Dipper and Mabel stepped into the Multibear's cave. It was dimly lit by a torch every foot or so, and the air was stale. They shuffled to the place where the Multibear usually rested, but the cavern was empty and grey. It was almost sad to look at, and Dipper thought of it like an old beaten down hovel. Without Multibear, who had become a grand friend over the years, it was just... just sad.
"Multibear?" Dipper called out just loudly enough for the words to echo.
"Multibear we're here!" Mabel downright screamed. It echo back tenfold, then slowly drew itself down to silence.
"Mabel, how urgent did his letter seem?"
"I dunno, not super urgent. Not like medical emergency urgent."
"Let's find this bear... I guess." Dipper glanced around one more time. Suddenly, there was a big thumping sound behind them. They both whirled around, praying it wasn't something deadly.
"Oh hi guys!" The Multibear growled. "Did you get my letter?"
Dipper nodded, "but since you weren't here we thought you'd been kidnapped or something bad. When you're gonna be out but expecting people for an emergency you should leave a note, maybe." The Multibear nodded.
"Okay. Anyway, can you guys help me with the thing I want help with?"
"The letter didn't say what you wanted help with either. So Maybe." Mabel said, looking at him excitedly. "I hope we can help!"
"Oh, right, right. So I've been talking again with Hand Witch, that old hag who sometimes lives in caves around here. I haven't talked to her in years and oh my bear-god! She's hilarious. But she won't take me on a date because I don't have hands. But that's not the point of this. Anyway, she said she's been seeing evidence of another Weirdmaggedon in the future that's worse than the one we had before."
Mabel looked at Dipper. "We have to tell the Grunkles about this," she said, almost smiling but not quite.
"I know. We can decide who else needs to know later," he said as Mabel opened her mouth again. She closed it and nodded. "So how does the Hand Witch see these things?"
"I dunno, palm reading and tarot I think. Obviously not an exact thing, but I would have respect for her. Hasn't she caused some problems for you guys in the past?" Dipper nodded sheepishly.
"Is that all?" Dipper asked.
The Multibear nodded. "Stay safe guys. I'm going to bed." He plopped down on the ground and started snoring contentedly.
As they traveled back down the slope, Mabel poked Dipper so many times he almost fell off.
"What, Mabel?" He snapped, at the fifth poke. "Sorry," he said quickly.
"Are you gonna tell your boyfriend, Dip?"
"I don't know yet. I mean, I think I should but I don't know if it would be good... for the rest of us. He still has all his powers."
"I think you should keep it shut. I don't usually like dishonesty, but when all our lives are at stake and you managed to fall for the guy who almost killed us once, I think we get special rules." Dipper nodded.
"That makes sense, but I don't think we should tell Stan and Ford about Bill. That would put his life in unnecessary danger. He might not even be the cause of the apocalypse this time around!" Mabel nodded back at him.
They climbed, then walked, the rest of the way back to the Shack in complete silence, broken only by the occasional giggle from Mabel at cute fuzzy woodland creatures. She seemed to be able to find anything to smile about, even when they were about to start preparing for Weirdmaggedon, one that might be caused by Dipper's boyfriend, the dream demon who almost killed them once. Mabel wondered what Dipper would do when Bill started it again, if he would take his side, or bargain for the safety of the world with his life. What if he... what if... something terrible happened because of him or to him? What would she do if she could no longer love her brother in the same way as before? She decided unconsciously to push those thoughts away until she had to think about them. She didn't need melancholy distractions.
They reached the shack as the sun was setting, and Dipper turned around and stepped back from the edge of the forest suddenly.
"Mabel," he said, smiling, "I've never noticed how beautiful this whole place is before. I can't even get it into words, how I've started seeing the way the sun shines through the leaves and how color fills the forest to the brim." Mabel just laughed. Her brother was utterly, completely, in love.
They ate dinner all together, and it was nice. Bill joked around with all of them, though Dipper and Mabel found much less to laugh about than the Stans, it was still nice. Peaceful, a juxtaposition of what was happening in Dipper and Mabel's minds. They were thinking simply of all the death and destruction from Weirdmaggedon, how the Northwest's were still not quite back on their feet and how Greasy's still had problems with the food morphing into things suddenly as it enter a customer's mouth. That had scared a great deal of jumpy tourists from Gravity Falls forever, thus taking from the economy. Bill probably didn't realize how much damage he had cause, and it would be foolish to tell him the realities. He would love it. Finally, dinner was finished and Grunkle Ford stood up.
"I need to get back to my research," Ford stated simply and left the room.
"I guess that's the end, then," Grunkle Stan grumbled, and began to pick up plates. "Kids, help," he pointed to the table and the plates of leftover food.
"Can I go, Mr. Pines?" Bill asked politely, grinning at Dipper. Dipper grinned back, albeit halfheartedly. He kept all thoughts of Weirdmaggedon from his mind, however. After training from Ford the third year they came here, Dipper could control his thoughts almost perfectly. Bill wouldn't know anything he didn't want Bill to know. Mabel had gotten the same training, and he hoped that she was doing the same as him.
Stan simply nodded at Bill and he walked away. As soon as Bill was out of earshot, Mabel burst out.
"Grunkle Stan! Weirdmaggedon is gonna happen again!"
"What?"