Chapter One

Sweat beaded on the man's head, and he wiped it away carelessly, pulling the cap off his head to use it as a fan. The skies were clear and the air was way too humid for any actual comfort. The male sitting quietly on the bus seat didn't mind it one bit, though. Summer had arrived, and Dipper was officially a college graduate. He grinned proudly to himself, placing the hat back on his head and grabbing both of the suitcases arranged neatly on either side of him. He had reached his destination.

Gravity Falls.

He departed the vehicle without a word, beaming as soon as his eyes came to rest on his welcoming party. Mabel, his bubbly and overeager twin sister, was the first one to approach him. Or rather, jump into his arms, which is a much more accurate way of describing what had happened. "Bro, I am so super duper, off the wall proud of you! I can't believe you graduated with all A's, you big stupid genius!" she cried with a happiness and pride so overwhelming Dipper felt like it could've crushed him. He laughed, dropping his suitcases and returning the tight hug. He hadn't seen his sister in months. Hell, he hadn't seen anyone in months. Studying for his finals and making sure everything went flawlessly had taken up every ounce of his senior year. But who needed a social life, anyway?

"I'm just glad it's over. I feel like I'm thirty already," he mused, ruffling Mabel's fluffy brunette hair. Stan stepped towards them with a grin and smacked Dipper's shoulder blade. As a child, he probably would've jolted and complained that it had hurt, but he had grown a lot since then.

"Kid, I wish I was thirty," Stan said gruffly, and the three of them laughed cheerfully.

Dipper heard a whistle, and glanced in the direction it had come from. A certain red head stood with her side up against a light post, her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. Dipper could never forget that face, no matter how long it had been since he'd seen it. Wendy took a few steps towards him, eyes lit up with amusement. "Dude, you like, actually grew up. It's weird. Stop it," she teased, punching him on the shoulder and chuckling lightly at her own joke. "I was taller than you last time, man! What happened?" Dipper scoffed, nudging his sister.

"Crazy stuff, I guess. But if it makes you feel any better, I'm still shorter than Mabel by exactly one millimeter," he pointed out with a smile, and Mabel nodded proudly.

She threw both of her arms upwards, alternating hands as she fist bumped the air. "ALPHA TWIN!" she howled, spinning around like a cyclone before Stan grabbed her by one of her wrists and pointed out just how scared she was making some passerby children. Dipper was shocked that he actually seemed to care. That was until Stan told her to save her theatrics for the tourists. Dipper huffed, shaking his head with a small smile.

"It's good to be back," he said softly, looking up into the clear summer sky.

Dipper sat beside his twin on the couch. Mabel was sewing a patch onto a sweater. The patch said something like, "Next time!" in very encouraging purple letters. Dipper glanced away from the notepad in his hands to raise an eyebrow at her. She looked up at him, beaming. "Candy struck out with some guy yesterday and she's been beating herself up ever since. I just wanted to cheer her up, you know?" she said with a sympathetic tone for her friend. Dipper hummed, letting his gaze fall back towards the paper in his hands. So Candy was still in town. Maybe that meant Grenda was, too. And Pacifica. He fidgeted in his seat. He wondered whether or not her parents still controlled every aspect of her life, which made him inexplicably very angry.

He tore the scribbled on piece of lined paper out of the notepad, crumpling it up and tossing it to the floor. Another bad idea. Grumbling, he set to work on something else. Maybe something he had a lot of knowledge about. The supernatural? Well, he was certainly well-versed in that, so at least he now had a premise to work with. But sadly, in terms of detail and even main characters, his mind was just about as blank as the paper in his hands. He exhaled, running his fingers through his hair and knocking the cap off of his head.

Nothing.

He had absolutely nothing to work with.

He was a fucking English major, for god's sakes! He had graduated college with all A's. Even worse, it had been the college he had specifically gone to because it would push him to work hard and further his writing career. But of course, here he was, sitting on the couch in the Mystery Shack completely void of any and all creative inspiration. Mabel placed a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe it's just not your day, bro-bro. Give it time. I'm sure something will come to you," she assured with a tap to his forehead. Dipper frowned. Those weren't the words he had wanted to hear. What he had wanted to hear, he wasn't even sure. Great. Something to add onto the now very long list of things Dipper didn't know but really wanted to.

He stood up, leaning down to pick up all of his discarded papers, which had piled up in the hours he had spent obsessing over ideas. "I think I'm gonna go to bed early tonight. It was a long bus ride," he said sullenly, taking the large quantity of paper wads and disposing of them in the trash can. From the living room, he heard Mabel call her goodnight out to him. Stan, who was in the kitchen cheating against Ford in poker, twisted around in his chair. "Oh, yeah. Dipper," he said, waving his nephew over to him. Dipper stepped forward, pocketing the black ink pen in his hand. "Ford and I are gonna be leaving tomorrow morning to take care of some nerdy space anomalies popping up around the east coast. We'll probably be gone about a month. You think you and Mabel can deal the place while we're gone? Soos is on an away trip with that Melody girl and I've got no one else right now. Think you can do it without setting the place on fire?"

Dipper shrugged. "Sure," he replied simply. He didn't mind the fact that they were leaving as soon as he had just gotten back from school. It wasn't like he had much else to occupy himself anymore. Besides, the job they did needed to be done, and they insisted upon doing it themselves. And there was the whole 'they deserve to make the most out of their lives because they survived the apocalypse' thing they had going on. So in short, Dipper was perfectly content with watching the Shack while they went off to investigate/beat the living hell out of any monsters they could get their hands on. Mabel likely wouldn't either, as he was sure she already knew. Stan nodded, going back to his game, and Dipper noticed that Ford had switched up a few things while the other hadn't been looking. Wow. Had Ford been that much of a cheat last time Dipper had been in Oregon?

...To be honest, probably.

But at least they were getting along well after the whole Bill fiasco ten years ago. Ten years. Dipper could hardly believe it. All that time had gone by so quickly, and life seemed so... Quiet without the albeit evil, but somewhat amusing demonic triangle. Boring, in all honesty. Not that Dipper missed being terrorized. What did he look like, a masochist? Oof. Definitely not. He tossed the notepad and pen onto his nightstand, shedding his flannel as he entered his room. Yeah, his. He had emptied out a spare room in the attic to use as his own when he was... about sixteen, he thought. Around that time he'd gotten his first serious girlfriend, as he recalled. Needless to say, privacy had become somewhat of a necessity in his eyes. Like any teenage boy, of course. Although looking back, he kind of wished he hadn't moved out of his old room quite so soon, since his first serious girlfriend had been far from his last, and it seemed like a waste, in all honesty. All that time he could've spent doing non-regrettable things with his life.

But that didn't really matter anymore, did it? He sighed, sliding into his bed and attempting to get comfortable. He pulled the plain, navy blue blanket up to his chin and closed his eyes. But for some reason, he couldn't take his mind off of his predicament. What felt like hours passed, and Dipper groaned in annoyance. He sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes. Why couldn't he just let it go until morning? Then again, Dipper Pines had never exactly been one to give up easily. He reached a hand over, turning his lamp on and softly illuminating the dim room. He glanced to the side, where his red stain glass window was. In the middle, an image of Bill made itself very apparent. Although he was no longer a threat, the window still made Dipper feel uneasy. It was almost like being watched constantly by the demon.

Which kiiiinda creeped Dipper out. He knew he was being ridiculous, of course. Bill was dead.

"Now I wouldn't say that, Pine Tree~" a voice cooed as the room began to fade into blacks and whites. Dipper's eyes snapped wide, and he looked around in a panicked sort of daze. Laughter erupted around the now grayscale room, echoing against Dipper's eardrums. A bright yellow triangle appeared directly in front of his face, too close for his comfort. "Man, it has been a while since I saw your sorry face. Look at you, all grown up now, eh?" the demon chirped, placing his hands against Dipper's cheeks and smushing them together. Dipper stared in disbelief, swatting his hands away. "W-what?! But we erased you!" he exclaimed, scooting away from the demon. Bill's single slitted eye narrowed in amusement, and he placed his hands on what Dipper could only assume he perceived to be hips. "Did you really think you could get rid of me and have your happy ending? That's adorable, kid! And besides, I've turned a new leaf. Yep! Swear on your life I have," he said merrily, circling around Dipper, who watched him warily.

Dipper snorted, choosing not to question his existence so much... Yet. "I'm flattered that my life means so much to you that you'd wager it and all, but why exactly should I care whether or not you've 'turned a new leaf'?" he hissed sarcastically, air quotes around the last few words.

Bill winked - or that's what Dipper presumed - and waggled a finger in front of the brunette's face. "I am so glad you asked!" he exclaimed. "Ya see, kid, it's been pretty boring since I'm not nearly as powerful as I used to be. Buuuuut... There is something I can do, and I'd like to try it out. The only problem is, I need permission to enter your realm. That's where you come in."

Dipper scoffed, raising an eyebrow. "And what makes you think I'll give you permission to enter this realm and cause trouble?" he inquired, leaning back when Bill put himself further in Dipper's personal space.

"Easy. I promise not to hurt anyone. Not a soul. Cross my heart, hope to die, and all that. Oh and hey, I'll even sweeten the deal for you. I'll work here at the Mystery Shack and help you out. In exchange, I get to live here and you - yes, you specifically; Shooting Star is too energetic for my liking - give me the full human experience. That means everything, Pines, and you'd better not hold out on me," he explained with a shrug, his eye beginning to glow a light blue. "It's not like I can do much harm anyway, since you and your family ridded me of most of my abilities."

Dipper scowled. That seemed... Surprisingly reasonable. Too reasonable, if you asked him. There had to be some sort of trick involved. "Whose body would you be using to stay in this dimension?" he asked suspiciously, refusing to allow a repeat of the last time Dipper had been naive enough to make a deal with Bill.

Bill chuckled, flipping his body upside down midair and tapping Dipper's nose obnoxiously. "Ooh, sharp, are we? That's simple. I use the little magic I have and conjure one up. Which begs the inevitable question - since I noticed how much you seem to enjoy asking questions nowadays - why I didn't just make my own body last time, or even the time before that? Well, you see, that uses a lot of energy, a lot of power. And it takes a while to 'recharge', per se. But it isn't like I have much power now anyway, and I have just been craving something interesting." he cooed, turning to be right side up yet again.

Dipper considered his options. Bill was making this a relatively loop hole free deal, but that didn't mean Dipper trusted him in the least. That and he simply didn't want to have to be the one to show him how to be human. He had other things to do with his time, like get to work on that book he needed to write. But he was completely out of ideas. Unless... he had a little help. Bill would make an interesting character, whether he was a protagonist or not. On a surface level he was likeable, and Dipper was sure he'd had enough encounters with the demon to be able to write him perfectly. Plus, there were so many things Dipper could do with this, so many possibilities, both for the story and Dipper's research, which he did in his spare time. Maybe this could actually benefit him in some way.

"Hey, smart guy. You done yet? Your thoughts are really loud," Bill commented, rolling his single eye.

Dipper chose to ignore his snarkiness. "Alright. But I want to use you in a book I've been thinking about. You give me permission to use your likeness or whatever, and I'll give you permission to inhabit this realm. Under the condition that you don't hurt anyone or anything in the meantime. Also, you'd better actually do your part and work at the Shack, or I'll ask Mabel to give you your stupid 'human experience', got it?" he said, watching Bill with interest.

Bill simply waved a hand, closing his eye. "Whatever floats you boat, kid. Just don't use my real name and we've got a deal," he replied, holding out a hand, which was quickly engulfed in azure flames. Dipper hesitated, thinking over his decision one more time before taking Bill's hand and giving it a shake. Bill laughed, pulling his hand away and letting the fire fizzle out. He seemed about ready to go when a realization crashed into Dipper.

"Wait. We put a barrier around the Shack. You shouldn't be able to enter it, so how are you here?" he inquired, somewhat fearful of the answer.

Bill just shrugged. "Goats will eat anything, Pine Tree."

"...You possessed the goat and made it eat the unicorn hair, didn't you?"

"What is this, twenty questions? Yeesh."

The both of them were silent for a few moments, just staring one another down. That is, until:

"Also, yes. Yes I did."

And that's when color faded back into the world.