August 5, 2012

Dipper's dreams were filled with images he could not describe. They flashed too fast for him to comprehend. It was painful and hurt him down to his soul. He knew there was something coming, and he couldn't stop it.

"Pinetree," Said a soft voice above him. "It's ok, just float up to me."

Dipper felt like he was swimming to the surface of a lake, fighting against the things below him that wanted to swallow him whole. He saw light, and broke the pristine surface tension and gasped.

Sitting up, Dipper was hyperventilating. Billeah was straddled on top of him and gave him a smile, stroking his hair.

"I want to see what's going on in there… You looked in pain. I thought I felt.. or recognized something," She whispered. "Please… let me look?"

"What… are you doing?" Dipper said. His throat was dry as a bone. Billeah twisted slightly and grabbed her bag, She produced a small water bottle and handed it to him."

"That was a bad one." She said with a smirk. "Normally it's not so bad, but I think it's going to get worse. I can't tell, because I can't, but if you want… need me to, I can take a tiny little peek. Just… give me something, anything in return… a bottle cap… something." Billeah's hand kept stroking his hair, she had an almost desperate look. She
wasn't looking at Dipper, but trying to peer inside his head.

Dipper's first impulse was to throw Billeah off him and storm out. He'd have every right to do so. But, would that make him like his Grunkle downstairs? Dipper sighed, and wrapped his arms around Billeah. He felt her tense up, and slowly relax as she embraced him. Billeah's shoulders shook and he could hear soft squeaks in his ear.

"Hey… don't cry," Dipper said confidently.

"You… put me here. I should hate you." Billeah whispered. "I should try with every ounce of my being to trick you to release me…"

"But you can't?" Dipper asked.

"No… you're family. I love you and Mabel so much. I've been alone for so long, and you took me in and had me be a part of something. I remember every time I visited your house. I remember how welcoming you were when I moved in permanently. I remember my mom and dad, and yours. Why would you do this to me?"

Dipper didn't know how to answer her.

"Look" Dipper said, pulling away from Billeah. "Behave yourself around Stan. Even if I wanted to, I have a feeling if he catches wind that you've used any of your powers. You'll go for a walk and never return."

Billeah's soft crying stopped. She pulled herself away, and wiped away a few tears and composed herself.

"Go on downstairs, I need to dress."

OoOoO

Dipper walked down the stairs and was blasted with the smell of maple syrup and bacon. Mabel and Wendy were working frantically at the stove. Dipper sat down at the table and reached for a strip of bacon from the absurdly large pile on a platter at the center of the table.

"Stop!" Mabel said, waving a spatula threateningly. "Wendy!"

"On it!" Wendy said, and grabbed a pharmacy bag. "Doctor's orders, we need to take care of the burns first thing in the morning."

"Oh… umm, I can do that." Dipper said, His face was turning bring red. "Or Mabel…"

"Pancake duty!" Mabel said and gave him a wink. Dipper clung to the seat of the chair as Wendy dragged it to the center of the living room. Mabel was grinning ear to ear and made a kissy face to him.

"Alright… shirt off!" Wendy ordered and read the large tube of burn cream.

"I umm…" Dipper stammered.

"Look, You have a choice here. I san do it, or I can get Stan to do it. We're the only two in this house right now who has the actual strength to rub this junk into the center of your burns, and keep a light enough touch around the edges.. I think Billeah would break her wrist trying."

Dipper gulped and took off his shirt.

Wendy stood there and stared at him. He couldn't bring himself to look at her.

"Oh… Dipper…" she whispered.

Dipper closed his eyes and felt her hands gently rub in the ointment on the
burns across his back. It was like fire had licked various areas, leaving pink
skin untouched in between each strip of blackened flesh.

The only reason they didn't hurt was the nerves were burnt off. It would be a miracle if he ever felt anything there again.

"Turn around." Wendy whispered. She must be done with his back. Dipper obliged and looked her in the eye. A diagonal strip ran from his left shoulder down to his stomach. Wendy looked like she was going to lose it.

"You should see the other guy" Dipper said with a smile.

"Shut up… dork." Wendy said with a chuckle. "So… after work… I found a really good Godzilla movie at the video store. It's in black and white. I can come over and we can watch it if you want."

Dipper's heart was beating in his ears. Her soft fingers trailed the edge of his burns, where his nerves were the most sensitive.

"Umm… yeah, that would be cool." Dipper said nervously.

"Is there anywhere I missed?" Wendy asked,

"Oh, um, I have a spot down my leg, but I can get that later. I'm hungry." Dipper chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

They stood in awkward silence for a moment, then Wendy closed the gap and hugged him.

"You better not do anything stupid like that again!" She whispered in his ear and left him stunned on the chair. She headed back into the kitchen where Hurricane Mabelah had doubled their efforts at pancake mixing. "Mabel, Billeah, how are we going to eat all
those pancakes?"

"Pancake House! Pancake House!" They chanted. "MORE PANCAKES!"

Dipper put his shirt back on and dragged his chair back to his seat. Wendy set a plate in front of him, he helped himself to a short stack and took a bite. It tasted wonderful.

"Crap, we feeding an army? Did I pay for all this?" Stan said as he came downstairs. Billeah gave him a big grin and batted her eyes. "Dipper, if you're up to it, I'd like your help when I come back. I'm picking up an exhibit. Since you girls like making pancakes so much, we could probably do a pancake brunch to bring in some customers. How
many picnic tables we have?"

Everyone shrugged.

"I'll ask Soos when he gets here." Stan said. He reached over to grab a handful of bacon and left.

When the screen door slammed shut, everyone's happy mood seemed to have left with Stan. Mabel sat down next to Dipper, and Billeah moved to the other side, but Mabel gave a slight cough and motioned with her eyes to sit next to her, leaving the seat open for Wendy.

"We really did make a lot of pancakes" Mabel said, astonished at the towering pile. "I mean… I was in the zone… What are we going to do with all of them?"

"I'll take them home with me and feed them to my brothers. They can take down a good mountain of pancakes in one sitting, it's pretty disgusting." Wendy said. She looked at Billeah and dropped her fork.

Everyone turned around and stared in horror at her.

"What?" She asked, Next to her was Waddles… and a mouth full of bacon. The pig looked to be in heaven as he happily chewed away.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Mabel cried out. "HE NOW HAS THE TASTE OF FLESH!"

OoOoO

Dipper rinsed off his dish and put it in the drying rack. Wendy had gone to the store to pick up tin foil to wrap the leftover pancakes while Mabel and Billeah were on the computer looking up the effects of pig cannibalism. Mabel worried she would have to muzzle Waddles if he went around other pigs now.

Dipper heard a honk out front. He went outside and waved to Stan as he got out of the golf cart.

"Took all morning, but I caught three. We got some good sized cages still? I think we can weld the locks shut, these guys are tricky."

Dipper looked at the back of the golf cart and saw three garden gnomes hog tied and gagged.

"Gnomes? I thought you didn't know their weakness." Dipper said.

"I didn't until you and your sister found out leaf blowers and whistles did the job. Who'da thunk?" Stan chuckled and poked one of them with his cane.

"Is that you Jeff?" Dipper asked, he had a hard time differentiating them. The middle gnome nodded frantically. "Hey… remember how you wanted my sister to marry every single one of you?"

Jeff's protests were muffled by the cloth in his mouth.

"Yeah…" Dipper said, turning to Stan. "I'll get the wheelbarrow."

OoOoO

"Grunkle…" Dipper said.

"Just Stan."

"Stan, I tried this before. The tourists didn't want to believe the real things existed. We had to make fake stuff for them to appreciate the store."

"That's him talking," Stan said, throwing the last gnome in a large cage and igniting a
blowtorch.

"Why are you welding the cages shut?" Dipper asked.

"Little nimble fingers, they can open any lock. If we weld it shut, they can't get out." Stan said with a grunt

"Dipper, please, I know we've had our misgivings, but this is inhumane." Jeff pleaded.

"Funny thing about that word, you'd have to be human." Dipper said coldly. Stan laughed and slammed the cage with his cane.

"I'm going into town for a bit, I need to get some of those dog shock collars. I'll have them singing and dancing in no time."

"They barf rainbows." Dipper said coldly. "We should show them that as well."

Stanly laughed as he left the shed.

Jeff rushed to the front of the cage.

"Dipper, please! I'm sorry, as the Gnome King I'll pardon your transgressions. You can command my people. Don't do this!" He pleaded.

"Funny, I think I asked you the same thing when you STOLE MY SISTER!" Dipper screamed.

"Dip-man… hey, we've dealt with this guy before. He's not going to stop. You, are a man of principals, he's going to destroy us all! What do you think those journals were for?"

"I've read the journals, and everything I've found written in them wanted to hurt or kill me. If Stan is going to use them to corral, or manage the insanity that's outside those doors, then more power to him."

Jeff's jovial smile fell. His eyes glowed green and his teeth sharpened into fangs. "You and your family have no idea the powers you provoke! The oncoming storm will have you all!"

The other gnomes cowered in their cage as Jeff levitated, let out maniacal laughter, and spun. He barfed rainbows all over the room, like a twisted sparkle fueled sprinkler. Dipper ran out of the shed and locked the door, ignoring the demonic screams erupting from it.

OoOoO

Dipper organized the store while Stan was out. Soos was nowhere to be found, and Billeah and Mabel were upstairs doing who knew what.

He scanned the store and rested on the vending machine. His hand gingerly reached up to key in the code when a grizzled hand grabbed his wrist.

"What are you doing?" Stan said sourly.

"I… wanted to go down there." Dipper said.

"No you don't." Stan said and pulled him away from the machine.

"I… Can I have my journal back?" Dipper asked. He found a spot on the floor and was using his toe to play with it. "I kinda feel, exposed, without it."

"You don't want that either." Stan said. Dipper was about to protest when Wendy burst through the door, causing the bell on the door to scream.

"Heya Dip! Ready for some giant monsters?" Wendy asked.

"Yyyaa…" Dipper said. He heard giggles from behind him, and saw Mabel and Billeah peeking from the corner and
giggling. As soon as they saw he saw them, they dashed up the stairs and
slammed the door.

"So… that happened." he said and chuckled. Wendy cocked an eyebrow at him and shrugged.

"So, what are we watching?" Stan asked. Wendy returned the question with the same cocked eyebrow.

"We?" she asked. Dipper made his way to the couch, not wanting to get in the middle of this.

"Well, you're using my TV, I at least should know what's going to be playing on it."

"We…" Wendy motioned to her and Dipper. "are going to watch Godzilla vs. Mothra."

"That's a fine piece of classic cinema, I'll get the popcorn." Stan said, and moved into the kitchen.

"I'm sure there's some old man TV you can watch in your room somewhere?" Wendy protested.

Stan started the popcorn and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"You're what 14?" Stan said.

"Um, I'm 15." Wendy corrected. Stan nodded and grabbed a bowl.

"Well, I know how movies go when there's no adult supervision, so I'm watching a man in a rubber suit hug
another man in a rubber suit with you." Stan said.

"What? No! Eeww! Dipper's just a kid!" Wendy protested.

"Three years ain't that big of a split, kid." Stan said, getting the popcorn out. "If you want to see the movie, You're seeing it with me. I don't know how the Imposter played it, but I'm a responsible adult, and I respect your father. I know he'd want me to protect
his daughter."

"From what? Dipper?" Wendy said with a laugh.

"From herself." Stan said with finality and shoved a big bowl of popcorn in her arms. "Keep that between you."

Dipper felt so low, hearing the exchange. Who was he kidding? Wendy only saw him as a kid. He was surprised Stan saw their age gap for what it was. In a few years, he may even seem attractive to Wendy.

Wendy huffed into the living room and slammed the popcorn bowl on the middle cushion, almost spilling the whole bowl on Dipper. Stan sat in the recliner and propped his feet up with his own bag, while Wendy loaded up the movie.

"Ya know, we can turn the volume down and make our own script." Stan said with a grin. "Oh no! Godzilla destroyed the rice factory! However shall we fuel our tiny cars!"

"Oh my god, racist much?" Wendy said, shoving popcorn in her mouth. "Just shush and watch the movie."

"Hey, I've missed the last 30 years, How am I supposed to know what we're allowed to joke about?" Stan protested

Dipper ate from the popcorn bowl and watched the giant monsters tear through Tokyo, His hand brushed against Wendy's occasionally, and each time it felt electric. He didn't know if she even noticed or not, but he didn't care.

Halfway through the movie, they heard a soft snore, and saw Stan had fallen asleep. Dipper knew the couch creaked, so any sudden movements would wake him up. Dipper reached his hand into the bowl and only felt seeds, and Wendy's hand.

He froze, waiting for her to move it back. He was only touching his fingertips to hers. He wanted to move forward, lock his fingers with hers and feel her soft and delicate hand. He wanted to explore the palms, and trace the bones in the back of her hand, memorize each nook and divot. But he sat there, petrified of moving away and never being able to touch her again, or moving forward and having Wendy hate him.

Before Dipper realized, the end credits rolled, and Godzilla was back in the sea where he belonged. The instrumental score woke Stan awake, and Wendy pulled her hand out of the popcorn bowl.

"Wasn't that an awesome movie?" She said, pulling the tape out. "Anyway, DIp, I need to head out. I promised my dad to do some work around the house in the morning."

"Oh, ok." Dipper said, "Let me walk you out."

"Oh Dipper, you're such a gentleman" Wendy said, glaring at Stan.

Dipper walked her to the door, and opened it for her, playing along he bowed graciously.

"M'lady," he said.

"Thank you kind sir!" She said with a faux curtsy. She leaned in and gave Dipper a kiss on his cheek, and shot Stan a glare. "Have a marvelous evening."

Dipper waved goodbye and shut the door. He was rubbing the warm spot on his cheek and turned around to see Stan grinning ear to ear.

"How'd that turn out, Kid?" Stan said with a laugh. He walked into the kitchen and pulled out a beer, pushing Dipper's chair out with his foot.

Dipper walked over in a daze and sat down.

"I… I'm confused?" Dipper said, shaking his head no at the beer Stan offered.

"Ha! That Wendy is just like her Dad. I've watched how you are around her, and I thought I'd help you out. Telling a Corduroy not to do something, or that they can't do something, is going to set a fire under them to prove you wrong." Stan said with a chuckle.

"Wait? That whole thing in the kitchen?" Dipper said, astonished.

"You think she was going to get cozy with you?" Stan said with a laugh. "She likes, you, yeah, but she still sees you as a kid. I had to poke a few holes in that, and tell her you're off limits. We'll see how things go." Stan said with a grin. "Don't get me wrong,
I'm still a responsible adult and I'll tear you a new one if you're dishonest with her."

"I… I gotcha." Dipper said nodding.

"It's getting late, You should head up to bed. Don't forget your burn cream." Stan said. Dipper nodded and headed upstairs.

When he opened the door, Mabel and Billeah were grinning ear to ear and both attacked him at once.

"TELL US EVERYTHING!" They demanded in unison.

Dipper was forced to sit on a stool, stripped to his underwear and Mabel and Billeah split the ointment duties while he recounted his evening. They squealed in unison when he told them how Wendy didn't move her hand when their fingers touched.

Billeah was rubbing his shoulder burns and whispered in his ear. "I'll take a peek for a quarter, see what she's thinking. I can even get her diary."

"Haha….yeah, that's not fair." Dipper said with a smile. He knew she was serious.

"Thanks girls, I'm getting tired.I'm going to go to bed."

Dipper got in bed and covered up. Mabel and Billeah sat in Mabel's bed cross legged and talked through the night as Dipper drifted off to sleep.

OoOoO

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Mabel screamed. Dipper jolted awake, and saw Mabel's face was puffy read and tears streamed down her cheeks. "She's gone!"

"Who's gone? Waddles? Waddles is over there!" Dipper said, his mind still groggy from being in a deep sleep.

"No! Billeah! She's not here! She went to the bathroom and hasn't come back. I can't find her!" she cried.

"She's gotta be somewhere…" Dipper said. "Where's Stan?"

"He's not here either." She hiccupped.

Dipper's stomach sank. He grabbed his hat, flashlight and Mabel's grappling hook, got dressed and rushed to the door.

"Stay here!" He ordered, knowing it wasn't going to do any good. "Or just stay behind me, We've got to find them!"