Can you guys believe this started out as a Fullmetal Alchemist fanfic?

Chapter Twenty-Two

"You can give me nothing!" Bill exclaimed joyfully. He was having far too much fun with the Pines family to give it up so easily. He was at least going to make them beg for their little pine tree back. Make them offer their entire beings and be kissing the ground at his feet before he gave up the kid.

"Why do you want him so badly?" Ford asked, trying to hide the desperation. He didn't even know who this kid was, but the one thing he did know was that they were family. And even if they weren't, Dipper was just a kid that didn't need to be involved in any of this.

"Because I love messing with you," Bill explained. "It was the same with the two of us. Remember?"

"I remember," Ford replied. He didn't want to remember. Thirsting for knowledge so badly that he abandoned his own twin brother selfishly. That Stan had thought his brother was losing his mind only to lose him to the very thing he had tried to save him from. Ford remembered it.

"You and Pine Tree are a lot alike," Bill mused. "The smart twin aching for knowledge. Obsessed with the abnormal. Held back by your twins."

"Stanley never held me back!" Ford exclaimed.

"Oh?" Bill raised an eyebrow. "I seem to remember a different tune years ago."

"I've changed since then," Ford remarked. "I've changed for the better."

"It only took about thirty years," Bill commented. "But it doesn't matter how much you've changed. Because I've got a new set of twins here. But I'm doing it differently this time. I just don't know how. Should I have him cut off his own arms? Maybe his legs? Stop me when you think of one you like."

"You're sick," Ford spat. "And you're going back to the hell I brought you from."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Bill replied.

"You hush, Cipher." Ford dipped down toward the ground and lifted the journal that Bill had dropped during his struggles to prevent being tied to the chair. It was the third one, and Ford skimmed through it. He couldn't help but notice the little notes that had been added by Dipper and smiled softly to himself. Dipper was a lot like him.

"Aw, getting all sentimental, Fordsy?" Bill asked with a sadistic grin.

"I've got the journals!" Stan exclaimed suddenly as he burst into the attic with Mabel in front of him. He handed over the other two journals to Ford, hoping his brother knew what he was doing. He couldn't let anything happen to Dipper.

"Thank you, Stanley," Ford thanked as he opened the journal to the page he was looking for. "Now, I recited a particular spell when I first summoned Bill and we're doing to need to recite the reversal spell."

"You summoned Bill?" Mabel asked, her eyes wide. This man, her great uncle, had summoned the very creature that was destroying her brother. He had been the one to cause all the pain. After everything was over with, Mabel wasn't sure how she would feel about this man.

"He sure did," Bill replied. "He wanted to know more about abnormalities and the paranormal. Just like your brother." He grinned.

"Just ignore him," Ford spoke. "I'll explain everything after this is over, but we need to focus on the reversal spell."

"So basically we're exorcising him?" Stan asked.

"Precisely," Ford replied. "While it only took the chants of one when I summoned him, the reversal will be more effective if all three of us recite it."

"Just tell me what to do," Mabel said.

Ford laid the books flat in front of Bill, though it was an unnecessary step. He hadn't yet had the journals when he summoned Bill and thus knew it wasn't needed. But he knew it would be easier for Stan and Mabel to remember the verse if it was in front of them. He then shined light on all three of the journals to reveal the spell in invisible ink.

"Now, we're going to chant this together, all right?" Ford instructed.

"How will we know when it's worked?" Stan asked.

"I'll tell you when to stop," Ford answered.

"Epistrefo na o lokasi se poio eseis irthe."

The three of them joined hands and chanted this phrase over again. They were determined for Bill to be sent back to hell. Back out of their lives.

"Wait!" Dipper's voice called out. "Stop! It hurts!"

Mabel nearly stopped chanting, but Ford pulled her back. He shook his head. That was not Dipper.

"Stop! You're hurting me!" Dipper continued to call out. He writhed in the chair he was bound to as the three of them continued to chant. Mabel wanted to reach out to her brother. She wanted to stop hurting him.

"Stop!"

Dipper's body suddenly went limp with blue fog creeping out of his mouth and burning into the floor.

"We're done," Ford announced, reaching forward to collect his books off the ground. Stan and Mabel rushed toward Dipper to untie him.

"Why's he unconscious?" Stan asked worriedly. He hurriedly moved Dipper to his bed for more comfort.

"He's probably just exhausted," Ford replied. "After all, he wasn't getting any sleep from Bill inhabiting his body. It could also be an after effect of being possessed."

"Oh, Dipper," Mabel nearly cried out as she held her brother while sitting on his bed. "I'm so sorry…"

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for, pumpkin," Stan spoke, reaching an arm to wrap around Mabel as she held her brother. "It wasn't your fault. If anything, I should have noticed."

"No, I should have never summoned that demon in the first place," Ford interjected. "I'm so sorry for bringing him on this family."

"You're darn right you're sorry!" Stan exclaimed as he stood from holding Mabel to stand in front of his twin brother. "You should have never been dabbling in that kind of stuff in the first place!"

"I know, Stanley," Ford replied.

"And you should have never sold your soul!"

"I know, Stanley."

"And you should have never left me!"

Ford paused.

"I know, Stanley."

Brown eyes opened to scan the room. Dipper sighed in relief when he realized he was just in the attic of the Mystery Shack, and not in the forest. He hadn't remembered his dreams being plagued with Bill's presence, so at least he was able to get a few good hours.

"How are you feeling?" Mabel asked softly when she noticed that Dipper's eyes were open, if only slightly. He had been relatively still throughout his sleep, which wasn't normal for him. But what was normal for Dipper anymore? Mabel didn't even know.

"I feel like I was run over by a semi-truck and then it backed up to finish the job," Dipper answered. "But it actually feels…better."

"You've been feeling worse than that over the past few years?" Mabel asked, her eyebrows contorting in confusion. "Dipper, I'm…I'm so so-"

"Don't say you're sorry," Dipper replied. "I…I'm sorry for burdening you with all of this. I'll start taking my meds again."

"No, Dipper," Mabel spoke. "You don't need to take medicine anymore. We…We got rid of Bill."

"What?!" Dipper exclaimed. "How?! When?!"

"Well, we actually had a little help," Mabel explained. "You see…Grunkle Stan actually has a brother…a twin brother…and he helped us."

"He knew about Bill?" Dipper asked.

"He summoned Bill," Mabel answered. She still wasn't sure how she felt about Ford because of it.

"Oh…"

"But he helped to save you from Bill and…and I'm really grateful to him," Mabel muttered. "I'm just so glad you're okay." She wiped the corner of her left eye as a tear drooped down.

"Hey, don't cry over me," Dipper spoke as he reached up and caressed Mabel's cheek. "Let's go downstairs, okay?"

"Okay."

"Hey, you're up and around!" Stan called out happily when he saw Mabel and Dipper enter the kitchen. Stan was working on breakfast while Ford was sitting at the table reading the newspaper.

"Yeah, I'm feeling better," Dipper replied. He couldn't help but notice Ford sitting at the table, but he didn't want to stare at him too much. Ford also peeked over his newspaper, only to quickly look away when he caught Dipper staring. Dipper also averted his gaze.

"Well, sit down and have some eggs and Stancakes," Stan said as he placed plates on the table.

"No glitter?" Mabel asked, feigning sadness. She was trying to keep the dynamic up as much as possible.

"Sorry, sweets, no glitter today," Stan replied. "But maybe some another time. After your brother gets his stamina up again and his body can handle processing glitter."

"I don't think that's how anatomy works," Dipper commented.

"Eh, whatever," Stan brushed it off. "Sit down and eat your breakfast."

Dipper and Mabel made their way to the table just as Stan did and the three began to eat before Ford put down his paper and also began to eat.

"So, uh…" Dipper trailed off, not knowing how to address the situation. "You're our Grunkle Stan's brother, huh…Guess that makes you our grunkle too."

"You can call me Ford," Ford introduced. "I'm sure your sister has already explained what happened to you."

"Bits and pieces," Dipper replied. "I…I just was wondering…how'd you know how to do it?"

"You didn't tell him yet?" Ford asked Mabel.

"He's very sensitive," Mabel spoke. "I wanted to wait until he got something to eat first and let his food settle so he didn't throw up all over the place."

"What?" Dipper asked.

"Well, I knew how to exorcise Bill because I summoned him," Ford explained. "And I had the incantation in the journals I wrote."

"You…" Dipper trailed off. "You wrote the journals?!"

"Here we go," Stan muttered.

"Oh god…" Dipper had to actually work to control his breathing. "Wow…I mean…Wow! You're…the author of the journals! Oh wow!"

"Here it comes," Mabel muttered.

"Oh god! I'm gonna…I'm gonna throw up!"

"And there it goes," Ford spoke as Dipper ran from the room.

"Thanks, Grunkle Stan, Grankle Ford; for everything," Dipper thanked as he stood with his two uncles and Mabel at the bus stop. "This was…probably the best summer I've had in years."

"You're gonna have to go to a psychiatrist to convince your parents that you're better, you know," Stan reminded. "But I doubt they'll continue to think you're nuts for long. You've got a good head on your shoulders."

"Hey, Dipper," Ford interjected. "I got you a little something. For when you get back home." He dug into his coat pocket and removed a fresh journal and handed it over to the kid. It was nearly identical to Ford's journals, though while Ford's had a tracing of his hand on the cover, this one had a drawing of Dipper's birth mark on the cover. "So you can start your own collection."

"Wow…" Dipper trailed off as he traced the journal with his hand. "I don't know what to say."

"Your sister drew the cover; I hope it's abnormal enough for you," Ford joked.

"Thank you," Dipper thanked. "I'll write in it any chance I get."

"And he's not lying either," Mabel replied. "He stayed up super late and wrote in your journal forever." Ford smiled; he had read it.

"We'll see you two next summer," Stan spoke as the bus for California approached. "Stay safe."

The twins turned and entered the bus once it had stopped for them only to have Mabel's head pop out of a window moments later.

"Bye, Grunkles!" Mabel called out as the bus drove away.

Wkh hqg.

That was…difficult to write. I didn't want to have it exactly like the show, but I couldn't really think of any way to get rid of Bill, so I went the Supernatural route and was like, eh, I could exorcise him. So he got exorcised. It was my first Gravity Falls fic, so I hope no one is super disappointed – but I know some on Ao3 didn't really like it.

Thanks to all my reviewers and followers on this story! I'm gonna have to say that I probably won't write another Gravity Falls fic, if at all. Mostly because I'm not really even into the show anymore with it being almost a year since the ending of it, and because I've just moved on to other fandoms. I'm still strong with Supernatural and Fullmetal Alchemist, and I've even recently (as of writing this on December 28th) become a fan of Star Trek, so I'm hoping to start writing that. So, yeah, that's about it.

Thanks again, you guys!