Dipper rolled over and flopped out of his bed. He was exhausted. Probably because he had spent so little time sleeping the past three days. Too many nightmares, and too much time spent looking for Bill. The combination of the two was also making his school work suffer. Of course he was lucky that two of his classes weren't as big a problem. Ford had stopped assigning him homework and Gilroy had seemed to fall off the face of the earth.

"Morning!" Mabel waved from her own bed. She was full dressed for the day already. "Are you skipping class again today?" She asked.

"That's the plan. Grunkle Ford thinks he might have a clue we're going to explore today."

"Right." Mabel spun. "Let's get going then… Though you might want to get dressed first and wipe away the drool on your face."

Dipper flushed and quickly ran the back of his hand over his mouth. There was a hot wet patch on his chin. He moved over to his closet and pulled out his clothes. "Why don't you go call Grunkle Ford and make sure he's awake."

"Got it!" Mabel rushed out.

Dipper waited for a minute and then he got dressed and followed her out, locking his door as he went. He was feeling extra paranoid now with Bill on the loose. His hand found the talisman around his neck and he breathed out a sigh of relief. Many of his nightmares related to the talisman either not working or being gone completely. Not his favorite thing to think about. He found Mabel talking with Grenda and Candy, no doubt updating them on the Bill search. Both of them wore their own talisman. Mabel had made sure that each of their friends had a talisman.

Dipper actually had a second one in his bag to give to Bree, once he found her. He had given one to Wendy and Pacifica already which only left the one talisman in his bag. He hoped he could find her soon. At the same time though he doubted Bill would mess with her, she wasn't connected at all.

"Did you call Grunkle Ford?"

"Yep, he'll be here in a little. Grenda and Candy are joining us as well." Mabel pointed to her friends. "Do you mind?"

"No." He shrugged. "I just hope we have enough seats."

"Well Grunkle Stan isn't coming so we should be fine."

"Is he still in bed?"

"Yep." She laughed.

Dipper shook his head. "That guy is so lazy." He smiled. "What are we going to do with him. Though I guess he is getting old."

"He was old even when you first got here." Grenda laughed.

"Though in relative relations he wasn't that old." Candy said and they all laughed.

Dipper felt relieved to relax. Ever since Bill had returned he had been so tense. He was still worried about Bill, but they had beat him many times before. They could do it again. He reminded himself of this fact over and over again. They could do it. He was completely sure of that. A few minutes later Dipper spotted Ford.

They all climbed into the car, Dipper easily claiming shotgun, and took off. "So any idea where to look?"

"Yeah. I think I have an idea. I reached out to some of my contacts in the forest. They spotted Gilroy last night."

"Contracts?" Candy asked. "What kind of contacts?"

Ford smiled as he drove. "The many creatures that live there. Ever since Weirdmogedon things have been good for them. In exchange for information, and sometimes helping with different experiments I give them things like toilet paper and twinkies."

Dipper smiled. He knew about those experiments, he had helped with a few of them over the years. Mostly the experiments were what talents the different creatures could do. Some were about how the creatures reacted to different substances. Nothing that was harmful, except for one mishap that had left a Manotaur with a large scar across his back. He hadn't minded at all.

"So where will we be going then?" Dipper looked out the window as they drove.

"Out in the forest." Ford smiled. "Luckily the car drives off road easy enough." They drove in silence for a long while until they pulled up in front of a tree. "This is about where he was last seen."

"Are you sure?" Dipper asked.

"Yes" Ford parked the car and they pulled to a stop.

Dipper and the girls got out of the car and followed Ford. They walked slowly through the trees and Dipper tensed. They all wore the protective talismans but Dipper still expected Bill to show up and attack. He jumped at every noise, though he was sure Bill wouldn't make any noise.

They stopped when they heard silent cursing. It sounded like Gilroy's voice. They all nodded and then turned a corner. They found Gilroy trying to open a bag of jerky.

"Gilroy!" Ford said, his hand straying to his side. He probably had a weapon there.

The man slowly turned. "Pines." He eyed Dipper, Ford, and then the girls. "What are you doing here?"

"Where is Bill?" Dipper said quickly.

"No idea."

"What?" Ford gasped.

"He left me." Gilroy smirked. "Not that I mind."

"Don't you work with him?" Mabel asked.

"Not anymore. I've outlasted my use to that pointy annoying bowtie wearing dorito demon. I can't stand him." He hissed.

"Then why do you work for him?" Ford frowned.

"A deal." Gilroy looked away and then sighed and collapsed to the ground. "One I wouldn't dare break. A life depended on it."

Dipper and Ford exchanged quick glances. Gilroy was acting… strange. "Professor Gilroy?" Dipper whispered.

"I had to. What else could I have done? My poor sweet nephew. He was twelve. His body broken and splayed out on the roadside. He was so small, so young. It I,, If I had looked to the side longer. If I had stopped sooner. If I had insisted he wore his seatbelt longer." He shivered. "It was my fault!"

"What does that have to do with Bill?" Ford stepped up closer to Gilroy.

"I summoned him." Gilroy looked up at Ford, tears in his eyes. "My only hope. Bill agreed to save my little Robbie. All I had to do was help him when he requested for help."

"Robbie?" Dipper asked. "Robbie Shapiro?"

"You know him?" Gilroy looked at Dipper quickly. "You know my little Robbie?"

Dipper tried to picture Robbie as little. He had seen Robbie once as a kid when traveling into the past, but it was still hard to picture. "Yeah, we were… friends when I first came to Gravity Falls." Dipper wasn't sure that was the best way to phrase their relationship but he couldn't think of anything else to tell Gilroy.

"I see." Gilroy smiled faintly. "I'm glad… I was scared. After Bill saved his life, he basically brought Robbie back from the edge of death… I was scared Bill would change him somehow and he wouldn't make friends ever again." He smiled. "I'm glad I was wrong."

"So that's why you worked for Bill." Mabel said. "So that he wouldn't hurt Robbie."

"Yes." He sighed. "It was the only thing I could think of. I even tried to run." He chuckled. "I left Gravity falls shortly after I first summoned Bill. I knew he couldn't leave Gravity Falls so he couldn't chase me down or bug me. It was a great plan and for years it worked. I even refused to come back to visit my sister and her family. I thought it was for the best… and then three years ago… He started to haunt my dreams." Gilroy shivered.

"For three years?" Dipper whispered.

"Yeah. I thought… I thought it was nothing at first, but then I realized he was truly back and wanted to claim our deal. So I came here and started to teach. It was awful." He shivered. "And my little Robbie was gone." He smiled. "At least he was safe and far away from Bill… That was all that mattered to me."

"I understand but I still can't believe you did that." Ford frowned. "You of all people should realize that Bill is not someone you should ever help."

"Says his first friend." Gilroy smirked and then sighed. "No you are right."

"Do you have any idea of what he is planning?"

"No." Gilroy sighed. "He's never told me his plans. I never really asked. I didn't want to know." He looked at Ford. "I wish you luck… I'm planning on leaving."

"Why don't you stay and help us?" Dipper asked. "Help us, please."

"No." Gilroy closed his eyes. "I plan on leaving, and never coming back. That will be for the best."

"Fine." Ford frowned. "But the least you could do is email all the information you have on Bill and his type of demon. That way we can do our best."

"Fine." Gilroy stood up slowly. "But I can tell you one thing. There is someone else in this town that Bill was looking for. I don't know who, but I do know that he had someone who means something to him. An ally maybe, another enemy. I don't know." He smirked. "Good luck." He turned and headed off. "I hope you can beat him."

"Well he was useful." Grenda grumbled.

Dipper's eyes watched his teacher and then he looked at his great uncle. "Now what? He didn't give us any help."

"Maybe, but he did warn us. There is at least one more person in this town we need to be on the lookout for."

"Yeah." Dipper whispered. Great, that is all we need now. He sighed. "I guess we head home then."

"Yeah." Ford nodded as they started walking.

Dipper couldn't understand how Mabel and the others could joke around and laugh. They were really strange sometimes. Girls in general were strange to him. He glanced at Ford, who seemed so confident. He didn't understand Ford either. Dipper was so worried, so scared… He had no idea how they were going to beat Bill this time. He was sure they would manage it, he just had no idea how.

"Come on Dipper." Ford lightly slapped Dipper on the back. "We can do this."

Dipper nodded. "Right."

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