Matter of Time || Bill x Reader

« Chapter Seventeen »

Your blood ran cold at the sound of a window shattering. Angry voices shouted at one another as helicopters roared overhead. Swearing, you pulled your sweatshirt over your head and leaned against the door. Heavy footsteps pounded through the hallway, but you didn’t dare to see for yourself. You might’ve grown up in the distant future, but whatever was going down now was more dangerous than anything you had ever encountered. 

You grit your teeth and dared a glance out the window. The sight only confirmed your fears. The Shack’s grounds were swarmed with armed gunmen securing the building, and Mabel and Dipper were nowhere in sight. So far, no one had noticed you, but it wouldn’t take long for your room to be discovered.

You paced agitatedly. Sneaking outside wasn’t an option, you would be seen immediately, and there was no promise you’ve ever escape if you were taken in as a minor with no records. The hallway was the same. You grit your teeth. There had to be something you were missing. You didn’t come this far to give up. 

You absentmindedly kicked at the floor and froze at the hollow sound it made. It couldn’t be. There was no way for it to be true, but there it was: a loose floorboard opening up to a space large enough for you to fit in. 

You hastily pried the cover off, wincing every time the worn wood groaned. You had to act fast. With one final shove, you pushed the wood covering away and slipped inside. 

The small compartment you had expected led to a dimly lit staircase, the single bulb flickering ominously. You didn’t trust the passageway you stumbled into, but you didn’t have much of a choice. You scrambled to pull the wood over your head just as you heard the door open. 

Chest heaving, you leaned against the wall for support. That had been much too close for comfort. As your breathing slowed, you took in your surroundings more carefully. The uneven brick walls were thick with dust, and you struggled not to cough and alert the gunmen directly above you. Whoever had used this hidden route hadn’t been there in a long time. You ran your hand over the rusted rail and started down the rough cement steps. 

The rock turned to sleek metal under your feet as you went deeper, the walls changing to become more modern and advanced. Just as you were sure the stairs would descend forever, it opened into a gaping cavern, lined with scientific equipment that blinked coldly. Every machine looked like it had been pulled straight from an old sci-fi movie, but they were, working smoothly with an electric hum. 

You sat down in the singular chair, surprised by its clear use in a place where everything looked abandoned. There in front of you sat the other two missing journals, flipped to mirror the gargantuan steel structure that took up most of the space. You frowned at its triangular shape. Considering the demon who’d tormented the town long before you arrived, you didn’t appreciate the irony. 

Strangest of all was a framed picture of Mabel and Dipper, the latter laughing while his sister made a goofy face. You froze at its implications. The unknown device could only be controlled by Stanley, and the machine must have been built by Stanford and his colleagues when they first arrived. The thought made you shiver. Whatever it was being used for now, it couldn’t be good. 

You carefully set the photo down and turned your curiosity back to the journals. Going back into the shack wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, so you let yourself leaf through the pages of the first volume. The handwriting was identical to the version Dipper had, but the contents seemed more carefree. You couldn’t help but smile at the thought of a much younger Stanford exploring the mysteries of Gravity Falls with his friends. There was more focus on them in this book, too. He seemed happier with them close by. 

You set it down and let the pages fall to their original shape, resuming blueprints to the strange machine once more. Besides the quiet buzz of the mechanics, it was eerily silent. You rubbed your eyes and sighed. As much as you detested what you were about to do, you needed answers, and only one person had them. 

The world faded to a smudged monochrome as you opened your mindscape to the bunker. You didn’t bother turning around as you heard him enter and sit down quietly on the desk behind you. 

“You know what this is for, don’t you.”

It wasn’t a question. Bill winced at your tone. “Yes.”

“What will it do?”

“If it works, it will do one of three things,” he said softly. “It will pull Stanford and Esperanza into this dimension, it will collapse your universe, or…” he paused and stiffened. “It will create a bridge between your world and Nirvana.” 

Your fingers dug into your palm in anger. Of course Bill would find a way to conceal a goddamn portal while he played you like a tool. “Hey, Bill?”

“Yeah?”

“Fuck you.”

He sighed quietly. “That’s fair, doll.”

You set your eyes on the colorless control board in front of you. “You don’t seem very worried about the ‘destroying Earth’ part even though you’re tied to me.”

“It’s no difference to me. I’ll either die trying this or die when Nirvana collapses.” 

You hummed indifferently. As awful as it sounded, you had gotten used to his backwards morality. “Only a little less than an hour. I’m guessing there’s no way to stop it?” 

“There is, but you wouldn’t be able to do it by yourself,” he shrugged. “Three shutdown keys for three scientists.” He drifted to the control panel and leaned against it, his honey eye looking somewhere far, far away. “Would you? Shut it down, I mean. If you could.”

You let out a long breath. “I don’t know. Probably. If Esperanza and Stanford are still out there, at least they’re alive. Putting our reality at stake isn’t worth it.”

“And the other reality warpers stuck in your ‘Nightmare Realm’? Do they also not deserve a chance to live?” 

“They might,” you said quietly. “They deserve a chance, but not at the cost of everyone here.”

The two of you relaxed in silence, calm before a storm you didn’t know the outcome of. You both knew that if the portal were to work, you would be on opposite sides of an argument with no clear answer. You watched the countdown tick downwards, watching the time slip by detachedly. Finally, Bill straightened and shook his head. “I should go. The Pines will be here soon, and you can make a decision with them, but I sense invaders in Nirvana.” He extended his hand in an unspoken end to the odd truce you shared. “Goodbye, Y/N. May we meet on the other side.” 

You shook it, and as the world regained its color, you knew it would be the last time you spoke on friendly terms.

* * *

Hey howdy hey, look who crawled out of the grave

I left this story over a year ago because I simply grew out of it. It helped me learn as a writer and I'm glad I got the experience, but I don't regret freezing my account. I've grown as a person tremendously since then, and leaving Wattpad was a step in the right direction.

I'm not sure if I can finish what I started. I now write on AO3 as a hobby, and allowing myself to write less has helped ease my mental health. As for here, expect sporadic updates. The writing will be different, for better or for worse, but I hope you enjoy the ride.