Taking Shelter(BillDip)

Some Things Never Change

"If it isn't my favorite niece!" Grunkle Stan called as Pines twins entered the front of the mystery shack. The place was just as Dipper remembered it - run down, falling apart, yet it still had a certain charm. 

Just a hint of mystery, if you will.

Smirking at his own lame joke, he set their suitcases on the ground, stretching his arms over his head in an attempt to stretch the ache forming in his lower back.

"Grunkle Stan!" Mable squealed, accepting her Uncle's hug.

"Ehem." Dipper cleared his throat.

"And nephew." Stan added reluctantly.

"Thanks for the welcome there." Dipper rolled his eyes, but he couldn't hold back a smile. He'd missed the other man, after all. For all his harsh tendencies, Stan had always looked out for Dipper and cared for the younger man - even if the way he showed it was gruff and intimidating.

"Go on, drop your bags off upstairs, I had Soos clean up the room for 'ya." Stan gestured towards the stairs. 

"Is Soos here?" Dipper asked, hoping to see his old friend. The two had kept in touch over the phone, but only once every couple of months.

"Nah, I sent him home awhile back. You'll get to see him tomorrow." Stan shrugged and Dipper's face fell. "But on the bright side, his grandma made you two chili and sopapillas!"

"Yeah! I'm starving! So-pa-pi-lla's, so-pa-pi-lla's!" Mabel chanted, walking towards the kitchen and leaving Dipper to haul their bags upstairs. Sighing, he lifted the two suitcases and Mabel's extra dufflebag(which was suprisingly heavy considering it supposedly held nothing but stuffed animals) and began the slow and tedious process of moving to the attic.

"And Dipper?" The boy paused at the sound of his Uncle's voice. He glanced back to see Stan anxiously rubbing the back of his neck before giving his nephew a small smile.

"Welcome back." Dipper beamed.

"Yeah. Good to be back Grunkle Stan."

******

Later that night, Dipper climbed out on the roof like he used to when he was a kid. Leaning back against the patchwork shingling, he turned his face up to the stars. He'd missed this sky back home, where there were always lights blocking out the true magnificence of the Milky Way. But out here in the middle of nowhere it seemed as if someone had opened up a can of paint and splattered it across the black canvas of night, smearing in places and speckling in others.

Breathtaking.

"I could get used to this." He said into the silence.

"Same here." A familiar voice replied.

"Wha...?" Dipper started, unable to believe the sight before him. A monochrome sky. Grey trees jutting out from a blackened earth.

The mindscape.

He'd thought that he'd never find himself in this awful place again.

Today was just full of surprises.

"Surprise! Long time no see, Pine Tree. Looking good." The familiar triangle appeared floating above him.

"Bill?"

"Who did you think it was?" Bill asked, holding out his hand to reveal a white rabbit "The Easter Bunny?" the small woodland creature eyed Dipper before errupting into blue flames, making the brunette jolt backwards in horror. So much for sleeping tonight.

  "Don't look so surprised, Pine Tree. Did 'ya think I'd forgotten all about you?" Bill chuckeled, the sound making Dipper shiver. He hated that laugh.

"Yes, actually. Sort of. Don't all-powerful interdimensional beings have better things to do than deal with kids?" He demanded.

"What can I say? It's a hobby." The demon shrugged. "Plus, I could never forget about you, Pine Tree."

Dipper really hated when Bill called him that.

"Yeah, Yeah. What do you want Bill?" He asked, getting straight to the point. "I'm not going to make any deals with you, if that's what you're expecting." The brown haired boy glowered, running his fingers through his hair.

"Can't a guy just come to visit an old friend?" Bill responded, the smile evident in his voice. Dipper said nothing.

"Alright, alright. Sheesh. You have an even worse sense of humor than when I last saw you." Bill rolled his eye."I actually came to give you a warning."

Dipper turned to look at the yellow pyramid, surprised.

"You? Give me a warning?" He said, voice dripping with condescension.

"Just listen, will 'ya? I'm trying to help for old time's sake." Bill retorted smugly.

"You possessed my body."

"Yeah. We really had the greatest adventures didn't we?" Suddenly Bill appeared in front of Dipper, face strangely serious given the fact that his only attribute was an eye.

"Now listen up, kid, this is serious." Dipper, suprisingly, obeyed. bill had lead hom on before. The being was an expert at manipulation, Dipper knew. Yet this time something about Bill's tone struck him - Bill sounded...afraid.

And if there was something that even Bill Cipher couldn't handle, Dipper sure as hell wanted to know about it.

 "This town isn't what it used to be. Something's different. Something's changed. There's...darkness now."

"Yeah, and it's floating right in front of me." Dipper snorted.

"No. Did you forget, Pine Tree? I'm a Dream Demon. My realm is chaos and nonsense. Not evil. If the two were the same your sister would be the equivalent of that devil whose-ever-ya-call-him."

He had a point...

"No, what I'm talking about is evil. I mean, real evil,kid: pure and unadulterated. The kind of thing that doesn't just eat worlds, it crushes them until they didn't even exist in the first place." For the first time ever, Dipper could detect a hint of fear in Bill's voice, which in turn sent a shiver down his spine. What on earth could be so horrifying it could frighten even Bill Cipher?

"Why are you telling me this?" Dipper asked, meeting his foe's gaze.

"I already told 'ya, Pine Tree. It's a hobby." Bill rose into the air. "If you need me, you know how to find me. See 'ya soon kid." And with that the demon vanished.

Dipper sat up with a start, finding that he had in fact fallen asleep on the roof.

So much for a relaxing summer vacation.