Dipper thought he would feel better when he and Mabel were finally released from the hospital. But as he stared out the car window, he felt anxiety festering within him. He didn't understand why. Everything should be fine now, right? He was going home. He was with his family again.

Speaking of his family, he knew they were all watching him. He could feel Mabel's eyes on the back of his head, and he was certain Stan and Ford were watching him from the front seat in the rear-view window. He wished everyone would stop staring at him.

When they arrived at the Shack, Dipper got out of the car way too fast and aggravated his wounds. He still couldn't walk right thanks to the injuries forcing him to waddle like a penguin. As if he didn't feel humiliated enough.

Stan noticed Dipper's discomfort and put his hand on his nephew's shoulder in concern. Dipper shook his hand to assure Stan he was fine. He headed towards the trunk of the car to get all the flowers and cards given to them during their hospital stay, but Stan held up his hand.

"Me and Ford got this stuff. You kids go inside."

Dipper didn't feel like arguing, so he obeyed and headed towards the house. Mabel appeared by his side and offered her hand. For a second, he wanted to swat it away and insist he didn't need her help. He was instantly ashamed for allowing such a rude thought to cross his mind.

Mabel had done nothing but make sure he was alright even though she had suffered too. When they were kidnapped and held in a cage like animals, Mabel tried to take care of him. She would let him lay down on her lap and stroke his hair trying to comfort him even as she was being starved to death. She would brush aside her own pain saying Dipper had suffered worse since he was…

Dipper shook the thought from his head. They weren't there anymore. Everything was fine now.

He gave a small smile and took her hand. She was already looking better. The color returned to her face and her ribs were no longer poking out of her body. She seemed to be recovering faster than him. The last time Dipper looked in the mirror, his face was still pretty pale and sunken in.

As they entered the house, they were greeted by an excited Waddles. He jumped on Mabel and nearly knocked over since she was still weak. But she managed to stay on her feet and give Waddles a hug.

"Oh, Waddles, I missed you so much. I thought I'd never see you again."

Mabel had no idea how close she was to never seeing Waddles again.

Dipper tried to get into the usual position, but even kneeling was too much for his famished and battered body now.

"Get up." The man kicked Dipper's side.

"I'm trying."

"You want your sister to die?"

"No, please. I'm trying." Dipper tried to push himself up, but his arms, even thinner and weaker than before, gave out on him. "I'm trying, I swear. Don't hurt my sister, please."

Dipper was pulled out of his thoughts when Waddles rubbed his snout against his legs.

"Aw, look, Dipper, he missed you too."

Dipper bent down to pet Waddles' head. "Heh, good boy."

He gave Waddles a pat before letting him go off to play with Mabel. He took the opportunity to walk around the house. This was the first time he's been alone since he was rescued. He ran his hand along the wall as he walked. He needed to feel the solid wood beneath his fingers to make sure this wasn't a dream.

The Shack was exactly how Dipper remembered it. But why wouldn't it be? It had been little more than a week. The few days in the hospital had passed in a blur. He mostly slept. Ford and Stan were always there to put him back to sleep when he was woken by nightmares.

But before that, the days he and Mabel were held captive felt like an eternity. It made the life he knew before seem like ages ago. How many times did he say he'd be happy to see the shack one more time? Well, here he was, inside the shack again, but he didn't feel happy. He felt…he didn't really know how he felt.

Dipper made his way to the kitchen. On the table was a map of the woods surrounding Gravity Falls. There were giant red Xs in certain areas. Dipper assumed that this is the map their uncles used while looking for them. What caught Dipper's attention was a small circled area with the word "body" next to it not far from where he and Mabel were held.

Before Dipper figure out what that meant, he saw a picture peeking out from under the map. He pulled it out and was horrified to discover it was a picture of a decapitated child's body. There were huge gashes all over the body that were circled in red ink. There was a note on the picture that said: "Murder weapon: Axe?"

Dipper knew who must have done this.

He felt the cold steel blade weigh down on his neck.

Dipper unconsciously rubbed his neck. The very axe that hacked this poor child to death he had felt pressed against his own skin.

He closed his eyes and waited to die.

Was this kid thinking and feeling the same thing Dipper had before he died? Did he cry and beg for his life? Did he close his eyes and wait for it to be over?

"Dipper, don't look at that!" The picture was snatched from his hands by Ford. He put the picture in his coat out of Dipper's sight. But it was too late. The picture was burned into his memory.

"Grunkle Ford, who was that?"

"I don't know. The police are still trying to figure that out." Ford remembered when he and Stan found the body and those terrifying moments they thought it might be one of their kids. "It's no one from Gravity Falls, so they think he or she might be a runaway."

"He."

"What?"

"It's a boy, Grunkle Ford. He wouldn't have taken a girl. He likes boys."

Mabel had only been taken to lure Dipper into his trap. Once the man had Dipper, Mabel had outlived her usefulness. Desperate to save his sister, Dipper made a deal with the man: Dipper becomes his willing plaything in exchange for Mabel's life. But eventually, the man grew tired of his plaything.

"You're dying. You're no good to me anymore."

Dipper looked in the direction he was being taken. There in the moonlight, almost like a spotlight on a stage, shined a tree stump. Sticking out of said tree stump was an axe.

"No…no, please. I don't wanna die."

"That could have been me, Grunkle Ford. It could have been Mabel."

Ford firmly gripped Dipper's shoulder. "He can never hurt anyone ever again, Dipper."

"Yeah, you made sure of that." Dipper smiled remembering the poetic justice Ford inflicted upon his abuser.

Ford smiled back and lightly ruffled his hair. "That's the price one pays for harming my family."