Little Dipper

Mind

"Stan! Grunkle Stan!" Dipper called, looking around. "Where are you, Grunkle Stan?"

"Pine Tree, I can't focus while you're calling out." Bill said, smiling a bit.

"Whoops, sorry." He turned and opened a door. "Hello?"

"Pine Tree, I don't think he's going to be in a memory." Bill walked over and looked in, pursing his lips when he saw it.

A younger Stan was sitting on a swing, looking out at the sea. In his hands was a toy boat, and he looked depressed.

"Sorry I'm late." A voice said, a shadowy figure walking up behind him. "The teacher wanted to talk about my project."

"We haven't worked on the boat in days." Stan said, setting the toy boat down on the ground.

"I know, I know. I've been really busy." The shadowy figure sat down in the other swing. "I just...I have to get this, Stan. Please understand."

"But," Stan looked at the figure and said something that was covered by static, "what about our dream?"

"We can still have our dream, Stan. It just has to wait a few more years, that's all. We can go together, I know how much you want to leave this place."

Stan stood up, the swing squeaking a bit. "And what do I have there? I can't join the nerd school, and I...I don't have any work experience."

The shadowy figure stood up as well. "That's not true. You've worked in the shop before, and you're great with money. You could do retail, just something to live off of before I finish and we go sailing."

"No, no..." Stan shook his head. "No, this wasn't in the plan! Besides, I know you! You'll get caught up in some big nerd thing and forget about our dream – again!"

"Stan..." The shadowy figure reached towards him, then sighed. "Come on, we have to be realistic. Maybe the dream isn't as important as we thought. I mean, what about family? Ma? Do you really plan to just sail around looking for treasure forever? Don't you have any other dreams?"

"No. The boat was our dream." Stan turned to him. "At least...I thought it was." He moved past him, wiping at his eyes.

"Stan!" The shadowy figure turned to watch him go, and then faded away, the memory restarting.

"Who was that?" Dipper asked as Bill closed the door.

"Let's keep walking." Bill took his hand and led him away from it.

"But, who was that?" Dipper asked. "Why was it all shadowy?"

"Maybe he doesn't want to think about that memory, so he's blocked out most of it." Bill opened another door and this one was just shadowy people talking in another language. "Like this one, we can't tell who anyone is in this one. Maybe he's ashamed of it."

"Oh." Dipper nodded, Bill shutting the door.

"Come on, I feel him this way." Bill led him around the corner.

"Do you know who that guy was?" Dipper asked.

"...Yes." Bill nodded.

"Who was it?" Dipper asked.

Bill sighed. "It doesn't matter. Let's just find Stan."

Dipper noticed he was looking conflicted and held his hand a bit tighter. "Was it Mr. Author?" He asked softly.

Bill stopped and sighed. "...Yeah."

"Grunkle Stan knew him?" Dipper asked.

"Apparently." Bill walked on.

They approached a door that was chained up and Bill reached out, using his power to remove the chains. Then he turned the doorknob and opened it, looking in at Stan sitting in a monochrome room. "Stan." Bill walked in, Dipper right behind him.

"Bill." Stan looked over at him. "...What are you doing in here?"

"We came to find you." Bill placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, you gotta wake up."

"I thought I had escaped him...it must've been Vegas, he must've seen me at Vegas. I knew I was being watched, I should've been more careful, now they've tracked me to here..." Stan looked at his hands in his lap.

"Rico, you mean?" Bill knelt next to him. "Why did he come after you?"

"He gave me money to go a job...didn't say what it was. Turned out, he needed some kids taken across the border, for..." he glanced at Dipper, "Bad stuff. I took the money, but when I saw the job I helped the kids escape back to their families and disappeared. Rico found me, demanded I pay him back plus extra for letting the kids go, and I swore I would. I was trying to get the money through...unscrupulous means, and then I got a postcard from....a friend. That took me here. I thought I'd lost him." He wrapped his arms around himself.

"But he found you in Vegas." Bill nodded. "Stan, you have to wake up and tell the cops about this guy."

"And admit to being in league with him?" Stan looked at Bill.

"You don't have to tell them everything, just say he was a bad guy you were hiding from." Bill shrugged.

"Okay..." Stan sighed. "I guess...I guess it's a good idea to do that. Maybe they can drive him out." He nodded.

"Good." Bill smiled. "Come on, let's go find Mabel and Gideon. They're looking for stuff on Rico."

Stan stood up and followed them out of the room, the door closing behind him. "Hey...thanks for coming in after me."

Bill grinned. "What are friends for?"

–

"So...apparently he worked for this Rico guy a few times, doing different jobs." Gideon said as he and Mabel walked together. "At least, that's what I'm figuring out."

"Why were all those memories shadowy?" Mabel asked.

"Well, they were in regrets. Maybe he's ashamed of them, wishes he could unsee them." Gideon shrugged.

"Unsee?" Mabel asked.

"Forget. He wishes he could forget them." Gideon corrected himself.

"Okay." Mabel nodded. "Hehe, 'unsee' sounds like something Dipper would say."

"Well, I am only two years older than him." Gideon admitted. "I guess sometimes stuff like that just slips out. I forget the actual word and say...something else."

"That's alright, I do it too." Mabel nodded and walked on. "So, have we learned enough? Should we meet up with the others?"

"I think we've learned as much as we're going to." Gideon nodded. "Let's go find them." He headed back, Mabel following him.

–

"Ready to go back to the world of the waking?" Bill asked when they met up again.

"I think we've learned enough." Gideon nodded. "I've learned his voice well, too, so I can search the town for his thoughts."

"You can do that?" Bill asked.

"Not normally, but with this I can." Gideon touched his amulet. "I'll have father drive me around town until I catch wind of his thought-voice."

"Be careful, Rico is dangerous." Stan frowned.

"Let's get back to the waking world, everyone." Bill opened up a portal. "See you soon, Stan."

"Yeah." Stan nodded, watching them go through the portal.