Chapter Thirteen: Family Connections
Soos took them in without question, declaring that he would be the one to make sure their house didn't burn down again as he fixed it up. It was a bit difficult to explain to him that the fire had burned everything down so completely that their only choice was to start rebuilding from the bottom up. It was a bit awkward, and it took even longer to explain that Mabel was still missing.
"It's Mabel, hambone's gonna be fine." Soos said, calling a couple people to ask about spare wood they could borrow to rebuild the Shack. It was a popular tourist joint, almost everyone was willing to help build it.
Dipper had done the best that he could, scavenging through the ash and boards of wood to rescue what could be saved. Even two days later when it was obvious that nothing could really be saved, DIpper still scavenged through the wreckage and tried to find anything that might be saved. He came back to Soos' house covered in soot and ash, but it was better than trying to figure out just what had happened in his life in such a short time.
It was late at night, almost a week when Mabel had been missing, as Stan and Ford stayed downstairs on the couch and Dipper shared a room with Soos, that Dipper woke up with an ache in his stomach that he was sure a glass of water would solve. Soos snored, which annoyed Dipper more than he would ever actually say, not while he was a guest in another home and Soos was the reason why they weren't on the street right then.
Yawning softly, Dipper among fell down the last step of the stairs when he heard hushed voices arguing frantically. It was too late that he could actually wake up and know what was going on.
"It's been almost a week, we can't just sit around and do nothing!" A hushed voice whispered, almost close to speaking in a normal volume. "She could be out there, hurt!"
"You don't think I know that?" Ford whispered, and Dipper peeked around the corner to see the old man pull out one of the journals he had saved and looked it over carefully.
"So we're just gonna sit on our asses and do nothing while Mabel might be hurt?" Stan sounded disgusted. Dipped almost wanted to burst through the door right then and demand he be a part of this conversation, but he held himself back.
"I didn't say that. We don't know who took her, where she is, we don't even have a lead!" Ford snapped his book closed, glaring at Stan. "I want to find her just as much as you do, but we don't know anything, or have any leads to find her."
There was awkward silence, and Dipper felt a lump in his throat. Ford was right, they had no leads, but that didn't mean that they had to give up. Mabel could be waiting for them to rescue her, even though she had never really needed someone to save her before.
The two men started talking more, hushed whispers that Dipper couldn't hear, not unless he revealed just where he had been standing. He could give up the Shack, he could give up every single valuable possession and he could live with that perfectly. Dipper could do everything that was needed of him, as long as he actually got his sister back.
Yet it was like they were just waiting for Mabel to come walking through the door, like the fire never happened and everything was okay. Dipper hated it. He hated the fact that his uncles suddenly seemed more concerned with building the Shack than they were with Mabel's whereabouts. He hated that nothing he could say or do seemed to convince them that they actually needed to move.
It was almost two weeks after, or maybe three since Dipper wasn't really keeping track, that Dipper finally said enough was enough, packing what little he did have to his name. He had no idea where he was going to start looking, or what he'd even be able to do while he was searching for Mabel, but his uncles weren't willing to do anything, and Dipper couldn't live with that. His sister needed him, and he wouldn't abandon her.
Slipping away just as dawn came, Dipper stole some food from the kitchen and made his way outside. The morning air was chilled, enough for frost to decorate the grass and his breath to form before him. Dipper paid it no mind, heading to the one place he would hopefully be able to find a clue to where Mabel disappeared to. It was stupid, but he actually liked to believe that maybe she would be waiting right there for him, in the wreckage of the Shack, like she had never left.
It was all still ash and soot, and boards that were charred and able to break with the slightest of pressure. Dipper looked out at it for a moment, not saying anything, as though there was anything he could say, making sure his back was firmly on his shoulders before he turned away from the wreckage.
"Well, no one ever said the Pines weren't durable." A rather high pitched, obnoxious voice said with a whistle, making Dipper twirl around and face the blond man. Dipper frowned heavily, looking at the man who seemed like he had just come out of the sea itself.
"Who are you?" Dipper asked, holding the straps of his bag carefully and wondering if he was going to have to pull out a weapon. The blond man gave a wide grin, one that almost looked more sadistic than anything else.
"She never told me she survived a fire, but ya know that just makes a couple more things clear. No wonder she thought you guys might be dead." The blond laughed, stepping closer to Dipper, who took a long step back.
"Where's Mabel?" Dipper had no idea who this man was, but there was one thing that was becoming clear now. This man actually knew Mabel. He might be able to help Dipper to get her back.
"Now, aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself? I come here to have a nice conversation and you're just jumping down my throat." The blond clicked his tongue, not so subtly putting his hand on the sword on his belt.
"You bastard! Did you take my sister?" Dipper pulled his knife out, but all it did was make the blond man laugh. Granted, comparing it to the sword the man was holding, it didn't seem like it would hold up in battle.
"Oh, just as much fire as she has. You Pines are hilarious. Relax, kid, I don't have your sister." The man hadn't even drawn his own sword, just watching Dipper carefully balance his own.
"Then how do you know her? What do you want?" Dipper had managed to find the lead that he wanted, it just wasn't in the way he wanted. He had honestly been hoping more for finding her sweater or something.
"I want the same thing as you, kid, to get her back." The blond stuck his hand out for Dipper to shake if he wanted. "Name's Bill Cipher, but I'm sure your uncles have told you all about me."
It took nearly an hour of calming Dipper down enough to actually talk to him, and to actually make Dipper listen to what he was saying that Mabel was, in fact, not hiding somewhere in the bushes and about to scare him. Granted, Bill was not the best person to calm Dipper down, what with the innuendos that he made and outright refusal to answer others, but eventually Dipper wasn't holding a knife right at his chest and trying to kill him.
"You really expect me to believe all this?" Dipper asked, shoving his knife back into his pocket and throwing his hands into the air. Bill had long since gotten tired of the conversation, wondering if he could really make due with just getting Mabel on his own.
"I don't care if you do believe it. Gleeful has Mabel, and he's taking her down to the tropics to marry her." So that wasn't the truth, but Dipper really didn't need to know all the gritty details. "Are you and your stupid uncles going to help or not? Seems like they've done a great job so far of trying to find her."
Dipper gave a sharp glare, but it really didn't affect Bill. It was absolutely uncanny to him how alike Mabel and Dipper looked, but really, they weren't the same. They had completely different personalities. Bill preferred Mabel over Dipper, that was for sure.
Dipper ran a hand through his hair, trying to think clearly. It had been a long time since his uncles had actually sailed on the seas, but they still had a ship at the ready and could sail better than anyone he would know. Dipper had no idea how he was going to convince his uncles that this was for the best.
Eventually, after a couple minutes of silence and just staring down at the ash, Dipper eventually turned on his heel, walking back to Soos' house without another word. Dipper didn't hear Cipher following after him for a moment, but then he heard the frosted grass crunch underneath the steps the blond took.
For a long moment there was just silence as Dipper made his way through the woods, Bill a couple steps behind him. Dipper honestly wondered what could have happened between his uncles and Bill to cause Ford to curse his name through the years. It wasn't his business though, at least Dipper hoped it wasn't his business.
"Wake up! Ford! Stan!" Dipper shouted as soon as he walked into Soos' house and saw Abuelita actually awake. He could have sworn that woman never slept.
"I make soup for our guest." The old woman looked over Bill for a moment, getting an awkward nod from the pirate captain.
After a long moment, Stan and Ford came from the living room, with Stan still trying to brush the sleep from his eyes and Ford just looking like he never slept in the first place. Did he even sleep? Bill and Dipper were sure the man never really did.
"Well, if it isn't Sixer! Long time no see!" Bill cackled, grinning from ear to ear. For a long moment there was silence, and Dipper was thankful Abuelita actually managed to get away from whatever argument was about to happen.
"Cipher! Dipper get away from him!" Ford shouted, backing up for a moment and pulling out his gun. Dipper only sighed, more than used to these huge reactions from Ford at this point in his life.
"He knows where Mabel is." Dipper intervened, not stepping into the line of fire but taking a step closer to Ford in general.
"So? He's probably lying!" Ford replied, and only one word made Dipper reel back and rethink everything.
"So? What do you mean by so?" Dipper asked quietly, making Ford look over at Dipper and the steady hold on the gun wavering for a moment. "You were never going to go and look for her, were you? You...You just thought she was gone, you were just going to leave her."
There was silence for a long moment, Stanley glaring at his brother and Ford trying to desperately think of words. The man had never been one for words, always for rash actions that left him with consequences that he had to think of later.
No one noticed Bill's firsts clenching quietly, no one noticed Dipper struggling to breathe quietly no one noticed how Stan looked ready to punch everyone. There was nothing that anyone noticed except how Ford's hand shook and the gun was slowly lowered.
"That's not true, we just had no evidence that even said she was alive!" Ford argued. "We lost the Shack, we couldn't really go chasing after no leads!"
Dipper turned to Bill, hearing Stan punch Ford hard enough to send Ford sprawling on the ground with a large thump that made Abuelita wonder what they were getting up to. They were all overcome with rage, each of them trying to maintain angers and stop themselves from actually causing a fight right then and there.
"I'm helping, Stan I'm taking the boat." Dipper said, nodding at Bill.
"Not without me you're not." Stan immediately said. "Where's Mabel?"
"Gleeful has her. If we leave now, we can actually get there in time before this all goes to hell." Bill said without question, starting out. The three of them made their way out, slamming the door behind them. For a moment there wasn't a sound as Stanford picked himself up off the ground, and rushed after his family in his refusal to be left behind.