There was no gradual awakening for Pacifica, no easy transition from restful sleep to semi-awareness. Instead, it was almost painful how she was jerked from her slumber. She did not even know what caused it at first, only that some instinctual part of her registered danger.

After so long being knees deep in the supernatural with Gideon, ever since that summer almost four years ago, she had learned to listen to that little voice that told her when she was in trouble. It had saved her life more times than she could count, and she had no reason to believe that it would be faulty now.

She discovered just how right it was a few moments after her eyes had snapped open, overcoming the slightly disorientated sensation, and realised that she was not in her bedroom. In fact, she was not in her house at all.

Her dark blue eyes flittered about nervously, taking in everything from the wooden floors and walls, to the flickering blue candle flames; there was nothing much else here that she could see, other than her chair, and the disturbing emptiness of the room left her feeling unease. That, and the chains around her.

She let out a small shaking breath and wriggled in her place, the heavy chains rattled with her every twitch but did not budge. Her wrists remained pinned to the chair arms, her legs similarly restrained, and her back was forced flat against the back of the chair from the criss-crossing links around her torso.

The longer she was awake, the more she realised just how much she ached, her shoulders in particular. It told her that she had been here for a significant amount of time.

That did nothing to calm her already fraying nerves.

Pacifica tried harder to free herself, only to end up hissing in pain as the rough metal bit into her soft skin and the scent of blood reached her nose.

Tears prickled in her eyes.

"You should be more careful." A voice murmured eerily.

The suddenness of it had her neck whipping up to scan the room frantically, searching for whoever it was that spoke. She had been sure…the light from the candles was not good, but she was sure she would have spotted someone…

It was hard to pinpoint exactly where the voice originated from, for it seemed to echo unnaturally in the spacious room.

Oh God, what's going on? Who is this?

As if reading her thoughts, a figure stepped forward, peeling away from the wall opposite her and slowly shuffling into the light. The shadows melted away from the figure, revealing familiar features.

"W…Will?" She choked out.

The dream demon looked far different from the last time she had seen him, almost a week ago. For one, he was no longer a triangle. His hair was a strange mix of baby blue and black, with his fringe falling over left eye; and he was tall, dressed in what looked like blue suit, but it was a style she had never really seen before. He was attractive, especially with the shadows playing games across his cheekbones, in a way that Pacifica had never realised she liked until now.

For all intents and purposes he looked like an eccentric human.

But his iconic floating top-hat and little bowtie were there.

And if that did not tell her who this was, the visible glowing blue eye was a definite give-away.

Will did not react to his name, merely continued to stare at her with something unnervingly similar to fascination, hands held loosely behind his back.

Pacifica swallowed thickly at the weighty silence. She was keenly aware that this was the first time she had ever been alone with the demon. At every other encounter there was either Gideon, or one of the twins.

Her eyes cast about feverishly in hopes she would catch a flicker of Mabel's long hair, or Dipper's performance cape.

There was nothing.

"Will," she tried again, voice painfully loud in the oppressive silence. "Will what's going on? Where are we?"

Will blinked owlishly, apparently broken out of whatever thoughts were occupying him. "We're somewhere safe," he told her, a strange emotion to his words that she could not accurately describe. "I brought you here so we could…talk."

"W-what do you want to talk about? Why am I here? What's with the chains!?" She thrashed to emphasis her point, voice jumping to almost a shout. She spotted the barely-there wince that covered the other's face at the raised tone, the unconscious way he leaned away from her.

She remembered all those times she had watched Will and the twins interact, how easily the demon tended to fold under their orders, how he flinched away from them when they made sudden movements near him. She had always suspected – known – that there was more to it than the typical fear Mabel and Dipper inspired in others.

"We have a lot to talk about, you're here because I want you here, and the chains are to keep you still."

Will's hands fell to his sides, and Pacifica's eyes were drawn to his gloved hands – or rather, the ominous blue cuffs that surrounded his wrists. The chain links that fell from them seemed to slowly dissolve from view, but Pacifica knew that each was connected to one of the demon's masters, wherever they were.

"So you kidnapped me? Why not just talk to me like a normal person?"

Will shook his head, fluffy blue hair moving just enough that she could make out the black patch covering his left eye from view. "No, had to get you alone so we wouldn't be interrupted."

Pacifica tensed, finally able to understand what about Will was freaking her out so much. It was not so much the kidnapping – God knows she had endured worse over the years – or the chains – this had nothing on the sticky slime the swamp creature last month had spewed at her.

It was his attitude.

Whenever she had seen Will before he had always been a sniffling, sad little being. He cried so easily, and spent more time trembling than a newborn foal. He stuttered so much his words were usually unintelligible.

The Will in front of her was doing none of these things.

Oh, she could see he was nervous and even uncomfortable from the way his shoulders were hunched, how his gloved fingers would twitch occasionally and the way he would bite his lip; but he was not tripping over his words, and his eye was devoid of any tears.

She shivered, because she was reminded right then that for all his cowardice and pitifulness; Will was an insane and powerful monster capable of doing horrible things to her world, and that it was only the whims of a pair of equally dangerous sixteen-year-old twins that kept him from wreaking all kinds of terror.

And here she was, all alone with him, in some unknown location, chained to a chair with no idea why.

"Why are you doing this, Will?" she asked, attempting to keep herself calm.

The demon cocked his head to the side, his eyepatch appearing as his fringe fell away. "I don't like you." He said, wrinkling his nose. "I mean, at first I thought you and your little friend could help me, get me away from Mabel and D-Dipper." He fumbled over the boy's name awkwardly. "I thought you'd be able to free me."

His hands came up limply, as if to show her his illuminous restraints.

"I had plans you know – lots and lots of plans that would all lead up to my big plan. Being tied to them wasn't in it." He sighed, rubbing at the cuffs with a small little frown. "And I hate them, just a little for stopping me, for being smart enough to trap me. And yeah, they scare me." His hands dropped back down.

"They absolutely terrify me, every minute I spend with them is like being back in my dimension." He curled in on himself. "It's torturous."

Pacifica sat, transfixed as Will continued to speak. His words were hushed and quick, as if he was afraid of being overheard but was unable to stop himself from telling her this.

"But I admire them too – you know? For all the stuff they've been able to do since they turned me into a glorified-battery. And I always thought that if I could get out, I'd, you know, keep them around maybe? Like how they've been keeping me all these years." Again, his fingers danced along those damning cuffs mindlessly.

Pacifica was taken aback by the wave of malicious glee that flared in Will's bright eye. She wondered if Mabel and Dipper had any clue just what the demon would do to them if he ever broke free. She wondered if Will even knew.

"Which is why I can't let you get away with what you did."

"W-what did I do?" She cursed the stutter, even as her mind flew through everything she could remember doing since the last time they had seen each other, trying to find anything that would explain what he meant. "I haven't done anything!"

"Don't lie!" Will snapped, hands clenching in front of his chest. The action both defensive and aggressive. "I saw you." There was very real fury in his voice, the first time Pacifica could remember hearing the demon sound angry. "I saw you kiss him!"

And just like that, she knew exactly what Will was referring to.

Pacifica held onto Gideon's hand as tightly as she could, yanking the smaller boy after her as they sprinted through the trees. It was pitch black, and they were very far away from the town.

If only she had not listened to Gideon, if only she had told him they should go in the morning. But no, he looked at her with those puppy-dog eyes and begged her to come with him tonight.

Now they were running for their lives from a pack of clurichauns because Gideon was an idiot.

Pacifica could hear the little cretens scurrying behind them, gaining on them.

Considering they were tripping over every available rock, root and hole, she was not surprised.

"Oh God, Pacifica, they're right behind us!" Gideon cried. "They're going to catch us! We're going to die!"

"We're not going to die!" She snapped back to him, pushing herself to run faster.

"No, you're not."

Blue flames erupted behind them, separating them effortlessly from the little creatures. Pacifica and Gideon skidded to a halt and turning to see the twisted faces of the clurichauns glaring darkly at them from the other side of the flames.

But their expressions cleared when seconds later, several large barrels appeared next to them from thin air. The flames lessened, then disappeared altogether.

"I trust this is enough to compensate for whatever they did to offend you."

Pacifica followed the voice to spot Dipper Pines leaning against a tree a little to her right. As always, she was filled with a mix of fear and excitement at seeing him. There was just something electric about the boy that never ceased to draw her in.

He was still wearing his performance outfit, slim black trousers and a button up blue shirt, sans cape. She could make out the gleam of his amulet around his neck, though only because the first few buttons on his shirt were undone. The glimpse of his collarbone had her cheeks flushing.

Why were the bad boys always so darn hot?

Dipper's eyes were fixed on the muttering clurichauns, as the little creatures eventually nodded and began rolling the barrels of whatever back to their dens.

Pacifica sighed in relief, crisis diverted.

"We didn't need your help!" Gideon hissed from behind her. Pacifica was not even surprised she was being used as a shield. Considering their history with the Pines twins, Gideon had every right to expect an attack from Dipper.

"Really?" the taller boy drawled, a small smirk aimed at her smaller companion. "Because from where I was standing, you were about to be captured by clurichauns and no doubt torn apart because you – stupidly – invoked their wrath. But, I apologise, it was my mistake for taking your panicked screams as a request for assistance." He grinned at them, the gesture full of teeth.

"Next time I will gleefully sit back and watch."

Gideon scowled at the jab to his last name, and sensing an impending fight, she stepped in. "What did you give them? To get them to go away?"

Dipper's beautiful brown eyes slid to her, losing most of his irritation. It sent a thrill through her, that he was always a bit softer towards her. "Alcohol, Northwest. If you did any research before blundering into them, you would know that not one of their kind would be able to resist that offering."

She flushed at his subtle rebuke. "R-right," she cleared her throat. "well, thanks, I guess. F-for your help."

Dipper's smile was slow and sly and it sent shivers down her spine. "Oh, I think you can do better than that Northwest." He teased, but there was a hint of an order lurking in his words.

Pacifica twitched in discomfort. She never knew how to deal with Dipper, he was so mercurial in his moods, and she could never predict exactly what he would do. It is what made him so dangerous, he was as likely to help them as he was to stab them in the back.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

The brown haired boy made a show of thinking over her words, though Pacifica was sure he already knew precisely what he wanted from her. "How about a kiss? Isn't that how the damsel always thanks the hero?"

She could not help it, she jerked back. Behind her, Gideon made a noise similar to a strangled cat.

"Screw you Pines," the smaller boy spat. "let's get out of here Pacifica."

Gideon spun and began marching away along a dirt path. Pacifica hesitated for a moment longer, then followed.

She got three steps before her pride reared its head and refused to let her walk away from a direct challenge. She snapped back to face the brunette and stormed towards him.

Dipper had already turned away and was heading back to where she could now see was his bag. He turned to face her when he heard her approach and he frowned.

"What are you –"

She crashed their lips together, cutting him off.

Pacifica felt a wave of vindictive glee when Dipper's lips fumbled under her own. She kept her eyes open, not stupid enough to trust him, so she was treated to the incredibly rare sight of Dipper's eyes popping wide open. She never knew how good it felt to beat him until now, he was always so calm and collected that seeing his mask slip was better than anything.

Dipper's lips pressed back against hers, his eyes fell shut, and it was then that Pacifica felt the change.

She had thought his awkward reaction had been due to inexperience. That notion was wiped away as efficiently as waves washing away the marks in the sand.

Dipper gently parted his mouth, coaxing her to do the same and he made a little sound in the back of his throat that would have made any woman blush. He tilted his head and –

Yeah, he had plenty of experience.

It lasted no more than a few moments, but when they pulled back he nipped at her bottom lip.

Pacifica took a shuddering breath, then turned a ran like a bat out of hell.

"I-it wasn't like that!" she protested, but she knew the red marking her cheeks gave her away. "It was just a 'thank you' for helping us, it didn't mean anything!"

But Will was shaking his head. "No. No. Nonononono," he muttered quickly, "I know what I saw. Y-you think I don't see the way you look at him all the time?"

Had she been that obvious? If even Will noticed…God Dipper's probably known for ages. I bet that's why he asked for the kiss…to mess with me.

"And what's worse is he's been…he's been looking back!"

Wait, what?

"Ever since you kissed him he's been paying more and more attention to you and…and…" Will blinked rapidly. "Before you came along it was just me and Dipper and Mabel, and I might be…be their slave, but I'm theirs as much as they're mine – and I don't appreciate you touching my things!"

"Dipper's not a thing!" She snapped, "And so what if I like him, or he likes me? I don't see you tying Gideon up, even though Mabel's been trying to date him since they met!"

Will shrank away from her, turning so she could only see half of his face. "T-that's c-completely different." He mumbled.

Pacifica leaned back as her mind connected the dots. "This isn't about me kissing Dipper, this is about me kissing Dipper and him liking it, isn't it?"

Will let out something she would call a whimper. "You're jealous."

"Shut up, noI'mnot!"

"You…you're actually jealous." She blinked. "Wait, does this mean you l –"

"I said shut up!" Will spun on her, his eye now blazing red. Pacifica gasped as pain flared across her cheek. She felt something thick run down the side of her face.

He…he had cut her.

The glowing blue knife in Will's gloved hand vanished, and his eye widened, mouth parting in surprise.

For a moment, they were both stunned into silence.

The cut on her cheek stung badly, and she knew it was not a small wound from the growing trickle of blood flowing from it.

Will was frozen in place, his attention riveted on the blood staining her pale face. He looked like he had never seen anything as fascinating as it before. The intensity of his gaze sent a chill up her spine. It was now her turn to shrink away in fear. She had never, in all her years, seen anything as terrifying as Will right now.

She had always known that Will was not the stablest of beings, and four years under the twins' not-so-tender mercies had probably not helped matters. This was not the first time Will had hurt her, but it was the first time he had without any orders from Mabel or Dipper. Though the twins rarely allowed Will to attack them, much preferring to mess with her and Gideon themselves.

Pacifica trembled in her place. This was now settling in. She was in very real danger here. This was not like all the adventures she had joined in over the years, this was not an experience she would look back on and remember fondly.

This was the most scared she had ever been.

Will had calmed down, though there was still a red tinge to his eye that warned her that one wrong word could set him off again. "I'm going to kill you, Pacifica." He said quietly, "I'm really sorry, I am. B-but you're too much of a threat. So you have to go."

"Will…please."

The blue knife materialised in his hand again, the glow of it casting shadows across his face.

"But first, I'm going to have a little fun."

OoO

Pacifica screamed as the knife dragged down her neck, before it paused and the tip dug ruthlessly into her collarbone. She sobbed loudly when it was eventually removed from her, and sagged forward in exhaustion. It had only been three hours – which she only knew because Will faithfully announced the end of each sixty minutes – but it felt like eternity.

The first hour had been a horrible blur of sharp, burning pain as Will, in his own words, 'reacquainted' himself with torture. The first several dozen cuts had been either too deep, or too shallow, or too jagged. And Will was tentative with his slices, knife hovering over some patch of skin for two beats, then hesitantly moving somewhere else.

Pacifica could not see the difference between his cuts then and his cuts now, but once Will had found his rhythm the knife strokes became surer and happened more often.

Her sweater was in tatters, blood seeped into the fabric, making it heavy and stiff were it had dried.

There was an obscene amount of blood puddling around their feet as well, making her hysterically wonder just how much she still had in her. She hoped she lost consciousness before they found out.

Will stepped back from her, one hand resting lightly on his face, his blood stained fingers lingering on his lips. He was muttering to himself again, in a language she could not recognise. She blearily considered if it was even from their world – Will did come from another dimension after all.

Pacifica let her head bow so her chin was resting against her chest. The smell of her blood permeated the air, but it had long stopped making her nauseous. She just wanted to sleep, but knew she had to remain awake. She just had to endure until Gideon found her, they surely knew she was missing by this point.

So bemused, she did not even notice how Will suddenly stiffened until he moaned in despair.

"Oh no." He whispered, eye wide and filled with emerging fear. His head snapped to the side, seeing or hearing something she could not perceive. "Oh no, nonononononono. T-this is b-bad. This i-is really b-bad."

Pacifica forced her head up and squinted at the demon in confusion mingled with budding hope. There were only two people she knew of that could inspire such panic in Will, and she hoped that even one of them was here.

Will dithered in his spot, making the knife disappear with a flick of his wrist. He took two steps towards her, then stopped and started back the other way. Pacifica watched numbly as his blue-clad figure paced frantically, his muttering growing more and more desperate as the seconds ticked by.

It took her longer than him, but even over his noise, she could hear someone moving around downstairs. Her chest felt light with happiness when she heard Dipper's voice.

"Will, get out here now." It was not a friendly tone, but just hearing his voice made her want to cry.

This is my chance. The thought bludgeoned its way passed the haze of pain to the forefront of her mind.

Her throat was sore from screaming, but she was not stupid enough to waste this opportunity. She sucked in deeply, the sharp intake drawing Will's attention. The demon's face twisted in fear as he leapt for her.

"Don't –"

"DIPP –" She was cut off as his gloved hand smacked over her mouth, but the damage was done.

The shuffling from below them had stopped at her aborted scream. The sudden silence was nerve-racking.

So close together, she could hear the anxious hitch in Will's breath when footsteps began to approach. Pacifica felt a grin tug at the corners of her mouth, her eyes piercing into the demon's victoriously. They both knew Dipper would not be pleased to find Will had acted out in such a way.

The steady footsteps came to a stop, and Pacifica knew that Dipper was on the other side of the wall. She could not make out a door, but a moment later there was a light tearing sound, and suddenly she could see the light outlining the closed entry. She probably should have suspected magic at work considering who she was dealing with.

The door opened soundlessly, the bright hallway light illuminating the entire room for the silhouette in the doorway. Pacifica winced and had to blink to clear her vision. Next to her, Will was motionless – not even breathing.

The familiar figure across from them waved his hand, and the blue candles flared brighter, chasing away the last of the shadows and baring everything to those dark eyes.

Dipper scanned the room slowly, tracing the splatters of blood closer and closer until his gaze rested on them. There was not even a flicker of surprise – or anything really – on his face.

Pacifica tried to call to him, but Will's hand was still clamped tightly over her mouth. Regardless, her muffled grunts prompted Dipper to move.

The boy stepped into the room, his polished shoes clicked on the hard wooden floor; he did not seem particularly bothered by the patches of crimson liquid he stepped in. Pacifica wondered just how many of those rumours about he and his twin were right, she knew most of the townsfolk found the two unsettling and fascinating in an abstract way, but the gossip that surrounded them was not particularly comforting.

Dipper came to a stop a few feet from them, his hands resting on his hips. "Will," his voice was glacial, his eyes all-consuming as he stared down at the demon. "what do you think you are doing?"

As if he was burned, Will's hand wrenched away from her face, leaving a bloody smear over her lips. "I-I-I," the demon shrivelled under the piercing gaze of his master. "I was…I w-wanted t-to teach h-her a…lesson." He shallowed convulsively, and Pacifica would be lying if she said she did not enjoy seeing her torturer squirm.

"A lesson, and what lesson would that be?" Dipper stepped closer, crowding into the demon's personal space and forcing the other to cringe away from him. "Why don't you share with the class Will," the boy's voice dropped lower, "after all – you know how much I love learning new things."

"I..." Will's eye dropped to the floor, tears prickled at the corners as his breathing picked up.

Dipper hummed. "Pity." He murmured, and tilted his head to stare at her. His eyes traced over her body, cataloguing her injuries. Pacifica tried not to twitch under the intense examination. There was something unfathomable in his eyes that made her skin crawl.

"Just what did he do to you?" He whispered to himself, though with their silence they easily heard every word. Beside him, Will was peeking up at Dipper with a rapt expression, looking both fearful and hopeful. "Well?" He turned back to the demon, face expectant.

Pacifica licked her lips, grimacing at the taste of her blood. "There was…he used a knife and –"

"Be quiet Northwest, I wasn't talking to you." And just like that her voice was stolen from her. Pacifica sat stunned, as the amulet around Dipper's neck stopped glowing with the nonverbal spell's completion. He had not even looked at her…

Will's eye darted from Dipper's waiting face to hers and back again. "Ah…she, did something," He admitted softly, like he was sharing a secret, his posture screaming submissive. "s-something I didn't l-like."

Dipper reached out and brushed his fingers along the demon's delicate chin, tapping it until Will looked up to meet his eyes. "What did she do Will?"

More tears sprung to the demon's eye. "S-she touched…"

A dark smile slid onto the human boy's face, and his eyes sparkled with cruel understanding. "'She touched', what? Come on, you can tell me, little demon." Dipper's head moved closer until his lips were brushing against the skin of Will's cheek. It took Pacifica a second to actually process what she was seeing as the boy's tongue followed a trail of her blood that had landed on Will's cheekbone.

Will trembled, his hands clenching and unclenching sporadically, wanting to touch Dipper but being too afraid to dare. The only point of contact between them being Dipper's longer fingers loosely holding his chin.

Will's blood-stained lips twitched in what must have been an answer, because Dipper leaned back and gazed at him with malicious amusement.

"All this, over one stupid little kiss?" He tutted mockingly, "How…" he paused, pretending to search for the right word, but in all actuality, raising the demon's hopes only to crush them. "utterly pathetic of you."

He tore his hand away from Will, watching hungrily as the demon's face crumbled. He twirled to face Pacifica again, ignoring her stupefied expression in favour for studying her like one would a marble statue. He brushed his fingers against his own chin and hummed lightly, carelessly painting red across his skin.

"I have to admit though, you certainly exceeded my expectations with this." He began to stalk around her, eyes following the destruction written across her body. "I'd give you a 'A' for effort, but a 'D' for execution." He came to a stop in front of her again. He checked his watch and smiled, the boyish grin so at odds with the darkness in his eyes.

"School's not out yet though," he mused, eyes flicking over to Will. "I suppose there's still time for you to bump your grade up."

Dipper moved away from them and leaned against the far wall. He nodded at Will, who looked completely thrown as to what to do. As always though, Dipper was more than willing to provide an order.

"Impress me."