Once upstairs, Dipper started throwing clothes into a backpack he'd snatched up from the corner of his room. He didn't pay much attention to what he was grabbing; what did it matter if his clothes didn't match or if they weren't fresh from the laundry? This wasn't a vacation, it was essentially an evacuation. The brunet huffed a sharp exhale through his nose, grabbing a handful of clothes and shoving them into his bag.

"That's good enough," he grumbled. He felt restless and uneasy... More so than usual, that is. It seemed that the shock of recent events was finally wearing off, his splitting headache only mild thudding now, leaving him to belatedly process the car crash. Pyronica almost killed four people with little to no effort at all. 'A simple mayhem-type spell,' Bill had said. And Dipper knew from first-hand experience that Time Halt wasn't all that difficult to cast...

The teen shuddered, his spine prickling, the hairs on his neck standing on end. He'd been so caught up in rescuing Mabel that he'd almost forgotten why the demons kidnapped her in the first place. He'd been ready to give everything to get his sister back, even his own life, if it came down to it, but he'd forgotten... that's exactly what the demons want. They weren't just using Mabel to get Bill to complete his part of the deal, they were using her to try and get Dipper to show himself, to do something reckless enough that the deal fulfills itself. And Dipper had almost lead his entire family into the lions den with him...

Dipper pursed his lips. As harrowing as his revelation was, there was something else about it that didn't sit well with him...

Bill had said that deals between demons had to be completed verbatim, hadn't he? Then it would be a violation of the deal for Pyronica to try and kill him... wouldn't it?

Had she known that he would be able to resist the spell and get out of the way in time? And the falling tree; did she know that Bill would see it and cause the car to swerve? Or had she managed to find a loophole in the deal...

"Yo, Dipper!" Soos's voice startled the Mystery Twin out of his thoughts.

"Yeah?" he shouted back down to the handyman.

"You almost done? Mel and Wendy want to talk to you before you leave!" Soos called from the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh, uh, yeah! Hang on, just a second!" Dipper quickly ran to the bathroom and scooped some toiletries into his bag. He was pretty sure he'd at least grabbed his toothbrush and comb, so that was good enough for him. "Coming!"

The brunet hurried out of the bathroom and down the stairs, pausing a moment at the bottom to recover from the slight resurgence of vertigo his quick descent had caused. Once he had regained his sense of balance, he headed into the living room. The first thing he noticed was that neither Bill nor his great uncles were in the room. His nerves didn't quite like that fact...

Wendy was sitting in a chair by the table, a grimace on her face as she rolled her shoulder in slow circles. Pacifica was crouched beside her, muttering something as she applied some kind of ointment to the gash on the redhead's arm. Melody was sitting in Stan's reclining chair, repeatedly assuring a worried Soos that she was alright as Dr. Carson braced and bandaged her wrist. Wendy was the first one to notice Dipper when he entered the room.

"Hey, Dip!" she greeted, smiling at him. Dipper set his bag down by the doorway as Wendy's words alerted the others to his presence. Melody immediately got to her feet, despite Soos and Dr. Carson's protests.

"Oh, Dipper," she expressed, voice welling with emotion as she limped over to him, "I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened! Bill said it was a spell, but still..." She wrapped her arms around the brunet, squeezing him as tightly as she dared, her body still sore and bruised. "I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if anything had happened to any of you! I'm so sorry!" Dipper returned the hug before gently removing himself from her embrace.

"Melody, it's alright," he assured her with a small smile. "I'm fine, I promise." Melody nodded, seeming more relaxed as she let Soos lead her back to the chair. "Besides, it seems like you and Wendy got it worse than Pacifica and me," Dipper noted. "Are you guys alright?" Wendy dismissed her injuries with a wave of her hand and a light scoff.

"Nothing a little R&R can't fix," she declared. "Pretty much every inch of my body is sore," she admitted, grimacing as she repositioned herself in her chair, "but I've got a wicked bruise from the seatbelt. It's pretty sick looking, all red, green, blue, purple... Wanna see?" Dipper shook his head a little too quickly. He could already see part of the bruise peaking out from the collar of her shirt, and it alone was enough to stir up his still unsettled stomach.

"Uh, no thanks," he declined, making Wendy laugh. "I'm still kinda nauseous from... whatever it was that I did." The redhead shrugged as Pacifica finished bandaging the gash on her arm.

"That's fair enough, man," she allowed. Dipper turned back to Melody.

"What about you? How are you holding up?" he asked. Melody nodded, smiling, her un-bandaged hand in Soos's hand, the kind-hearted male standing dutifully beside her.

"Sprained my wrist and did something to my leg, I think, but other than that, just general bruising and soreness," she reported. "We're going to be alright." Dipper nodded, subconsciously looking around, curious where his gruncles and Bill were.

"Are you sure you're okay, Dipper?" Dr. Carson pressed. "Bill said you did magic, that you resisted the counter-curse he placed on you. That's incredibly dangerous, you know. Performing magic under circumstances like that can have lasting detrimental effects, if you're not careful. You should at least let me do a quick examination to make sure you're alright." Dipper tried not to get irritated with the doctor, as she was only looking out for him, but he was tired of being lectured on the dangers of magic. He was pretty sure he knew what it could do, considering it almost killed him last year.

"Thanks, Doc, but I'm good. At the most, a little dizzy and a bit of a headache, but it's already going away. I'll be completely better by night, I'm sure of it," he insisted, picking up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Dr. Carson seemed like she wanted to keep arguing, but Pacifica placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her head slightly, so she simply smiled and nodded. "Speaking of night," Dipper continued, glancing out the window, "it's starting to get late. Where are Stan, Ford, and Bill?"

"Oh shoot, dude!" Soos exclaimed suddenly, startling everyone in the room. "Stan's out front dealing with the car and the porch! I was totally supposed to help him once Melody got patched up. Thanks for reminding me, dude!" The handyman gave his girlfriend a quick kiss on the cheek and Dipper a pat on the back before he took off out the door. Well that answers part of my question, Dipper thought to himself with a small chuckle.

"Ford said he had something he needed to talk to Bill about," Pacifica spoke up. "I think they went into the gift shop?" Dipper nodded and thanked her. He exchanged brief farewells with everyone then headed into the gift shop to find the scientist and dream demon.

He entered the vacant room just in time to see Stanford step out of the secret doorway hidden behind the vending machine, followed shortly by the blond chaos god. Dipper furrowed his brow, as curious as he was confused as to why the two of them had been there. Bill smiled when he saw Dipper, but his eyes didn't seem to hold the same expression.

"Perfect timing, Pine Tree," he remarked. "If you're all packed and ready, we should head out. It's harder to see falling trees and runaway cars in the dark," he chuckled, but again, Dipper noticed that it didn't seem genuine. The brunet's lips curled into a frown, an eyebrow raised.

"What did you guys talk about that required a trip to the lab?" he inquired. Ford huffed, brushing past the dream demon without looking at him to approach his great nephew.

"There are more things to threaten him with down there," he grumbled. Dipper gave him a sharp look, but the scientist brushed it off. "I'm just looking out for you, Dipper. Stay safe, alright? We'll meet up again soon once we know the demons have lost your trail." Ford drew Dipper in for a hug, surprising the brunet for a moment before he returned the embrace. The older male pulled away after another heartbeat and gave Dipper a half-smile. The scientist and Bill exchanged an indecipherable glance, then Ford said his farewell and left the room. Dipper turned to Bill.

"Did he really threaten you?" he asked, his tone a strange mix of concern and skepticism. Bill shrugged indifferently.

"Ah, you know ol' Sixer," was his response. "In his defense, I guess I did kinda use him to try and break into this dimension a while ago... so, ya know, maybe he's a bit justified." Dipper frowned at him, brow furrowed, trying to read the unspoken words in his eyes. Bill turned his head, not meeting the brunet's gaze.

"Come on, we should get going," the dream demon advised, the smile gone from his face when he thought Dipper couldn't see.

"No, hold on," Dipper protested, grabbing Bill's shoulder and turning him around. He held the blond by both shoulders, peering into his eyes with a worried look. "Something's wrong. Something's been wrong since this morning, hasn't it," he asserted. Bill scoffed, placing his hands over Dipper's and removing them from his shoulders.

"Nonsense," he declared, lacing his fingers with Dipper's and planting a kiss on the back of the brunet's hand. The Mystery Twin shook his head, pulling his hands away.

"No, stop it," he insisted, "just... tell me the truth. What's bothering you?" Bill seemed to hesitate, and for a moment, Dipper thought maybe he'd finally gotten through to him. Please... no more secrets... no more lies... The dream demon shook his head with a smile.

"Nothing, Dipper, I promise. I'm fine," he maintained. His words pierced Dipper's heart with a sharp edge and the teen resisted the urge to flinch. "The only thing bothering me is how much time we're wasting! So come on, let's go! I'll carry your bag," Bill continued. Dipper allowed the blond to slide his bag off of his shoulder and sling it onto his own. He followed a few steps behind Bill as the dream demon lead the way out the back door, a cold feeling in his chest.

He tried to assure himself that Bill just didn't realize what he was doing, that it was just natural for him to keep secrets, but... he had the sneaking suspicion that the blond was lying to him on purpose. Why was he keeping things from him? Dipper suppressed the urge to let out a small whine, feeling wounded. He'd tried so hard to rid himself of his old mantra... but what if it was true? Could he really trust no one? Even the ones he loved?

I want to trust you, Bill, please... stop making it so hard to believe a single word you say...

TOAN GQG KDJG LAX ND CQWW?

A/N: Bet you didn't expect so see me back so soon, eh? XD I know this is a pretty short chapter, especially compared to last chapter, but I wanted to get something out to you guys while I'm still in a writing mood, lol. Let me know what you think! I absolutely adore reading your comments; they always make my day! Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter -- Love you guys, and I'll howl to you later!