Then two bodies fell to the ground.
The two new spectators had stopped running abruptly.
The silence was dominating the place, all eyes on the body laying on top of the demon.
It was as if time had been stopped.
Bill was laying frozen on the ground, not daring to make a move. Why!? Why had Dipper jumped in front of him to protect him?! It wasn't as if he couldn't defend himself.
After a couple of seconds, the young man finally started to sit up, everyone holding their breaths. The demon slightly raised himself on his elbows, looking up hopefully at his little Pines Tree. All three other pairs of eyes on Dipper were hopeful that nothing bad had happened, that the Memory gun was actually defective after its last use.
The demon's expression was slowly changing when he saw Dipper looking confused at first, then it totally dropped when the young man eyes finally landed on him.
There was no recognition in them. The young Pines was looking clearly confused as to why he was sitting in some stranger laps. Why were they all in the middle of the forest? Why were they all looking so aggravated? Why was this blond stranger laying under him looking so heartbroken?
Dipper quickly got up not to be on him, taking a couple of steps back from Bill, holding his head as it was starting to hurt.
"D... Dipper are you okay?" asked Mabel as she trotted to join him, helping him stay correctly upright, giving some glances towards Bill to makes sure he was alright too. "My head hurt so much... But why are we all here? Who is he?" finally asked Dipper, trying to get some answers.
Mabel couldn't find anything to tell him. How to explain what had happened when Dipper had no memories about Bill? She shot a quick glance at Bill again, getting suddenly tense when she saw how dark the demon's expression had suddenly become, looking directly at the frozen Ford.
"He's a friend of ours, don't you remember?" she then tried, forcing a smile on her face, although she couldn't hide the sadness and worries in her eyes. Dipper couldn't understand why his sister had such a glint in her eye, unable to remember this person even if he was trying a lot.
Everyone turned when they saw Bill suddenly getting up, the aura around him feeling murderous, frightening Dipper. How was he their friend? He was looking so dangerous. But with a closer inspection, he could see mixed with the rage something deeper, as if he had lost something precious.
Mabel was suddenly worried Bill would attack her uncle, so did Stanley who went to block in front of his twin who hadn't moved from where he was since he had shot. To their surprise, Bill simply turned around to walk quickly away, giving a last desperate look at Dipper, although he couldn't find any trace of recognition in his eyes.
The demon knew that if he went and hurt the old man, Dipper would probably never forgive him, even less now that he had no memories of him. More he was thinking about it and more he was enraged and heartbroken. He was now a stranger to Dipper, he had never existed for him. He would have been fine with him only remembering what bad he did, at least it was something, now there was nothing.
He was hurting so much. He was starting to hate that human meat sack of a body and its feelings.
After his leave, the Pines family stayed without saying anything. Too many things were going in everyone's mind and too many emotion were mixing together. The more anxious and confused one was still Dipper who had no idea what had happened, but even if he was asking no one would really give him an answer.
Mabel suggested going back to the shack, saying they would talk about it later, that for now, they needed to make sure he was alright. Everyone tried to ignore the loud crashing noise they heard from afar, three of them knowing very well what it must have been.
Once at the Mystery Shack Ford went directly for his lab, ready to destroy for good the Memory gun. Even when it was done he hadn't gone upstairs, working on something else directly.
Stan and Mabel stayed with Dipper in the kitchen, checking to make sure he wasn't hurt. At least there was nothing on him physically, Bill had done a good job of protecting him in there fall. After that was done, they were trying to see what his memory still had. The young man wasn't sure why they looked so serious despite trying to hide it, going along with their questions, feeling like he wouldn't have any answers even if he asked some. He was still hoping he could get some from them later.
"Do you remember our first summer in Gravity Falls?"
"Of course, how could I forget that summer, it was one of the best"
"So you also remember all the adventure we had?"
"Mabel, I keep journals about those adventures and the thing we meet in them, how could I forget?"
"Just making sure" she said, trying to give him a smile to appease him.
"Did you came across a demon in that summer?"
"Of course not, it would have been way too dangerous dealing with that!"
Mabel and Stan looking at each other. It was like what they had thought, he had forgotten specifically about Bill, nothing else. Ford really had found a way to maybe get rid of the demon, but instead, he had messed up and erased Dipper's memory.
"Do you remember the sock opera?"
"I got badly injured all over my body, of course I remember that"
"But do you remember how you got them? What exactly happened?"
Dipper wanted to answer yet again that of course, he knew, but suddenly stopped himself, frowning. Actually no, he felt like something important was missing. How did he manage to get all those injuries? Also, why did he had those weird memories of being out of his own body? He could even remember someone trying to steal the journal, but he couldn't remember who. Was it Giddeon?
He suddenly felt uneasy again. Where were they going with all this? Why was it like he was missing some important pieces of his memory? Now that he was thinking about it, he could hardly remember what really happened at the end of the summer.
Seeing how anxious Dipper was starting to be, Mabel suddenly grabbed his hand, offering her most reassuring smile. "Don't worry brobro, I think you might just have knocked your head the wrong way, your memories will come back, I'm sure of it".
She was sounding hopeful. They managed to do it once with Stan, sure there were still moment where his memory would go, but at least he had it back. They could probably do it too with Bill. After all, it couldn't be harder than a whole life of memories, right?
She dropped her questioning, instead, she tried to get back into the subject of Bill, not bringing back anything from the past. She played it as a new friend they had made with whom Dipper was really close, trying to revive his memories with what she knew.
It was to say, the results weren't really good. They gave up in the late afternoon, Dipper saying he was getting tired and wanted to take a nap because his head was still hurting. Mabel wanted to keep trying but knew it wouldn't be better to just push him either, letting him go.
Once she was alone – Stan gone somewhere else when they started talking about Bill – She couldn't keep up her facade. She really wanted to cry.
A part of it was selfish. She didn't want to be the only one to remember that summer. She didn't want to be the only one stuck with some trauma. How could she deal with it when her twin wasn't here for her now? Even if he was trying to help now, how could he do it without understanding? Sure, it was better if he could forget the bad stuff, but she still didn't want to be the only one dealing with all this now. It was something they had lost as a bond.
Plus, Dipper wouldn't be fully Dipper with those memories gone. Even if it wasn't in the best of ways, the bad memories they had of Bill had forged who they were today, especially her twin. Dipper wouldn't be their Dipper without his full memories.
But another part, the stronger one, was saddened to see him forget Bill. She had never seen Dipper this close to someone else before. She hadn't seen him defend someone else this much, other than them. He was loving Bill so much he hadn't hesitated to jump before the Memory gun to protect the demon. Dipper did have crushes over the years, but she felt like it had never been like what he had now.
She had never seen her brother this much in love before and being loved back just as much, if not more.
As she thought of Bill, she swallowed back her tears, getting up. She needed to go and get him. Maybe he could help bring back Dipper's memories, for the better or for the worse.
She went outside and was surprised when she saw a silhouette standing in the tree line, looking at the shack. She hesitated a little, before slowly joining the demon.
It already had been a couple of hours and it was to say, Bill wasn't looking great at all. He clearly had cried, his eyes puffy and red, although it was hard to say for his black one, although he wasn't hiding it right now. He looked at Mabel with tired eyes. Clearly, he was drained from letting all his anger and pain out, yet he wasn't looking more... himself. He was still looking depressed and heartbroken.
She couldn't even come up with something to cheer him up a little. She had been unsure about the demon's feeling for her brother at first, but now she was more than sure. He had really fallen for her brother. Otherwise, why would he have reacted that way?
"His... memory hasn't come back... right?" guessed Bill, his voice hoarse, as if he had been screaming, which wouldn't be such a surprise.
"No... I tried making him remember the time you had recently, but it wouldn't help" she said, her normally joyous voice sounding more pessimistic than anything.
They stayed in silence for a moment, as they look at each other. Bill could see how troubled she was, could probably even guess why she was. Yet he had nothing to say to reassure her, it was his fault it all happen.
"Sorry" he whispered, Mabel nearly missing it. He had so much to apologies for, but for now it what he was starting with. He knew he wouldn't get forgiveness for what happened in the past even if he tried and wasn't expecting that anyway.
She frowned at his apologies. "Don't say that" she suddenly said, looking a little angry, "Dipper... He did that because he loves you, It not your fault" she said. "He... he wouldn't want to hear you apologies for that" she said.
She went on some rambling and mumbling about it, not being really coherent as she didn't have a clear idea of what to say. In the end, she took in a breath, stopping her mumbling, "Dipper loves you and he would do anything for the ones he loves, even sacrifice himself, you are not at fault, you... seem to have changed with him and none of us wanted to see it, you are not the one who asked him to jump and get the hit, I'm even sure you would have protected him yourself instead if you had known he would do that".
She looked back up at the demon, feeling somewhat guilty in the matter. She should have stopped Ford before he got to that point. She should have been a better help to them. She closed her eyes a little, trying not to get overwhelmed by the whole situation.
"We will find a way to bring back Dipper's memory" she said, sounding more hopeful and optimistic. She suddenly opened her arms, clearly waiting for Bill to get close to give her a hug.
The demon left a weak laugh escapes his mouth, going for the hug after some hesitation, hiding slightly in her shoulder as he let her comfort him. This body was so weak to emotion, it was so stupid to him, yet if he could feel love for and loved by Dipper again, he would keep it.
"Yes, let's bring him back" he whispered, Mabel satisfied with that response. They both stayed like this for a while, respectfully not bringing up the other's crying.
When they finally broke the hug it was as if no crying had happened, determination and hope in their eyes. Yes, they would find a way to bring back Dipper's memory, but for now, they needed to clean their faces from all the totally-not-crying they did.
Ain't sorry for doing it. I actually hesitated about making the end with Dipper losing his memories.