They went into the basement and into the tech room Ford had built. They passed through the area that had once held the portal. The machine was still there but it was broken beyond repair. Dipper noticed there was barely any of it left and that most of the debris had been cleared. It reminded him just how far they had come and of the many evils they had beaten – Bill, of course, being the first to come to mind. But things were different now. If someone had told Dipper that, one day in the future he would be helping one of his greatest foes, he would have laughed in their faces.
Ford sat behind his elaborate computer set up. There were many monitors and Ford worked on almost all of them at the same time, doing various things. Dipper leaned over his Great Uncle's shoulder, hardly drawing his attention, as he noticed the profile of a Gravity Falls woman. He took a step back and found many more profiles appearing on some of the screens that had been vacant mere seconds ago. Five more individuals appeared before Ford finally stopped typing away and spun to face the group.
"Oh good, you're back." He said to Stan and Dipper. "I assume you didn't run into trouble."
"Nope." Dipper said and for a moment he considered mentioning they had met with Tad. It wasn't trouble, the guy had only been looking to catch up with Stan. In the face of what was happening, the brunet opted to mention it later or something. It really wasn't important.
"So what's going on?" Stan asked and peered at the screens, "Who are these people?"
"Meet Alexandra Bonaparte, Josephine Hirsh, Maria Morgan, Robert Chang, Sydney Valentine, and Theodore McGee." He said, looking over his shoulder, 'They're the only people from Gravity Falls registered with permission to possess antediluvian artifacts." He tapped a button on his keyboard and suddenly all the screens bore the face of Alexandra Bonaparte. "This woman," he continued, "Is from France."
"She's also dead." Stan noted.
"Yes." Ford agreed, "She's been deceased for almost ten years. She had no children and lived in relative seclusion. Her possessions were retaken by the State upon her death and whatever she owned is probably in a museum now. It rules her out."
"Shouldn't all women be ruled out?" Dipper asked.
"No because," Ford paused and tapped another button to showcase Josephine Hirsch. "Miss Hirsch is the sister of one of the men on the list Soos made. The document doesn't state what she brought back but it's from Northern Europe and was used for rituals. We'll need to investigate her and her brother but, more importantly, we need to know what it was she brought back."
They nodded and the next person to take over the monitors was Maria Morgan.
"I'm sure you've at least heard of her, Dipper." He said and the boy had.
"She runs an antique store in Gravity Falls." He said and frowned, "But most of her things date back to the eighteen-hundreds at most. She generally only sells things from the Victorian era."
"She also collects oddities." Ford said and pressed another key which displayed several documents with barred out sections and blacked out pictures, "She's been on many trips around the world but mostly to Europe. Almost every time she returned, she brought something else with her. What's more, it's stated she fancies occult relics above all and," he pressed another button to reveal a police file, "an old dagger of hers was stolen."
Dipper flinched and from the corner of his eye he saw Bill stiffen. The police report contained the picture of the obsidian dagger the two had seen in their dream. Memories of the nightmare, of the Warlock slashing Bill's throat, and the black colour of his blood in the moonlight flashed in Dipper's mind. He shut his eyes and willed his mind to think of other things. He rather not remember the horrible images the Warlock had shown him that night.
"That's…that's the dagger…" Bill muttered unevenly.
Ford frowned and flanked at the picture, "Considering how much the item is worth," he said, "the police have attempted to track it down if only because Ms Morgan promised them a supplementary reward. I accessed their findings so we could continue with the investigation ourselves."
They nodded. Mabel looked at Bill and then took his hand, offering him a comforting smile. He didn't return the friendly gesture though he did hold her hand a bit more tightly in his.
"Robert Chang," Ford continued, "collector of the occult as well. He's got multiple items – most of them are from Asia or the Middle East but some of them are from Europe. He's a potential Warlock suspect."
"Oh hey, I heard about that guy." Stan said after a moment, "Yeah, Tad gossips about him a lot. He sounds like a real tool. You know what he does? He invites a bunch of people over for parties to show off his expensive stuff just to rub it in their faces."
"Maybe he invited the Warlock at some point." Mabel said. "If he isn't it, of course."
"He filed no reports of stolen objects." Ford informed.
"I don't think the guy would have noticed." Stan said, "Apparently he's got too many things to keep track of."
"Another thing to investigate." Dipper sighed. Their work load was growing but, as tedious as it was, at least they had something to do and it would eventually lead them to answers.
"Sydney Valentine." Ford continued, "She inherited an ancient artifact from her late husband's side of the family shortly after his death. Seeing as it was already in the family line long before a system keeping track of these historic items was created let alone the United States, the only thing the database had were clippings of articles and letters discussing the item. Recently, a museum approached her with a large sum of money for the object in question, but she refused. Though she's widowed, she has three sons – one of which is married and has children."
"Do they still live in Gravity Falls?" Mabel asked.
"Only the youngest." Ford said and switched to his picture, "He's about Wendy's age – a little older, I think."
Dipper's heart skipped a beat when his crush's name was mentioned.
"Lastly, we have Theodore McGee." Ford finished and switched to the man's picture. "He's in his late forties and is friends with a few of the men we had on our list. Like most of the others, he went to Europe and brought back a little piece of history."
"So we've got a lot to keep track of." Dipper concluded, "There's the investigation concerning the stolen dagger as well as all the people linked to the men and women you just listed."
"We're going to have to start going back outside." Mabel noted grimly, clearly uncomfortable at the prospect.
"I've already got ideas on how to go about it." Ford reassured, "I'll continue with the police's investigation concerning the obsidian dagger while you, Dipper, and Stan look into Hirsch, Valentine, and McGee. I don't want any of you operating alone. It could be dangerous."
"Safety in numbers…" Mabel mumbled.
"What about me?" Bill asked.
"You stay here." Ford said, "We can't risk you leaving the ward's protection, not even for a second."
"You're going to leave me alone?" He frowned in displeasure.
"You'll be fine." Ford assured and tapped a few keys before the screens closed simultaneously, "The ward will protect you."
"I don't want to be alone." The blond said.
"Well it's not like I can stay with you." Ford responded a bit too dryly.
"Can't or won't?" Bill practically glared.
The sudden tension that arose was practically palpable. Dipper felt uncomfortable as much as he felt confused. Though he rather not have known his Great Uncle and Bill had recently had sex, he did so didn't that mean the two were well on their way to start dating again? Sure, Ford had mentioned the two needed to have a serious talk about things, but why would that halt their relationship's progression?
"One of us can take turns staying with him." Mabel suggested after a moment, and she gestured herself, Grunkle Stan, and Dipper. "I mean, it won't make a difference if we're three or two."
"Fine." Ford said dismissively and stood from his chair. "I'll start investigating the dagger immediately. The rest of you should think of starting soon as well."
He left without the slightest glance in the ex-demon's direction. For a moment, they stood there, amidst a technologically impressive set up with dumbfounded and confused expressions on their faces. Bill glared at the door through which Ford had so recently left. Dipper saw sadness begin to seep into his golden orbs before he dropped them to the ground and pinched his lips together.
"What was that all about?" Mabel asked.
Stan sighed deeply and rubbed the back of his neck. He looked at Bill for a brief second before declaring: "I'll go talk to him" and leaving.
The twins listened as he climbed the stairs and waited until Stan reached the top before turning their attention to Bill.
"So what's going on?" Mabel asked.
"I thought you two were good." Dipper added.
"No, not really." Bill huffed and raised his gaze. "Sixer loves making things unnecessarily complicated."
"What do you mean?" Dipper asked.
"He said that…what we did after the party…" he explained slowly and the twins were grateful he spared them the details, "…he said it was a mistake."
"Aww, Bill." Mabel said and went to give him a hug, "Why would he say something like that?"
"I don't know," the ex-demon said, "He said he drank too much and it was a heat of the moment decision; that under different circumstances we wouldn't have, you know."
"But the fact that he still did means he must have felt something for you, right?" Dipper asked.
"That's what I said to him." The blond continued, "And his response was that his feelings are wrong. He just can't get over the things I did four years ago and thirty years before."
In a sense, Ford couldn't be blamed for that. Bill had betrayed him and later had tried to destroy the world. It wasn't something one could easily overlook and yet, Dipper and Mabel had been able to do so. Perhaps it was because they hadn't been hurt as badly as their Great Uncle had – it wasn't like they dated the ex-demon only to be betrayed later. From the first moment they met Bill, they had known he was a demon and hadn't been duped not even for a second. That being said, the two had been quite scared of him four years ago what with the threat he once posed as. But that fear had long since dissipated because, at least on Dipper's end, he had let go of what could have happened. The world could have ended four years ago but it hadn't. They were okay – disregarding their current predicament – and Bill was powerless to continue his reign of terror not to mention he seemed to lack the motivation to do so anyways.
"That sucks." Dipper sighed, "I mean, I get where he's coming from but it still sucks."
"Maybe he just needs more time." Mabel suggested hopefully and rubbed Bill's arm softly and soothingly, "What you said showed he does like you the same way you like him, Grunkle Ford just needs a little more time to digest everything."
"Why do the two of you care?" Bill asked and he seemed perplexed. "I know I asked before but…I don't get it…I don't get why you don't feel the same way as Sixer or even Fez."
Mabel and Dipper exchanged looks.
"I mean…we're friends, aren't we?" Mabel said first and Bill looked at them in disbelief.
"We know." Dipper smirked because he found Bill's astonishment rather amusing, "If someone would have told us we would think of you as our friend in the future, we wouldn't have believed them."
"But…even after everything…?" He asked incredulously.
"I guess the way we see it is like this," Dipper shrugged, "We can either cling to the past…"
"Or we can move on." Mabel smiled. "So we decided to move on."
"Granted I did take a bit more time than she did." Dipper admitted, gesturing his sister.
"People change." Mabel said, "For better or for worse, people change."
"But I'm not people." Bill said.
"You are now." She said, "And you've changed. You've changed a lot."
"You're still of a dick sometimes." Dipper added, "But you have a sort of verbal filter and you don't say as many mean things either. You're not the same as you were four years ago."
Bill huffed and looked away. He wasn't exactly smiling but his lips curved slightly upwards.
"Anyways," Mabel said, "Who do you want to stay with you today?"
"I'll do it." Dipper said before the blond could answer, "You haven't gone outside in a long time."
They looked at Bill and expected him to weigh in. He seemed surprised.
"It's fine with me." He shrugged.