Chapter Text
Weirdmaggedon had left everyone feeling out of sorts, but the disappearance of the tyrant Bill Cipher had made it easier on everyone to recover from the damage. The younger Pines twins gave a tearful farewell as they returned to Piedmont, California.
After a stressful school year, they were ready to go back to Gravity Falls for Winter Break. They called ahead to make sure it was okay, then packed up to go.
"Look, I see it!" Mabel pointed to the replacement "Welcome to Gravity Falls" sign as the Speedy Beaver approached its destination.
"All the trees have their leaves, it's like a bajillion Christmas Trees!" Mabel said excitedly.
"Well, they ARE coniferous trees. Also known as evergreens." Dipper said matter-of-factly.
Mabel grinned and lightly shoved him. "Neeeerd." She blew a raspberry.
Dipper shrugged and then they both laughed.
–
"Kids!" Stan greeted as they got out of the Speedy Beaver. "Welcome back, we all missed you!" He threw his arms around them tightly.
"Let's get them back to the Shack where it's warm, Stan." Ford said from his place by the car.
"Yeah, yeah." Stan released them and grinned. "Let's get you home!"
On the drive home, Stan talked about the recovery efforts and business at the Shack. "It's the off-season, but tourists still come and the locals come by to buy stuff to replace things they got here and lost."
"Good to know business is still booming!" Mabel grinned.
"Anything interesting and new, Great Uncle Ford?" Dipper asked him.
"Mm, no, not really." Ford sighed. "Most strange creatures are hiding away from the cold."
"But, if you want to take a stroll, the woods are beautiful in the snow!" Stan suggested. "Check it out yourself, before the rain comes and washes it away!"
Dipper adjusted his coat and nodded. "Sounds like a good idea, yeah."
"Ohh, take pictures!" Mabel said, pulling out a camera from her bag.
Dipper laughed. "I've got my own, thanks."
–
The trip into the woods was surprisingly quiet, but then again Ford HAD said everyone was hiding away. "Multibear must be hibernating." He said to himself, snapping a few pictures of the snowy wood.
After taking enough to satisfy Mabel, he walked on, singing to himself. "Oh, you better not shout. You better not cry. You better not pout, I'm telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town.”
He looked around, enjoying the sounds of winter as he continued. "He's making a list, and checking it twice. Gonna find out who's naughty or..." He faded off, feeling a familiar gaze on him.
He knelt down to examine something in the snow and palmed a small rock. Then he suddenly whipped around and threw the rock into the trees. It hit and something yellow hit the snowy forest floor. "I knew it." He muttered, walking over to the prone figure.
His clothes were in tatters and his hair was a mess, but he would know that yellow coat and black top-hat anywhere. "Bill Cipher. What are you doing back?"
"I never left." Bill mumbled into the snow. "I couldn't. Without my powers, I'm stuck here." He pushed himself up to his hands and knees. "Stuck in this...pissant little hick town, hiding away because I can't even defend myself."
Dipper noticed the demon seemed short of breath. "...Are you sick?"
"Ugh, don't go pitying me, Pine Tree. It's this stupid Holy Day, everyone's singing songs and spreading the Holy energy and it's making me sick, yes." Bill placed a gloved hand against a tree and pushed himself to his feet before slumping to his knees again. "Kch..."
Dipper watched him try and fail to get up a couple more times before he spoke up."You can't fly?”
"Can't fly, can't shapeshift, can't even use a basic fire spell. This Holy Day drains Demons of our powers and energy, making us weak." Bill slumped to his knees again, panting heavily. "Physical forms...suck like that."
Dipper sighed and extended a hand. "Come on. Let's at least get you out of the cold."
Bill stared at him, a silent question in his eye. Then he slowly reached up to take his hand. "Why?"
"Because 'peace on Earth, goodwill to all men'." Dipper pulled him up to his feet and gave him support with his other arm. "You really shrank..." he commented, noticing that Bill was only a little taller than him now.
"No powers." Bill said dully, stumbling a bit as Dipper started to walk them back to the Shack.
–
"Hey, brobro! Did you find something...?" Mabel stopped short when she saw who Dipper was supporting. "BILL?! I thought we killed you or something!"
Bill gave a grimace before slumping against Dipper. "Just take me back to the woods." He murmured into Dipper's shoulder.
"He's sick and powerless, Mabel. I couldn't just leave him in the snow!" Dipper said, ignoring Bill's suggestion.
"Uhh, why not? And what is he even doing back here?" Mabel placed her hands on her hips.
"He said that when we beat him, his powers were severely weakened and he couldn't leave. He's been stuck in Gravity Falls, hiding from everyone." Dipper explained.
"Seriously, just take me back to the woods." Bill insisted quietly.
"Well, his friends left without a problem!" Mabel pointed out.
"We didn't defeat his friends! They left after their host got his butt kicked!" Dipper reminded her.
Mabel sighed. "Dipper, I'm all for the whole 'caring for the homeless, injured, and hungry thing', but--"
"But it IS Christmas." Dipper was surprised when Stan poked his head out. "And if he's powerless, what can he do to us? If he misbehaves, we'll just lock him in a closet for a few hours like a regular misbehaving kid!"
"Besides," Dipper coaxed, "don't you think even Bill deserves redemption?"
Mabel looked at the door. "...Great Uncle Ford? Your call!"
Ford stepped out, looking at Bill thoughtfully. Bill was now murmuring for Dipper to not only take him back to the woods, but to stab him and leave the knife in so it wouldn't heal. "Well...as Stan said, it IS Christmas. And it would be nice to have him at our mercy for a little while."
Mabel shrugged. "Oookay, then. Let the Bill Cipher Redemption Arc commence!" She raised her arms dramatically and walked back in.
Dipper grinned and shifted Bill's weight, ignoring his quiet pleas to just kill him now and get it over with, then walked up the steps into the house, Ford and Stan stepping to the side to let them in.
–
"The first thing we should do for your Redemption Arc is to make you a Redemption Sweater." Mabel said, pushing Bill onto the couch and rummaging in her knitting bag. "Plus, y'know, your coat is a mess."
"It'll mend itself." Bill mumbled, feeling like he was going to collapse. Wow, why was the room spinning?
"Wow, your clothes can do that? What else can—" She was cut off by an audible thump and looked over to see Bill on the floor. "Oh, great. Great Uncle Ford, how do we tend to a demon's fever?" She called, rolling him onto his back and starting to measure his torso.
Dipper and Ford both came into the room. "Hmm, I think they mostly just sleep it off and their body's natural energy does the work." Ford knelt next to Bill, watching as Mabel unfastened his jacket and none-too-gently rolled him over so she could take it off. "Let's start with moving him from the couch. He can borrow my bed, I hardly use it."
"Then what did we buy it for?!" Stan yelled from the other room.
"No one was talking to you, Stanley!" Ford yelled back.
"I don't like hearing about my money being wasted, Stanford!" Stan retorted.
Dipper shook his head and chuckled, picking Bill up from the floor and half-dragging him to Ford's bedroom. "Come on, Bill. Wow, you're kind of heavy when you're passed out."
"People normally are." Mabel said as she picked out different shades of yellow and examined them critically. "Comes with having a physical body, y'know."
Ford stood up and went to help Dipper with transporting the demon. With his help, it went much faster and Ford rummaged in his bag until he found some rope, which he used to tie Bill to the bed like a leash. "Just in case we don't hear him wake up."
"I wonder if demons need to eat?" Dipper asked thoughtfully.
"They do in my experience." Ford finished tying the rope and stood back. "Now, let's go help Stan with putting up the tree!"