Author's Note

I had a request from Nelli3, to answer a few questions. I hope this will help everyone get caught up with some of the more subtle plot lines I don't really want the characters themselves to find out about :-)

Who is Tyrone?: Tyrone in in essence Dipper pre-portal accident. Tyrone is the Dipper Mable and Billeah grew up with and experienced the rebooted universe's timeline. When Bill put Dipper into the newly fabricated continuum, He removed Tyrone and replaced him with Dipper. Billeah lied to Dipper when she told him his duplicate was destroyed during the accident. Tyrone was really the black mass that repeatedly attacked Dipper in Invictus, and was driven insane by Rick who was trapped in the Mindscape where Bill used to be. Tyrone was the real Pinetree of that universe and was meant to be Bill's ace in the hole. But, when Dipper killed him, and Mabel turned her back on the group, The PineTree and Shooting Star seals were destroyed, causing Rick to have enough power to be summoned into the real world.

Why the name Tyrone?: Rick knew that one of the names Dipper would have called himself was Tyrone. Since there was already a Dipper, Rick fashioned false memories about the other Pines brother, Just like Bill did when he took the form of their cousin.

Why doesn't dipper remember anything before the re creation in reboot?: Simple, Dipper was outside of the universe when it was created. His memories pre-portal were that of the show. Everyone died and lived different lives with Billeah involved. Her new presence sent ripples that changed things. Anything that happened related to Bill was taken out. Stan, the author, was also outside of the universe, and that's why he DOES remember Bill, just like Dipper

I appreciate all your support, and hope you stick with me till the end. I know I've become a knife wielding maniac, but there is a real point as to why things are... escalating the way they are. You are all mature and smart individuals, and I will not play with kid gloves. Lives are on the line and Dipper is at war with a cosmic being who can drive people insane. If you want a less emotional ride... I suggest watching Madoka.

If you have any other questions or comments, PM me or add it in the review! I'll Q/A what I can!

Enjoy!


It had been three weeks of quiet. Mabel was not her cheery self. Pacifica had become reserved and Gideon spent all his time in the library or the lab pouring over the books the Stans collected. Dipper felt like a part of him was cut away, he was sure he did lose a piece of himself when Tyrone died. Even though he barely knew his alternate self, they still shared some sort of connection. If Rick hadn't corrupted his mind… No, Dipper knew thinking about what ifs was not going to help.

Dipper looked over to Pacifica, she was in bed reading a maternity book to herself. She had always kept herself fit, so he could notice a small bump as she neared her second trimester. He laid on his side and slid his hand on her stomach.

"Hm?" Pacifica said, she gave him a smile as he kept his hand there. She held her book with one hand and ran her fingers through his hair. Dipper smiled weakly as a pang of guilt stabbed his chest. He had a flash of Billeah in his mind from when he was with her. He knew his wife, and she probably already knew what happened even before he could say anything. It was killing him that she wouldn't say anything.

"Just go…" She said. Dipper looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. "You're extra clingy and mopey. You want to go see Billeah, it's been three weeks, you've not even brought her up and you get this look on your face whenever I mention her."

"I just…" Dipper said.

"Feeling guilty about something?" Pacifica said with a coy smile. Dipper burrowed his head deeper into her side. He wrapped his free arm behind her and held her. "I figured as much."

"You should be furious with me." Dipper said. His voice was muffled from shoving his face in the mattress.

"Well, I can't be angry if I don't know what happened." Pacifica said. "I'm sure it's not as terrible as you're making it out to be."

Dipper sat up and took a deep sigh.

"We're not kids anymore… I can't do this to you ." Dipper said.

"Do what?" Pacifica asked. Dipper knew she was dragging it out of him on purpose, he could tell behind the innocent, naive look was a raging fire of burning jealousy.

"She… In order to get the information on releasing her… she… she kissed me." Dipper said.

Pacifica stared blankly at him.

"More... than once." Dipper said. "And… I didn't stop her. I missed her so much, I didn't… no I won't make excuses. I'll leave."

Dipper moved to get up and Pacifica grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down.

"Do you think I'd let you leave after all that?" Pacifica said, her tone went from placating to almost dangerous. "Don't you think I knew how she felt about you, and no matter how much you deny it, you felt about her?"

"But… It's Bill, an omniscient demonic entity, It's some sort of mind game he probably planted in me when I was put back in this world." Dipper said. "It's stupid and I hate feeling that way."

"Do you love me?" Pacifica asked. Dipper looked into her eyes.

"Yes, more than anything. I love you and I love our babies. If you want me to choose, I'll…" Dipper said. His cheek suddenly stung as Pacifica's palm flew across his cheek.

"Do not ever finish that statement. I have spent all my life with you, helping you fight Rick and whatever he's trying to do. I stood by your side and loved you with all my heart. Don't you ever think of giving all that up for me. I chose to love this Dipper, the one I have to patch up on a weekly basis, because you do what you love and what you are called to do. If you give that up… you give up on the life we built together." Pacifica said. Dipper was rubbing his cheek. "And don't get it in your head that I'm giving you a hall pass either. I don't share my things."

"Is that all I am to you, one of your things?" Dipper said. Pacifica pulled him next to her, put his hand on her belly and read her book without answering.


Dipper was drinking his coffee and working on a memo when the doorbell rang. He trudged to the front door and opened it to meet a grey haired Sheriff Blubs.

"The charges were dropped with Manly Dan. If you want to blame me for Shandra's accident I have plenty of witnesses who can place me at home when it happened." Dipper said dryly and moved to shut the door.

"No…" Sheriff Blubs said "We're here for your sister."

"Why?" Dipper asked. He felt like he was ready to break the door, but he kept his cool exterior.

"Medical Examiner ran some tests on your brother. Something came back, and we'd like to talk to her about it… Since she was the legal caretaker of Tyrone Pines." Sheriff Blubs said.

"She's not here." Dipper said.

"You realize lying to me is obstruction?' Sheriff Blubs said.

"You realize I don't see a warrant to enter the premises? If she's wanted for questioning, I'll bring her down there myself with our lawyers.

"I'm sure you will." Officer Blubs said with a grin. "Also… we do have a warrant for Gideon Gleeful. We can place him in the approximate area of Shandra's accident. He still has a warrant out for the murder of Robby Valentine even though he's post-living."

Officer Blubs pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Dipper.

"Now… you wouldn't be harboring a known fugitive would you?" He said with a grin.

"You know how I feel about Gideon, why would I hide him here?" Dipper said.

"Oh, I don't know. He may not even be breathing. He may have come here seeking sanctuary, what with you being all forgiving and trusting type… and then you snap his neck and bury him under the floorboards." Sheriff Blubs said. "Seein' as you've had altercations with him in the past… I do have a warrant to search for him."

Dipper didn't move and stared Sheriff Blubs down. He had no way to signal anyone in the house. He hoped one of the few staff who seemed to melt into the walls was alerting everyone right now, but he had no way to be sure. He couldn't tell Blubs Mabel was here or he could be arrested for lying to him.

"Do you want your lawyer present for the search?" Officer Blubs said. "Or you want to videotape me? I'm coming in one way or another, I just want this to be as official and procedural as possible."

Dipper moved aside and let Sheriff Blubs in. He went into the kitchen and grabbed his phone and dialed his lawyers. It would take them a good half hour to get there, and Officer Blubs could have found Mabel and Gideon by then.

Pacifica came downstairs and smiled as Sheriff Blubs tipped his hat to her. He proceeded to check the rooms.

"What's he doing here?" Pacifica said.

"He thinks I killed Gideon and stuffed him in the floorboards, and Mabel's suspect for the death of Tyrone." Dipper said.

"You've got to be kidding me." Pacifica sighed. "You call the lawyers?"

Dipper nodded. Pacifica poured herself coffee and sat down to her tablet and opened up an app. She looked at Dipper and gave him a wink. A huge sense of relief washed over him. She must have messaged them to hide.

"I'm HOOOoooome!" Mabel shouted as she bounded through the front door. "You won't believe the new fabrics I found!"

Dipper got up to bolt to his sister when Pacifica grabbed his wrist and sat him down.

"If he takes her, Gideon will be safe." she whispered. "We'll be at the station before she's even processed. You fly off the handle and beat Sheriff Blubs to a pulp, then Rick wins."

Dipper growled and sat down. He closed his eyes as he heard Mabel protesting when Sheriff Blubs handcuffed her. Pacifica nodded and they both got up and calmly walked out into the entrance hall.

"What's going on? Dipper?" Mabel shouted as Sheriff Blubs lead her to the door.

"We'll be down there as soon as we can. Don't say anything till we get there!" Dipper said. He quickly texted his lawyer and got a reply that he was almost to the station.


Dipper waited outside the room Mabel was being interrogated in with Pacifica. He couldn't stop tapping his foot. Pacifica was texting on her phone and sighed.

"Just sent a note to Candy, she's going to be here any minute." Pacifica said. Dipper nodded.

"Why would they think Mabel killed Tyrone? It doesn't make any sense!" Dipper said. They both looked up as their lawyer exited the room. "What's going on?"

"Mr. Pines, It seems the autopsy they did on Tyrone showed a high level of potassium in his system." He said.

"I don't understand." Dipper said.

"The amount was borderline lethal and could easily cause cardiac arrest. With Tyrone in a persistent vegetative state already, his body was already fragile. They think, as his caregiver, Mabel gave him potassium chloride." He said. "They think with the loss of her home and the recent deaths of her grandfather and grand uncle, there's motivation for her to cut her losses and move on with her life."

"That's ridiculous!" Pacifica said. "She loved him, and would never do that!"

"We know that, but that's what they are trying to use as motive." The lawyer said.

"I don't want her to go through what I did." Dipper said. "No deals, just get her out of it. I don't want this to go to court. Why would they autopsy Tyrone in the first place? "

"That's something I'd like answered myself. It seemed unnecessary, but we both know Sheriff Blubs has been out to get you for some time. We can't argue the tests wasn't needed. I'll have some of my people doublecheck the samples to validate them, and make sure they did everything right, if there's even a hint of tampering, we'll get this thrown out."

Dipper saw Candy looking for them. He waved at her and she rushed over. He gave her a hug, followed by Pacifica.

"Oh my god… what happened?" She asked.

"They think Mabel killed Tyrone." Pacifica said. Candy's face went white.


Dipper took his seat next to Pacifica at the hearing. He was able to keep this out of the media with Shandra no longer around. Gideon wanted to come, but Dipper insisted he stay back at the house since they were actively looking for him. Candy arrived and took the seat next to Dipper.

Dipper listened as both sides argued their cases. He was glad this time it only took a few weeks to get her through the system and not shuffled around. He was furious when he heard the charge was murder. The DA wanted to push for life imprisonment. Dipper saw Candy's face shatter at the thought of losing Mabel like that.

"Dipper…" Candy whispered. "Dipper… I need to talk to you."

During a recess he followed Candy to an empty hallway. She looked around nervously and played with her hands.

"I need to tell you something… it's all my fault." Candy said.

"What?" Dipper asked. "What's all your fault?"

"I… I did it." She whispered.

Dipper's face went cold.

"What did you do? And tell me everything." Dipper said.

"The last few months… I have been giving Tyrone potassium. I wanted it to look like his body just… gave up. I wanted to free Mabel from him. You and I both know that there was nothing in there." she said. "I wanted… I wanted her to be with me. I was there for her for all these years and I really tried for her to live with him. You never watched her struggle with him, and she did it all with a smile. It broke my heart every time."

"Stop… don't… don't say anymore." Dipper had to sit down.

"She's going to go to prison because of me!" Candy said. "I can't let her do that!"

"She's not going to go." Dipper said. "Mabel and I made a choice to let Tyrone go… you may have tried, but we're the ones who unhooked his spirit from his body. Not that we can really say that in court."

There was an audible beep that echoed in the halls, Dipper looked around and saw everyone going back into the courtroom.

"Recess is over, don't say a word about this to anyone." Dipper said. Candy nodded and followed him back inside.

They resumed the trial, Dipper's legal team tried to get every piece of evidence thrown out to no avail. Dipper's hands couldn't stop sweating. It seemed like the trial was spiraling out of control.

"I can't let this happen." Candy whispered.

"Don't make a scene." Dipper said. "You really want to do this?"

Candy nodded. Dipper's fingers flew over the keypad on his phone as he sent a text to his legal team. He cared about Candy but if she didn't step up he would have tossed her to the wolves to save his sister.

"Your honor, we have some new evidence we'd like to present." Mabel's lawyer said. Candy stood up and took the stand.

"Your Honor. Mabel didn't give Tyrone the potassium… I did." She said. Dipper saw Mabel glance at Dipper, then back to Candy.

"Why?" Mabel asked.

"Because I love you, Mabel. You spent most of our lives taking care of him and I loved that about you. I was trying to help you let go, let you stop taking care of everyone and let me take care of you. I figured if he passed away like he should have, then we could put it behind us and start our lives together." Candy said.

Mabel was burrowed into her sweater. The prosecutor asked a few questions and Candy explained how she gave him small doses in his IV over the course of a few months. The prosecutor reluctantly dropped the charges against Mabel and took Candy into custody.


"You sure you don't want to go?" Dipper asked Mabel. She was in her room with the blankets over her head. "She would probably love to see you there. There's not going to be a huge trial as she'd confessed. This is just a sentencing hearing."

"She… She tried to kill Tyrone." Mabel choked. "I trusted her."

"We've all done things we regret out of love." Dipper said, and sat down next to her. "Come on, we need to support her."

Mabel begrudgingly slumped out of bed and got dressed. Pacifica met them at the front door and they drove back to the courthouse.

As they all sat down. Candy stood in front of the judge wearing an orange jumpsuit. The Judge sat at his podium and rapped his gavel three times to call order.

"The defendant pleaded guilty to the aggravated murder of Tyrone Pines." the Judge said.

"What?" Dipper said. "Aggravated?"

The Judge glowered at him and he sat down. One of the lawyers moved next to him and whispered.

"Since she had been trying to kill him for months with the poison it fell into the aggravated category as she was causing him to suffer. We tried to argue it away, but he refused to listen to us." He said.

Dipper stared at the judge and felt his blood run cold as he could make out a grinning square form just above his head.

"The court sentences Candy Chiu's life be terminated by lethal injection." the judge said, and rapped his gavel.

"What?" Mabel screamed. "No! NO!"

"I'm sorry Mabel! It's what I deserve!" Candy said as she was led out of the room. "I love you!"

"Candy!" Mabel yelled as Dipper held her back.

"I don't care what she says. You appeal this!" Dipper said. His lawyer nodded and was on the phone.

"Dipper!" Mabel sobbed. "Why is she doing this?"

Pacifica and Dipper helped Mabel out of the courtroom and into their limo. No one said a word on the drive home.


Dipper checked on Mabel and saw she was sleeping. Pacifica had gone up to bed, and Dipper was walking the house. He moved into an unused room and closed the door. He lit one of the decorative candles and sat it near an empty wall. The green wallpaper was bathed in the orange light, and the flickering shadows danced like tiny fairies to an inaudible song.

"Rick, come out." DIpper said.

A crack appeared against the smooth surface and a square rose up from the wall, a large mouth smiled to greet him.

"You're rather bold to call on me directly." he said. "It's been awhile, hasn't it? Since we last… deliberated."

"Why did you do that to Candy? She had nothing to do with any of this." Dipper said.

"Mabel broke her word… I just wanted to hurt her." Rick said with a chuckle. "Imagine how the knife will twist in the morning."

"What does that mean?" Dipper said.

"That would be telling." Rick said. "Where's Bill?"

"Gone." Dipper said. "We never recovered him"

"You're lying…" Rick said. "I know it. I can taste it. It's like an orange that's not ripe enough. A little sour and somewhat citrusy. It's not very pleasant."

"It's all you get." Dipper said.

"How about this… We'll make a deal with you. Give us Bill, and you'll be free to live your life as you see fit. Raise your children, grow old, live a comfortable and fulfilling life on whatever crusade you wish to see. You're life is only a flick of the tongue to me. Why not make it something worth living and stop inviting discord to live with you." Rick said.

"How about you fix Billeah, and let her live out a normal life?" Dipper said. "Bring her back and I'll quit all of this."

"Tempting but from what I can tell I'm at an advantage. Why would I risk allowing Bill out of his prison? A sense of compassion? He's a disgrace to his kind and I will not afford him any sense of peace." Rick said.

Dipper's phone buzzed. Rick's coy smile grew the width of the square.

"It seems, you won't have to wait for the morning. I'll take my leave." Rick said and faded. Dipper checked the text, all it said was Call Me. He dialed his lawyer who answered immediately.

"Candy… I saw the video and... " he said, clearly shaken up.

"What?" Dipper said, he was rushing out of the room to Mabel's room.

"Candy said into the camera in her cell… she's not going to wait for an appeal, and she will not be a burden to Mabel in any way, even by her taxes paying for her meals." He said. "She… She hung herself with her sheet. They tried everything, but… she's gone."

Dipper tore open the door to Mabel's room. His stomach dropped as the TV was turned to live footage at the prison. The camera was trained on a tiny, sheet covered body as it was wheeled to an ambulance.

Mabel held her knees to her chest and was rocking back and forth.