Author's Note: Forgot to upload this one. Plus the app isn't working too good for me right now. Hopefully I'll get this finished in the near future .

Chapter 3: Deal With the Devil

Mabel was tearing into some waffles and discreetly feeding Waddles under the table. The pig in question gobbled them up eagerly.

Grunkle Stan was flipping through the paper and sipping on some coffee. The teen got a grunt of acknowledgement as he passed by to pick up a plate and fill it with waffles.

He glanced around for the syrup only to find it under one of Waddle's legs and covered in what looked like pig drool.

He scrunched up his nose in disgust and decided he would rather take them dry.

Sitting down he started to dig into his waffles as Mabel polished off her own breakfast.

She stood up and beamed at him.

"Make sure you and Grunkle Ford get some actual sunlight today, bro bro, don't stay down in the lab all day like vampires!"

She paused for a moment and gave him a once over.

"Also, you might want to take a nap or something, you look like a raccoon with those eyes!"

"Will do," he said, rolling his eyes at being babied. He self consciously rubbed at the apparent shadows beneath his eyes.

Candy and Greta were coming over today, the duo having left late last night to gather things for today's excursion. They were going out into the forest together for a hike. Mabel had made these plans over the phone before they had even gotten on the bus to Gravity Falls.

Dipper's own plans today included reading over Ford's research notes. He was itching to get a hold of them and look them over.

Plus, he would add stepping outside and getting some much needed vitamin D and fresh air to his list. Lest he bring on the wrath of Mabel.

Polishing off his own breakfast he made his way over to the elevator just as Mabel rushed out the door of the Shack to meet with her friends.

Ford frowned when Dipper entered his lab, the older man giving him a once over.

"What?" Dipper asked, confused and a little self conscious.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Ford poured a cup of coffee for the teen and handed it to him which the brown-haired boy took gratefully.

"Of course?" he said, sipping at the still piping hot liquid. Did he look that bad?

"Did you just answer a question with a question?"

"No?" he shook his head and rubbed at his eyes as he sat the cup of coffee on a surprisingly clear worktable. A rush of exhaustion tugged at him and he belatedly realized that, yes, he was still tired despite having an almost full night of sleep. It was strange. He had ran perfectly fine on less sleep than this in the past. "Guess I didn't sleep as well as I thought."

His great uncle's eyes lingered on him a moment longer before he cleared his throat and nodded.

"Yes, well, hopefully tonight you will get some better rest," Ford said with a small smile and went to pick up his research notes to hand to Dipper.

The teenager took them and sat in one of the rickety old stools. Reading through the notes his brows slowly rose to his hairline as he sipped at his coffee.

Once he was through he carefully placed the notes down along with his now empty cup.

"Well?"

"It seems...strange," he started and pursed his lips in thought. "I mean, warps in the environment don't seem right since Bill was defeated. We'd be seeing more of the Nightmare Realm bleeding over right? Since coming here I haven't seen anything too unusual, but with the way you've written this it seems like there have been tears?"

"Yes, but they close up almost as soon as they appear," Ford said and grabbed another piece of paper. "They are not random either…"

"What do you mean?"

Ford's mouth was stretched into a grim line as he handed over a paper with only a few notes jotted down. The ink appears to have just dried.

"At first they appeared to be random," he started. "But then I realized something, they were following a pattern…"

"What kind of pattern?"

"That's the problem I am having at the moment," he said, running his hand through his hair and adjusting his glasses. "I was hoping a fresh perspective would help me figure it out. The tears show up in the same places at the same time before disappearing, but why?"

Dipper skimmed the notes again. Some of the portals would appear nearby soon.

"Mind if we go take a look?" he asked, itching to get outside and see one for himself. At Ford's nod the teen made his way toward the elevator along with his great uncle.

Looks like he would be getting some fresh air after all. Two birds, one stone, and no disapproving Mabel look.

Their first stop was, well, the bus stop. Ford's notes mentioned that the rip would appear here for a few seconds before disappearing.

The next one they managed to get to right as it opened, Ford's notes said that this portal stayed open a little longer than the others, and Dipper, against his better judgement, picked up a stick and walked over to see if he could touch the portal with it.

Something in the back of Dipper's mind tugged and he rubbed at his eye as a wave of sleepiness washed over him.

The teen staggered back a few paces as that feeling seemed to multiply.

"Dipper?" Ford took a step toward him, concerned.

"I-I'm alright," he insisted, but neither of them were convinced. "I jus need to s...sit down…"

"Dipper!"

Ford caught him as he collapsed and as his eyes closed the last thing he saw was his great uncle's worried face..

--

Dipper's eyes snapped open and his memories came flooding back. He rubbed his head at the sudden influx of memories that filled in the blank spots from last night.

"Bill!' he called out, brow furrowed in agitation. Where did that dream demon get off forcing him to sleep like that?

He swallowed thickly as a more concerning thought surfaced.

How did he force him to sleep?

"Right here," the dream demon called, and his brow was furrowed. "Couldn't help but listen in there, Pine Tree. Looks like Sixer is already on the case, eh?"

"What are you talking about Bill?"

"Those tears aren't normal, kid," Bill drawled, floating closer to Dipper, beginning to invade his personal space. "And it was a good thing I knocked you out before you touched that portal. Geez, kid, do you have no survival instincts?"

The teen took a step back, but managed to roll his eyes in irritation.

"And what, you thought it would be a good idea to drag me away right now when I'm talking to Ford? Do you have a death wish?"

The dream demon ignored him, much to the teen's chagrin.

"We don't have time for this, kid, we need to make a deal, right now."

"And if I refuse?" Dipper had asked him.

If Bill had a mouth there was no doubt in Dipper's mind that he would be sneering. The temperature seemed to drop a couple of degrees as the light around them dimmed. His voice cut through the silence of the mindscape like a hot knife through butter. "You think I want your help, kid?"

"Doesn't seem like it," Dipper said, crossing his arms and cocking a brow. Though he kept an outer nonchalant facade, internally the teenager was starting to panic. He was alone with Bill, the very same dream demon that had planned on murdering his sister and casting a whole dimension into a chaotic hellscape for fun. And though he was obviously powerless, his haggard state confirmed as much, he was still dangerous. The teen swallowed, throat dry. "But you need it."

The sound Bill made was caught somewhere between the wail of a small child and the hiss of an angry cat. The glare he leveled at Dipper had his throat constricting in near panic and it took everything he had not to take a step back in fear.

"You think I need you?" Bill flickered red as he practically spat out that sentence.

Steeling himself for the oncoming storm he lifted his chin and squared his shoulders.

"Why else would you come to me?" Dipper challenged.

Bill had lowered himself to the ground moments after Dipper's inquiry. Apparently floating was too much of an effort for him now. Placated, but only because he needed to play nice in order to get Dipper's help, the teen figured, the dream demon attempted to calm himself.

"Because there is no one else. Sixer wants me six feet under along with the rest of your miserable family, and my henchmaniacs are a whole other dimension away. What do you want, kid?" he tapped his foot irritably as he spoke the words.

"Leave my family, friends and this dimension alone," the laughter that bubbled up was cruel and this time Dipper took a step back reflexively.

"You ask for too much!" He wiped a tear of mirth away from his single eye, but Dipper would not back down. Though he felt queasy condemning some other dimension to Bill's whims, he had to think about this logically.

"I think I'm being reasonable here, Bill," and that had been the wrong thing to say. Despite being in the mindscape, despite his weakened state, the dream demon rounded on the teen too quickly for him to escape.

He was slammed into the ground. There was no pain, but heat. Uncomfortable heat. Like being without water on a hot, hot day and having to walk twenty miles to the nearest store just to find out that they were sold out.

The teen gasped reflexively. His tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth that was suddenly too dry.

"Reasonable?!" he screeched. "O-oh, that is rich, Pine Tree! Do you know how long, how long I've waited for this dimension? How much I fought for it just so I could have a bit of fun?! Countless, countless of those short, meaningless, slips of time you humans call a lifetime!"

Despite his lack of lungs the dream demon was panting harshly. The hands that were fisted into the collar of his shirt trembled with the effort.

Had this only been a physical approach Dipper could have probably shoved him off, but the heat that pressed in around him was so potent that he could barely twitch a finger.

"Like it or not kid, we need each other," Bill rasped. "But all I need from you...from you right now, is one, measly deal."

The heat was insistent and it was all the teen could think about. He wanted it to stop, needed it to stop.

"I'll do it...I'll take the deal," Dipper rasped. He needed water. His throat was so dry…

Spindly fingers let go of his collar and that simple action was like a long, cool drink of water. Dipper shuddered in relief.

Spent from his anger the dream demon, still unable to call on the ability to levitate, slid off of the teen's chest and to the ground with a soft thump.

"You're exhausting, kid," Bill rasped. A piece of him chipped further and looked dangerously close to falling off. "Utterly exhausting...What was I thinking, coming to you? But, that wasn't so bad, was it? I'm asking for so little here."

"But it's not little, Bill," Dipper said sitting up, his energy returned to him. Though the heat remained on the edge of his consciousness. By this point Bill was laying flat on his back. Eye half lidded and glancing lazily at the teen.

"Trust me kid, a whole dimension isn't really big at all in the grand scheme of things…"

"It is to me," he murmured. He was afraid he would draw the ire of the dream demon again, but surprisingly enough Bill looked thoughtful more than anything.

"So do we have a deal?" Bill asked, and weakly extended his hand.Dipper hesitated.

"What about my family?"

"If I get out of this kid, I promise not to kill them. Those the terms you want to work with? You help me, and I don't chop down-" he made a chopping motion with his arm that unsettled Dipper, "every last Pines?"

His hand shook as he extended it to take the offered hand. There were so many worse things out there than death, weren't there?

"Don't you hurt them, period," Dipper said with a lot more firmness than he felt. "O-Or my friends for that matter."

Bill chuckled softly, "The Pine Tree is made of harder material than I thought. Going to take their place, kid?"

His answer required no thought and he nodded his head, earning a raspy peal of laughter from the dream demon.

"You humans are so dramatic, it's great!" he wheezed. "Put 'er there, pal!"

He shuddered as he took Bill's hand.

Too weak the only thing that occurred initially was the spark of a blue flame before all at once it roared into a healthy blue blaze.

He wiggled his fingers and his eyelids curved in such a way it gave the impression of a fox after eating every hen in the hen house.

"You're too nice kid," he snickered, and for one horrible second Dipper thought he had doomed his family and entire dimension to Bill's whims. That it had all been a trick. Then, all at once Bill slipped to the floor and let out an exhausted sigh.

"Well, that deal helped restore some of my energy... it's a start."

Dipper sat up shakily and looked down at the dream demon. The fine hairline cracks that had littered his body earlier were nowhere to be seen and the bigger cracks had thinned some, though they were still present. Some of the sheen had even returned to the bricks that made up Bill's body, but he was still not glowing with his usual luster.

"We aren't out of the woods yet, kid," Bill sighed, sat up, and glanced up at the teen. "But, now we can't be disturbed."

"What do you mean…?" Dipper trailed off, uneasy.

"I wasn't done talking with you before Shooting Star woke you up," Bill drawled and took to the air, though not with the same amount of ease that he would have in his prime. "Now that I got some energy back I should be able to keep you asleep until our conversation is over."

"How am I going to explain what happened to Ford?" Dipper asked with a frown.

"That's your problem, kid," Bill said with an unusual amount of cheer. "Look, I won't keep ya for long, just got to explain your stakes in this."

"My stakes?"

Bill laughed.

"What, you think I'm the only one in trouble here?"