Here is chapter 26!

Stan walked up and out of the basement, looking around the gift shop frantically. "Kids?" He called out. "Soos?"

He heard no response and was quick to head out the door. He looked around outside and noticed Soos's car running, about to leave the parking lot. He ran off the gift shop's porch and waved his hand above his head. "Wait, wait!" He called out to Soos. The handyman didn't notice Stan and began to pull out of the parking lot. Dipper took off his hat and looked at the design on the front. He sighed, trying to forget that the uncle that he hadn't even known for a year could potentially be dying before his eyes. It was near impossible to forget such a heartbreaking thing.

Mabel was very upset as well. She had her face buried in her arm that was resting on the window as she peeked out the glass. She looked around at all the trees, all the grass, all the logs. She felt like an idiot- trusting Bill so easily. She thought at first maybe he wouldn't have done such a thing, however she had no evidence to prove his innocence in the situation. She wanted to kick herself for hardly doing anything but cry.

She looked out the window and bit her lip, her sadness not going away. She looked over by the gift shop porch when Soos turned the car around, and noticed Stan running up towards the car. Her eyes widened and she popped her head up. "Soos! Wait!" She exclaimed.

"What's wrong, girl dawg?" Soos asked. He pressed down on the brakes and looked at Mabel. The girl pointed at the window, out to the porch. Soos looked over at the porch and noticed Stan rushing over to the car. "Oh!" He noticed, and backed the car up.

Stan sighed in relief and ran up to the truck, grasping the passenger seat's handle and literally jumping into the car. During the stunt he managed to smack his head on the outside of the car roof. Stan bit his lip and grunted something under his breath that the twins were thankful to have not heard.

Soos looked at Stan with wide eyes. "Woah, Mr. Pines! Are you okay?" He asked.

Stan clutched his forehead and nodded with his teeth clenched. "Yeah, just... hurry up and get us to the bus station." He muttered. Soos nodded and backed out once more, driving down the road to their destination.


"Hmm..," Bill mused. "Where would Fordsy put a solution to this?" He asked himself. He was in the laboratory with an unconscious Ford, down on his knees as he looked through file cabinet after file cabinet, file after file, document after document. It had only been about a half hour, but it already felt like hours. He hoped it would be worth it to get the old man back.

"What the heck could have caused this?" Bill muttered to himself. He looked behind him and saw Ford sleeping rather peacefully in his chair. He sighed and turned back at the file cabinet. This would take a while.


"So,"

"So what?" Ford asked Bill.

Bill rolled his eyes and took a step away from the other man. "So, how do ya' feel?" He asked, folding his arms.

Ford sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't just tell the truth, could he? Ford couldn't just admit that he had wanted that kiss for quite some time. He looked at Bill. "Well..," He began slowly. "It was certainly unexpected." He stated, running a hand through his hair and adjusting his glasses.

Bill nodded. "Yeah, I know, but you wanna know what was even more unexpected?" He asked Ford, taking a step closer to the chair once more and sitting down on the other's lap. "The fact that you didn't pull away." Bill mused with a smirk.

Ford bit his lip and looked away. How was he supposed to respond to that?

Bill noticed the reaction and grinned. "Don't you worry, Fordsy!" Bill sang playfully. "I kinda knew how you felt about me." He admitted, facing Ford's head towards him and looking into his brown eyes. Ford raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to say something, but Bill put his index finger atop his lips motioning for him not to speak just yet. "Let's just say that all those times you tried to hide the little blush on your face? It just drew attention to you." Bill said.

Ford tilted his head, and Bill pulled his hand away from his mouth, wrapping his arms around Ford's neck instead. "Well, I'm not the best bluffer..." Ford admitted in a mutter. The conversation was really awkward now that Ford knew that the reaction was noticed so often. He was just as embarrassed as he was confused with the whole topic of this conversation in general. "If I may ask..," He began slowly. Bill nodded, encouraging him to continue. "H-how do you feel... about me?" Ford asked, stuttering a bit as the words left his mouth. He looked at Bill in clear confusion. Just asking the question made his heart skip a beat.

"Well," Bill began. "What do you think?"

Ford just shrugged. "It's hard to tell with someone like yourself." He said with a small smirk.

Bill punched Ford in the shoulder in a playful manner. "That's fair," He admitted, putting a hand in Ford's hair and playing with it. "Well, I'm fond of you, I'll tell you that." Bill said, looking away.

Stanford nodded slowly. "I hate to admit it, but I feel the same way." He stated, tilting his head back hesitantly and looking up at the ceiling.

Bill looked back at Ford and leaned his head forward over by the other man's ear. "Even after I tried to destroy the world and kill your fam-" He said, but was stopped when Ford turned his head sideways to look at him. Their noses were touching now and Ford grunted at Bill's words.

"Ah-" Ford mused. "Clean slate, remember?"

Bill gave a small smile and nodded. "I'm still surprised, Sixer. That won't change." He stated with a shrug. "To think that we went from friends to enemies, and then from enemies to future lovers." Ford looked away and inhaled awkwardly. The word 'lover' rang in his head and he looked over at his desk, suddenly finding a pen interesting. Bill rolled his eyes. "Okay, so I'm assuming things. But do you really want to hide these emotions we both feel?" Bill asked, looking at Ford as the other continued to look over at the desk.

"It's harder than you'd think, Bill." Ford said with a frown. Bill tilted his head and put a hand on his shoulder when Ford finally looked back at him. "It's a fresh start for the two of us, sure, but Stanley's not quite ready to drop anything that you did yet. Who knows if he ever will?" He said with a sigh.

Bill nodded and gave a small smile. "Can I get cheesy?" He asked.

Ford wasn't sure if he was trying to be funny, or just trying to change the conversation's topic. "This whole conversation is cheesy enough. Shoot." Ford said with a shrug.

Bill sighed and wrapped his arms around Ford's neck once more, scooting closer and speaking slowly. "Who cares what your brother thinks?" Bill began. Ford squinted his eyes in confusion, and Bill continued. "I mean, if he sees that I'm not gonna go killing anything and everything I see, and if he understands that we're happy together, don't you think he would eventually come to his senses and forgive?"

"That's the thing about Stanley, you never know how he will react to something." Ford stated. The conversation was getting awkward, but Ford knew that it would be better to just get it over with rather than talking about it every day.

Bill nodded and shrugged dismissively. "Maybe you should sleep on it, Sixer!" He said. Ford looked up at the time and noticed it was already 10:00. Bill got off the chair and folded his arms. "It sure got late fast!" He said with a chuckle.

Ford got up from the chair, and Bill picked him up in a bridal-style manner. Stanford exclaimed in annoyance. "Bill, what are you doing?" He asked, wanting to be put back down.

"It's late! Don't fight it." Bill stated, squinting his eyes at the other.

Ford rolled his eyes. "I don't usually go to sleep until later in the night, sleep at this time is rather unnecessary." He said, folding his arms.

Bill scoffed. "Sixer, you're not getting any younger. You might as well sleep while you still can."

Stanford shot a glare at the other man, irritated by the statement. "Bill, would you just put me down?" He asked, rather hasty with his words.

"Sure!" Bill happily agreed. Ford thanked the demon, but wasn't amused when Bill ran off to Ford's makeshift room, opening the door carelessly and literally throwing him onto his bed. Bill snickered and folded his arms. "Better?" He asked with a wide grin.

Ford rolled his eyes. "Fine," He said. "I'll go to sleep if you go upstairs and sleep as well." He compromised as he turned on the lamp that was on his nightstand.

"Upstairs?" Bill asked, folding his arms and giving a sarcastic eyeroll.

Stanford nodded in confirmation and folded his arms. "Upstairs." He clarified.

"Hey, you compromised with me, can't I compromise with you?" Bill asked, putting his hands on his hips.

Ford shrugged and criss-crossed his legs. "And what would that be?" He asked the other.

Bill bit his lip and thought for a moment. His eyes widened for a moment, and he grinned, pointing his finger up indicating that he had an idea. "Oh! I know," He started. "I'll help you with your little 'emotion-reading' gizmo if I can stay here."

Stanford adjusted his glasses and sighed. "Listen, Bill. I'm not just kicking you out to kick you out, I have my reasons."

"Reasons?" Bill repeated, squinting his eyes. "What kind of reasons?" He asked.

"If I'm being completely honest, I got upset with myself the next morning after you stayed with me last time. I just.., don't know how I feel about being that close while I'm unconscious." Ford said, hoping that he said it in the best-sounding way.

Bill folded his arms. "What happened to starting over? A 'clean slate', as you call it?" He said, squinting his eyes.

Ford looked down at his hands. Bill was right. But did he really want to risk it? He had been telling Bill that he's ready to start over, but does starting over mean sleeping in a nearby distance, close enough to the point where he could be killed at any moment?

It just doesn't seem fair to Bill, Ford told himself. He had let Bill stay with him once, and no harm had come to him. Was he really willing to risk it?

"I suppose you're correct," Ford muttered. Bill's eyes widened in surprise. That was certainly something that Stanford hadn't told him before.

Bill scoffed sarcastically. "Me? Correct?" He asked, putting a hand on his heart and walking over to the other side of the bed. Ford nodded slowly, giving a strange look. "Well of course I'm correct." Bill said with a smirk. "When am I not?"

Ford rolled his eyes. "Often." He stated, folding his arms and chuckling. He looked at Bill and noticed his mouth was wide open in some sort of sarcastic-offense. Ford was humored by the reaction and lifted his sheets to go under, the comforter up to his shoulders.

Bill narrowed his eyes at the comeback. "Hey!" He shot at the other. He saw the look on Ford's face and snickered. "Speak for yourself." He said, grabbing the bedsheets and crawling into them, snuggling his face in his pillow. Ford saw the action and figured it would be best to turn the light off. He leaned over towards the lamp and turned it off, taking off his glasses and running a hand through his hair, looking at the door as he began to space out.

Stanford was just nearly asleep when he felt arms wrapping around his torso. He looked to his right and raised an eyebrow, grunting. "Bill, what are you doing?" He asked, trying to move the other's arms. Bill clasped his hands together to create a grip around the man, not bothering to respond to the question, instead only snickering. Ford just sighed, deciding not to fight it.


"This is ridiculous!" Bill stated with a grunt. "Is there somewhere I'm forgetting to check?" He asked aloud, even though there was no one else in the room but a sleeping Ford. Bill looked over at Stanford who was still asleep on his office chair. Bill wasn't even sure if he could call the man's state a sleep anymore.

He looked up at the clock and looked at the time. The time was 10:00, and Bill shut yet another file cabinet. Maybe getting some sleep will help me. He thought to himself. Bill was considering going to sleep, but he wasn't sure what to do with Ford. Should I just leave him here? What if something happens during the night while I'm asleep?

Bill stood up and sighed, deciding to relocate the other man for the night. He walked over to Ford and lifted him off the chair, carrying him in a bridal-style way. He walked over to the spare makeshift room in the lab and opened the door to it, walking over to the bed and placing Stanford down somewhat gently. He grabbed hold of the sheets and practically rolled Ford under them, putting the sheets atop of him. The man looked calm and unbothered by the transportation, not that he could really tell that he had been moved. Could he?

He looked down at his hands and sighed. To think he went from a all-knowing dream demon to a pathetic human who actually tolerates Stanford rather than just using him to create a portal. The thought of him actually having a change in heart made his stomach turn sometimes, and he scolded himself for forming such a soft side so suddenly.

Bill climbed on the other side of the bed and crawled under the sheets beneath him. He looked over at Ford who was clearly still in his sleep. Bill wasn't sure if something would happen during the night, but if something did, at least he might be close enough to see what it was. I'll fix this. Bill told himself. He knew he would. He looked over at the other once more, zoning out a bit until he heard a familiar ding! coming from the elevator. Crap, It must be fez! He thought to himself. Bill quickly scrambled out of the bed and hurried to stand up. He looked over at the bed and adjusted his pillow a bit to make it look like it hadn't just been laid on.

He heard footsteps coming towards the door, and flinched slightly when the door opened. However, the person at the door wasn't who Bill thought it was. It wasn't Stan, it had been Soos that had opened the door.

"Mr. Ford?" Soos called out, looking around the room. He looked over at the bed and saw Ford laying there asleep. He looked to the right side of the bed and saw Bill leaning against the wall, casually leaning there with his arms folded. "Bill?" He questioned. "Did Ford wake up? Is he okay, dude?" Soos asked frantically.

Bill shook his head and put his hands out in front of him. "Woah!" Bill began. "Relax question mark! If you keep being all frantic like that, you'll hop on a one-way trip to the ER!" He stated, folding his arms once more.

"Sorry dude, I'm just really worried." Soos explained. "Is Mr. Ford okay?"

Bill ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "No," He started, and Soos's eyes widened in alarm. Bill noticed the way he had lost track of what he was saying, and was quick to correct himself. "I mean yes! Well, No, he's not okay, but he is okay because he's not dead!" Bill exclaimed, frantically swinging his arms around as he tried to explain.

Soos gave an awkward chuckle. "So, he woke up?"

Bill shook his head. "No, I just moved him so he wasn't just sleeping around in his chair for however long he will be like this." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well did you find a way to wake him up?" Soos asked hopefully.

Bill rolled his eyes. "Look, Soos," He began, putting his hands on his hips. "If I had a solution, he already would be awake, and he would be back to normal!" He stated with a glare that gave a sign to the handyman that Bill was stressed.

"I know what can make you better!" Soos exclaimed. Bill tilted his head, and Soos folded his arms with a smile. "I'm off work tomorrow, maybe I could stop by anyway and help you try to find the answer!" He said with a grin.

Bill shrugged and shook his head slowly. "Look Soos, that's really nice, but-" Bill started. He stopped himself in-between his words, and Soos tilted his head to the side in confusion. Bill thought for a small moment and gave a small smirk. "It's very, very kind of you to offer, and I would love to use you to- ...I mean use your very helpful experience in order to help dear ol' Fordsy!" Bill said with a wide grin, nodding his head and pointing over at Ford in a showful manner.

Soos shrugged and smiled. "Great! I'll be here at 7:00!" He said, walking away and shutting the door. Bill watched the man leave and gave a wave to the man as he left. Bill folded his arms and smirked. If I can get Soos to gain my trust tomorrow, then maybe he can help fix the portal in the mere future.

Bill got back into the bed, putting the sheets above his shoulders. He looked at Ford and sighed. Would Sixer even consider letting Soos do that? He asked himself. What if we got it fixed behind his back?

No, that didn't sound like a good idea, not even to Bill. The demon bit his lip and sighed, scooting closer to the asleep Ford and wrapping his arms around his torso as he drifted off to sleep.


Ford woke up at about 7:00AM. For a moment, he didn't remember what happened the other night. He gave it a moment, and was quick to remember everything. The events of the night were rather unexpected, but were certainly not rejected by either Bill nor Ford. He squinted his eyes and looked at the alarm clock on his nightstand, aware of the time. He looked behind him and noticed Bill sleeping peacefully beside him. Ford brushed Bill's hair out of his face before quietly getting out of his bed.

He was quick to grab his pants from off the floor and store it in his hamper. Ford dug through his dresser drawer and got an identical grey pair, along with his Maroon sweater. He was hoping to forget what had happened- unfortunately he wasn't sure that would be possible.

Soon after Ford had gotten ready for the day, leaving his lab coat folded on a chair, Bill woke up from his sleep, yawning obnoxiously. His eyes fluttered open and he looked around the room, rubbing his eyes as he sat up. "Hey, Fordsy." He addressed in a tired manner.

Ford gave a small wave to the other and ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, you're awake," Ford muttered. "I'll be upstairs for a little while, feel free to come up for breakfast." He said as he clutched the doorknob, opening the door and closing it behind him.

"Good talk," Bill muttered to himself. He better not start avoiding conversations. I wonder how long he's gonna be all awkward when we talk to eachother. He thought to himself.

Stanford made his way up to the kitchen where he greeted his brother, who was drinking a cup of coffee rather civilized. Stan looked up at his brother as Ford walked into the kitchen and grabbed a slice of bread. "Hey, pointdexter." Stan said with a wave of his fingers as he took another sip of his coffee, putting his pinkie out for show.

Ford greeted Stan with a smile. "Good morning, Stanley!" He said joyfully as he grabbed a slice of bread. "Want some toast?"

Stan gave a nod of his head. "Sure, thanks." He thanked, swirling the coffee in his cup around in circles carefully.

Ford grinned and shrugged. "No problem. Is that a new watch?" He asked, looking at the arm Stan was holding his coffee in.

Stanley nodded. "Uh-huh! Pure gold!" He said as he looked at his brother with a smirk, pointing to it with his spare hand.

Ford tilted his head. "Really?" He asked, astonished. "That's pretty high-class!" He stated impressed, closing the bag of bread with a twist-tie.

"Gee, you're awful cheerful this morning, pointdexter. What's up with you?" Stan asked, a bit suspicious at his brother's behavior.

Stanford smiled and chuckled. "Aren't I always?" He asked, looking at his brother with a grin on his face that gave Stanley multiple reasons to be suspicious as he made a clockwise gradual spin towards the toaster behind him.

Okay, something is definitely up with him. Stan confirmed to himself with a mental nod of his head. Why's he all happy all of a sudden? He's usually all boring and lame. Stan thought as he took another sip of coffee. Heh, can't say I'm complainin' though! Maybe it'll be nice to have him a little more cheerful once and a while. I just wanna know what caused his mood-change...

"So, are the kids up yet?" Ford asked as he popped the bread slices into the toaster.

Stan shrugged. "Not sure, they've been pretty quiet if they are, which is pretty unusual for knuckleheads like them." Stan said, laughing at his own joke and drinking more coffee. "Hey, what about Bill?" Stan asked.

Ford felt a shiver go up his spine at the man mentioned. He kept his cool and just raised an eyebrow at the question. "What about him?" He asked, putting an elbow on the counter as he leaned against it.

"Is he up yet?" Stan asked with a roll of his eyes. "What else would I be talkin' about?" He asked, putting his coffee mug down on the table and folding his arms.

"Oh," Ford muttered. Of course that's what Stanley meant, he couldn't possibly know... could he? Ford asked himself. He just shrugged in response and looked over at the toaster, assuming the toast would be done momentarily. "He was awake, but he hasn't come upstairs yet. He could have fallen back asleep." He said.

Stan raised an eyebrow. "Upstairs?" He asked, confused. "Don't ya' mean 'he hasn't come... downstairs?'"

Ford bit his lip. He looked down at his feet for a moment.

Crap. Ford thought to himself. He looked at Stan who was clearly waiting for some sort of response. Just in the nick of time, the toast popped up from the toaster. Ford quickly looked at it and applied a wide grin to his face. "Toast is ready!" He exclaimed with a sheepish walk, talk, facial expression, and personality. Ford quickly grabbed a couple of plates from up in the cupboard and brought them down, placing them down on the counter. He took the slices out of the toaster fast, hoping to avoid being burnt by the heat of the slices.

Once the toast was on the plates, Ford handed one to Stan, where his brother quietly thanked him. And if you have ever wondered if confusion can mix with thanks, this right here would be your proof.

Bill yawned and stretched his arms out above his head as he stumbled into the kitchen. Stan noticed the action and narrowed his eyes. The demon ran a hand through his hair and greeted the two in the room. "Good morning, old and older!" Bill exclaimed in a sing-songy voice, pointing a finger at Stan for 'old' and pointing a finger at Ford for 'older'. Ford rolled his eyes and Bill chuckled mockingly as he walked over to the other man. "Aw, don't let it get ya' down, Sixer! It sure doesn't seem like you've aged according to your top-notch skills in bed-" He stated, and was stopped in his sentence when Ford quickly put a hand over his mouth to stop him from speaking, staring at the wall across from him with his eyes wide open in mortification.

Bill tried to smirk and folded his arms. "Dnt br afshmed, sivzr." He said, trying to speak even with the other's hand covering his mouth.

Stan looked at Ford for a moment, and grabbed his coffee mug once more from the table, taking a long, slow sip, the sound filling the silent room. Ford looked over at his brother for a split second, and looked away once more. Stan rolled his eyes. "Who ya' tryin' to fool?" He asked. Ford looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Stanley took a long, quick sip of coffee and set the mug back down onto the table. "You think I didn't know?" Stan began once more. "I'm two floors above ya', and yet the two of you are as audible as the smell of money." He stated, folding his arms.

Ford took his hand away from Bill's face and folded his arms, looking at Stan as if he were a halfwit. "Okay, first of all, Stanley," Ford started. "Hearing and smell are two very different senses. And secondly-"

"Yeah, yeah," Stan groaned, waving his arm dismissively. "Point is, maybe you two should tone it down a little bit. Next thing I know it, I'm gonna' start missin' the feeling of peaceful sleep." He said, muttering the last bit to himself. He grabbed his coffee mug and walked out of the kitchen.

Bill watched Stan leave the room, and turned to face Ford once he left. "Well," He mused. "He seemed rather... chill." He said, looking at the other man and putting his hands on the counter, practically pinning Ford against the counter.

Ford sighed. "He won't be soon," He muttered to himself. "I-... I don't know what happened last night." He stated, avoiding eye contact with the other.

"Well," Bill began with a smirk. "It all started when we got into be-"

"N-no, that's not what I mean." Ford stated firmly. "I just don't know why I even gave in to such a foolish act." He said, folding his arms.

Bill nodded and shrugged dismissively. "Face it, sixer. It happened. It happened, and there's no going back." He stated, looking at him firmly as he spoke. "Don't go regretting it, either." He added.

Stanford ran a hand through his hair as he adjusted his glasses. Bill moved his head over where Ford was staring, practically forcing some eye contact. Ford looked at him, giving in to the eye contact, and exhaled slowly. "I feel like this was wrong. That we should have taken this more slow." He muttered, looking at Bill and hoping he would agree. The same thought was not shared when Bill just rolled his eyes.

"Everyone makes mistakes." He stated, putting a hand on Ford's shoulder. "And in my personal opinion, last night wasn't a mistake. It was what we both needed to ease the tension between us, ya' know?"

Stanford nodded slowly. "You've really had a way with words recently." He complimented with a small smile.

Bill took his hands off the counter gave a small bow for show, grinning. Ford shook his head and chuckled at the behavior, and Bill popped back up, giving him a quick peck on Ford's cheek. Stan poked his head from outside of the kitchen, taking a sip of his coffee before speaking. "Yeah," He began, and Ford jumped at the sudden reappearance of his brother. Stan smirked at the way he had startled the other and continued speaking. "It's almost like he's hypnotizin' ya'." He stated jokingly with a small chuckle, walking away and leaving the two alone in the kitchen once more.

Ford called out for Stanley and was quick to leave the kitchen. Bill watched him leave the room and folded his arms, giving a sly smirk and muttering a singular, rather alarming word under his breath. "Almost."

"Stanley!" Ford called out to his brother.

Stan stopped in his tracks to turn around and face his brother. "What is it, pointdexter? It's almost 9:00AM, I gotta see if the kids have woken up yet. Haven't heard a peep from either of em' all morning." He stated, handing his empty coffee cup to Ford and folding his arms. Ford looked at the coffee cup for a moment and rolled his eyes at the way Stan had discarded it for him to put away. "Well?" Stan asked, rather impatiently.

Ford sighed. "I just wanted to ask you something." He stated.

Stan shrugged. "Shoot." He encouraged.

"About the whole... everything," He admitted, muttering the word 'everything'. Ford looked at Stan and adjusted his glasses. "You didn't seem at all concerned or upset. Why?" He asked, hoping for a serious answer.

Stan smirked and chuckled. "Oh I was concerned, concerned for the lack of sleep I was getting, and-" He began jokingly, a hand out as he counted the reasons with his fingers.

Stanford grunted. "Stan, would you be serious for a moment?" He asked.

"Oh, I am being serious!" Stan exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. Ford rolled his eyes and Stan laughed. "Okay, okay," Stan said, putting his hands in front of him as he succeeded to control his laughter. "If you want the honest truth, that ol' demon's not half bad." He said with a shrug. The answer came as a surprise to Ford, he wasn't expecting Stan to admit something like that. "Even when worst comes to worst, you're still my brother. So if you're happy, I'm happy." He stated with a small smile on his face as he turned around to walk up the stairs.

Stan disappeared up the stairs for a moment, and Ford nodded slowly, pleased with the way the conversation had turned out. He turned around to discard of the coffee mug when Stan walked back down the stairs enough to look back at Ford. "But seriously, Stanford. I'm not gettin' any younger and I'll be needin' my sleep. Maybe some soundproof walls would-"

"Stanley!" Ford hissed, glaring and facepalming in humiliation. Stan snickered at the reaction and disappeared up the stairs once more.

Ford walked back over to the kitchen and put the mug Stan had given to him in the sink. He looked around and noticed that Bill had left the room sometime during the conversation. He figured this would be the best time to begin the process of fixing his emotion-reading device.

Meanwhile upstairs, Stan walked into the room that Dipper and Mabel had been staying in. He noticed Dipper and Mabel sleeping peacefully. Huh, surprised they've been sleepin' this long. Hopefully they went to bed early enough last night. He turned around and saw Bill beside him at the doorway. Stan was quick to close the bedroom door and come back out into the hallway. Bill folded his arms when he saw the look on Stan's face. "Well?" Bill asked, hoping for the other to say something.

"The kids are in there." Stan muttered, looking at the demon.

Bill responded to the news with a glare and exhaled in frustration. "This is going to be harder than I thought." He muttered, mainly to himself.

Stan raised an eyebrow. "What're ya' talkin' about?" He asked.

The demon glared and flicked Stan on his forehead. "Use your brain, ya' big eared old guy!" Bill shot at Stan. "The kids are still here in this world! When Ford wakes up from this dream, the kids in the real world are gonna be gone, then he's gonna wonder WHY the kids are gone!" He informed, exclaiming 'why' with a loud voice.

Stan put a finger up to his lips, signaling to the other to be quiet. "It'll be worse if Ford hears ya'!" He whisper-shouted with clenched teeth. "If ya' want your plan to work, you're gonna have to find a way to get the kids back home, and fast."

Bill shook his head and put his hands on his hips, staring at Stan. "Uh, don't you mean YOU'RE going to find a way to get the kids home?" He asked, not much of a question but closer to the form of a command. "You're closer with Stanford, he'll be more on board with something if it comes from you." Bill stated.

"I'm closer?" Stan asked with a half-glare. "You're the one who got it on with my brother last night!" He stated, nearly scolding.

Bill rolled his eyes. "I did what had to be done." He stated. "Figure something out, and don't talk to me until you have an idea." He commanded, patting Stan on the shoulder sarcastically before heading down the stairs.

Stan just shook his head and glared. "Demons bossin' me around." He muttered to himself.


Hours later, Bill finally met Ford downstairs with a smile on his face. "Hey, Fordsy!" He greeted, his hands on his hips.

Ford gave a small wave as he kept his eyes on a paper he was writing on. "Hello, Bill." He greeted back. Bill rolled his eyes when Ford didn't look up at him, and he walked over to wrap his arms around Ford's neck.

"I've been bored all day." Bill stated with a pout.

Ford continued to look down at his paper as he spoke. "Well, you could always try communicating with the kids. Mabel seems to be forgiving you much faster than Dipper has recently."

Bill scoffed. "Yeah, I'm sure Dipper wouldn't be on board with the whole 'clean slate' thing." He assumed.

Ford shrugged in a half-agreement. "It will take time, but Dipper is a very intelligent boy. The two of you just might get along in the future." He said, still writing on the same paper.

Bill shook his head and put his chin on the top of Ford's head. "Yeah, right," He muttered. "You're full of beans, sixer." He stated. "Did you figure out whatever needs to be done with the emotion-reading thing? Does it even have a name?" Bill asked in confusion.

"It doesn't have a name yet, really," Ford admitted. "However, what we've been calling it recently is doing just fine. I would appreciate if you would help test it out soon, I think I've found the error."

Bill's eyes widened. Crap, If he fixes it in his dream and wakes up with it still broken, he'll find out he was dreaming. This isn't good... "Um, actually," Bill started. "Could we do that another day? I uh, I-i'm not feeling too good." Bill stuttered, not having any other ideas.

Ford set his pencil down at stood up, turning around to look at Bill. He pulled up the sleeves of his sweater and put his wrist up to Bill's forehead. "Why, are you sick?" He asked.

Bill shrugged. "I don't know," He half-lied. "My head hurts really bad."

Stanford nodded and shrugged. "A headache would be my guess, maybe go drink some water. It helps!" He said with a smile, and sat back down in his chair. "Tell me if it gets better, hopefully we can get this information soon, I have a good feeling about my hypothesis and I've been writing it down on this paper."

"Alright, I'll go get some water I guess," He muttered, and walked away and into the elevator. Ford picked up his pencil once more and continued to write.


"Did you find it yet, question mark?" Bill asked.

Soos shook his head and chuckled. "Sorry, dude. I haven't found anything but this old chip bag that was crumpled up in the corner. There's still a few left!" He exclaimed in excitement as he popped one into his mouth without hesitation.

Bill cringed at the behavior and face palmed, sighing. "Have you even tried looking for.. whatever we're trying to find?" He asked.

The handyman shrugged. "Sorry dude, I can't read all this nerd language." He admitted.

Bill grunted and shook his head. "Get a dictionary!" He exclaimed in annoyance, throwing his hands in the air and grabbing the hair on his head in frustration, about ready to pull it all out at any second. "Useless.." He whispered to himself.

"Huh?" Soos asked, looking at Bill. He hadn't quite heard him.

Bill looked at Soos and shrugged, an innocent look on his face. "What? Uh, I didn't say anything." He lied.

Soos's eyes widened. "Then it must have been Mr. Ford!" He exclaimed. "Mr. Ford!" Soos hollered. "Are you awake?"

That's just... sad. Bill thought to himself. Surely he has a brain, right? At this point, Bill wasn't quite sure. "Any word from Fez?" He asked.

Soos shook his head. "Not much. Last thing I saw him doing this morning, he was making a few duplicates of these Santa-beaver things. Mr. Pines is pretty convinced that they'll sell out faster than anything else in the gift shop, so he wants to make as many as he can until he runs out of materials for them I guess." He informed.

Bill nodded. "Do you think he would be interested in helping us?" He asked.

The handyman thought for a moment before shaking his head hesitantly. "Probably not, he seemed a tad strange last night before I left to go back home."

Tad strange... Bill thought in his head. Isn't there a guy in Gravity Falls with that name? He wondered. Bill shook away the thought for a moment and shrugged. "Well, maybe if he won't help us with this, maybe we could work on something else for a while." He suggested.

Soos raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, dawg?" He questioned.

Bill ran a hand through his hair and gave a grin. "Well, there's this project that Sixer... abandoned." Bill half-lied. "If we can get him back and show him that this is fixed, I'm sure he'll be jumping around in glee." He mused.

"Well, what does he need done?" Soos asked Bill.

Bill stood up and put his hands behind his neck. "You fix stuff, don't ya'?" He asked. Soos nodded in confirmation and Bill understood. "Look over there. See that huge sheet covering up that window by the desk?" He asked.

"Yeah, wasn't that the room with the huge portal thing Ford came out of a few months ago?" He asked.

Bill nodded. "Bingo!" He exclaimed. "If you can help get that beauty fixed up, he just might deem you as a hero in his eyes!" He stated, grinning ear to ear with his hands on his hips.

Soos stood up and had a confident look on his face, putting his hand out in front of him. "Hand me my toolbelt, dude." He commanded, squinting his eyes at the room in confidence. Bill did as told and put his toolbelt in his hands, and Soos ran up to the door, opening it up and looking around for a moment. The room was a bit bigger than he had remembered, but it could have been the heat of the moment than had made the room feel so small at first. "It's pretty dark in here, dawg. Good thing I always carry a flashlight!" Soos exclaimed with a chuckle. "I better get to work!" He said.

Bill nodded and smirked. "Good idea!" He said, turning around to go back to the file cabinets. "Dam answer... where are you?" He muttered to himself as he got down on his knees once more, looking around in the file cabinet.


"Oh, you got back fairly quick!" Ford said, looking at Bill for a moment as he walked out of the elevator with a glass of water. "Are you feeling any better?"

Bill shrugged. " Like you said, I got back pretty quick. I wasn't even gone for five minutes, so there's no way of telling if my condition as improved or not." He stated, taking a sip of water. "Why does water gotta' be so plain?" He muttered in complaint.

Ford nodded. "Well, I suppose that's a fair point." He admitted. He grabbed his pencil and began writing down on a piece of paper.

"What are you writing about now?" Bill asked as he walked closer to the desk.

Stanford just shrugged. "Nothing much, really." He assured.

"You sure?" Bill asked, putting an elbow on Ford's shoulder and balancing. Ford nodded, confirming, and Bill placed his water down on the desk. "Mind if I put that there for a minute?" He asked. "Just gonna look for something real quick." He stated.

Ford nodded. "Go ahead."

"Thanks." Bill thanked. He walked over to the file cabinet, pretending to look for something.

Stanford looked over for a moment in confusion when Bill began rummaging through the file cabinet. "Uh, Bill?" He addressed. Bill looked at Ford for a split second, and looked back at the file cabinet. "What exactly are you trying to find-"

"Found it!" Bill exclaimed, grabbing a completely random file from the cabinet. He wasn't sure what he had grabbed, but it didn't really matter for his plan to work out. He walked over to Ford and put the file out in front of him, holding on to it to make sure Ford didn't grab hold of it. "See?" Bill asked, putting it too close to Ford's face to the point where the words went blurry. During the motion, Bill purposely knocked over his water glass onto the paper Ford had been writing. "Oh no!" Bill exclaimed, his sarcasm hidden.

Ford stood up and was quick to grab the paper from the desk, grunting in annoyance. "Move over a bit, I keep some paper towels in that drawer!" He exclaimed. Bill obeyed and moved over, opening the drawer connected to the desk. Ford took the paper towels and placed a few atop the desk, saving a couple of the papers around the puddle.

"Sorry." Bill muttered, biting his lip to hide the sly smirk on his face.

"That's okay, Bill. I've lost count of how many times I have done the exact same thing."

Bill picked up the soaked paper he had intentionally gotten wet. "But, what about this? All that information about your emotion gizmo, it's gone now..." He said with a sigh.

Ford snickered and shook his head. "Don't worry!" He assured. "I had finished writing it just moments after you left to head upstairs. It's right here at the top of the file cabinet!" He assured, walking over to the file cabinet and picking it up, holding it up towards Bill for proof. "There's no need to worry."

"Great." Bill said with a forced smile, his teeth clenched together as he spoke. Ford failed to notice one of Bill's eyes twitching, as the paper had blocked the view. Bill looked at the paper for a moment and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Fordsy..." He began slowly. "That's not the right paper..." He said.

"What?" Ford asked. He looked at the paper for a moment and groaned. "You're right. Where did I put that paper?" He asked himself.

Bill shrugged. "Dunno. Does it really matter? Surely you remembered most of the information on that paper since you had jut written it, right?" He asked, folding his arms.

Stanford shook his head. "Not much, I had been double-tasking, and that disrupted my memory of what I had written."

"That sucks." Bill commented.

Ford nodded in agreement. "Indeed," He said with a sigh. "Why don't you head off to bed and get some rest while I locate this paper I've misplaced." Ford advised.

Bill scoffed sarcastically and wrapped his arms around the other's neck, looking into Ford's eyes as Bill squinted his. "Hey, you don't tell me what to do." Bill stated jokingly. He looked around the room for a moment, pretending to be sarcastically thinking about something, and finally met eye contact with the other once more. "You know what, I'm going to bed now." He stated.

Ford chuckled and nodded. "I'm sure that would be best." He said. Bill nodded and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before walking off towards the basement's bedroom door. Ford turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Bill, your room is upstairs." He stated.

"Don't care." Bill stated, and swung the door closed behind him. Ford rolled his eyes and shook his head, smiling.

Where did I put that paper? Ford asked himself, scratching the back of his neck as he scanned the room for a moment. I couldn't have put it away, could I?

Bill went straight under the covers of the bed down in the basement, and put his arms behind his head, smirking. Foolish old man, doesn't even realize this is all in his head. Time is passing faster than he thinks in the mindscape, he better get back into reality soon. Should I set him free back to reality yet? Maybe he should stay here in this illusion of a dream forever...

No... That would be foolish. Bill told himself. He needs to wake up. It may have been too long already. Dam, I should have kept more track of time myself. Weeks have passed already, his real family has probably rushed him to the hospital by now. He needs to be sent back tomorrow. No, tonight.

Yes, tonight.

Bill had decided his half-plan. Sending Stanford back into reality would give him more time to brainstorm and improvise.

Meanwhile, Ford was still in the other room in the laboratory, looking for the paper he had misplaced. "Maybe Bill put it somewhere..." He muttered. He looked up at the clock on the wall and noticed it was getting late. He sighed and pushed in his office chair, and ran a hand through his hair. "Surely this can wait until tomorrow." Ford decided, and gave a motion of shrugging off his lab coat. He looked at his torso only to realize he had taken it off earlier. He put his hand on his forehead and sighed. I think I'm losing my focus. Sleep will do me some good.

He walked over to the spare room in the laboratory and opened the door cautiously in case Bill had already fallen asleep. He walked over to the right side of the bed, slowly crawling under the covers and placing them overtop his torso. He looked over at the lamp that Bill must have turned off before drifting off to sleep. Ford grabbed the glasses and took them off his face, placing them on the nightstand and folding the sides into an x shape, laying them down on the nightstand carefully. He laid on his left side, facing the nightstand as he drifted off to sleep.

Bill waited a few moments before opening one of his eyes, looking over at the other man. As far as Bill could tell, he had no trouble falling asleep. He sat up in the bed slightly and looked over at Ford, waving a hand in front of his face to make sure that he was asleep. Ford showed no signs of being awake, and Bill put a hand in the other man's hair, clutching his hair gently. "See you soon, Fordsy." He mused in a tone of voice that was near to a whisper.

The demon looked at the clock on the wall as the hands on it began spinning in a clockwise rotation rapidly, watching as nearly two full days passed by. He looked down at Ford and noticed his figure slowly fading away to the point where Bill was holding his fist in the air rather than the other man's hair.


Ford's eyes shot open, and he looked around the room to see Bill beside him, slowly sitting up as he rubbed his eyes. He looked beside him and his eyes widened. "You.. you're awake!" He exclaimed in glee. He crawled over to Ford who was sitting up in the bed, and Bill sat atop his thighs, grabbing the other's head and examining it in alarm.

"Yes, I'm awake." Ford stated in a rather dull manner. "What's with the look of alarm?" He asked.

Bill took his hands away from Ford's face and raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

Ford rolled his eyes and chuckled. "I'm perfectly fine, Bill. Thank you for being so... concerned." He said, saying the last word rather slowly.

Bill nodded and wrapped his arms around the other's neck. "I missed you." He muttered in the other's ear.

Stanford raised an eyebrow. "You're acting rather strange. Is everything okay?" He asked.

"Is now!" Bill exclaimed with a grin.

Ford nodded slowly. "I'm going to go talk to the kids and Stan for a bit. Care to join me?" He asked with a smile.

Bill bit his lip and sighed. "Um.." He muttered in a rather low pitch that gave Ford a reason to be concerned. "The kids..," He began. "They're... gone."

"Gone?" Ford asked in confusion. "Where did they go?"

Bill squinted his eyes for a moment in true guilt, looking at the other man. "They went back to California. Their parents wanted them back for Thanksgiving, and they said that their parents wouldn't let them come back for Christmas."

"W-what?" Ford asked. "How could that be? Stanley said they were sleeping in just the other day..." He stated, folding his arms.

Bill shook his head. "They've been gone for nearly a month, Stanford."

Ford shook his head. "Bill, that's not possible." He stated, getting out of bed quickly. Bill stumbled back a bit at the fast motion of the other man. "They're here. Stanley would have told me otherwise. Have you been drinking?"

"Drinking?" Bill asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do ya' mean like, alcohol?"

Ford nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean. As far as I know, you've seemed perfectly fine. Come now, let's get to work on the device."

"Device?" The demon asked once more, getting off the bed and standing on the floor.

Stanford rolled his eyes. "The emotion-reader?" He reminded.

Bill snapped his fingers. "Oh, that!" He exclaimed, remembering. "Sure thing, sixer!" He exclaimed with a smile. Crap... What's wrong with Ford? How am I supposed to get him up to speed? Should I just come right out about it and tell him that he had been asleep for nearly a month? Holy crap.., how did he survive for an entire month? Maybe I am confused...

There's chapter 26! Next chapter will be up on Christmas! Stay tuned (: