As a warning, there are mentions of blood. Also, there's a lot of description of the events occurring at the first half, and not a ton of dialog. However it's rather important for the situations that you are yet to read.

(There's also a bit of language.)

Well, here's chapter 40 of 'Welcome Home'!

"Shooting Star!" Bill exclaimed in fear. What was he to do now?

Laying on the kitchen floor was Mabel. She was laying down on her stomach with her eyes closed, part of her brown hair was covering her face. Mabel's headband had fallen to the floor. Bill noticed triangular corn chips spread around her, along with a bowl tilted sideways on the floor next to the teenager. Bill wondered if the girl had simply fallen and passed out, or if her condition was much more serious. Regardless, he rushed up to the Mabel, getting down on one knee. "S-Shooting Star?" He asked, shaking the girl slightly. He received no reply from Mabel, which gave him more reason to worry.

The Pines are gonna kill me! Bill thought to himself, biting his lip. He looked down at the unconscious girl. "Mabel, wake up! Kid!" He exclaimed, shaking the girl once more. Bill was given no response. "Crap..." He muttered. Bill looked around him, and considered calling one of the Pines. He quickly realized that doing so would be of no good use, as most of them were out on an adventure, and Stan was at the park. He knew that the conman didn't have a cell phone due to it's advanced technology. Bill knew that there was no one to call for help.

After a moment of thinking, Bill knew...

There was only one thing left that he could do.


"Wow...that's amazing!" Dipper said, looking at the insect that Ford held in his hands. Ford, Dipper and Fidds were still out on their adventure, and they were completely unaware of the current event going down at the Mystery Shack. They stood by the trail they were traveling, huddled up beside a tree.

"I can agree with ye' there." McGucket said, sketching the insect on his notepad for later. Dipper opted to get his journal and write about the insect, though he figured that the creature wouldn't stay for too long.

"Isn't it?" Ford asked with a smile, looking at the insect he kept in his hands. "They're called bubble bees." He informed.

"Bubble bees?" Dipper asked, raising an eyebrow. "But, won't it sting you if it's a type of bee?" He asked.

Ford shook his head at the question and chuckled. "No, my boy," Ford assured. "These types of bees don't have stingers. Instead..." He trailed on, hesitantly drawing his hands away from the insect. The bee flew around in a circle around the three. Dipper was left in awe as the bee let out tiny bubbles while in flying motion.

"Oh man, I've gotta write all this down!" Dipper said eagerly, slinging his backpack off from his shoulder and grabbing his pink journal. He grabbed a pen and jotted down a few quick notes about the bubble bee. Fiddleford did the same in his notes.

Ford smiled. It was nice to see Dipper jotting down notes in his own journal. Ford looked at McGucket as the other man tugged on his jacket sleeve.

"Hey, Stanford?" Fiddleford began.

"Yes?" Ford responded, raising a eyebrow.

"Ehh... I-I was just hopin' we could talk." Fiddleford muttered, putting his hands in his pockets.

"About what?" Ford questioned.

Fiddleford looked over at Dipper as the boy proceeded to admire the bubble bee, writing down more in his journal. Fiddleford cocked his head to the side, giving a motion as to say they should go elsewhere to discuss. Ford took one more glance at his nephew to make sure he was involved in research, as well as staying safe. Moments later, Ford followed McGucket a short distance away. Far enough where Dipper couldn't easily hear their conversation, yet close enough where they could return to Dipper were something to go wrong.

"What is it?" Ford asked, putting his hands behind his back.

"Well..." Fiddleford began hesitantly. "Ye' don't haveta' answer if ye' don't want to, but..." He continued. Ford nodded, letting Fiddleford know that he had his attention. Fiddleford sighed. "I-Is everythin' okay with you and Bill?" He asked.

Ford wasn't expecting that question. Though the matter of Fiddleford pulling him away to talk a was bit concerning, he hadn't expected the conversation to take this route. He adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. "We get by." Ford assured.

"Do ye'?" Fiddleford continued. He was extra skeptical when Ford nodded. "I don' know, I-It might just be my old eyes, but Bill's been lookin' pretty gloomy as a' recently." He said in more of a mutter.

Fiddleford had noticed the change in behavior between Ford and Bill, though he had begun to sense that Ford had a minor change of attitude regularly as well. Fiddleford still wasn't too fond of Bill, and it would take him a while to truly open up to the demon, however McGucket could mentally admit to himself without hesitation that there was a bit of unfairness being directed towards Bill. Did McGucket dare address that opinion to Ford? No way. Surely doing so would do nothing but make matters worse.

"I won't lie," Ford began, "I've noticed the same." He said.

Fiddleford's eyes widened. "Really?" He asked. "So ye've come ta' realize that this is all gettin' unfair to 'im and the two of ye' are gonna go have a good talk about it?" He asked in a hopeful manner.

"What?" Ford questioned bluntly. He scoffed and shook his head. "No, no. That's not what I meant at all." He said with a short chuckle. Fiddleford frowned at the answer. "I've noticed that Bill's been a bit more downcast recently, but it's what he deserves." He stated bluntly.

Fiddleford took in a short breath before speaking. "...What is it that he deserves, Stanford?"

Ford raised an eyebrow. "Come again?" He asked.

McGucket folded his arms and looked up at the other man. "What exactly do you think Bill deserves?" He questioned.

Ford was stunned by the question. He opened his mouth slightly as words seemed to fail him. Ford sighed in relief when Dipper called out to him. Ford turned to look at his nephew, telling the boy that he would be there in a moment. He turned to look at Fiddleford and took a step away. "We can discuss this later." Ford said. McGucket watched the scientist head off. Fiddleford folded his arms and sighed, shaking his head. He knew that this was none of his business, however he couldn't help but wonder why Ford was suddenly acting this way.

Ford walked up to Dipper. "Yes?" He asked, putting his hands behind his back.

Dipper grinned at his uncle. "I just saw another bubble bee!" He exclaimed, his voice cracking slightly. "Except this one was blue instead of yellow!"

"Really?" Ford asked. "That's rather unusual, I've never seen a blue bubble bee before." He said.

Dipper grinned stupidly. He felt glad that he had discovered something that his uncle had never seen before. He felt somewhat accomplished by doing so, and hoped that he could continue to impress the author.

"Oh man, wait till' Mabel hears about this!" Dipper said aloud as Fiddleford walked back over to the other two.

"I'm sure Mabel would be thrilled," Ford said. He began to wonder if not inviting Mabel was a mistake. He looked down at his nephew. "Dipper, did you happen to bring a camera along with?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course!" Dipper said, slinging his backpack off his shoulders and grabbing the camera inside. He turned the camera on and pointed it over at the yellow bubble bee as it continued to buzz around. He took a photo of the yellow one and walked over by a bush where he had discovered the blue bee. Ford and McGucket trailed behind him, curious to see the rare insect. Dipper saw the blue bubble bee and snapped a photo of it on the bush, as well as when the bee flapped its wings as it flew, leaving behind a similar trail of bubbles as the other bee had. Dipper smiled and showed the photos for the others.

Fiddleford smiled. "Now that's somethin' ye' don't see ev'ryday." He said, the others nodding in agreement.

"Perhaps we should have brought Mabel along after all." Ford muttered to himself.

"Yeah," Dipper said. "Hopefully Bill hasn't killed her yet." He said with an eye roll.

Ford's eyes widened at the words that came out of his nephew's mouth. He put his hands on his hips, looking down at the boy, his face firm. "Dipper Pines, do not say such things." He scolded. Ford would have used Dipper's real name in this situation had Fiddleford not been nearby.

"B-But it's Bill!" Dipper argued.

Ford put a hand out. "Don't think about arguing with me." He said, putting his hands back on his hips once more. "Besides, Stanley is at the house with Bill and Mabel. As long as Stanley's there, no harm will come to Mabel." He assured. "Your sister is perfectly safe with Stan looking after her."

Dipper didn't bother doubting his uncle's statement. He too knew that Stan would do anything to protect Mabel. At least she was perfectly safe at the shack...


The Mystery Shack door burst wide open when Bill turned the doorknob it with his elbow, kicking the door open. Bill held an unconscious Mabel in his arms. Not bothering to shut the back door, he ran straight towards the car. Bill wondered why Stan hadn't taken the car to the park. He didn't think to ponder on it much, as he had a much more important job to do now.

Bill walked to the back door of the car, opening it and placing Mabel down on one of the seats, not bothering to buckle her seatbelt. instead, the teenager lay unconscious across the three seats at the back of the car. Bill shut the back door and rushed over to the drivers seat of the vehicle. He slung the door open, quickly sitting inside the car. Bill's hands were shaking madly. He had never been in the driver's seat of a vehicle, let alone made an attempt to drive one.

Calm down, Cipher. Bill told himself. It's the only way.

Bill shut the car door and buckled his seat belt. He turned to look at the passengers seat, leaning over and opening the glove compartment. He looked around in the storage bit of the car and dug around for the spare set of keys Ford kept in the car. Bill had an extra jolt of both relief and fear when he saw the keys. He grabbed them swiftly, quickly shutting the glove compartment.

He sat up straight in his seat, slowly guiding the key towards the hole by the steering wheel. He grunted as his hands shook too much for him to properly insert the key. Bill took his other hand and placed it atop his wrist to steady his shaking hands slightly. The motion worked just enough for him to place the key in its proper lock. The demon remembered how Ford would always twist the key clockwise. Bill did as Ford had done many times before. A shiver went up his spine when the car started up.

Alright, alright... Bill thought to himself. "Driving. I'm gonna drive. I-I can do this." He told himself aloud. Though he didn't have much confidence, he figured he could get just enough of a handle on driving in order to take Mabel to the destination he was going to travel to. He had seen Ford and Karen drive in the past, surely after his occasional watching of the activity he could survive driving one himself. Bill noticed he was stalling and looked down at his feet, hoping to draw his eyes away from all the frustrating buttons on the car.

He slowly lowered his leg down to one of the pedals of the car. "I'm gonna drive... I'm gonna drive..." He muttered to himself. Bill's shoe hardly touched the pedal, and he assumed that it had been jammed. Confused, Bill slammed his foot down on the pedal. He shouted in remorse as the car began headed straight forward towards the shack. With his eyes widened, he yelled, "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!"

Not knowing what to do, he simply took his foot off the gas pedal. He cringed and shut his eyes in fear of dying. After a moment of feeling nothing, he hesitantly opened an eye. Relieved to see that the car had stopped driving forward once more, he let out a sigh of relief. He looked down at the other pedals and let his foot fall on another, applying little pressure. The car slowly began moving backwards. He turned his head around, looking out the back seat's window.

Bill sighed. "Don't you worry, Shooting Star," He began, as if the girl could hear him. "I'm gonna get the hang of this."

After a few minutes of constant struggling, Bill finally got the hang of what each pedal did. Turning and maneuvering the wheel was still a bit of a challenge. Bill decided not to worry too much about it. As long as he was making progress to the specific building he was hoping to make it to, that's all that mattered. All of this came as a surprise to Bill. The workings of the car and functions of the wheel, yes, however there was a thought that kept coming to mind.

Just last summer Bill could say that he couldn't care less about the twins. Now, it was a different story. (However Bill and Dipper still hated each other, so it was unlikely that Bill would do the same for Dipper than what he was doing for Mabel.) Now, Bill was risking his own probably mortal life to help save Mabel's. He cringed at the thought of going soft, but Bill knew that he simply couldn't sit around and do nothing to help the girl. That wasn't an option. And after everything Mabel had done for Bill, after all the kindness she had shown him, he owed it to the young teenager. And probably much more.

Bill looked around cautiously at the road at the end of the Mystery Shack's pathway. Seeing that there was little traffic, he cut a sharp corner to his right, twisting the wheel and slamming his foot on the gas pedal. He laughed in accomplishment as he drove forward, actually managing to stay on the road. After a moment, Bill saw multiple cars in front of him heading his way. However the cars weren't driving on the opposite side of the road. Instead, they were driving on his side of the road.

"Hah... Morons." Bill said with a scoff. "Clearly they don't know how to drive. They're driving the wrong way!" He said to himself, shaking his head and laughing. The car in front of him honked its horn repeatedly, in hopes of getting Bill's attention. Bill looked ahead and saw multiple cars behind the one heading towards him going the same way.

Am I going the wrong way? Bill wondered to himself. He looked at the lane beside him and saw a car passing by. He figured that he was in the wrong lane, and made a swift turn to the other side right before the other cars could crash into him.

Bill sighed in relief. "I can do this." He told himself.

The road ahead was (thankfully) a long, straight road. This gave Bill a bit more confidence with what he was doing. It was the turning bits he had to worry about. Bill wondered why the cars were all moving so slowly.

These people must really like driving to be going so slow. Bill thought. He caught up to one of the cars in front of him and wondered why they were moving so slow. Bill just scoffed. It's not like there's any law stopping them from speeding up a bit! I've got places to be!

Bill could see a variety of people looking through their windows, sneering at Bill. The demon glared and looked down at the car door beside him. He couldn't figure out how to roll down the window, so instead he took one hand and punched his arm through the glass, shattering the majority of the drivers seat window. He held his hand out and gave the other drivers a certain gesture whilst using his other hand to drive.

He could feel blood dribbling down his arm, glass shards digging into his fingers. This didn't come as much of a problem to Bill, as he found the pain rather relieving to the alarming situation he was putting himself in. Bill took a quick peek in the rearview mirror of the car to see Mabel still laying unconscious across the back seats of the vehicle. He couldn't tell if the girl was breathing or not- the car was moving too fast to be able to tell. He hoped that it wasn't just the shaking of the car that made it appear that Mabel was breathing.

Don't die on me, kid. Bill pleaded. He drew his eyes back to the road. Bill's eyes widened at the sight in front of him. He shouted in alarm, taking his other hand from out of the car's busted window to keep both his hands on the car wheel. In front of him was the car he had been catching up to in the first place. Since Bill had been driving so fast, he was not but a few feet away from crashing into the other vehicle.

Bill drew in a sharp breath and slammed his foot on the brakes of the car. The impact of the move caused Bill to get his head slammed onto the steering wheel. Even though he slammed on the brakes, the front of the car got hit by the other car. He heard the crash and groaned at the stinging pain in his head.

Bill looked at himself in the rearview mirror to see a red spot on his face. He was sure that the spot on his face would soon bruise. He looked at his nose to see a drop of blood sliding down his face. His nose felt sore, however he didn't think it was broken. Bill wiped the blood from his face with his previously injured hand, instantly regretting the action as the small glass shards in his wrist made a small cut above his lips.

Bill had not strapped Mabel into a seat belt, so the impact of the brakes coming to a stop caused her to roll forward off the seats, falling onto the car's flooring. Bill hadn't noticed the girl falling onto the floor. He heard horns behind him telling him to go forward. He didn't bother looking back, instead he just began to drive once more, ignoring the pain rushing through his head.

Mabel, who was disturbed by the quick motion, stirred slightly. She squinted her eyes open slightly, looking around her. She sat up, leaning on one arm and looking around in confusion. Mabel was quick to understand that she was in the car- but why? She peeked over to see Bill driving and fighting against a mix of traffic. Bill twisted the wheel side to side, maniacally trying to beat all traffic in front of him by dodging the cars in his way.

What's he doing..? Mabel asked herself. Where are we going?

Mabel looked at Bill in confusion. She opened her mouth to speak her confusion of the situation, until she heard Bill swear horrid profanity at one of the drivers. Mabel gasped at the terrible language and covered her ears. One driver rolled down his window and looked at Bill, shouting, "Watch it, bozo!"

"Oh, suck a lemon!" Bill shouted back at the stranger with an eye roll, quickly looking back at the road. Mabel closed her mouth, deciding not to disturb Bill. He seemed to be in a rough enough situation. She just wondered where they were going. Mabel looked at the back seat windows above her and saw rain trickling down from the sky and onto the glass of the car. Bill seemed to notice the rain as well. He didn't seem to have a good response to it.

A-At least it's not too bad. Bill thought in his head. He cursed himself for thinking such things when the rain began pouring down the windows, some of the water getting into the car through the broken window. Bill hissed at the feeling of some of the rain getting in the wounds on his hands as it entered through the window.

The rain began to block the view of the window in front of him. "Seriously?" Bill exclaimed with a growl. He looked down at the variety of confusing buttons on the car. Bill avoided the radio buttons, as he had learned in the past not to mess with those. Eventually he found the windshield wipers (To his relief) and the road became a bit more clear.

"How come the road's so slippery?" Bill wondered aloud. Sixer's never had this kind of trouble with rain, what gives? Then again, Bill had only the faintest pointers of how to drive. And based on the progress he had made, if he ignored all the people honking their horns and shouting at him, Bill assumed he was doing quite well for his first try behind the wheel.

Bill nearly hit another vehicle as he went side to side in lanes. He cringed at the mistake. Mabel, who was still on the floor of the car as to not roll around, shut her eyes in fear, her bottom lip quivering. Where is Bill taking me? She wondered. What's so important?

Bill turned a corner, looking around frantically as a variety of signs and billboards began to show up around the town. He tried keeping a firm facial expression, however this served as a challenge due to the situation. He drove past a red light, as well as multiple stop signs as he continued to make his way towards his destination.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland sat in their police car on one street, a stand of Connect 4 balancing atop the cup holders between the two seats at the front of the vehicle. Durland took a red piece and placed his last move, celebrating his win and ringing his bell repeatedly. Blubs chuckled and praised his partners skill at the game.

Bill sped by their car, passing a stop sign without stopping. The sensor on their car alerted the officers that the speeder was going a speed of 72 miles. Blubs and Durland looked up from their game in confusion, watching as the car sped by.

Durland raised an eyebrow. "...Do ye' think we should stop that driver?" He asked, turning to Blubs.

Sheriff Blubs shrugged. "One more game?" He asked.

Durland grinned. "Aww, ye' know me too well!" He said with a giggle. With that, the officers cleared the board to play another round before apprehending the speeder.

Bill turned a sharp corner, causing Mabel to hit her head against the back seat's door. She nearly exclaimed in fear of the quick turn, however she covered her mouth with her hands before she could alarm Bill.

Does he know I'm awake? Mabel asked herself. She was still confused as to where the demon was taking her.

Bill slowed the car when he saw multiple roads in front of him. A feeling of worry hit him. He looked around in fear, sitting up straight as he looked in every direction. "Dang it!" He exclaimed in annoyance, his voice a bit shaky. "Where's the hospital, where's the hospital?" He kept asking aloud. He looked beside him to see a sign pointing towards the direction of said hospital. Bill sighed in relief and tried turning the car to the correct road. Turning the car with less speed served as a challenge to him, however he was thankful that it wasn't too difficult.

Ohh! Mabel thought. Bill's going to the hospital! But... why?

It took Mabel a moment to think about the situation, however after a bit she was quick to remember the event that had occurred in the kitchen earlier in the day. She thought back on the previous event that she had foolishly gotten herself into.

Mabel had just come downstairs after teaching Bill to knit with yarn and needles in her room. She skipped over to the kitchen with a smile on her face. The teenager walked into the kitchen, looking to her left to see a large bowl on the counter. She headed towards the bowl, happy to see that it was clean. She grabbed the bowl and went to the other side of the kitchen, setting the bowl atop the counter by the fridge. She grabbed the bag of tortilla chips and opened it up, pouring half the bag into the bowl. She folded the partially emptied bag and placed a chip clip on the bag to keep it closed.

Mabel took a chip out of the bowl and popped it in her mouth, humming at the taste. "Just one more thing!" She thought to herself with a smile. "It needs brown sugar!" She said aloud.

Grinning a wide grin that showed off her braces, Mabel skipped over to the other side of the room once more. However, before she could get halfway there, she accidently tripped over her own ankle. Mabel gasped at her own foolishness and watched as the chip bowl fell out of her hands, the plastic container crashing to the floor. Mabel didn't have enough time to put her hands out in front of her to break her fall at this rate. Instead, Mabel was sent crashing head-first onto the kitchen floor, bits of hair covering her face as she was knocked into unconsciousness.

Mabel sighed at her foolishness. I can't believe I passed out like that! She thought to herself, folding her arms as if to scold herself for her stupidity.

Wait! Mabel began with a gasp. Of course! That's why Bill's taking me to the hospital! Because he's concerned! Oh my gosh, wait until Grunkle Ford sees this! Bill will look like a hero! If he looks like a hero for saving me when no one else could, Ford will forgive Bill for sure!

Mabel gasped at her sudden plan. Quietly, she climbed back onto the back seats of the car similar to how she assumed she had been set down originally by Bill. She closed her eyes and pretended to still be knocked unconscious. Though she had her eyes closed, she squinted them ever so slightly that she could see just a bit of what was going on.

Bill turned a corner once more. His eyes widened at the sight of the hospital. He ran over the bush by the entrance of the hospital, not caring to look back at the damage inflicted on the plant. One part of the bush left a small scratch on the windshield of the car, but Bill didn't care. He had more important things to take care of. Quickly, he parked at one side of the parking lot, taking up a total of three parking spaces as he ended up parking horizontally across the three other vertical parking slots.

Bill unbuckled his seat belt and forced the car keys out of the vehicle, leaning over across the front of the car and opening the glove compartment of the vehicle, shoving the keys inside and closing the container. He rushed out of the car, slamming his car door and heading over to the back seat. He opened the back door and stepped one foot inside the car while grabbing forward for the teenager laying in back. Gently, he grabbed hold of Mabel, trying to pick her up into his arms.

Is she still breathing? Bill asked himself. He grabbed the girls wrist and couldn't seem to find a pulse. He checked her wrist, her palm, even her heart, but he couldn't seem to find a sign that Mabel was still alive.

"Oh, no..." Bill thought, his heart dropping. The feeling made him mentally cringe. He ran towards the hospital entrance.

What could he do now? If Mabel wasn't breathing, how could the hospital possibly do anything to help her? At this point, Bill just wished that he still had the magic amulet. Had it not been crushed to save Melody, he would have been able to help Mabel.

Bill felt extra weights being put on his shoulders with every running step he took as he bolted towards the door. He could already sense the feeling of Stan using violence against him for 'killing' Mabel. He could already hear the heartbreaking shouting and cold shoulders given by Ford. He could already feel Dipper sitting beside his dead sister, able to do nothing to help her. While it didn't seem too terrible to see Dipper in pain, Bill still knew that the family would be greatly affected by the loss.

As Bill ran over towards the hospital doors, the thought of how Ford would react to the situation passed by his mind. Ford already hated him, and this certainly wouldn't help with convincing him otherwise. Bill was the only one at the Mystery Shack besides Mabel at the time he had discovered her state, so of course everyone would blame him for Mabel's death.

Bill glared at the glass doors as he felt himself running closer and closer. He hoped there was still a chance. The simple thought of Ford's disgust sent a shiver down Bill's spine. How much it would hurt the demon were the one man he could trust- the one man he could ever trust- wouldn't be able to do so much as look him in the eye. Bill's breathing got heavy as he tried to push away the thought.

Bill squinted his eyes shut as he kicked the hospital doors wide open with his foot. A total of five hospital workers turned to look at the blonde man. Two of the hospital workers recognized the strange man from a few days ago, whereas the other three were just seeing the man for the first time. One woman wondered how such a handsome man could look so beat up.

Bill looked frantically around the lobby. Each worker seemed to be busy at work. What was he to do? What was he to say? There was a line at the front desk, and waiting around for a doctor wasn't an option.

"M-Medic!" Bill blurted out with wide eyes. "I-I need a medic, a doctor, anyone!" He exclaimed.

A nurse with dark brown, curly hair and caramel skin turned around. Bill looked at the woman and was quick to recognize her from the other day. This was the woman whom he had gotten CPR from just a couple days ago.

The nurse walked over to Bill with her hands on her hips. "Sir, I'm sure you're well aware that this is a hospital. You can wait in line like everyone else." She stated in a bitter manner. Bill assumed that the nurse recognized him as well, which led to her being extra distasteful towards him.

"N-No, you don't understand!" Bill began frantically, "She's not breathing!" He stated, mentioning his head towards Mabel whom he still held.

The nurse looked at the girl with narrowed eyes. She grabbed Mabel's wrist. Mabel's nose twitched slightly at the unfamiliar contact, however she wished not to give up her unconscious act. Thankfully neither Bill nor the nurse noticed.

"Hmm..." The nurse began, trying to feel for a pulse. "I suppose you're correct." She muttered.

Bill nodded and looked at the nametag on the woman's shirt. It read 'Melanie'. Bill looked up at the nurse and smirked. "So Melanie, now that you've got your proof, a hospital room would work just fine, don't ya' think?" He questioned, his smirk still apparent.

Melanie narrowed her eyes at the rude behavior coming from the man. "You'd better watch your mouth, or I'll kick you a second time." She stated, putting her hands on her hips.

Bill cringed. He wished not to experience such pain again. He just nodded. "Yes ma'am." He muttered.

"Good," The nurse said with a mocking smile. "Because based on your arm, bruises, and black eye, I don't think you would want any more... Injuries." She said.

"Black eye?" Bill asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't remember getting that." He muttered to himself as the nurse and Bill began heading down the hallway.

"You'll be getting checked up as well." Melanie stated.

Bill scoffed. "Seriously?" He complained. "It's just a few little cuts, lady!" He whined. "Besides, I care more about the kid getting help than me." He added.

Melanie directed Bill to a hospital room with two separate hospital beds. Bill groaned at the thought of having to participate in an unnecessary checkup. However he was glad that Mabel would get medically attended to at the very least. The nurse took Mabel off Bill's hands (Literally) And laid the girl down on a hospital bed. A couple doctors were called in to assist the dying patient at once, though one with less experience opted to help Bill with his more minor injuries.


"Oh man, Mabel's not gonna believe this!" Dipper said with a grin as Ford, Dipper, and McGucket all walked back to the shack.

"I agree, I'm sure your sister would be thrilled with your discovery." Ford said with a nod of his head. "Perhaps you could invite her to join us on our adventure tomorrow." He said.

"Tomorrow?" Dipper asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yes. If you'd like." Ford said with a simple shrug. "You'll only be in gravity Falls for six more days. Why not make the most of it?" He said with a small smile.

"That'd be great!" Dipper said, putting his hands in his vest pockets. "What about you, McGucket?" He asked, turning to the old man.

Fiddleford shrugged. "Well, I don' have nothin' better goin' on." He answered. "But it'll be nice ta' relax after a long day."

"Agreed." Dipper and Ford said in unison. They were relieved to see the shack up ahead. As they walked closer to the shack, Ford noticed that the car was missing. This gave him a jolt of worry. He looked around and saw no car in sight. He hummed in suspicion.

"Out of curiosity," Ford began. Dipper and McGucket looked at the man as they walked closer to the shack. "Did any of you happen to see Stan move the car?"

"No," Dipper answered. "It was there when we left." He said.

Ford hummed. He looked at the back door to see it wide open. He stopped in his tracks with wide eyes. McGucket and Dipper stopped in confusion to look at the scientist. Ford gasped. "Don't tell me!" He growled, bolting towards the door.

"Stanford, what're ye'-?" Fiddleford began to question until he too noticed the opened door. Fiddleford bit his lip. Oh, this ain't good.

Dipper's eyes widened. "Oh no!" He blurted out. Fiddleford and Dipper ran after Ford. The scientist looked around, walking over towards the stairs and rushing up then in hopes of finding one of the three who had stayed at the shack.

"Mabel? Bill?" Ford called out, a look of worry on his face. "Stanley?" He called out with a hint of anger.

"Oh golly, where's Stan?" Fiddleford asked, hands on his head as he stood in the living room. "He ain't in 'is natural habitat!" He said, rushing back over towards Dipper. The teenager looked around and headed towards the kitchen.

Dipper looked down at the kitchen floor. Fiddleford looked over him at the mess of chips. The two heard the footsteps of Ford rushing back down the stairs. Fiddleford looked at Ford in confusion.

"Did ye' find em'?" Fiddleford asked.

"No," Ford answered, a look of worry in his eyes. "I-I'm going to go check the laboratory." He announced.

"Wait!" Dipper exclaimed. Ford and Fiddleford turned to look at the boy. Dipper stepped into the kitchen and got down on one knee. He grabbed Mabel's headband from off the floor. "M-Mabel's headband was left here. She never goes anywhere without a headband!" He observed, holding up the headband.

Ford took the headband and narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to give Stanley quite the lecture when he returns." He grumbled. He feared that he would snap the headband if he held it any longer, and instead handed it back to Dipper. Only the worst of scenarios were present in his thoughts.

Meanwhile, Stan had returned from the park. He had gotten a video recording of Gideon for a solid sixteen minutes before Bud showed up to assist his son in getting down. Stan rushed home in hopes of watching the film he had gotten. He even planned to get the video on CD for people to buy in the gift shop.

This is gonna be great! Stan thought to himself. He had a wide grin plastered along his face as he walked back to the shack. He was confused as to why the back door had been left open. He looked beside him to see the car missing.

Huh. Stan thought. Ford musta' used it and gone into town.

Dipper clutched his hat in fear. "Oh man, oh man!" He exclaimed, putting a hand on his chest in an attempt to keep his cool around the author. He didn't want to let off an obvious look of paranoia, however this served as a challenge as he wondered what could have possibly happened to his sister.

"Where'd they go?" Fiddleford asked in confusion.

"I... Have no idea." Ford answered in defeat. He grunted in anger, clenching his fists. "I gave Stanley one job..." He muttered.

"I wonder..." Dipper began, folding his arms and placing a finger stop his chin. He gasped at a sudden realization. "Of course!" He exclaimed.

Ford raised an eyebrow, looking at his nephew. "What is it, Dipper?" He questioned.

"These corn chips..." Dipper began in a muttered tone. "...They're triangular..." He continued.

Fiddleford looked at the tortilla chips that had fallen out of the sideways bowl on the floor. "That there chip is a triangle folded up and cooked like a circle!" He said, pointing at a corn chip on the ground. McGucket noticed unamused states and looked back at the two awkwardly. "Not the time?" He asked.

"I think..." Dipper continued, ignoring McGucket's previous statement. "I think Bill took Mabel!" He said.

Fiddleford adjusted his tie . "Now that don't make sense a' any kind." He said. "Why would he do that?" He asked.

"Maybe because Bill got jealous when we left, and kidnapped Mabel to show his anger, o-or to take her as hostage or something!" Dipper exclaimed.

Ford hummed. "As accurate as that may seem, we can't jump to conclusions. It's still a possibility that Stan took them somewhere in town." He said.

Unfortunately for Ford's hypothesis, the three all turned to the door in unison as Stan walked through it into the house, humming joyfully. He walked over towards the stairs and looked up, yelling, "Hey Mabel! Come get a load of what I got on camera! Heck, bring Bill down here, too. He can't miss this!" He exclaimed with a laugh, grabbing the camera from under his arm and snickering.

Dipper folded his arms. "They're not here." He stated. Dipper must have startled his uncle, hence the reason Stan shifted at the voice.

Stan turned around in confusion. "What do ya' mean?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Fiddleford frowned. Stan noticed the old man's facial expression, then turned to look at his brother. Ford had a cold glare on his face. Stan noticed Ford's clenched fists and knew that something was wrong.

"What's-uh... What's that look for?" Stan asked as his brother approached him. Stan took a small step back, only for Ford to grab his red Mr. Mystery tie. Stan exclaimed in annoyance at the behavior, and met his brothers cold, brown eyes.

Stan tried to pull away, only for Ford to tighten his grip. Stan grunted. "Hey, what's the deal, Sixer?" He asked.

"I gave you...one job." Ford began, staring into his brothers identical brown eyes. Stan could see the rage building up in Ford's facial features. "One job, Stanley!" He shouted with a glare.

It wasn't until now that Stan knew what Ford was talking about. He looked at Ford in a somewhat-innocent manner. "C-Come on, Pointdexter! I was only gone for a couple hours!" Stan defended.

"Hours?" Ford roared with a glare. "Do you have any idea how much danger Mabel could be in right now?" He asked.

Stan opened his mouth slowly before speaking. "Ford..." He muttered. "What're you talking about?" He asked.

Ford's facial features softened slightly. He frowned and hesitantly let go of his brother's tie. Stan grumbled under his breath and fixed his tie back to its original state before looking at Ford with his arms folded.

"Bill and Mabel are gone." Ford informed in a low tone. "We have to find where Bill took her." He continued. "Luckily, you took the car to wherever you had gone, so they couldn't have gone far." He said with a sigh.

Stan shifted at this. He cleared his throat and looked at the floor. Ford looked at him in minor confusion. Stan gave a faint chuckle. "Uh... Actually..." He muttered, holding a finger up in the air.

It didn't take long for Ford to understand where his brothers sentence was going. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to hold back the urge to punch his brother due to the circumstances. Ford wasn't sure to do currently. Knowing Bill, he could have taken Mabel anywhere.

"Stan..." Ford began, putting his hands behind his back. "Why on earth would you leave Mabel with Bill?" He asked.

"Look, I had a good reason!" Stan defended.

Ford gave his brother an unamused look. "And what reason is that?" He asked, tilting his head.

"Uh, blackmailing!" Stan said, holding up the film camera. "Come on Sixer, Lil' Gideon was stuck in-between the monkey bars at the park!" He stated.

"That's why you left?" Ford asked, looking Stan deadpan in the eyes.

"Yes!" Stan said, folding his arms. "Look, Bill didn't seem to have any bad intentions when I left, and all they were doin' was makin' sweaters!" He tried to defend. However Stan already knew that his excuses would be of no use. His own reasoning was beginning to sound ridiculous to him.

Dipper stepped forward beside Ford. "Are you kidding, Grunkle Stan?" He asked, folding his arns. "Who knows what Bill could be doing right now! Ford kept you in charge and you left!" He exclaimed with clenched fists.

Dipper wished not to think of what could be happening to his sister as they spoke, if she was even alive. He hoped that Bill would spare his sister's life. He didn't think he could make it through the rest of his childhood without his sister. And if she was dead... Oh, perish the thought. There was nothing Dipper could do save going out to look for her and hoping she was alright.

Stan saw the frowns on the others faces. He scratched the back of his neck and drew his eyes to the floor, remorse filling his heart. He pushed away the thoughts of possibly facing the consequence of losing his niece forever due to his foolish trip. Bill had looked so upset recently, Stan wondered if that was part of the reason for the demon to do such things.

The phone in the kitchen suddenly rang, causing the four to shift in unison and turn around. Stan pushed past his brother and McGucket and rushed towards the phone. He swiftly picked up the phone and gave a rushed, "Hello?"

"Oh, hey there, Mr. Pines!" Soos greeted with a smile. "Aw dude, you won't believe what I found in Abuelita's basement today!" He beamed.

Stan gave an unamused look and grunted. "Not now, Soos." He grumbled, taking the phone and slamming it back down on its stand. Stan folded his arms and sighed , putting a hand down on the table.

Fiddleford hummed. "M-Maybe one of them'll call up the shack?" He said with a weak shrug.

"Don't think Bill knows the number." Stan said with a shake of his head. "Besides, if he captured Mabel, why would he call?" He asked with an eye roll.

All eyes turned to look at the phone beside Stan as it rung once more. Stan growled and looked up at the ceiling with a glare before looking at the phone. He put a hand on his hip and shouted, "Not now, Soos!"

"Mr. Pines?" A feminine voice on the other line called. Stan gasped when he heard an unfamiliar voice. He leaned on the table and gave a sly grin before speaking to the woman in the other line.

"Oh, sorry about that." Stan said with a chuckle. "Say- what brings an assumingly lovely lady like yourself comin' to talk to a man of mystery like me?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows even though the woman couldn't see the facial reaction. Ford looked at his brother's unattractive flirting techniques and face palmed, shaking his head.

The woman was silent for a moment. Stan was convinced the woman was left speechless by his flawlessly seductive behavior. This, however, was not the case. The woman took a moment to scoff in disgust before going back to speak to the old man.

"Sir, this is Melanie Jones calling from the Gravity Falls hospital." The nurse began.

Stan gasped and put a hand over the phone. "It's the hospital." Stan informed, looking at Ford before drawing his attention back to the phone.

"I'm calling to inform you that-" Melanie began before drawing her eyes over to a man beside her. She shot a glare at the man arising from his hospital bed. "Sir, lie back down. Sir, go back. Hey! Phone calls from patients without permission is strictly prohibited- Sir, SIR!"

Stan listened in on the statements in confusion, and heard a familiar voice say, "Move it, lady. I know what I'm doing." Stan groaned at the voice of the man on the phone. Stan could hear the woman walking away, her words difficult to hear as she said, "The disrespect!"

Stan cleared his throat as if to speak. However, before he could begin, the other spoke. "Hey, Stano." The man began.

"Where are you? Where's Mabel?" Stan asked, his face firm as he demanded answers from the demon.

"Relax, Fez." Bill began with an eye roll. "She's getting help at the hospital."

"Help?" Stan asked. He glared. "What'd you do to her, Bill? What happened?" He asked with a forceful tone.

Bill scoffed. "Way to assume," He began. "Don't worry, Shooting Star is... fine." He tried to assure.

Stan put his hand over the phone once more and looked at Ford. "It's Bill. He says Mabel's fine." He informed.

"Fine my ass." Ford mumbled under his breath with clenched fists.

Stan went back to the phone. "What happened to her?" He asked, a bit more calm now.

"Well," Bill began, "She-uh... Well... I-I don't know." He admitted. "Get to the hospital, quick. I'll fill you in when ya' get here. We're in Room 15." He said.

"Wait!" Stan shouted to no avail. The line on the other end buzzed in a low tone. Stan grunted and placed the phone on the stand.

McGucket sighed in relief. "Well, at least she's alive." He said with a chuckle.

Dipper looked at Fiddleford. "We can't know that for sure. What if he's lying? Bill could totally be lying."

Ford looked at Dipper and put a hand out to silence the boy. "Dipper. Please, just stop." He commanded. "I understand your concern for Mabel, but you don't need to let the hope die." He stated, putting his hands behind his back.

Dipper just sighed, adjusting his Pine Tree hat and putting his hands in his best pockets. He knew that his uncle was correct, though he couldn't help but wonder on every possible outcome. He would get his revenge on Bill for harming his sister. He swore on it.

"We need to go to the hospital." Stan informed. "Room 15."

"But how?" McGucket asked, raising an eyebrow. "The cars a'missin." He reminded.

Stan hummed. "I know." He began.


Meanwhile, once Bill had been given a lecture on the basic hospital guidelines, he sat in his hospital bed in clear unamusement. He looked over at Mabel, who was still unconscious. Her heartbeat would go from beating slow to hardly beating at all. It didn't make sense to Bill- Why was he being forced into hospitalization when Mabel was the one needing help? His injuries were minor. Mabel's life was at stake. If she died, Bill would lose the only person who cared about him, and all the Pines' would blame the girl's death on him.

The doctor beside Bill wrote on her clipboard. Bill looked beside him and saw a metal tray with miniature glass shards placed atop, a thin coat of blood coating each shard. Previously, the doctor had gotten tweezers to take the shards out of his arm. Bill had attempted to argue, claiming that he liked the pain, however he wished not to get another lecture on the dreaded hospital guidelines.

Oh man... Mabel thought to herself, her eyes closed. This is so crazy! I hope Bill won't be mad at me for faking my injury. As long as he knows that it's for the greater good, I should be fine! She was about to giggle, though she silenced herself before she could draw unwanted attention to herself.

The doctors beside Mabel were talking in a muttered tone.

"Sir, the girl's heartbeat is unstable. One moment her heart is beating normally, and the next it's stopping." One doctor claimed.

The other male doctor nodded. "Yes, it's quite peculiar." He muttered. "We may have to do a more shocking procedure." He stated, folding his arms.

The first doctor's eyes widened. "Are you proposing we perform the use of a defibrillator?" He asked.

"Yes," The other doctor said with a nod of his head. "It's our best bet. This girl's heartbeat has only been decreasing."

"B-But if she ends up healthy enough, those could kill her, Will!" The other exclaimed.

A feeling of worry ran through Mabel at this. She didn't want to really die! What are they going to do to me? And what's a defibrillator? She asked herself.

Bill listened in to the conversation. He watched as one doctor argued with the other on methods to help Mabel. Bill looked away from the people across from him when he felt a soft hand atop his shoulder. Bill turned to look at the person to see the woman who, to his distaste, had assisted him with his injuries.

"You've still got some glass stuck in your arm, so I'm going to have to remove the rest of it before I can let you go." The nurse informed.

Bill groaned at the information. "Seriously?" He complained, folding his arms. He hissed in delight at the stinging caused by the motion. Bill turned to look over at Mabel's hospital bed once more. The girl was clearly still unconscious, and the doctor's conversation that he had overheard bits of was giving him reason to worry. Bill turned to look back at the doctor. "Hey, do you know what they're planning to do to that girl over there?" He asked, pointing over at Mabel.

The doctor hummed and shook her head. "...No, unfortunately I do not." She said. "I would suggest asking the more experienced doctors." She suggested, motioning over to the arguing doctors beside Mabel.

Bill took one look at the doctors in the distance and cringed at the sight of the argument. He cleared his throat before saying, "They seem busy." He didn't wish to get involved with whatever was going down between the doctors. He only hoped that the Pines would get to the hospital quick enough before the doctors began any medical procedures. Fortunately, the hospital was only about 5 minutes away from the shack. Unfortunately, Bill had taken the car. All Bill could do now was wait.

Ten minutes had passed, and the Pines were yet to arrive at the hospital. Bill grew worried that the others would take too long. They had to get to the hospital, and quick. Because otherwise, Bill wasn't sure what exactly the doctors would do to Mabel.

Bill looked over at the door to see Melanie walking into the hospital room, passing by Bill as she pushed a metal cart with a strange mechanical device. Bill raised an eyebrow and called out to the nurse. "Hey, what's that?" He asked, pointing at said device.

"It's a defibrillator," Melanie responded, glancing at the man for a moment before drawing her eyes back to the device. "We're going to use it to help the Pines girl." She said.

"Help?" Bill repeated, unsure if 'help' was the correct term to explain whatever that was. "You sure? That thing looks like it'd kill her rather than help her." He stated.

"It might," The nurse casually replied. Bill looked wide-eyed at the nurse for confirming his assumption. Melanie didn't seem to recognize the look. She heard the creaking of the emergency exit door out in the hallway opening. She narrowed her eyes. "Why on earth-?" She muttered to herself, walking out of the room in confusion.

The nurse gave a look of confusion when she saw two nearly identical old men and a young boy. As they walked into the hallway, the nurse noticed another old man follow behind them.

The four at the end of the hall all noticed the nurse. Stan and Dipper had different reactions at the sight of the nurse, being that she stood beside Room 15. Dipper had a feeling of rage hit him at knowing that Bill was likely in that same room. Stan was concerned- yet relieved to know that Mabel and Bill were likely where Bill had said they were.

"Ma'am," One doctor, Will, called out to the nurse. Melanie turned around raising an eyebrow. "Is the defibrillator ready to be turned on?" He asked. The nurse nodded, to which the doctor left back into the hospital room.

"Why do they have a-?" Fiddleford muttered to himself in confusion. Ford overheard the doctors question and gasped at hearing the word 'defibrillator'. He had past experiences with the medical tool in the past. He became worried when the nurse walked back into Room 15.

"Mabel!" Dipper shouted in fear, running down the hall to follow after the nurse.

"Dipper!" Stan and Ford exclaimed in unison, both putting a hand out. McGucket trailed behind the others as the twins rushed over to Dipper.

Dipper rushed into the hotel room, nearly running into the nurse as he tried to stop his running pace. He nearly tripped, however he managed to keep his balance just in time. Stan and Ford rushed into the room, looking straight forward as they saw an unconscious Mabel.

Stan's eyes widened. "Pumpkin!" He exclaimed, rushing over towards his niece and standing beside her hospital bed. He looked down at the girl with a frown.

Ford put a hand in his hair, a look of hurt on his face. He found it difficult to see his niece in such a weak state. He looked to his left, seeing Bill laying down in a separate hospital bed. Hesitantly, Ford walked over to the other man. Bill had multiple cuts on his hand, a black eye, and a bruised cheek. Ford frowned at the sight. Bill looked over at Ford, noticing the man's presence. Ford was quick to put his hands behind his back, raising an eyebrow.

"What happened?" Ford asked Bill. He didn't seem angry- he seemed more concerned, if anything. Bill figured the man was only curious to hear about Mabel's state rather than his.

"Well..." Bill muttered. "It's kinda hard to explain." He replied.

"Explain anyway." Ford responded, looking at Bill for an answer.

Bill folded his arms. "Well, I'll be honest. One minute she was teaching me to knit, and the next she was unconscious on the kitchen floor." He said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

Ford was confused at this. He tilted his head to show his confusion. "Why was she unconscious?" He asked.

Bill went silent at the question. He shifted slightly, looking away from the other. It didn't take Ford long to notice the stalling act. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the demon. "Bill..." Ford muttered, his tone of voice firm now.

Bill just bit his lip. He didn't know how to respond to the question. Bill wasn't sure what had caused Mabel to fall unconscious, however he was convinced that the girl's passing out had to do with something from earlier in the day. This is what was causing Bill's stalling, as he tried to think of what could have possibly caused her to pass out so suddenly.

While it seemed to Bill that he was pondering a thought, to Ford it looked like mere stalling. As if Bill didn't want to answer the question. As if he were keeping something from him, hiding something. Ford's eyebrows furrowed as he awaited an answer. He gave the demon a suspicious glare when Bill was yet to respond to his question. Ford waited a total of three more seconds before clenching his fists. He took a step forward and put his hands on Bill's shoulders, causing Bill to look him in the eyes. Bill was taken aback by the sudden act, noticing the scientist's angered expression.

"What did you do?" Ford shouted with a glare. "What did you do to my niece?" He asked, shaking the demon as he was yet to give an answer. Ford was growing impatient with the man's stalling. He needed an answer.

Bill groaned as Ford's grip on his shoulders tightened. He looked at the scientist with wide eyes. "N-Nothing!" Bill sputtered, putting his hands up slightly.

"Do you honestly expect me to believe that?" Ford shot back, his glare still apparent. "Give me a real answer, dammit!" He shouted, gripping the collar of Bill's shirt and pulling him close with that same glare.

Fiddleford looked over at Ford as the scientist continued to shout at Bill. He cringed at the rather vile look Ford gave the demon. For a moment he felt as if Bill didn't deserve the attack- he was injured, so there was clearly a bigger picture that they were yet to understand.

Stan looked over at his brother. "Pointdexter, don't swear in front of the kid." He said, motioning towards Dipper. Stan didn't seem at all concerned for Bill's state whatsoever.

Ford seemed to have completely ignored his brother. All he was focused on was Bill; and getting a true answer to his question.

Mabel, however, was shocked. She had never in a million years thought that her uncle would act like this. Out of all her emotions, she was confused. Why is Grunkle Ford shouting at Bill? This was all supposed to make Bill look like a hero, not the bad guy! Her confusion was interrupted when she heard a doctor plug in a machine beside her. She kept her heartbeat low, making sure that her eyes remained shut.

Stan looked at the doctors. "H-Hey! What are ya' doing?" He asked. Stan huffed when he got no response. Melanie walked over to the two male doctors with her clipboard in hand. Stan looked at the nurse. "What're they doin' to her?" He asked.

"Well," Melanie began as the defibrillator paddles charged up with electricity. "We're going to attempt to get her heart rate back to normal." She said.

Stan raised an eyebrow. "With that thing?" He asked.

"Yes," The nurse replied. "At this rate, Mabel Pines is likely to die if we don't go through with this medical procedure. However, there's a chance she could die either way." She said, muttering the last bit.

"What?" Stan hollered with a mortified glare.

"It's worth the risk!" Will said, grabbing the defibrillator. "I mean, it might kill her, but-" He began, holding the paddles in his hands.

Mabel gasped at this. Her eyes shot open as she exclaimed in fear, shooting up and sitting up straight in the hospital bed. "Ahhh!" She exclaimed, looking around, her heart beating fast now.

"What the-?" The two male doctors said in unison.

Dipper gasped and ran over towards where Stan stood. Ford and Bill froze in their positions. They both looked as if they were about to strangle each other. They both turned to look at Mabel in shock.

"Wha-How-M-Mabel?" Dipper sputtered in disbelief. He wondered how Mabel could have recovered so quickly. It doesn't make sense... Dipper thought to himself. If her heart rate was dangerously low, even zero, why is she fine all of a sudden? This question stumped Dipper for a moment.

It took him a moment, but after a bit of thinking, the explanation came to Dipper. Oh no, she was using the trick Grunkle Stan taught us! Why did he have to teach us how to slow our heart rates to alarming levels? Dipper couldn't help but wonder why Mabel had done this. He figured that would be a question for later.

"I'm alive, I'm alive!" Mabel exclaimed frantically, fear in her eyes as she shook her head and hands. "I'm fine!" She claimed, breathing heavily.

Bill's eyes widened. "Kid!" He exclaimed. His mouth hung open in both relief and confusion.

Stan looked at Mabel in confusion. "Mabel?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "What happened to you?" He asked. Ford released his grip on Bill and walked over to his niece.

"Well, I tripped in the kitchen and passed out when you were gone," Mabel began, looking at Stan. Ford narrowed his eyes at his brother. Stan looked at Ford and gave an awkward chuckle before looking back at Mabel. "And then Bill helped me!" Mabel said with a grin.

"What?" Dipper, Stan, and Ford all asked in unison.

"Yeah!" Mabel said, her grin showing off her braces. "He saw I was in trouble and made a good attempt to drive me to the hospital! He doesn't even know how to drive, but he still cared enough to try! I mean, the car got kinda mashed up, but he had good intentions!" She said. "Then he got me to the doctors." She continued.

Dipper looked at his sister in disbelief. "Bill did all that?" He asked. Mabel nodded with a smile. Dipper hummed. "I guess that does explain why he's injured..." He muttered, looking away. A wave of guilt passed by him at knowing that Bill had tried to help his sister, when all Dipper could think of was how he could be harming her.

Melanie cleared her throat, her hands on her hips. "Excuse me, little girl," She began. Mabel turned to look at the nurse. "How do you know all of this?" She questioned.

"Oh!" Mabel began, smiling once more. Her smile faded at knowing that she would have to explain how she had faked the second half of the situation. "Oh..." She muttered, looking away. The nurse narrowed her eyes. "Well," Mabel began. "I-I kinda..." She tried.

"She used the trick our Grunkle Stan taught us on how to drop our heart rate down to zero, or low levels." Dipper said, folding his arms.

Ford looked mortified at the answer Dipper had given. He turned to look at his brother once more. "Stanley!" He chided. "Why would you teach such things to the children?" He asked.

"Hey! It could come in handy for placin' bets someday, ya' never know!" Stan shot back, folding his arms. Ford raised an eyebrow at this. He opted not to question the strange answer Stan had given. It would only lead to an even stranger conversation.

The doctors groaned, and the nurse scoffed. "So this was all just a little joke of yours?" Melanie asked with an eye roll. "We have other patients at this hospital that need assistance, we can't afford to have reckless children pulling silly pranks that do nothing but waste our time!" She said with a glare. "You can show yourselves out. All of you." She said, storming out of the room. The doctors cringed at the nurse's tone, however they opted to follow her.

Mabel sighed, getting out of the hospital bed with a look of guilt. She looked up at her Grunkles with a frown. "I'm sorry Grunkle Stan. I'm sorry Grunkle Ford." She said, hanging her head in shame.

Stan looked at his niece for a moment before kneeling. He wrapped his arms around Mabel, embracing the girl in a hug. "It's alright, sweetie. The only thing that matters is that you're okay." He stated.

"Thanks, Grunkle Stan." Mabel muttered, returning the hug.

McGucket offered to help Bill out of his hospital bed, to which the demon declined. "I'm fine." He stated, walking over the group. He tried to hide his limping, however he wasn't sure that his act was very convincing, hence the short state from Stan. Fiddleford walked over to the group, joining Bill with the others.

At first when Stan had looked at Bill when they had arrived at the hospital, he hadn't thought much of his injuries. He had assumed that the demon had just beat himself up a good amount. However, when Stan learned the real reason as to why Bill had multiple injuries, it opened his eyes to another side of Bill he had never seen before. When Ford had been rough with Bill at first, he hadn't paid much attention to it. Now, after learning that Bill had made an attempt to go through the trouble of bringing Mabel to the hospital in hopes of saving her life, he felt as if he should scold Ford for acting so cold.

Before the group could leave the hospital room, they were stopped at the door frame by sheriff Blubs and deputy Durland. Stan's eyes widened at the sight of the police. "Hey- you don't understand!" He exclaimed. "That Walrus owed me money!" He claimed with clenched fists. Everyone turned to look at Stan in confusion at the strange remark.

"We're note here about the Walrus," Sheriff Blubs began. "We had a speeder pass by earlier who had been going 72 miles per hour, and there have been reports that the same car was here." He stated looking at the group.

"It was someone blonde." Durland added , putting his hands on his hips.

Bill bit his lip at this. He knew that they were talking about him- he could feel it. Bill shifted to the side a bit and hid behind Ford, clutching Ford's arms and poking his head out from the side of the scientists right arm. Ford looked at Bill and rolled his eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose at knowing that Bill had ended up getting into legal trouble. Bill didn't notice the reaction- He was too focused on the police officers, hoping they wouldn't see him.

Stan sighed in relief at knowing that he wasn't the one in trouble this time. "Heh... Well, that's a relief." He said with a short laugh. He ceased his laughter at realizing that the person was likely Bill who had sped. He wasn't sure if Bill was aware of speed limits, or if he just didn't care.

"We're gonna' need everyone ta' spread out in a straight line." Durland stated in a firm manner.

"But not too straight." Blubs commented, looking at Durland with a chuckle. Durland turned to look at his partner and cracked a grin that evolved into giggling along with the other officer.

Mabel smiled at the officers as they giggled together. Dipper looked over at Bill, then at Ford. Dipper saw Ford shake his head at Dipper, as if to tell him not to say anything to the officers or comment on the situation whatsoever. The boy looked back at the officers as they looked at the group with serious facial expressions once more.

Everyone formed together to create a line, save Bill who still hid behind Ford. Stan stood close beside his brother to make hiding easier for Bill. He owed keeping Bill away from the police to the demon after he had risked his life in an attempt to bring Mabel to safety.

Blubs and Durland inspected the line carefully. Bill's hands shook rapidly as he heard the footsteps of the men. Ford could feel the reaction from Bill and have a quick glance down at the demon's hands. They were indeed shaking as he had suspected. Ford looked back up at the officers before they could notice. They saw nothing too suspicious from the group.

Not until they heard a sneeze.

Durland raised an eyebrow. Blubs did the same. The officers turned to look at each other. "Didja' see someone sneeze?" Durland asked his partner.

Blubs shook his head. "Did you?" He asked. Durland also shook his head. The two hummed in suspicion. Ford could feel Bill's trembling hands gripping on right to the arms of his jacket. Blubs walked over to Ford, noticing the look of unease on the older man's face.

Ford looked at the officer. He remembered a time in the multiverse when he had helped a short, friendly alien creature escape from security for a crime he hadn't commited by allowing the creature to hide behind his back. Ford has been able to remain perfectly calm in that situation, however he found it difficult to focus on the task at hand when he could feel Bill's heartbeat beating against his back as the blonde pressed up against him.

Blubs put his hands on his hips. "Mr. Pines, please move aside." He said. Stan nearly moved to the side, until realizing that the officer was talking to Ford. Cautiously, Ford took a side step to the right. Bill rushed over behind Stan, gripping into Stan now. Stan cringed at the rough grip on his arms, however he kept calm.

Blubs hummed and looked over at Stan now. As the officer inspected Stan, Ford gripped the side of his lab coat, reaching into a pocket from the inside and grabbing hold of a memory gun, holding it behind his back. Ford cleared his throat in a loud enough manner that got McGucket's attention from the other side of the line. Fiddleford looked behind him and noticed the memory gun behind Ford's back. He looked up at Stanford as Ford moved the gun slightly.

Fiddleford watched as both officers went to inspect Stan. Fiddleford took this chance to take a small step back, looking at Ford and extending his arms out towards him. Ford quickly stepped back by his brother and tossed the memory gun underhand, glancing at the gun as it spun in mid-air. Fiddleford leaned forward to grab the gun, sighing in relief as he successfully caught the memory gun in his arms. He stepped back beside Mabel, hiding the gun behind the girl's back as he spun the dial back and fourth to spell BLONDE SPEEDER.

"He-Hey!" Stan exclaimed in annoyance as Durland moved him sideways, seeing Bill behind the other man.

Durland smirked. "Thought ye' could get away?" He asked, placing his hands on Bill's arms and moving him away from Stan. Ford and Stan looked at each other, then back at Bill. The demon glared at the officer.

"Get your hands off me!" Bill exclaimed, breaking free from Durland's grasp and clenching his fists, going in for a punch. Durland ducked down just in time to escape the fist. Blubs took the opportunity to grab the demon's wrists, forcing them behind Bill's back and shoving him against the wall.

Bill groaned and looked to the side, watching as Blubs got hand cuffs out from his belt, placing them on both Bill's wrists. "Cut it out!" Bill commanded.

Blubs ignored the man. "Bill Pines, we're placing you under arrest." He stated.

"What?" Bill cried out with a glare. "Come on! Isn't speeding just a ticket or something?" He asked.

"You hid," Durland stated. "That's probably enough to arrest ya'." He said.

"You can't do this!" Bill exclaimed, growling as he couldn't escape from the handcuffs. Durland grabbed Bill's shoulders in an attempt to push Bill out of the room.

Mabel looked behind her, eyes widening as she saw the memory gun charging up. McGucket looked at the girl and put a finger up to his lips, shushing her. Mabel watched as McGucket put the memory gun behind his back. What is he doing? She wondered.

Fiddleford cleared his throat and took a few steps forward, away from the line. He waved his spare hand in the air, yelling, "Hey, hey! Look over here, fellers!"

Blubs and Durland looked at the man in confusion. Durland took his hands off Bill's shoulders. McGucket put his finger over the trigger and took it out from behind his back, aiming it at the officers.

Durland raised an eyebrow. "What in tarnation?" He exclaimed with a bit of fear. Bill grinned.

"Put the gun away," Blubs began hesitantly.

Fiddleford shook his head. "Sorry, gentl'men, but ye've got the wrong guy." He said before firing the gun. Bill ducked down and rushed over towards the others as the gun hit Blubs and Durland. The officers eyes widened as their minds were erased.

Stan smirked over at Fiddleford. "Good one!" He complimented.

Fiddleford walked over to Ford and handed him the memory gun. Ford took it and placed it back in his lab coat. Bill stood up and looked at the officers as they rubbed their heads.

"What happened?" Deputy Durland asked.

"I can't recall." Blubs said, adjusting his glasses. "Last thing I remember was our lunch break." He muttered.

"Ye' wanna go play Connect 4?" Durland offered, raising an eyebrow.

Blubs chuckled and patted the other man on the back. "You know me too well, Edwin." He said with a smile. Edwin grinned, and the two police men walked out of the hospital room.

Dipper watched the two leave. "...Wow." He muttered. "I guess that worked well."

"Indeed," Ford said with a nod of his head.

Once everyone was sure the police were gone, the group all snuck out of the Emergency Exit. They walked down the long, slim hallway, the same way that they had originally came in. Normally they would have entered from the front door, until Stan and Ford noticed a flood of people in the parking lot. They had chosen to sneak around the side of the hospital rather than swimming through the crowd.

When they reached the parking lot, the Pines were glad to see that the crowd of people was gone. However, they didn't have time to admire the nice, orange sunset. Instead, they were shocked to see a large tow truck towing their car. Stan's jaw dropped at the sight. With a glare, he ran up to the vehicle.

"Hey!" Stan shouted to the man towing their mashed up car. "Quit towin' our ride home!" He commanded, putting his hands on his hips.

The tower looked down at Stan. "Sir, if you wouldn't like us towing your vehicles, then I wouldn't recommend parking horizontally across three entire parking slots!" He shot back at the old man.

Stan and Ford frowned at this and turned to look at Bill, unamused. The demon noticed the stares and gave an awkward chuckle, drawing his eyes to the concrete ground.

"It won't happen again." Ford assured.

The tower sighed. "Sir, legally I cannot cease the towing without-" He began, until Stan leaned over the tow truck window. The tow truck driver looked at Stan with a raised eyebrow. The conman slipped a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket, handing it to the tow truck driver. The man tried to grab the dollar bill, however Stan pulled it away before he could grasp it.

"You can keep it if ya' buzz off." Stan stated.

The tow truck driver looked around him to make sure he wasn't being watched. After a moment, he took the twenty dollar bill and drove away before he could tow the vehicle. Stan smirked, watching as the younger man left.

The group made their way to the car. Mabel, Ford, and Bill walked behind the others at a bit slower of a pace. Before Mabel could open the back door of the car, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and looked up to see Ford looking down at her with his hands behind his back. Mabel tilted her head.

"Mabel Pines, this was a completely imbecilic stunt of yours." Ford began in a firm manner. Mabel frowned as Ford continued, "What on earth caused you to come to the absurd conclusion of pulling such an act?" He asked.

Mabel rubbed her other arm with her hand as she looked away. "Well..," She began in a mutter. "I-I thought that if I..." She continued, not making eye contact with her uncle.

Ford raised an eyebrow. "You can tell me, Mabel." He reassured, seeing the girl's shy behavior.

"Well, after I woke up in the car and saw Bill trying to help me, I-I thought that if I pretended to be in danger, you-you would forgive Bill, a-and not be mad at him all the time anymore." Mabel said with a sigh.

Ford was stunned by the answer. Hearing such a thing from Mabel was unexpected. Sure, a few people had told him that he shouldn't be so hard on Bill, but hearing it from Mabel was certainly something different. He adjusted his glasses with a small frown. He looked at Mabel once more, his face firm yet again.

"I expect you won't do this again?" Ford asked, folding his arms.

Mabel nodded slowly. "I'm sorry, Grunkle Ford..." She muttered. She looked behind Ford to see Bill standing there with a look a guilt. He noticed the girl looking at him and quickly changed his facial expression. He walked up to Ford and folded his arms.

"Come on, Sixer. Don't scold the kid." Bill said, looking at the scientist.

Ford turned to look at Bill. He put his hands on his hips and looked at the demon with an unreadable expression. "I don't need you telling me how to deal with things." He began. Bill rolled his eyes at this. Ford ignored the expression, continuing to speak. "And if anything, I should be scolding you."

Bill's mouth hung open at this, his eyes wide. "Wh-? Me?" He asked, pointing at himself. Ford nodded, causing Bill to scoff. "You've gotta be kidding me! I risked my life for that kid! I tried bringing her to safety when I knew that no one else could! And you're planning on scolding me?" He asked with a glare.

"You wrecked the car," Ford began, "You put my great niece in danger with your maniacal driving. You ignored the speed limits and ended up getting chased down by the police. And you broke several hospital rules!" He shot back, counting off the demon's mistakes with his fingers.

Bill hardened his glare. "So I made a few mistakes- I'm not perfect! At least I tried to help her!" He stated, clenching his fists.

Ford mirrored the other's actions. "You did nothing but put her in danger!" He growled.

"Stop!" Mabel exclaimed with a frown. Ford and Bill turned to look at the girl in unison, seeing the girl's eyes as they shined in the setting sunlight. "Both of you are acting ridiculous!" She said, folding her arms as her bottom lip quivered. "Why can't you just get along?" She asked, tears forming in her eyes. Neither Bill nor Ford were able to comment on the girl's question, Mabel turned around and disappeared into the back seat of the car, buckling her seatbelt and hiding herself into sweater town.

Ford and Bill had looks of both surprise and guilt on their faces. Bill folded his arms and looked away as Ford scratched the back of his neck, drawing his eyes to the ground. Moments later, Stan poked his head out of the broken front door window and said, "Pointdexter." Ford looked over at his brother, raising an eyebrow. Stan narrowed his eyes. "Car. Now." He said, pointing to the passengers seat. Ford sighed and walked over to the other side of the car without another word.

Bill walked over to the back seat of the car, where he now thought he was alone, until he felt a tiny hand grasp around his wrist. Bill raised an eyebrow and turned around to see Dipper looking up at him.

"What do you want, kid?" Bill asked.

Dipper sighed before speaking hesitantly. "Look man..." He began, "I... I just wanted to say... thanks." He muttered.

"Thanks?" Bill repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Why?" He asked.

"Well, I know that you didn't mean to cause any harm for once." Dipper said with a small shrug. "And... If Mabel really had been in trouble, you would have saved my sister's life." He said. Dipper wished not to know what he would have done had Mabel been in true danger without anyone to help her. "So... thank you." He muttered.

Bill looked down at the boy in surprise. He never would have thought Dipper would say such things. He had a small smile for a total of two seconds before realizing his expression. Bill turned it into a mocking smirk to brush off the strange moment that he had never imagined.

"Well, well, well!" Bill mused with the same smirk. Dipper looked up at the demon in confusion. "Who woulda' thought? Little Pine Tree? Thanking me?" He asked, putting a hand over his heart. "I'm touched." He said with a grin.

Dipper just rolled his eyes. "Don't make a big deal out of it." He muttered before walking over to the car. Bill followed the boy, not wishing to keep the others waiting. Dipper entered the car and noticed his sister hiding in sweater town. Bill too noticed the action and frowned. Dipper would be sure to remind himself to cheer Mabel up later.

Oh man... I could have split this chapter in half... But I didn't. Why? Well, basically I'm trying to make each chapter the events of one day for the next few chapters, being that the twins only have six days left in Gravity Falls before they go back to California. However, the last chapter and this chapter are the same day. Hopefully that was understood.

I'm cringing at the word count. Honestly. I hope the first half of this chapter didn't drag on too much. There wasn't much dialog I could put in the situations. As for the dagger, Soos and Melody, and some other unsolved things, some of that will be uncovered in the next chapter.

I ended up rewriting some of the hospital bits. I've had most of this chapter planned out for over a month now. The reason I messed up was likely because I had gotten one hour of sleep out of nearly two days. Heh... anyway, I went back and changed it to make it correct.

The Dipper thanking Bill bit, I had come up with whilst writing the chapter. I figured it would be best to leave the chapter on a somewhat-happy note after all the events of this chapter and the last.

New chapter up soon!