mischievous smile, determined that her fun should not come to an end yet. Plus, it was in her nature to be friendly, even with those who weren't necessarily going to reciprocate those feelings. The dinosaurs she had conjured continued their tea party as she excused herself. Of course, these weren't your regular dinosaurs. They had impeccable table manners, were about the size of an average human adult, very articulate, and dressed fashionably to fit the occasion. Ever since she was a child she had been obsessed by them, and with her ability to have lucid dreams when she wanted, it had been a cinch to perform this feat.

Bill, using his "gentleman" persona, tipped his hat to her, causing the clearing to tilt until he put it back on. Classic, he thought. This should shake her. "The names Bill. Bill Cipher." But Jamie was entranced by this new visitor. She felt drawn to him by something. But what? She knew for a fact that this creature was not a part of her dream but rather an entity on its own. A stab of disappointment went through him, so he tried a more direct approach at shock. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Jamie Forrester herself. How's it hanging kid?" At this Jamie found herself hanging upside down in front of Bill. "You know my name?" She asked as she righted herself and floated in front of him. She twirled her hand and summoned a cup of tea that she then offered him. Taking it, he had to give props to the kid, as she seemed pretty skilled in this dimension. Not being intimidated at all by his presence pointed to her being better at handling the weirdness here than Pine Tree and Shooting Star had. As he sipped the tea, he thought back to when he was "defeated" by the twins and chuckled.

"Hahaha! Of course. I have been keeping an eye on all the happenings in this dumb little hick town." Still the kid was unfazed. Snapping his fingers, he summoned his cane and began pacing upside down in the air. Think, Cipher, think! What could he do to scare this kid? He didn't want to go too far yet, but something that would draw her in before he finished with a grand finale. He closed his eye and dug through the thoughts. Or tried too at least. It seemed she had wised up to him and was now protecting them somehow. "How are you doing this?! I am the master of all minds!" He seethed from his position above her head, turning red. She looked up at him and shrugged. "Just am, I'm not sure how." She looked straight into his eye, her gaze focused solely on him, and he felt a small memory slither into his mind unbidden. A world in flames, a family gone. What was this child doing to him to bring this up. He didn't need his own memories to start betraying him. Despite everything, a small ripple of fear went through him. He floated down to where she had resumed her tea party, effectively ignoring him and oblivious to his intentions. He held his fingers up. With one snap, he could kill this insect and be done with these...feelings. But something stayed his hand. What? Jamie turned back around, and before Bill knew what was happening, she had immobilized him somehow, and was looking up at him with blank eyes and a serene smile. "In the waves of life, we will have met thrice. Remember or not, it is not for us to decide. We will meet again Bill Cipher. Recall Axolotl as your world burns for the second time."

Thoroughly chilled, he snapped his fingers and left the child's mind. What did all that mean? No matter, he had bigger trees to chop and nightmares to fulfill than to go about worrying over some nonsense a small, nobody fleshbag said.

But he couldn't shake the words from his mind.

Later, as he was trapped inside the mind of Stan Pines, he thought back to this day. He knew what he had to do to (hopefully) get a second chance. If only it worked. "A-X-O-L-O-T-L, my time has come to burn! I invoke the ancient power that I may return!" He appealed one last time to the older Pines brother in front of him. "Staaanleeeeey!" A fist was the last thing he saw before darkness overtook him.

It was odd, but he could still feel himself. He still existed. Somehow, someway, somewhere, he existed in this darkness. Thank Axolotl, he thought begrudgingly.

He was unsure of time in this...wherever, whatever it was. How long had he been here? It felt like only seconds since that thought had passed through his mind, though perhaps it had been longer, as he felt a change ripple through the space. Before he knew what was happening, he was blinded by light. As his sight came back, he realized he was in a room. The smell of coffee permeated the air. A glint of silver caught his gaze, and his mind went numb at what he saw there. He hovered before the mirror. Gone was his original form. In its place was that of a young adult human. He slowly reached his hand up, letting the shock wear off as he explored his new features. Tow-headed, one amber eye, and dressed in a suit matching his original colorings. He snapped, and his cane appeared. At least I still have my powers. He sighed, wondering what else had changed other than his appearance. A movement from the side caught his eye (Would it have been too much for two eyes? Some things never change, he thought grudgingly), and he turned to find a young woman staring at him curiously. In one hand she held a small box, and in the other was an all-seeing eye pendant on a golden necklace.

The young woman smiled. "I was told this may be a haunted item, but I didn't believe I would be so lucky!" She cocked her head and walked around him. Stopping in front of him, she held out her hand. "My name is Jamie Forrester. What's yours?" His mind flashed back to the kid he had met, which, judging by her age now, would have been years ago. I have been gone for years? He thought, shocked. "The name is Leon William Noel." he replied. Where the heck did that name come from? Hiding his confusion, he smiled, eye crinkling. "You can call me Bill." She smiled as they shook. Obviously, she didn't remember as much as he did. "I think Leo is a better one. No offense, but Bill is weird, even by our standards here." Bill gave her a chagrined look. "Very well. A name is a name I suppose. Where is "here" by the by?" Distracted, she answered. "Durner. A small town in North Georgia." She turned back to examining him and the pendant alternately. But he had at least learned something. Gone was Gravity Falls, now there was only Durner. He had so many questions. Was this another dimension? Was it real, or was it a holographic punishment meted out by that dumb frilled lizard? Jamie could tell he was trying to process something as his eye dilated. Yeesh, they could have added a warning that the spirit was a bit unstable. She sat down on her bed, twining the necklace in her hand and rubbing her thumb over the smooth gold triangle. The longer she looked at him the more familiar be seemed. Had she met this odd guy before? She shook her head, trying to clear away the Déjà vu."Why don't you take a seat, Leo…Er, Bill. I think we have some things to discuss."

Thanks for reading through my first fanfiction! Feedback would be absolutely wonderful as I begin my journey into writing! This story arose from a NaNoWriMo meeting topic, so I decided to put it here! There MAY be more to come.

Disclaimer: Character and series belongs to Alex Hirsch/Disney, but you belong to Bill! ;)