Ford's Nightmare

SUMMARY: Ford needs to go to sleep after being up all night once again, but when nightmares haunt him he starts to fear that someone may be returning that is potentially worse than Bill Cipher.

MAIN CHARACTERS: Stanford Pines and Mabel Pines

No matter how many times he could say to himself that Bill was gone, that he was dead, the thoughts of the dream demon still haunt him in his sleep.

Ford barely wanted to sleep, just like he had in the past, he didn't want to see Bill again. Even though Bill was gone and can no longer try to rule the universe, Ford still saw him every night in his nightmares. That laugh was something he could never forget, and sometimes he still hears it when he is alone with his thoughts.

He sat in his lab in the basement, tinkering with one of his experiments, a loud yawn escapes from him. He rubs his eyes absently, thinking that he would need some sleep soon. He checks his watch and sees the time, seeing that it was almost five in the morning. It was the weekend so…

Ford goes into one of the drawers and finds one of his sedatives. His hand curls around it and puts it in his jacket pocket. He finishes whatever he was doing and puts it away, him yawning loudly as he took the elevator upstairs. Like every night he goes and checks on the family, making sure that everyone was alright.

Stan was snoring away on his small twin bed, a magazine on his chest, and his dentures in the glass next to him. Ford gives a small smile and shuts the door, him glancing at the stairs. He ascends them, getting to the attic and finding the decent sized room that the twins shared. Inside Mabel was curled up with Waddles, her hair fanning out on the pillow beneath her. Pacifica shared the bed with Mabel, her more towards the wall, Ford honestly forgetting that the girl was spending the night. Dipper was sitting in his bed, leaned against the wall, his mouth was open and he was snoring, his glasses askew on his face. In the boy's hand was a journal and a pen, a flashlight in the other.

Curious, Ford goes in the room and gently pries the journal from Dipper's hand. He slowly reads it, seeing that the journal was filled with nightmares and memories of what had happened, making his heart sink when he was reading the parts in full detail on people getting killed. Ford gives a shaky sigh, setting the book and pen on the nightstand next to Dipper. He took off Dipper's glasses and sets it on the book and takes the flashlight, turning it off. Ford gently moves Dipper into a laying position and puts the covers over him, but as he moved his great nephew a shining blue caught his eye.

While moving Dipper a blue object on a cord had slipped out from underneath his shirt. Trying not to disturb the slumbering teenager, Ford softly removed the object form around Dipper's neck. It was a necklace, the stone a glittering blue pine tree and framed with some kind of silver metal, and the cord was made of some kind of leather.

"Grunkle Ford…?" a soft voice whispered behind him. Ford turns around and sees his great niece. "What are you doing here so late… early…? Both?" she asked.

"Sorry, sweetie," Ford whispers back. "I didn't mean to wake you…" he then shows her the necklace. "Do you know what this is?"

Mabel nods and gestures for him to go in the main part of the attic with her. He follows and shuts the door behind him softly. Mabel then goes to the seated window sill, the window triangular with the inner metal design making a circle in the center. It honestly looked a like Bill Cipher…

"Where did you get this at, Mabel?" Ford asks her, his voice still soft but no longer a whisper.

"The pixies," Mabel replies, her voice the same. "They gave it to me, saying that it will help Dipper."

Ford raises a gray eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he questions.

Mabel enlightens, "They said that Dipper's memories will come back… there is no stopping it… so the stone will help him cope better. And I think it's working… he has this journal, but he doesn't know that I read it, and him writing it down because he is remembering is helping him not have his… episodes."

"Episodes…?"

"Well… his last 'episode' I seen was the Shack when we came back from the grove," Mabel says. "Pacifica said during her and Dipper's date he had a sudden episode that he remembered killing her parents, but she calmed him down fairly quickly… I think the stone is helping him."

Ford pinches the corners of his eyes underneath his glasses. "But… what do you mean those memories are coming back?" he then asks, his voice shaking.

Mabel gives a sad smile. "He got his good memories back… which means eventually the bad will come back too. McGucket regained all his memories after years of using that memory gun on himself… it just took a little while. You can't have the good without the bad and vice versa." She whispers softly.

Ford's eyes gazed at her, thinking how mature sounding she was. For the first time it made his heart ache thinking that the girl was growing up, that she wasn't the twelve-year-old girl that ate ice cream on the floor with her pet pig. She was growing up… she had a serious boyfriend, she was smart and was most likely going to go into a good school… and…

"Grunkle Ford…? Are you crying?" Mabel's voice asks, breaking his train of thought.

Ford removes his glasses and wipes his eyes. "No… I'm fine, sweetheart," he tells her as he puts them back on. "It's just… it's nothing…" he then hands her back the necklace. "Give this back to your brother and head back to bed… I'll see you later, okay?"

Mabel grips the necklace. "Are you finally going to bed, Grunkle Ford?" she asks him, her voice a stern tone.

"Yeah…" Ford sighs sheepishly. "I'll see you in about eight hours, kiddo." He gives her hair a tussle and watches her go back into the bedroom part of the attic. Ford then goes back downstairs and goes down the short hallway to his bedroom.

He removes his trench coat after taking out the sedative and throws it over the back part of his couch that he used as a bed. With a sign he removes his muddy boots and tosses them to the side and he lies down on the couch, resting his head on the single pillow and pulls up the covers.

"Eight hours…" Ford mumbles. "Let's hope it actually works this time…" he then removes the cap of the sedative, revealing a needle. Ford uses his fingers to find a good vein on his opposite wrist and injects the sedative into himself. A few minutes pass and his eyes begin to flutter shut, and soon he goes comatose.

His dreams were fuzzy, but one thing always clear. A shrill cackle that seemed to echo within his mind. Eyes open around him, revealing the slit, black pupil. There was then a deep chuckle, something that sent shivers up Ford's sleeping form.

Hello again… Stanford…

Ford bolts upright, his heart beating rapidly, almost seemingly like it would burst out of his chest. He darts his brown eyes around him, trying to find the course of that voice. It wasn't Bill's voice… it was something much… darker.

Ford checks his watch, seeing that only four hours had passed, but he knew he couldn't go back to sleep. He gets up and starts pacing around the room, trying to comprehend what his nightmare was.

He can't be returning… can he?

But it wasn't Bill Cipher he was worried about…

A/N: If you guys have been reading Beyond the Portal I think we know who is starting to haunt Ford's nightmares now...

And soon about Dipper...

Thanks for reading as always!

~Skye Hendersen~