When he came to, Dipper first realized that he had dust in his nose and eyes. Then he noticed his left arm was bound uncomfortably tight to what was likely a metal pole. He took his free hand and rubbed his eyes, then his nose.

"Ah, you're awake I see."

Dipper wearily blinked and looked up. He was in a basement of sorts by the looks of it. The walls and floor were concrete, and the only functioning light source was a desk lamp on a wooden table. The bright little light illuminated the table and cast a shadowy silhouette of a short, big-haired child in a suit.

"Tell me, what is the secret behind this little toy of yours?" Gideon swiveled in his chair, but the seat stuck and didn't come far enough around. Gideon slid from his seat and turned it towards Dipper, then sat back on it.

There was a moment of silence between them, before Gideon repeated his question, "The toy, what's its secret?"

Dipper eyed the knit doll in his hand, then looked away, "Nothing," he said softly.

Gideon scoffed, "I don't believe you," he said in a matched tone. "I've seen you, you talk to this thing, you've seen the supernatural, and the demon knows all about you. It's this doll, isn't it? What's so different about it?"

Dipper pressed his lips together and didn't reply.

"If you don't tell me, I'm gonna have to find out myself." Gideon growled. He reached his chubby fingers onto the desk behind him and grabbed a pair of scissors.

Dipper winced, but he didn't say anything.

Gideon calmly slipped one of the blades between the threads, then looked up to see the other's reaction, but Dipper wasn't even looking.

The white-haired boy cut the first string, and the bound brunette shuddered at the sound.

"What have you got in here?" Gideon hummed softly, as he slowly cut through the doll, "An amulet? A rune perhaps? Maybe a spell?" When the belly of the toy had a long gash down the center, Gideon set the scissors aside slowly. He poked his fingers in the fluff that stuffed the doll and spread the yarn open so he could examine its contents.

Dipper looked up with a pained expression as Gideon slowly pulled the fluff out and set it on the table. "Nothing," Gideon whispered as he placed the last of the stuffing on the table. "Nothing at all." He looked down at Dipper, who averted his gaze.

"Talk to it," Gideon tossed the limp form of the toy into his prisoner's lap.

"Fix her," Dipper whispered.

"What was that?" Gideon stepped off his chair and stood before him, "Speak up boy, I can't hear you.

"F-f-fix her," Dipper was careful not to look up at him, "a-and I'll do w-what you said."

Gideon slowly stooped and picked the toy up from his lap. Dipper shuddered at his touch.

"Relax," Gideon petted his head gently, a motion which made Dipper shake even more. "I'm here to learn from you, not to hurt you." Gideon returned to his desk and re-stuffed the doll, then he bound it together as best he was able with a white thread.

"Here you are," he returned the toy to Dipper's lap, it's black thread eyes staring up at his lowered head. "Now talk to it."

"M-Mabel? Are you alright?" Dipper whispered, fixing his eyes on the doll's. After a short moment, his shoulders relaxed and he sighed happily. "N-no, I'm f-fine. A l-little yeah."

Gideon watched intently as Dipper continued to talk to the toy. "G-Gideon did. Yeah. N-no! Don't-t. It's not s-s-safe! Th-thank you. I-I'll be fine."

"Who are you talking to?" Gideon asked, cutting him off, "Who is Mabel? Tell me."

"N-Nobody," Dipper said quickly, jumping at his voice.

"I'm not fooling around, boy! Who is she?" The calm in Gideon's voice was gone, "How are you talking to her?"

"I d-don't know!" Dipper cried. He started to say something, but didn't. Gideon scowled and took the doll from his lap.

"Interesting," he muttered, "Very interesting."

xxxxx

"Gideon's got Dipper!" Mabel ran down the stairs and Stan and Soos were on their feet in an instant.

"What, where? How do you know?" Stan asked, righting the chair he'd knocked over in his rush to stand.

"Dipper was able to talk to me! Gideon's got him locked somewhere and we need to get him out!" Mabel exclaimed.

"Whoa, calm down. Take a deep breath please," Stan put his hands up to calm her. "We'll talk about this, alright?"

"But we've gotta get him out or he's not gonna be able to go through the portal!" Mabel shouted, not calming down at all.

"But we can't do anything about it right now!" Stan shouted, which stopped Mabel's panic, then he continued calmly, "He doesn't exist here, we couldn't save him if we tried."

Mabel gave a quavering breath, but she didn't speak.

"Let's sit down and be smart about this okay?" Stan pulled a seat for her.

"Alright," Mabel whispered. She sat in the chair offered to her and Stan and Soos took their own seats.

"Now, what happened?" Stan asked as he poured a glass of orange juice and passed it to his niece.

"Dipper was able to talk to me. He said that Gideon kidnapped him and we need to help!" Mabel explained, hugging her sheep tightly.

"Did he explain how we could help?" Stan took a sip of his own glass of juice.

"No, he-" Mabel muttered, "He didn't want me to risk anything."

"But we've got to save him!" Soos interjected.

"No, we don't want to risk anything," Stan said firmly, "I'm with Dipper on this one. I can't chance anything happening to you, especially over something like this.

"Something like this?" Mabel said under her breath. "He's my brother!" She looked up and shouted. "We don't want to take any risks to save his life?"

"His life is not at stake!" Stan's voice began to rise as well, "He's stuck in a basement! I'm not going to risk letting the same thing or worse happen to you!"

"But Bill said-!"

"Your mystic triangle friend said?" Stan interrupted angrily, "Look, I care about you!"

Mabel bit her lip hard as Stan continued, "I care a lot! I'm trying to help! I'm trying to believe you, but I am not going to let you get hurt, and I am not going to tell your parents that I let you get hurt because you were saving your imaginary friends!"

There was a dead silence that followed. Soos stared at Stan, then at Mabel, speechless, Stan's eyes remained fixed on Mabel, and Mabel's stayed fixed on her lap. A tear fell from Mabel's bowed head and hit the table.

"Mabel please," Stan said softly.

"No, you don't care, you never cared!" Mabel knocked her chair over as she stood. "I thought you believed me! I thought you were going to help, but you were never there for me! Not now when it matters the most!"

Stan's face fell and his jaw dropped sadly.

"Well, I' don't need you," Mabel growled, "I've got Dipper and Soos." Mabel's glare then turned to the handyman, who was clearly taken off guard.

"Mabel, uh, I've always got your back, uh," Soos tried to explain, "But I don't know what we can do. Your brother isn't here. So there's nothing we can really do to help."

The anger on Mabel's expression was unmatched by anything either of the men had seen before. "Nobody," she whispered, "Nobody cares...but you." She squeezed her sheep against her chest, then she turned around and ran.

"Mabel wait!" Stan knocked over the cups on the table as he scrambled to his feet.

"Mabel!" Soos leapt up after him, and the front door slammed shut behind him.