The past days had been fine after his meeting with Mabel. She did come to the mansion, under Bill invitation to do so, to make sure her brother wasn't stuck with bad people.
She did get angry at Will for lying to her this whole time about being the assistant of Dipper editorial. It wasn't really for long though, as she knew it was all because Dipper had lied in the first place, otherwise, he would just not have played it like that. She had to admit that she was trusting Will way more than she was trusting Bill, which did annoy the mobster.
She also met mister Kasper, pleased to see there wasn't just criminal all around Dipper and that he was in good hands when Bill and William were gone from home. She was used to Pacifica's mansion, so it was weird for her to only see one butler to take care of the whole place, but didn't ask why. She supposed Bill was preferring fewer people in his business.
She was even able to see a little more how Bill was acting around Dipper. Way too touchy in her opinion, not understanding where he was getting his permission to touch him like this. Well, she guessed it was fine since Dipper was fine with it. She wasn't surprised to find he was a very threatening and violent man when she heard him on the phone once. Though she was surprised by how sweet and gentle he was with her brother, he wasn't even that gentle with his own cousin. She had the impression they were two different men.
In the end, she did admit to Dipper that she was more reassured to see how things were doing in here. It made him happy to hear that, knowing well it was hard to make her change her opinion about something.
Dipper simply took this time to finish his book since he had taken too much time not doing that in the last days. He had shyly asked if Bill could give him his opinion. And that what he did, he gave him his honest opinion, liking the story, but finding some things that could maybe be better. So that what he was doing now, trying to make those part a little better, seeing what he was talking about.
With all this time passing and nothing really happening, Dipper was starting to think things might be safe now. Bill didn't believe that they had given up, at best they were keeping a low profile just so they wouldn't worry. But he didn't really tell Dipper about it, not wanting for him to worry about all this, just asking his cousin not to let his guard down because of it.
Even with this warning, Will did let his guard down a little, letting Dipper go and get some paper for his typewriter. After all, he would be safe in the small shop, wouldn't he?
The exact moment Dipper set a foot out they were attacked, someone hitting William hard behind the head, throwing him off balance as they were taking Dipper and throwing him in a truck. It wasn't really hard to do, Dipper wasn't exactly a match against two muscular men.
William got back on his feet, groaning in pain and helping himself with the car, only able to watch the truck drive away as he touched his bleeding head. "Fuck" he mumbled under his breath, looking down at the paper that had been thrown on him after his fall. He already had a good idea from where it was from and it was already making his blood boiled for being this useless and incompetent. He was also apprehending Bill's reaction when he would give him the note.
He read it quickly, confirming his suspicion, jumping in his car and ignoring those who were asking if he was okay. This wasn't the best state to drive in after such a blow to the head, but he needed to tell his cousin as soon as possible, otherwise, Dipper would pay more for his carelessness. It wasn't long for him to get back to the mansion, especially when driving way over the speed limit.
He ran to Bill's office, even of his head was screaming to him to not move that much, opening the door abruptly. He made the two gangsters talking with his cousin jump, Bill turning toward him with a curious look. It was weird of William to burst into a room like this, it never meant good news.
He was going to ask what happened but was interrupted by William already giving answers to his unspoken question. "They got Dipper, they left this note for you" he finally said, holding a hand to his throbbing head.
The atmosphere went tense immediately after those words, the two gangsters looking from William to Bill, apprehending their boss reaction. Word had travelled in their group, a lot of those closer to Bill knew he seemed to appreciate Dipper a lot, some would even say too much.
The mobster went from happily curious to furious seriousness, his brow frowning and his eye dangerous. "You said what?" he asked as he was getting up, joining his injured cousin to get the note he was holding out for him. He scanned through it a couple of times, controlling himself not to destroy the cheap piece of paper.
"I'm sorry" whispered William, knowing well he had failed to his simple task. He was mostly ignored, Bill not wanting to deal with that right now and not really wanting to ruin his relationship with his only family. He would later admit, after the anger was out a little, that it could have happened even if he had been more cautious. He just dismissed him, asking for Kasper to come and take care of his injuries and work with William on what information he could have on them.
It wasn't long before Bill was ordering his men around to go and get the most information possible on where Dipper could be. This note was useless, only letting him know what he should pay if he wanted to see Dipper in one piece again. Sure that other criminal was also well known and had quite some power in this city, but he had some guts to attack him directly like that.
He had to take some time to calm his boiling blood, knowing too much anger wouldn't lead to anything constructive. He wasn't less mad about it, just more coherent in his action, calling around to give new orders and putting as many men as he could possibly afford on this research.
"I'll show them what it cost to cross Bill Cipher like this, they don't call me a demon for nothing" he thought to himself, already planning what he would do to make them pay.
Dipper woke up confused, not knowing where he was and with a headache. He looked around the room, not seeing that well in it. It was looking like a small storage room, light vaguely coming in from a very narrow window at the top of the wall. Where was he? Why was he there? All this was going to start a panic attack and being tied up wasn't of great help.
"No" he told himself, concentrating on keeping his breathing calm "You don't have time to panic, remember what happens before getting there" he mumbled to himself. He closed his eyes to think about it better, trying to also forget about his headache.
He started his day by going at Bill's house, just like every other day, nothing out of ordinary in that. He was able to work on corrections for his book, but ran out of paper at some point. Then he got out with William to go get some and everything stopped there. He looked around the dark room again, his best guess was that he had been kidnapped. He vaguely remembers someone stepping behind Will to attack him, but after that, it was all blank. That was the only logical explanation.
He tried to get himself up but soon realised he was chained up to the ground, or at least something really heavy was keeping him from getting up. He groan when he realised he couldn't do anything other than wait, sighing and closing his eyes again, opting for laying on the ground for now. After all, it wasn't as if he really had anything to do.
He was nearly falling asleep when voices were heard from outside the room before two men opened the door. "Well, look who's finally awake" said one of them as the other flick the light on, blinding Dipper at first. "What do you want?" asked the young author even if he had a pretty good idea of what it was all about.
"Not a smart one I see" commented the smaller man with a smirk "We want the money back and we know how we will get it back, we just need the Gold Demon to give it to us" he explained. This only made Dipper frown even more, annoyed that he was now stuck in such a situation, but also scared of what might happen. Bill had made it pretty clear he wouldn't pay even a cent and he doubts he would actually pay even if it was for Dipper's life. He couldn't be that important to the man.
"But our boss would like to get some information about Cipher" said the taller man, stepping closer to the tied man. "And we know how close you got to him, so you're gonna talk if you want to stay alive" said the man as he bends over to be a little more at Dipper eye level, yet still higher.
Dipper was getting more scared than angry right now. He was afraid he wouldn't survive this. He was afraid he would get badly injured. He was afraid he could be sold. At this point, anything could happen, he didn't know what moral they had. But one thing was sure, he wouldn't give anything he had on Bill. Sure it was nearly nothing, but he wouldn't betray his trust.
"And what tells you I will tell you anything?" he asked, fear tainting his voice even if he was overall sounding pretty determinate. This didn't seem to make the man happy as he felt soon after a fist meeting his cheek, throwing him back to the ground.
The hits continued for a while, always preceded by a question about Bill. A lot of them were things Dipper didn't know about, but even telling them honestly was gaining him some punch. For those he knew the answers he wouldn't tell, either playing dumb or straight up telling he wouldn't talk. This went on for what seemed like forever to Dipper, his body was hurting but he was calling himself lucky. The tall man never used anything else but his hand and hadn't broken any bones.
He was left alone on threats of worse things to come if he wasn't going to talk later, hoping he has fun starving for the next three days. He looks at the closed door, yet again in the dark, laying his hurt body back down. He curled up on himself a little, trying to comfort himself, trying to reassure himself that Bill would come and help him, even if a little voice in him was telling him he wasn't really worth the trouble and risk.
He was scared. He was hurt. He was cold. But he was still filled with the hope that Bill would keep his promise and take him back to somewhere safe.
Researches were made like crazy in the two following days, information coming in to Bill who was filtering all this, sending people to check. It was the jackpot when he was brought to him one of the men working for the other mobster. It was in one of their warehouse, after all, he wouldn't want to ruin the wooden floor in his mansion.
The man was already pretty roughened up, either because he had put up too much fighting or because his men had already tried to make him speak. He wouldn't be in a better place after Bill talked to him. He looked down at the man sitting and tied up at the chair, his glare cold.
"I already told y'all I won't talk" said the man before Bill could even ask him anything, earning himself a violent slap from the mobster. "I'm not giving you the choice" explain Bill in a calm tone still filled with anger "You either tell me where he is or you die and don't expect me to kill you easily" he then added, a crazed smirk working its way on his lips at the end of his statement. He leaned down a little, something dangerous shining in his eyes "I will make sure you suffer a lot if you don't give me the information I need, you'll be begging for death to take you".
This sends a chill down everyone spine in the room. They all knew how their boss could be when someone was attacking something he loved a lot. It was surprising for some, not expecting him to react like this for some random unknown author. After all, it had been quite some time since the last time Bill got this angry against someone.
Then the interrogation started, this time led by the Gold Demon. Every non-answered question was a hit at first, then knives came in the game. Some of the newer men on Bill's side were surprised by how he was acting. You could tell he was boiling with anger and rage, yet all his movement were calculated, precise and calm, not rushing anything.
After three hours like this Bill got tired, taking his gun. "Well, I guess a dead body doesn't need articulation to move" he said after the last refusal to cooperate, shooting his knee and destroying his kneecap. This earned him a scream, making him grin, feeling like this might help better. Even if he thought so, he needed to explode his other kneecap and his elbow, always adding deadly threats to his action.
"I wonder how your wife would react if I just ask my men to dumb your body on the front porch" he wonders to himself, already thinking about what to do with the body. The man tensed at the mention of his wife, not going unnoticed by Bill who's grin grew bigger. "Maybe I should ask her too" he wonders, earning a panic look, the man apparently unable to hide his emotion over that even if he was trying hard.
He should have tried earlier if it was going to make him talk, though showing what he was capable of doing was probably better. He went on the hypothesis of what might happen, playing on what was earning him the most reaction. After ten minutes of this, and some others articulations shot, the man finally asked him to stop, saying he would tell him, begging for him not to touch his wife and kids.
He then went on how he didn't really know much since he was just on the first group who were meant to kidnapped Dipper. He explains that he heard the two other bragging about their plan to make the author talk about Bill, giving vague hint at which warehouse it was. He finishes by telling them which one it was supposed to be, warning them that there would most likely be a lot of men already there waiting for him. After all, it was expecting for Bill to find the place, but they were nearly sure he would come to give them the money.
"This is all I know, please don't harm my wife and kids" said the panting man, trembling from all the pain as the slightest movement was causing it. Bill bend over a little, now closer to the man eye level, a victorious grin on his face "Don't worry, I wasn't intending on doing anything to her, I hate bringing wife and kids in the game when they are just innocent in this situation". The expression the man made when he realised Bill had been bluffing and that he had told everything for nothing was gold, making the mobster laugh.
He finally straightens up, turning to leave. "You can do whatever you want with him boys" he said as he was taking off his bloodied glove. "W-what?! I thought you wouldn't kill me!" exclaimed the man in a panicked voice. "But I never promise you would get out of here alive my friend, did I" pointed out Bill with a devilish grin "But I still need to make an example for those thinking they can get away with touching what's mine" he adds in a more serious voice.
He was then walking out, ignoring the screaming coming from the inside, pleading for mercy. He joined back William who was waiting outside for him, getting in the car. "Lets get back to the house, gather enough men to take over a warehouse, we are going to go and retrieve Dipper" he said as his cousin was getting out from this area. He received an affirmative respond, William mentally taking note of everything Bill was telling him about the plan he was working in his mind right now.
"Tonight?" asked William out of curiosity, knowing his cousin wanted to get Dipper back to safety as quickly as possible. "Yeah, I don't trust them with keeping Pine Tree in a good state, oh, and call Tad, we might need his help if they got to hurt him too much, he can wait for us at the mansion".
Once they were back at the mansion Bill went to change in something not bloodied, apologising to his butler for the mess he would have to deal with. He also got some more munition, knowing well someone would bring him something bigger than just a small gun. William was on the other side organising everything, calling some of Bill's men to wait for them by the warehouse, also calling an annoyed Tad to come to the house as soon as he could.
In the span of two hours, everything and everyone was in place, Bill simply asking for his man to wait for the signal to get in. William went in with him, holding carefully a briefcase big enough to hold the money in. Bill got inside as if he was king of the place, holding his hand up when guns were pointed at him.
"Calm down pal, I came here to give you the money" he said with a laugh, putting just enough annoyance in his voice to make it seem like he was giving in without really wanting to. He could bluff, for now, it was easy to do and apparently, they were all stupid in this other group. "Ah! The great Gold Demon finally kneeling in front of our boss for a dumb author" laughed the one who seemed in charge of the place, making Bill's eye twitched at how he was talking about his little Pine Tree.
"What can I say, he stole my attention and I promised to keep him alive, I can't go against a promise" said Bill as he was shrugging, his eye following the two men approaching William to get the briefcase, going to look into it farther away. Good. Everything was going according to plan. He was barely listening to the man mocking him for his weird interest in a nobody, promising himself he would shoot the guy for how he was talking about Dipper.
Suddenly an explosion was heard from where the men with the briefcase were, most likely harming them severely if it didn't kill them. Boths Williams quickly duck behind a wooden crate while everyone was distracted, already seeing his own men getting in, ready to take over the place. "Dipper's in one of the backroom" said Bill as he was taking out his own gun "Go get him and make sure he is safe". William nodded, ready not to fail this time, sneaking around easily as everyone was already concentrated on all the shooting happening.
Dipper was jolted completely awake from his half-asleep state by the sound of an explosion, making him anxious. All the shooting and gunshot following it weren't there to help him feel safer about all of this. What was happening? He knew there was a group of men in the warehouse, there were often checking on him and even eating in his face some time to mock his situation. But they were mostly silent, he was barely knowing they were there when they weren't coming to him.
Did someone come in to pick a fight with them? Hope swelled in his chest as he was wishing for it being Bill, or at least his man. He still couldn't shake the nervousness away, scared that he may get even more injured in all this fight. He even tenses up when he heard someone working the lock of the door, only the sigh in relief when he saw William.
"Thank god it's you" he smiled, trying to lift his weak body up from his laying position. William quickly got to him, working on cutting the rope keeping him from getting away. "Are you okay? Can you walk?" asked the man, trying to see if Dipper had any severe injuries. "Maybe some bruises, but overall I should be fine, I'm just starving and might be dehydrated" respond the young author with a smile that was trying to be reassuring.
They waited until there was no more gun-shot, getting out of the room to join back Bill, Dipper extremely happy to see him. "You're letting someone getting out alive?" asked William when he saw a man tied up in the middle of this massacre. "Yeah, he has a message from me to tell his boss when they find this place" answered Bill, panting a little and not looking well.
"Are you okay" finally stepped in Dipper, a worried look on his face. He didn't really let the mobster try to lie to him and look like a tough guy, pushing away the hand holding his side and opening the black waistcoat, only to see with horror the light yellow shirt underneath being soak with blood. "I might need to go see Tad" point out Bill with a weak laugh, his leg suddenly giving away under him, panic only rising even more in both William and Dipper, Bill feeling his body starting to being weak as the adrenaline was going away.