Gravity Rises (S2)

BB: Part Twelve

Gideon fell asleep clutching the Journal to his chest.

He had trudged back to the mansion as the sun set, completely sapped of energy. Luckily, his father hadn't intercepted him on his way up to his bedroom. He'd sent one of the servants out to buy him a black light, collapsed on his bed, opened the second Journal, stared at the page for a moment without reading a word, and then closed it again. A few minutes later he was unconscious.

Only to wake up again in a dream.

He was in a large room with brick floors and vaulted ceilings. Filtered sunlight streamed through the window at the top of the room, lighting only the top half and leaving the bottom half of the room in shadow.

"The magnitude of your failure surprises me."

Gideon turned around and was suddenly blinded by a bright yellow light. The entire back wall was shaped like a triangle with one eye.

The entire back wall was Bill.

Gideon faced the demon with his head high. "You misled me," he said. "You let me believe the Journal was down there, and you neglected to tell me about the shapeshifter. There was nothing in it for me."

"You idiot," Bill said. He looked like he was a part of the wall, and the eye that gazed down at Gideon was stationary. "I was offering you your precious Journal. And you just walked away."

Gideon shook his head. "I shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place. You pride yourself on never lying, but we both know that no conversation with you is ever straightforward. You said our goals were aligned, but I doubt I even know what your goals are."

Bill popped out of the wall and floated towards Gideon, becoming smaller and smaller as he got closer. "You're a tricky pawn, I'll give you that." Now, his glow flickered with the rhythm of his speech like usual. "I figured I could rely on you, but even demons make mistakes."

"I'm not your pawn," Gideon growled. "I'm no one's pawn, and today's events should teach you that. I'll only do something if it's in my best interests, and your plans are not. I may be on your Wheel, but I'm a Lone Wolf."

Bill peered at him in silence for a moment. "Oh. Oh. I see. You're not upset about the Journal."

"Get out of my head, Cipher."

"You're upset about the girl."

"Get out of my head, Cipher."

"You saw her dead body down there, and it upset you. You're starting to care for her."

"I'm not going to play these games, Bill," Gideon said. "Just know that whatever plans you have, I'm not going to be a part of them, not unless I decide it's in my best interests. I may even oppose them, in some cases. Speaking of which."

He stepped forward, staring Bill down. "Where's Pacifica."

Bill chuckled. "How different you are from yesterday. You seemed to want a piece of the pie, and now you're content to sit back and let the Pines reign?"

"I no longer want to be involved in this. The only thing I need to know is the location of my friend. Tell me where Pacifica is."

"I told you, I'm not divulging that information."

"Why not?" Gideon demanded.

"You said it yourself, kid. You might oppose me. And if we're enemies now, the last thing I need is for you to have any more information than you already have."

Gideon took a moment to take deep, steadying breaths. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She's better than she ever has been. And the longer you leave her alone, the better she'll be."

"The better you'll be, maybe." Gideon glared at Bill. "This isn't over, Cipher. I want you out of this dimension as much as the rest of the Order, but I won't be your pawn. I play by my own rules."

"Fine by me. Bringing you in on the trip to the bunker was merciful of me. Shifty could've been successful by himself if you hadn't sabotaged him. You should be grateful to me for giving you the chance. But you threw that chance away."

"I don't want any chances from you."

"Suit yourself." Bill started floating back to the wall and expanding again. "You can play these games of autonomy, Lone Wolf. But I warn you. If you get in my way, you'll get the same treatment as anyone else. You don't want to be on my bad side."

"You don't want to be on mine," Gideon replied, staring Bill down.

Bill laughed. "You're adorable."

He merged once again with the wall, closing his eye as the light from his triangular form died away. Only the wall, with the huge, lifeless eye, remained.

Gideon stood there for a moment, still unsure of exactly what had happened. Were he and Bill enemies, now? Had Gideon allied himself with the Pines?

No. No, it didn't matter. He was enemy to no one, ally to no one. He was the Lone Wolf.

The mental image of Mabel's body, crumpled on the floor of the laboratory, sprang to his mind. He pushed it away.

He was the Lone Wolf. And he intended to stay that way.    

End of Episode Two