Electro Swing by BlueBerryOatmeal

Part 1 Chapter 2

Originally, Bill hadn't paid the kid any mind when he first came into the room. The young rounded face was just another in a sea of faces, easily overlooked and forgettable. Nothing special about it to draw his attention. Bill didn't know who he was and didn't particularly care to find out. The only reason he even bothered to look in the kid's general direction was from the sudden movement to the side, and now because of the incredibly blatant stare Bill was receiving. Brassy, disrespectful. While everyone else had their faced turned down to the floor this kid had his chin held high. Bill decided this boy was either surprisingly brave or completely brain dead. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to figure out which of the two it was.

It was only meant to be an assessing glance to make sure there wasn't going to be any funny business. Then, for some reason, Bill did a subtle double take. There was something in those big doe eyes that struck him as odd. It wasn't the staring itself that was strange, but something familiar in their shape and colour. Something that made him pause and slowly look the kid over from head to toe.

Average height but thin, clearly not a threat. Warm brown eyes and a little sun-kissed colouring that turned the end of his button nose pink. Bill kept thinking of him as a 'kid' because there was this annoying feature about the young face that could just as easily been seventeen as he could have been twenty-two. A sweet little face that struggled to hide the side long looks of contempt for the people around him. An interesting trait for sure.

The cheap suit he was wearing didn't exactly fit him well, looking a fraction too big in the chest and awkward on his body, though he was missing half of it. The tie was barely hanging on to its knot and the jacket was balled at his feet. Everything else was wrinkled by the way he stood with his arms crossed, sleeves rolled up to the elbows to show off a large amount of generally pale skin. From the over disarray and the unbuttoned collar Bill could have easily made a joke that the kid had been there on 'professional business' before they'd been interrupted, but he looked too clean to be a hooker and not handsome enough to be the manager's lover.

Bill let himself glance back up to the kid's face and held that stare. There was the smallest tick to his eyebrow the came it crease into a frown. Right there. That little twitch was unsettling and all too familiar. For a brief moment Bill thought he was looking at someone else entirely. His memory ran laps trying to conjure up who's face he was trying to remember but he couldn't pin them down. The harder he tried to grasp onto the distance memory, the faster it slipped through his fingers like sand.

A nagging at the back of his brain refuse to let go. His next decision was a little ridiculous and impulsive. Bill smiled at himself, trying not to laugh. He ran his tongue over his teeth before taking a hand from his pocket to point a finger.

"You too, kid."

Dipper's eyebrows touched his hairline. He couldn't possibly have heard that right. He had done nothing. Dipper froze with his back pressed to the wall, not moving an inch even if the man was waving him forward with a crooked finger. He couldn't be serious. Dipper didn't even work here.

Dipper looked around with a question expression, half expecting someone else to stand up and take his place. Because this was mental, surely this man, Bill, had meant someone else. No one moved. If anything people were shuffling away from him. Dipper looked between Bill and Mr. Northwest who was still by his side. When he did Northwest grabbed for him roughly. For a man use to sitting behind a desk Northwest could move fast when needed. His fingers curled tightly around Dipper's upper arm and he forced him up ahead like a shield between himself and the criminals. Dipper stuttered in protest. His heels dragged across the floor as he was rudely pushed forward.

Crossing the office took no more than a few wide steps. An already minuscule distance between himself and the threatening figure at the door shrank until Dipper was practically right up against the man's chest. The grip on his arm keeping him in place also didn't stop him from almost colliding into the fabric of a well tailored suit jacket. Dipper felt his throat tighten and choke him slowly as he swallowed from nerves. He genuinely never knew how claustrophobia felt until he was sandwiched between two men, one with the means and mind to kill him.