Chapter Twenty-One

"How's it end?"

Not Pacifica sat her sunglasses down on Dipper's desk, along with his notebook. "I'd really like to know," she hissed, her voice fading into an empty, echoing version of what Pacifica's had once been. "Does the hero defeat the villain, or do things take a more... interesting turn?" She reached into the purse that dangled from her shoulder and pulled out a gleaming handgun. Dipper didn't flinch, watching through disdainful eyes as it was held up and pointed at him.

"Where'd you get that?" he questioned, keeping his head high even when a blood curdling click informed him that she'd turned off the safety.

Not Pacifica shrugged, grinning manically at him. Her smile spread farther than what Dipper had believed possible, and her teeth almost looked too sharp to be human. "Might I remind you that your uncle owns ten of these things. It wasn't hard to get my hands on one," she remarked, a hand on her hip.

Dipper took a deep breath, forcing his gaze to remain level with hers. "Where's Bill?" This time it was less a question and more so a demand.

It probably wasn't wise of him to have such a tone with someone pointing a gun at him though. Not Pacifica's brow arched upwards, and her grin faltered angrily. "Watch yourself, Dipper," she growled, lips pursed. "And anyway, he's not here. I sent him after that Beth girl with some dumb story. After everything that's happened, did you really think it'd be that easy to spot me? Beth? Elizabeth? Now that'd be too easy. He must be braindead to believe something like that." She laughed and Dipper grit his teeth.

"It's kinda funny though. This entire time, he's been baiting me. And all the while he never realized how easily I could do the same to him," Elizabeth remarked, amusement evident in her hollow voice.

Dipper's heart was beating wildly. "What do you mean?" All he could do was interrogate her at this point. Maybe she'd give something away he could use against her.

Elizabeth hummed. "Did you really never notice? The metal plate, the deal with Stanford, the desperation. All of it was some reverse psychological bullshit and he actually thought I'd fall for it. He always thinks he has the answer. But he doesn't anymore," she went on with a horrific expression. "I do."

Dipper resisted the urge to ask her what the deal with Ford had been, but he held it back. Picking his words correctly was top priority. "Well if that's the case, what do you need me for?" he went on, his leg moving backwards in a subtle way, motion slow and deliberate. He went rigid however when Elizabeth held her hand high in the air and pulled the trigger. An ear-splitting bang stopped him in his tracks, and he tried not to react at all when dust and a small amount of rubble fell to the ground in front of him.

"That's easy," Elizabeth purred, lowering her arm once again. "Stanford would resist me easily in this form. He'd probably kill me, no hesitation. Bill, too, so using him wouldn't matter much. Oh, but you~" She laughed, a high pitched cackling, her free hand over her mouth. "You were always Stanford's favorite. He'd try to kill me, but in the end, he wouldn't be able to do it, and I'd use the same method to make him rebuild the portal as I'm about to use on you now. Because - like I said - I don't have any use for Pacifica." The she-demon shrugged, pulling back her hand to press the cold metal of the gun to her temple. Dipper's eyes widened in terror.

"But you love her dearly, don't you? And oh! The look on your sister's face if she ever found the love of her life dead!" She gestured a hand and spoke melodramatically. "Just knowing it was your fault, too... I could hardly imagine the pain she'd feel. Barely able to look you in the eye. Horrible thought, isn't it? And you've already done her so much wrong."

Dipper clenched his jaw, body shaking violently with rage. He let his eyes fall to the floor. "So you want to possess my body?" he spat, looking back up at her with fire in his gaze.

Elizabeth placed her free hand on her hip. "Oh, no! I've learned from Bill's mistakes. He was far too kind to you then. Actually, we're going to become quite familiar with each other's company in a moment, assuming of course you take my offer," Elizabeth cooed, taking a step forward. "We're going to share that head of yours until I get what I want. Well, heh, share is a bit of a generous term. I'm going to occupy every deep, dark crevice of your mind to keep you in check while I do what I need to. Resist me, and it only gets more painful, believe me. And it's going to be excruciating, both in your physical and mental state. Deal?" She outstretched her free hand, smiling cheerfully at him.

"I mean, it's a small price to pay for the lives of your family, isn't it?"

Dipper felt tears prick at his eyes, but he shook his head. If he was going to go down, he'd go down with dignity. Silently, he stuck out his arm and took her hand, and in that instant he watched Pacifica's eyes return to normal and fill with horror just before she collapsed. Dipper felt he must've done the same, because everything went black, and a chill that hadn't been there prior touched his skin. And then it turned into a searing cold, which clung to his body and burned every inch of him. He screamed, or at least, he'd assumed he had. No sound could be heard at all, whether or not it came from him. Eerie, dead silence surrounded him as he struggled to keep himself on his feet. His body felt as if it were on fire, yet frozen, and he twitched from the agony it put him in. His brain seemed to be melting; he couldn't think straight. Blackness had poured into him, seeping into the deepest parts of his mind like tar. Elizabeth had said it'd only hurt more if he fought her, but he had no choice. There were only two options.

Find a way to push her out of his mind and live...

Or die trying.

"Oh, quit," Elizabeth's frustrated voice puffed, disembodied and foul, as usual. A staticky image of her eyes appeared over him, unblinking. "You're only slowing me down." The eyes narrowed into slits.

Dipper stared back at them for a few moments before an entirely new wave of agony crashed over him, and he wailed once again, silently. This time he fell from his feet and sputtered, trembling. He couldn't let her have his mind. Slowly, he pushed himself upwards and stumbled a few steps. "What are you trying to do, kill yourself?!" Elizabeth demanded, but her tone wavered.

Fearfully, in fact.

Dipper sneered at her glowing orb-like eyes, taking a couple more broken steps towards her. She seemed to move backwards just as much. He didn't even attempt speaking. It was useless. But he didn't need to. He'd figured something out about all of this. His human mind wasn't strong enough to house both himself and another being in its entirety for so long, especially while the Mindscape was in such a horrific state. But out of desperation, Elizabeth had risked it anyway. The Nightmare Realm was standing on its last leg, and if he could defeat her just one more time, then this mess was over. Everyone would be able to breathe again. if he just fought enough that his body went unconscious from it, then he'd be able to win this. But...

Stalling Elizabeth this way was sure to kill him.

Dipper could already feel himself falling apart at the seams, anguish overtaking his senses, but he put it aside. This was for his family. This was for the whole world. This was for Bill. And if he thought about it that way, then it was worth it in his eyes. Even if it cost him his life. Even if it would hurt the people he loved. "You cocky little - I won't let you take what's MINE!" Elizabeth screeched, and Dipper never would have guessed had he not felt it, but she leapt at him.

He couldn't see her, but he felt himself be knocked down. He felt her clawed hands at his throat. He felt her eyes boring into his own.

"You made us pass out, you little brat!" she hissed, shaking him, as if to rouse him from slumber. But he barely felt it against the sensation of her nails piercing into the skin of his neck. "But you know what? That's fine. If I can't get what I want, then you'll suffer with me, and isn't that exactly what you were aiming for?" She grinned widely, and Dipper was almost certain he'd heard the smallest crack where her hands were. "At least I have the satisfaction of seeing you die first, and poor Bill's left all alone." She must have come closer, because Dipper felt her frozen breath touch his cheek. "Because spoiler alert, kiddo, he was never dying to begin with."

Dipper choked, instinctively bringing up his hands to tug desperately at her wrists, but pain made him weak. He thrashed against her grip, writhing feebly. And when he was sure he was done for, a voice cut through the thick emptiness around him. "Pine Tree!" Bill shouted upon seeing him, darting to the brunette's side. Dipper was passed out with his left arm stretched towards the front door of the living room. The other was splayed out at his side. "Shit shit shit shit shit," Bill whispered, rushing to his side and hauling his boyfriend upwards. Beth, who had come with him, covered her mouth, horrified by the red scratches forming and reddening on his throat.

"You wouldn't happen to know any good exorcism incantations, would you?" Bill asked with as much of a light tone as he could manage, laying Dipper down on the couch as gently as possible. It wouldn't matter now, even if that were the case. Exorcism was no good when the demon took control without blatant force. Beth just shook her head at him, expression filled with worry. Bill closed his eyes, which still burned terribly, and took a deep breath. He needed to calm himself. He needed to be in a stable mental state if he wanted to fix this. There was a groan from the other room, and the voice was certainly feminine. Bill turned to look towards the hallway just when Pacifica trudged out of his room, her head in her hands. When she looked up and her eyes landed on Dipper passed out and Bill with genuine fear in his eyes, a horrible pang of guilt overcame her.

This was all her fault..

Or at least, it felt that way.

She exhaled softly, somberly, pulling her phone from her pocket. "Sh-should I call everyone and tell them what's happening?" she asked in a saddened tone, unable to meet his broken gaze.

There was a short moment of silence. "No.." he breathed, glancing between her and Beth, who was staring at the ground. It didn't seem like she wanted to make any comments. It wasn't her place now to be sympathetic. Bill shook his head and sat down on the floor beside Dipper. "Hey, kid.. Are you putting up a good fight in there?" he asked quietly, the words barely audible. Beth wouldn't have heard them had she not focused herself with listening and not talking.

Bill looked down. "You'd better be," he whispered, cracking the most pitiful smile Pacifica had ever seen. She looked over at Beth, who tipped her head towards the door. It seemed they'd both had the same idea. This wasn't their moment, and as much as Pacifica wanted to be with her friend, she'd let Bill have his time. She stepped quietly towards the exit and slipped out the door. Beth followed behind her, giving him one last look before leaving him to speak.

Without them there to see him, Bill practically fell to pieces. He wrapped his fingers around one of Dipper's wrists, taking comfort in the feeling of a pulse against his palm. The sting in his eyes was different then, something he'd seen others do but never experienced himself. Part of him never wanted to, so he blinked a couple times to keep it at bay. "Don't do this to me, kid.. Please. Not here, not now..." he pleaded, voice weak and trembling. "Not ever." Bill choked.

Dipper didn't stir.

The only indication of life in him at all was the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of his chest, along with the steady beat of his pulse. "You can't die like this. I won't - I won't let you. Not after everything you've been through. This can't be what ends your story, Pine Tree. Please!" Desperation filled his tone, and the sting of his eyes felt irreversible. His vision was blurred, and his face went hot. He bit the inside of his cheek.

Bill took in a long, shuddering breath. A few moments passed. He chuckled dryly, the beginnings of an emptiness rooting itself in his stomach. "D-do you remember a few months ago... The day we drove to the edge of town? And we sat on the hood of your car." Bill sniffed, barely holding himself together. "When I got all quiet, I-" He sobbed, and a couple tears escaped him.

"When I stopped talking it was because I was about to tell you I love you," he admitted, closing his eyes. Silence ate away at him in the seconds after saying it, but it hardly mattered. "I should have told you then, honestly. But... I had this thought, and it really stuck with me. I thought it wouldn't matter, because I was gonna be dead soon anyway, whether it was my powers or the she-demon or.. or whatever. I thought I'd only hurt you more by telling you." He let go of Dipper's wrist to cover his eyes with his hands. "Why didn't I just fucking say it then?" he questioned aloud, angry with himself.

His whole world was lying unconscious on the couch and it was all because of Bill's own terrible decisions. "I set it all up to be the one where you are now, Pine Tree. I wanted it to be me, if it had to be anyone at all. I didn't see any other solution to this. She'd get one of us eventually, I knew. But it never should have been you. The first noble thing I've ever done, and it - heh - it blew up in my face..." Bill forced out his words, shaking his head. "And now you're dying because she caught onto me. I'm so sorry for this... I'm sorry you're in this mess right now. I'm sorry I never said I loved you."

Bill's shoulders trembled. "I'm sorry I ever asked to make a deal with you in the first place... If I could take it back, I would."

He brought a hand back up, this time to intwine his fingers with the brunette's. "It's not even fair... You've got so much more waiting for you. Shooting Star, Blondie, Sixer, Fez. All of them love you, and all of them need you," he murmured, sniffling.

"I love you.. I need you."

Once again, Dipper didn't respond, not that Bill had expected him to. He just scoffed, that void in him seeming to grow ever larger. He felt as if he were dead himself. "And let's be real here, you'd get over me eventually. You'd sulk and feel sad for a while, probably a few years. You're so damn stubborn. But... you'd pick yourself up eventually, even if it was hard. You'd find yourself someone else, someone better. Way better, I'm sure. And you'd finish that novel of yours." That thought in itself was heartbreaking. Dipper had gotten so close to the end. And now he'd never finish it. Bill was unsure whether he'd be able to do it for him. It'd hurt to much to even look at. Bill sobbed pitifully once again. "Everything would be as it should be."

He couldn't be sure, but Bill was almost certain he'd felt Dipper's pulse against his skin slacken. He sighed. "I guess that was idealistic of me to assume, huh? I mean, life would go on as usual for you. At least, after you kicked yourself back into gear. But I can't do that. I don't... I don't function normally without you. I'm lost. I'm broken. And I need your guidance and saintly patience or else I won't be able to go on," Bill continued, his voice weak. "Kid, the other day I got excited because I finally brewed some fucking coffee without burning myself, and that's just because I watched Pacifica do it. If you're not there to help me through things, then I lose myself in them." He sounded utterly defeated, and he was. He was crushed. If Elizabeth had wanted him to return to the state of complete emptiness he'd been in as a demon, then she'd done it. There was nothing left of him but anguish.

"I'm not cut out to be a human. I'm not cut out for this kind of existence, but when I'm with you... I feel like maybe it'll work anyway. Like maybe we'll make it work out of our combined persistence. Because even when I'm a pain in your ass and things get difficult you still somehow work hard enough to keep us both afloat. And god, I love that about you." Continuing to talk was all he could do to keep himself from screaming. The pain he felt in his head and eyes was nothing in comparison to this. Had he known sadness - true sadness - was actually physically agonizing, then he never would have underestimated its power.

Dipper's pulse had noticeably weakened, and Bill placed his other hand on the brunette's chest. His suspicions were confirmed; Dipper's body was shutting down. There was barely even a heartbeat to be found.

This story was nearing its finale, it seemed.

Bill figured he'd better make these last few words count.

"You know... I always knew that your eyes dilate when you're looking at someone you love. But I never knew you felt it happen," he said in a shattered voice. "I never knew that people could be so content just looking at another person as they speak. I never knew you could be so invested in the words being said that you somehow forget to respond. I never knew it felt so goddamn good to dedicate your entire existence to someone else. Until I did it myself..."

Dipper's life was barely detectable anymore.

Bill didn't try to stop the tears that trailed down his cheeks anymore. "But everything I've done since I took this form... It's all been for you."

There was no feeling from the brunette's hand in his.

"Dipper... Please."

But it didn't matter.

The story was over.