Stan folded his arms and glared down at his brother. Ford, sitting at his desk, and somewhat unused to being treated like the younger sibling, decided the best course of action was to avoid eye contact and keep up the appearance that he'd done nothing wrong.

"I will change the code on the vending machine, Ford," Stan threatened, "don't think I wont."

"Pish, as if you could keep me locked out, good one."

"Foooord," Stan growled, "so help me if I…if I open that box over there, what am I going to see?"

"…a hazmat suit…a blue one…"

"And how many of them are there?"

"…only one…."

Stans glare could now bore holes through metal, "YOU WERE GOING TO LEAVE ME OUT?!"

Ford winced, "well, your leg-"

"MY LEG IS FINE! ITS BEEN FINE FOR A WHILE! DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT MY LEG!" Stan roared, "YOU WERE GOING TO LEAVE ME OUT!"

"….i thought about taking Soos-"

"Anyone other than me is the wrong answer."

"Its just a quick looksee. I wasn't going to do anything drastic."

"It never STARTS as anything drastic, but it ALWAYS ends up that way!"

"Look, a little up front recon could really give us a lot of information. If I blend in, then I'll be able to talk to them without being recognized. I'll be in and out in less than a day."

"I'm still going as back up."

"The less people that are involved, the better."

"Then I guess we're leaving Soos."

This time Ford met Stan glare for glare.

"fine," Ford snapped, "but only as back up. You'll stay in the building in the closest town and make sure everything gets recorded."

"I'll be closer than that."

"You can't be closer than that! There aren't any trees to hide in! It's the desert!"

"So, plenty of rocks to hide behind."

"Aren't you banned from Navada?"

"It's the reason I know there are many rocks," Stan nodded, "Let's see how close I can get. Bring up those satellite images."

()

Two weeks later Dipper slapped the alarm clock off his nightstand. He'd just gotten to sleep…

He rolled out of bed and onto the floor. It was still dark outside and he didn't bother with the lights. He kept his eyes closed as he yawned. Then he shook his head, got into a comfortable position, checked his posture, and began his breathing exercises.

Dipper focused on the flow of air in and out of his lungs. He let the focus drift to the flow of energy he was now completely aware of. His stamina had grown just a bit since he'd left Gravity Falls.

He wondered what in his body had changed in order for him to manipulate fire. Something had to have changed, but since he hadn't started this training until AFTER the change, he couldn't compare it.

When he finished his exercises, he waited for a moment before he stood. If he stood up too quickly afterwards he always got dizzy.

He quickly got ready and went to knock on Mabels door. She answered with a groan. Then he went down stairs to make breakfast.

Dipper was finishing his bowl of cereal when Mabel walked into the kitchen. Unlike most girls, she could get ready fairly quickly.

"How was the lesson?"

"Humph," she responded and grabbed a box of Double Sugar Pebbles.

"That good huh?" She mumbled something under her breath, and Dipper let her be.

"Morning kiddos!" Their dad entered the kitchen and kissed them both, "You two have a wonderful day at school! I have a huge meeting today. Wish me luck!"

"Good luck!" they called after him as he grabbed a granola bar and ran out of the house.

"How much do you wanna bet he talks too fast and has to do it all again next week?"

"I know better than to take that bet."

()

When the twins got to school, they gave each other a knowing look.

"Kill it," Mabel said.

"but of course," Dipper stuck his nose in the air.

They giggled and while Mabel went to Trig, Dipper went to History.

He had studied and made a power point. Mabel did some of the animation on the slides and helped him choose non-gory photos, which were really hard to find. There was one in particular that almost had Dipper heaving.

Gone were the days he could do presentations and talks on gory subjects.

"Who wants to go first?" Mr. Collins asked slapping his hands together and rubbing them, "who is brave enough?!"

Dipper wanted it to be over, so he raised his hand along with three others. Kristian was one of them.

"We will go Bethany, Mason, Kristian, then Paul. We'll still have time for more, so we better have some more volunteers after Paul is done."

Bethany got up and picked up a marker. She was choosing to use the board. Her topic was the rising tension between colonists and England that had lead to the Revolutionary war. She had prepared and drawn out a detailed timeline. She also had a few good jokes mixed in.

It was smoothly done.

They clapped as she sat down. She'd been fine while talking, but she was beet red now.

Dipper stood and handed the teacher a thumbdrive. The teacher plugged it in and they all waited for the technology to work.

When the power point was up, Dipper started his lesson.

Two minutes had passed and Dipper thought it was going well.

Four minutes passed and Dipper was looking out over the students when his eye caught something.

()

It happened pretty quickly.

Kristian listened to Masons presentation and grudgingly admitted that it was very well put together. Then, almost abruptly, Mason turned around to face the screen, raising his voice so he could still be heard…and did he just stutter?

"Um, so the rebels, they…um..."

Kristian knew Mason knew better than to use the word 'um'. Kristian was now leaning over his desk in an attempt to not miss a single moment.

Mason then stopped talking all together.

"Mason?" Mr. Collins asked, "you ok?"

"Ye…yes…NO!" Mason shouted and slapped his hands over his ears. He was visibly shaking and Kristian cursed the fact that Mason was still facing the other direction.

Mr. Collins got up and walked over to him, "Hey, hey, you can go again tomorrow, ok? Why don't you sit down-"

Mason crumpled. He fell to the floor as if his strings had been cut. His hands still firmly pressed against his ears.

"Jamie, run go get the nurse, now!"

The girl sitting closest to the door stood and booked it out of the room. Mr. Collins bent over Mason and tried to see what was wrong.

"Mason? Hey, what's going on?"

Mason shook his head, the shaking was getting worse. His whole body trembled. The teacher continued to try and sooth him, but nothing worked.

Jamie ran back in with the nurse hot on her heals, then, while everyones eyes were on the nurse and Mason, Jamie ran back out of the room. But Kristian saw, and knew where she was going.

"Come on," the nurse said, trying to get Mason to stand, "Let's get you down to my office."

But he was ridged, almost frozen except for the shaking. The nurse tried to pry his hands away from his ears, but he held them fast.

"What happened?" The nurse asked and Mr. Collins told her what they had all observed, "right, I don't think he's hurt himself, we just need to get him down to the office."

"I can help," Kristian stood, "I'll help carry him."

The nurse looked grateful as Kristian walked to the front. He bent over to see Masons face. His breathing was coming in short gasps. His eyes were screwed shut and there were tears spilling down his face.

Interesting.

He reached down to help the nurse get Mason into a standing position when the door suddenly bust open with a bang. Jamie snuck in behind her and took her seat.

Mabel strode in, took one look around, and proceeded to shove everyone, adults included, out of the way so she could reach her brother. She gave an especially hard shove to Kristian.

"Who are you?"

"Mabel what are you doing?"

Mabel squeezed herself between Mason and the wall and sat down in front of him. She then gathered him in her arms and patted his head.

"Its ok," she said, "I'm right here. Its gonna be ok."

She rubbed his back and continued to pat his head all the while reassuring him that everything was ok.

"Mmmmabel…"

"Yup, that's me, everything is going to be fine-"

"Mabel," he gasped, and opened his eyes, "Mabel….its Bill…Bill…"

"Shhhhhhuuuu," Mabel hugged him tighter, "not here. Its ok. Everything will be fine."

Mason slowly lowered his hands and held onto his sister arms. He buried his face into her shoulder and sobbed. The adults in the room watched, not knowing what to do. But Mason was moving and speaking, so that was good; they let Mabel do her thing.

Kristian took a step back.

That wasn't fear in Masons face…that was pure terror. And it was some guy named Bill who got that reaction out of him? Kristian had been trying to get Masons fear for three years and some other guy was able to do this?!

What did he do?!

It took a while, but Mason finally calmed down enough to stand on his own. He was still shaking and the twins had a grip on each other.

"Let's get you down to the nurses office," Mabel said beaming up at her brother. Masons head was still down, trying to hide his face from his peers, but he nodded.

"Come on," the nurse said kindly, "there's a nice dark room with a bench just waiting for you."

"Here," Kristian reached out, "let me help."

Mabel smacked his hand away and the same time Mason did. Both hands collided with his.

"Go away," they both said together, then they walked out of the room.

"Kristian, you can go sit down," Mr Collins said, "…wait, you were next, do you still want to present?"

"Yeah," Kristian said, "…wonder why they wouldn't let me help."

"That's his sister, right?"

"Yeah."

"I have a few siblings of my own," Mr. Collin smiled, "Don't take it personally. Now, we have a lot of presentations to get through!"

()

The nurse lead the way to the office. The stairs they took slowly. When they finally got there, the nurse showed them a small room about the size of a big closet with a cushioned bench. There were about four of these rooms designed to give sick students a place to rest while their parents arrived, or for students to have a place to calm down.

Dipper sat on the bench, but didn't lie down. He leaned his back against the wall and curled into a ball. Mabel sat down next to him.

"How are you feeling?" the nurse asked.

"…my head hurts…got a rock in my chest….and breathing is difficult," Dipper said, "I'll be fine in a bit."

The nurse nodded and handed him some Tylenol and a water bottle, "just stay in here till you're ready to come out. Mabel, you should probably go back to class."

"Nope," Mable didn't move, "I'm staying."

"Ok," the nurse sighed, "I'll notify your teachers. Just get some rest."

When the nurse was out of earshot Mabel sighed, "So….Bill?"

Dipper put his face in his hands, "I'm…so embarrassed…"

"It was bound to happen during the day some time."

Dipper cringed, now hiding behind his knees. His voice was muffled as he talked through his hands.

"I knew it was a hallucination…I tried to ignore it…"

"Bill?"

Dipper nodded, "he was just hanging there in the class room…I KNEW it was fake…"

Mabel frowned, "'knew'?"

"…do hallucinations…speak?"

Mabel blinked, "that…I have no idea."

"He talked, Mabel…he started to talk and it just…I couldn't do it…and then I plugged my ears and he was inside my head!"

"Hey, hey," Mabel put her hand on his shoulder, "he's gone-"

"Is he?!" Dippers head snapped up, his eyes wet again, "Mabel, he said things that he didn't before! If its all in my head then shouldn't it just be replaying what I've already heard?!"

"Not…necessarily…" Mabel had no idea what to say or what to do, "what did he say?"

Dipper opened his mouth, but he just started to cry again.

"Nonono," Mabel wrapped her arms about him, "I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me. I don't need to know."

Whatever this hallucination of Bill had said it had really freaked Dipper out. Mabel could feel him still shaking and he was getting worked up again.

Now she wanted to cry.

When Dipper had finally calmed down again, Mabel pointed to the Tylonol, "you better take that."

He did as he was told, but still didn't make a move to lie down. He nursed the water bottle and stared at his knees.

"Ever think you know too much?" Dipper asked quietly.

Mabel thought about all her lessons with Fenrik, "Yup."

"Think we can find Blendin and force him to reverse time? I'd like to not have last summer in my resume of life."

"Why stop there?" Mabel grinned, "we could go all the way back and find a way to stop Bill before weirdmagedon ever happens. Of course we'd have to make sure we don't make it so grunkle Ford never get's back, and that we still have a ton of fun, but if we just, woops, get rid of Bill the first week of summer, I think it would be awesome."

Dipper ginned, "'Woops'?"

"We could have him posses Giddeon and then erase Giddeons memory."

"but…'woops'?"

Dipper was laughing now. Mabel smiled and kept going, "Without all that hassle, we'd also already know how to make the most of that summer. Who to watch out for and we could even help grunkle Stan with the portal. Because without Bill, the portal and rift wouldn't have been that big of a deal. Then Stan and Ford would've had a better reunion and-"

She watched as Dippers eyes were closing, and he was slowly relaxing.

"-and since Giddeons mind was erased, we could totally sell him to the gnomes and they'd have a queen and Giddeon wouldn't know the difference."

Dipper snorted and laughed, "yeah, that would've worked really well."

"So it's a thing now? A plan?"

Dipper nodded and rubbed his eyes, "next time we see Blendin we hijack that belt."

()

It had taken longer than usual to get Dipper to go to sleep, but Mabel finally backed out of the small room and shut the door. She then grabbed a chair and placed it firmly by the door. And she sat there, arms and legs crossed, daring anyone who came into the office with a look.

"Your mother should be here in a few minutes," the nurse said handing Mabel a water bottle.

Mabels eyes widened, "Mom? Why?"

The nurse gave Mabel a confused look, "you think we wouldn't call your parents? I also spent the last thirty minutes on the phone with the hospital getting their opinion. Can you tell me if your brother has had these kids of episodes before?"

"Oh dear," Mabel muttered and suddenly had visions of Dipper in a strait jacket, "oh dear…."

()

Dipper woke up to a dark room. He lay there for a moment trying to remember why his bed felt like plastic. Then it all came back and he rolled over, shoving his face into the bench.

He'd never be able to show his face in public again.

Ever.

He'd have to run away and start a new life in the mountains…and no where in California, he'd have to reach the Himalayas to escape the humiliation.

Maybe the aliens would come back and he could just leave with them…

He wallowed for a moment then pushed himself into a sitting position. Gads, he was exhausted. The nap did nothing for him.

He closed his eyes as he opened the door to the room, ready for the light to ruin his eye sight for good. He squinted and blinked until his eyes adjusted.

Mabel had said she'd be right outside the room. A chair was there, but no Mabel.

He looked around and caught sight of her by the nurses desk on the other side of the room. She had a water bottle in her hands, and her head was down as if she was trying to hide in her sweater.

What was wrong-oohhhh….

Dipper then spied their mother. She was talking to the nurse, her face a textbook picture of worry.

Crap. He suddenly had images of himself in a rubber room.

Welp, time to face the music…

He walked over to them and his mother stood to give him a hug.

"I'm fine," he said, but Cassy wasn't buying it.

"Next time," she said, her voice cracking a little, "you BOTH tell me what's going on! Panic attacks?! And you never told us?! I understand you two have your own little secrets, but this is NOT ok!"

Dipper looked at Mabel who was refusing to meet his eyes. So she had told them about his other episodes at night.

"How long has this been going on?" Cassy asked cupping his face in her hands.

Since I was 12 and was possessed and then almost killed by a demon…

"ummmm…its not that bad," he said, "really! This is the first really bad one-"

"So they are getting worse?" the nurse asked, "are they getting more frequent as well?"

Of course they'd get more frequent!

"Well…kinda….i guess….but its not that big of a deal!"

"You collapsed in the middle of class, who do you think you are trying to fool?" his mother snapped, "this is serious!"

"Never said it wasn't serious," Dipper snapped back and then back tracked to a more respectful tone, "…i just…its easy to handle and I get over it pretty quickly."

They didn't believe him. He looked at the time and realized school was almost over…he'd slept for that long?!

"Crap," Dipper hissed, "I had a test in AP clac today…"

"Just how many AP classes are you taking?" the nurse asked.

"Just four," Dipper said and shrugged. If he made is sound like no big deal, then they wouldn't react, right?

The nurse narrowed her eyes and turned back to her computer, "I'm going to send an email and request you change two of your AP classes to regular classes. No wonder had had a break down!"

"That's not-" Dipper started to say, but Mabel grabbed his shirt and shook her head. It was better if they just made up their own assumptions.

He bit his lip and realized he'd have to face more than just music.