Sorry for the wait! It's finals week and the semester is coming to a close. I wrote this a few weeks prior, and had trouble just deciding if i wanted to keep it or rewrite it all together. i ended up with a few alterations and add ons before deeming it pretty A-okay. New characters introduced. Hope you have figuring this out (: everything was intentional, as well. Thank you guys for the comments, seriously, i wouldn't have made it this far without them. I read them on a daily basis at this point and whenever i need that extra shove to finish up a chapter. Thank you for your kind words. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Dipper woke up to the high pitched scream of Pacifica and Mabel.
He bolted upwards, hair in an absolute mess and almost bashing his skull into the nightstand in his haste. His hands had scrambled for his pistol, loaded with as many darts as he needed.
He was already down the hall before he realized he couldn't smell anything dangerous and a loud booming laughter floated from the kitchen.
"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel screeched as Dipper entered, banging his head against the thresholds.
"Hah! It's just me! Your Grunkle Stan!" There, in all his glory was Stanley Pines. He had a duffle bag over one shoulder and his beanie covering a mop of grey hair. Where Stanford was fit and aged like fine wine, Grunkle Stan looked like the godfather of the mafia with mean gold chains around his neck and fingers.
"I just ruined breakfast!" Mabel chided, giving him a one armed hug before helping Pacifica pick up the eggs that had splattered onto the hardwood floor.
"I just got to bed." Dipper moaned, glaring at all of them. He had stayed up late the night before in order to help prepare Ford for his opening speech. Not to mention Pyronica had insisted they set up reservations and placement of the agency before the morning came. His only reassurance came from the fact that Bill had probably not even made it to his house before passing out in his car (he had probably parked in the driveway and fell asleep, or maybe he had never left Dipper's apartment parking lot).
"Heya Squirt! Whoa! Put that thing away!" Stan gave him a scolding look as Dipper cocked on the safety and tossed it onto the counter. He reached over, giving Stan a soft one armed hug as well.
He blinked when Stan barely touched him, keeping a set distance between them. Something in his heart clenched at that. He thought briefly of the past few weeks where contact with any Alpha made something in him turn and revolt. He furrowed his eyebrows, looking at his great uncle who merely inspected him as well.
"We're kinda high strung right now, Stan? Have you seen Ford?" Pacifica was the one who asked this, giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek before returning to getting breakfast ready with Mabel. Pacifica had spent a lot of time with their family that Stan had practically adopted her.
"Not yet." Stan dropped his bag by the threshold, grinning at Dipper. "Poindexter thinks I'll cause trouble if I show up."
"Then why'd you show up?" Dipper ran a hand through his hair, moving to make some coffee. There was no way he was going to get rest at this rate. He wondered if Mabel had stashed some Mabel juice from the night before. He was getting Bill addicted to the stuff and a horde of plastic dinosaurs was taking over their desks.
"Jeez, I've never felt more welcome by my family." Stan replied dryly.
Mabel giggled, moving over to give him an obnoxious kiss to the cheek, nipping at his jaw. "Welcome home, Grunkle Stan! You can have Dipper's bed."
"What?" He squawked. "No way, Stan had my bed last time!"
"What? You want a young lady to be sleeping on the couch?!" She batted her eyes playfully as he reached for the coffee grains and began to pour some into the coffee filter.
"Young lady? What young lady? I see no such thing." She punched him in the shoulder as he grinned, reaching around Pacifica to grab some water.
"Welp! Show me to your room slick!"
Dipper frowned, handing the stuff to Mabel to finish up. "You know where my room is?"
"No I don't! Move it!"
He followed his uncle after seeing Mabel giving him a concerned glance. She hid is smoothly by pushing him forward. He narrowed his eyes at that. Were they working together?
He led his uncle down the hall, watching him whistle until they were in the space of his bedroom.
"What is it? What do you need to tell me?" Dipper asked suspiciously.
"The reason I'm really here." Stan closed the door behind him, dropping his bag and giving Dipper his full attention. "Ford let me know what the creep did to you."
Dipper flushed, a cold anger and terror driving into his veins. He didn't want to talk about it. After his initial response to Mabel at the hospital he didn't bother speaking about it anymore. There was no reason to, not after he got the diagnosis that he would be fine in a few days.
"Come on, kid. You think you can keep that stuff from me? I may be getting old in age but it don't mean I don't care what happens to you two."
"Grunkle Stan, I really don't want to talk about it." He raised his hands, making his appearance show how uncomfortable he was about this.
But Stanley only watched him from the closed door way. His stare was heavy in a way that settled on Dipper's bones. He was reminded of the fact that his great uncle once ran with these crowds, chewed through a trunk for freedom and was sent to jail in Colombia. His uncle had seen the worst of the worst and probably even more of the ABO injustices.
"Kid, I've seen what markings do to people who don't want it. I don't give a shit about all this how lucky you are business. What you're feeling right now is important. That feeling you get when people hug you? That is something you have to talk about. Sit down."
A lump formed in Dipper's throat as he shakily took a seat. His blankets were still warm. They smelled of something sweet, like cupcakes and glue. It was the scent of Mabel. She had done that sometimes when they were fighting. She would give her scent onto a few of his belongings, just to comfort the both of them. His hands fisted in them as he waited for Stan to continue.
"There's no way to completely fix something like this." Stan came closer, sitting down on the farthest edge of the bed. "It's gonna get a lot harder before it gets any better. You gotta accept something, probably yourself. As an Omega, you gotta understand that what you think of yourself is important. Do you remember what you mama told ya when you got your nature?"
Dipper swallowed thickly, trying not to let the way his uncle's voice had dipped into soft and comforting get to him. "They said I gotta be an Alpha."
"And what'd I tell ya?"
"You… you said I gotta be Dipper."
He could remember that memory clearly. It taken a few years for him to understand that his parents had only been trying to protect him. They loved him so much they were willing to have him play as Alpha for the rest of his life to be safe. But it had made him uncomfortable in his skin. He hated who he was, what he was. It had felt disgusting when he thought about how unnatural he was compared to the rest of the world around him. He had hated it.
But Stan had told him the world wasn't nice to people like them. That they had to believe in themselves and their families in order to find their own paths.
"Yup, and then you punched out the first Alpha who tried to bed ya, remember that?"
Dipper cracked a smile. He definitely remembered that. Stan had laughed for a full five minutes when he went to pick them up from school.
"See, I know you Dipper. And I know it really sucks. But pushing these things down when it hurts makes it harder. I can't force you to do anything, you need to accept it before you can move on. And if not, you just gotta punch someone in the face before you can feel good about it."
Dipper swallowed, looking at his uncle. Stan had been such a big part of his life growing up and accepting himself, of course he had come the moment Ford had told him what had happened. He didn't feel good about himself right now. He hated how repulsed he felt around Mabel and Bill. He hated thinking that maybe Tad would be a good Alpha for him. He hated how repulsed he felt about himself wanting to submit to Tad. It was disgusting and a part of him was constantly screaming at him because of it. He had admitted it to Bill, scared, not knowing what it meant and Bill had helped him.
But it was hard to forget that feeling within himself. Maybe it wouldn't be okay, not right now when he could barely look at himself in the mirror but a piece of him wanted to be okay.
"So this shit happened. Guess how good it'll be when you have that guys face on a spike."
"Grunkle Stan, we can't kill the suspect." Dipper suddenly said, voice thick with emotion.
Stan grinned at him, clapping him on the shoulder. "Says who?"
Dipper gave a watery laugh, feeling a new warmth as his shoulder was squeezed.
"Dipper, it's okay to be weak. Don't think you gotta keep it up. You'll make it through this."
Dipper rubbed at his eyes, nodding and smiling at his uncle. "Thanks Grunkle Stan."
"Like, I know you're exhausted but this is a new low for you, Bill."
"You know, I think I liked it when you were too tired to speak. This new exhausted phase is annoying."
Dipper bit back a grin as Bill killed the engine, sticking a tongue out at him. Dipper climbed out, walking around to join Bill on the other side. Before Dipper could respond, Bill was throwing him his jacket.
"This is a Cipher owned bar, last I heard they were using it as a base of operations."
This was code for 'we need to cover up your scent.'
Dipper rolled his eyes, shrugging it on and ignoring the way the scent sent new butterflies to his stomach. Like the doctor had said, it had started to fade. But he suspected it had to do with the talk Stan had with him. Maybe Dipper needed to get it out of his system mentally. A part of him still hated himself but there was another part that liked Bill just a bit more than that.
They wandered into the night club, a triangle printed on top of the door. Bill hovered close by him as they angled through the crowds. He wasn't sure where they were going but the multiple scents of Alpha's made him frown. It felt uncomfortable and stifling. He could see a few Beta's mingling here and there but the Alpha scent was overpowering. Ew.
Bill took him to the back, closing the door behind them as they ignored a few of the workers giving them ugly looks. The noise receded the moment the door closed.
"I'm meeting with Kryptos." Bill finally explained, gently nudging Dipper closer to the side hallway. "Pyronica said he wanted to meet up to give me the information I wanted on the association. I think if I can get to the families involved I can get the Alpha's backing."
"Does it work that way?" Dipper finally asked, keeping his voice low.
"No. Which is why I need to speak to Kryptos. I'd ask you to come inside but, uh… there are other things I want to ask."
Dipper narrowed his eyes. "You're keeping secrets?"
But Bill gave him this look, one that made Dipper stand stark still. He was aware of the wall pressed to his back and the way Bill's hair curled just beside his cheeks. There was a light scratch dusting the side of his left lip, probably from scratching himself.
"I'm not ready for this one, Pine Tree."
Dipper nodded, ducking his head down. He saw Bill reach for him, maybe to comfort him but stopped, as if remembering he couldn't. Dipper hid his disappointment.
"I'll be right back." Bill turned and entered a room down the hall.
He could make out the faint sound of the music from the night club and the chattering of a few workers just down the other side of the hall. He stood still, calming himself down.
There was the soft sound of heels on the floor, making him turn in time to see a man making his way down the hallway. He wore a suit, a trench coat similar to the one Dipper was wearing was tossed over one of his arms. He carried himself professionally and his white hair was gelled back, revealing a pair of light golden colored eyes. He was older, probably in his late fifties at best.
"Mind if I join you?" He spoke with a faint accent, one Dipper couldn't recognize.
He gave a wary shrug, looking to the door Bill had disappeared to in concern. Standing outside with a random man? That was terrifying for him.
"Don't look so scared. I only wanna talk." The man gave a sigh, undoing the tie around his neck. "I just got off of work. Working with a big old bunch of brutes is exhausting. My names William." The man held out a hand, inclining his head when Dipper carefully took it.
"Dipper Pines."
"Pines, eh? Same as that new Alpha heading for the head of the ABO, no?" He leaned back against the wall. "What do you think about that?"
"Depends, what about you?"
"I think it'll do us all some good." The man gave a low hum. "My wife hated all the corruption the head of the ABO had. I tried following her example after she passed but couldn't manage it very well. Now I'm just an old man trying to atone for her mistakes."
Dipper tried to bear with it but he wasn't exactly sympathetic to a guy he didn't know. "That's rough."
"Eh, she was wonderful, our son took after her to the T. Shame he can't find himself someone special." He paused, laughing as if he was sharing a joke with Dipper. "Actually, perhaps he found someone quite perfect for him. Tell me, what do you think about the future for your kids?"
"I'd want what's best for them." Dipper said, shrugging.
William studied him for a moment, giving a soft sigh and sad smile. "Yeah, I wanted the best for the both of them as well. Do you believe in second chances?"
"Of course." He thought of Bill, who was constantly changing and attempting to fix himself. "Humans make mistakes. We make mistakes. Evaluating someone on a mistake for the rest of their lives is a foolish way to live."
William stared at him before breaking out into a wide grin. "You're definitely a diamond in the rough."
"Thanks?"
William reached into his suit pocket, pulling out a small pocket sized handbook. It was leather bound with yellow sheets. He handed it to Dipper. "I'm rooting for you kid. This ain't gonna be easy."
Dipper took it in confusion, watching William nod and then turn to walk away. He watched him leave before inspecting the journal once more. He flicked it open, seeing the same triangle insignia that had been above the door printed on the back of the front cover.
The words 'Cipher Family' was printed in the middle of the first page. He blinked, flicking through the pages in an attempt to understand what the man had just handed him. Most of it was in code and there was the faint title on the pages.
He continued to flick through it until he found a picture stuffed into the middle of the book. He flipped it, realizing it was a picture of the actual Cipher family.
Bill was young in the photo, seated on a man's lap with a young lady leaning over them both.
Oh.
William stared back at him from the photo. On the back of the photo was a code printed along with a small message.
'To head the family; one most know the inner most secrets of the family.'
