Chapter 25

She was gone before her fiery red hair hit the ground, something Stan was grateful for. He didn't think he'd be able to survive it if his great-nephew had to hold the love of his life in his arms while she died. Nevertheless, he ran to her side, dropping down next to her and grasping her limp wrists.

"Wendy, come back! Please, come back, there has to be another way to do this, please! NO!" Dipper screamed, both his human and prosthetic hand stained with her blood. Tears streamed down his face and he cried out, an inhuman sound that Stan was unfortunately familiar with, that he had made before himself. He set his jaw and tried to will away the tears in his eyes, but his knees buckled under him and he fell to the ground.

Dipper, realizing that Wendy was gone for real, stood and ran towards Stan, shoving him onto his back onto the grass. "What did you do? What the hell did you just do?" he yelled, grabbing Stan's collar and aiming a punch at his face. Stan took it gladly, feeling his nose break and fresh blood run down his face.

The silver figure was oddly still, inches away from them, realizing what they had done.

"Dipper," Ford whimpered, crying but still managing to pull his great-nephew off his brother by his good arm. "Dipper, use your head. Think about it."

"How am I supposed to think when she's gone?" Dipper cried out, falling to his knees on the grass beside Stan. "Bring her back, BRING HER BACK!"

"We can't," Stan murmured, grabbing his great-nephew and pulling him into a bone-crushing arm lock to keep him from doing anything rash. "We can't, boy. She's gone."

"SHE'S NOT GONE!" he screamed in anguish, trying to wrestle himself out of his grunkle's hold. "SHE'S NOT! I CAN SAVE HER!"

Mabel was bent over the form of her friend, sobbing and holding her cold hand. Beckett, who had lay crumpled on the floor just a moment ago, blinked his eyes open slowly and confusedly, trying to take in his surroundings. His face was badly burnt.

"You can't save her, Dipper. Not this time," Ford choked, his hand trembling. "But you can finish this. You know how."

"I can't," he sobbed, doubled over at the waist. Stan's face broke as he felt all the fight go out of his great-nephew and his tears finally spilled over. He put his head down on the boy's good shoulder just as there was a flash of golden light that just about blinded all of them.

Ford's first thought was that it was the arm, that it had detected something was wrong and was trying to heal the dead young woman. But his blood ran cold as he heard a familiar voice.

"Long time, no see, Sixer."

Ford whirled around to see the figure of Bill hovering inches above the stairs of the Mystery Shack. Stan and Dipper both jumped up as well, and Dipper jumped in front of the two brothers.

"What do you want?" Dipper snarled, his eyes red and his cheeks covered in scratch marks from his own fingers. "What more could you possibly want from me right now?"

Bill approached them and Dipper braced for a fight, a punch, some kind of energy beam that would throw him backwards and maybe force him into the same fate as Wendy.

But none came. He opened his eyes and Bill was hovering in front of him, now, just a foot away.

"I want a lot of things, Pine Tree. But this time, nothing from you."

The shadowed figure snarled again, but it seemed to be rooted in place, unable to attack the people that it had been going after just a few minutes ago. "Back to finish your work, imbecile?"

Bill looked at the figure warily. "Not quite, friend. Not this time."

"Friend?" Ford ground out, pulling his gun back from the holster.

"Don't get trigger-happy on me now, Sixer. Like I said, I'm not here to take anything from you this time," Bill assured, his voice oddly calm and unthreatening. It had lost the edge to it that had haunted Dipper for years. "I suppose I am here to finish my work, in a way." He swung his gaze back to the silver figure.

"Go home, Bill. There's nothing here for you," the figure growled. Its hands shone silver, but like before, nothing happened.

And suddenly, like magic, there was a golden hole burned into the center of its chest, silver blood pouring out. Bill shot again, hitting the figure directly between where its eyes would have been.

It screamed, wailing with the sound of a million dying souls, and Dipper squeezed his eyes shut, afraid of what would follow. When he opened them again, the figure lay on its back on the grass and Bill hovered above it.

"You've sealed your own fate, traitor," the figure yelled, but silver blood was running from the corner of its mouth and Bill knew that it could no longer stand or defend itself.

"Joke's on you," Bill conceded, grabbing the figure around the throat and squeezing. "I sealed my fate eons ago."

And then, in a burst of black dust, the figure was gone, the shadows around Gravity Falls dissipating with it.

Mabel ran to Beckett, sliding in beside him on her knees and cradling his head. "Oh, Beckett, oh my God. You're all right. You'll be all right."

"I'm all right," he croaked and smiled, but quickly grimaced with pain.

Behind Bill, the two brothers stood beside each other, waiting for the demon to turn around.

But they both turned as their great-nephew yelled in terror.

"Holy fuck," he gasped, but it was true, it was real, and Wendy's eyes were open and she was staring at him, paralyzed with terror. The blood staining the ground under her remained, but her gunshot wound was gone and her chest rose and fell steadily. She clenched her hands tightly, her fingers white and her teeth chattering.

"Oh my God," Ford breathed, jogging over to the two of them. "I don't understand- how…"

"Wendy? Can you hear me? Please tell me you can hear me," Dipper cried, his voice and hands both shaking, afraid to touch her. But her gaze flickered over to him and she nodded slightly.

"Holy fuck is right," Stan inhaled. "Ford, what did you do?"

"I didn't… I didn't…" Ford was at a complete loss for words. The dead had come back to life, right in front of him.

"Never let it be said that all of my deals are unfair," Bill answered, and all three men turned to look at him. He was back on the stairs of the Mystery Shack.

"Deal?" Dipper asked, standing and moving towards him cautiously. "I didn't make a deal with you, Bill."

"No, you didn't," Bill replied. "I made this trade all on my own, Pine Tree. A soul for a soul."

"That thing traded its soul for Wendy?" Dipper inquired, still shaking.

"No, Dipper. He didn't have a soul to trade. But I did," Bill conceded.

Dipper felt his face go blank with shock, and he knew that his grunkles had the same expression. "You… you gave up your soul. For her. For me?"

"Don't get too mushy on me, Pine Tree," the triangle chuckled briefly. "I was doomed anyway, the second I betrayed Erebus. But, at least this way, it wasn't a total wash."

Dipper dropped to his knees again, but this time in shock, not fear. "I don't understand… I don't get it, Bill. Why did you do this?"

Bill smiled sadly at him, the corners of his body beginning to turn black and fade to dust, just like Erebus had. With his last breath, he met Stan's gaze and spoke.

"Looks like I was good for something after all," Bill exhaled, and then he too was gone for eternity.