Across Dimensions //Will Cipher x Fem!Reader//

11// Prisoner

After that last dream with Will, you don't see him again for another week. At first you don't think anything of it, since your dream visits with Will usually have a couple nights between them, but once it reaches seven, you start counting. Once it reaches ten, you get worried.

You try your best to get enough sleep so you have more time to dream and therefore have more chances to cross paths with Will, but your apprenticeship with Dipper fills up a large enough amount of time that it's no easy task. You start to wonder if there's a way to choose to visit him, instead of just having it happen by chance.

But then, finally, you dream of Will again.

You find yourself in a long, dark tunnel. You start walking down it, but it doesn't end. After what could've been a minute or a year, you finally find an opening in the side of the tunnel. It's just barely visible, an area of darker shadows than the rest of the wall. You go through it.

"Y-Yasmin!"

Suddenly there's light. Dim light, but light all the same. And there's Will, standing a foot away, looking utterly relieved. You don't think you've ever seen him show so much emotion before.

"Yasmin — thank goodness — " And before you know what's happening, he grabs you in a tight hug.

You're surprised at first, but then you return the hug. You can tell from the desperation of his grip on you that he really needs this, so you hold him close. Your arms wrap around his torso, your hands rest on his back, and you can feel him trembling.

Badly.

You just stand there with him for a while, letting him decide when to pull away. Who are you to end the hug before he's ready?

Eventually he stops trembling, settling into your arms with a shaky breath. A moment later, he pulls away.

"Thank you," he says. "I — I had no idea if that would work."

"That what would work?" you ask, looking around the area. You didn't get a chance to get a good luck before the hug. This doesn't look anything like the place where you normally meet Will. Instead of empty space, you're in a small, cramped cell. Instead of white, the walls and floor are a dingy stone gray.

"Pulling you here," Will says. "I-I've been trying for a while, but it hasn't been working."

"Why do you think it's been so long?" you ask. "Shouldn't I have just showed up here on my own?"

"I don't know why," Will said. "Maybe you were drawn to my energy signature, even when I wasn't deliberately trying to bring you here. My energy has been... dim for a while, so it would make sense."

"I tried to come on purpose, but I had no idea how," you say.

Will smiles softly and reaches for your hand. "Thank you for trying," he says.

You don't answer. You can't. You're too shocked from what's attached to his wrist.

"Is that a — a chain?" you ask in horror. "You're chained to the wall?"

He pulls his hand away and blushes. "You can see that? I-I must've pulled you too far. You've never been out this far before."

You repeat your question, unable to believe what you're seeing.

He sighs deeply. "Yes," he says. "I've been avoiding telling you, but. . . well, remember that night I said I could escape with a physical form?"

"Yeah," you say. "Escape this? What is this?"

He puts his hands out as if presenting the cell to you. "This," he says, "is my prison."

You look around again, subdued. "How — I mean, if you don't mind me asking — how is a demon kept prisoner?"

Will sighs again and sits down against the wall. "You're asking me. The two kids that did it have these magical stones that somehow let them control me. And this whole cell is made of the same material as the glass jar Dipper keeps me in. It's designed to not let dream demons pass through it. This chain, though" — he lifts the chain with a clink — "isn't a physical binding. It's just symbolic."

"It's still horrible!"

"Agreed." He looks up from the chain to you. "There's something else, too. Our two dimensions are parallel Earths. The timelines don't match up — far as I can tell, yours is about thirty years in the future of mine — but they're still parallel. And my captors. . . well, they're also named Dipper and Mabel."

You blink. "Well then, they must be nothing like my Dipper and Mabel if they're keeping you captive."

"They're not, but your Dipper is still keeping me captive," he points out.

"Yeah. . . but didn't you say you were a willing captive there?"

"Yes. I understand why he's so slow to trust me." Will sighs and stares at the floor. "These twins. . . they're using me to further their own ambitions. Their amulets give them all sorts of abilities: telepathy, telekinesis, even power over demons. They have everything, and yet they're still not happy. There are these other kids — one of them is a parallel version of your mother — and I was supposed to go possess one of them, but Pacifica stopped me. And I've been paying for it ever since."

"Paying for it?" you whisper, sitting down next to him and trying to meet his eyes. "Like. . . torture?"

He nods without looking at you. "I can't feel physical pain, not like you do. Doesn't stop the Gleeful twins, though. They go after my energy signature. Not physical pain, but still pain. Which is why I've been too weak to pull you to me. I didn't expect my efforts to come to fruition, but. . ." He finally lifts his head and gives you a small smile. "I'm very glad they did."

"Me too," you say. "I'm not glad you're in this awful situation, but I'm glad to see you again. And I'm glad to know about it. Is there anything I can do to help?"

He puts his hand on yours. "Just being my friend is helping more than you know."

As you look into his eyes, a slew of emotions sweeps through you. Pity for Will. Loyalty to him. A sudden determination to do whatever you can to help. You don't feel like you've been helpful. You've just been you.

Still, he says that it's been helping.

You just wish you could do more.