Their special moment didn't get to last. They needed to get out of there. Their initial plan for escape would have to be evicted, seeing as there was no way the agents would let Bill or anyone in the Pines family live any longer after that show. Dipper knew that many cameras were wired to the room the dream demon had been kept in, and he didn't want to think about how many people witnessed what he had just witnessed. As Bill grabbed Dipper's hand and led him through the halls, another thought occurred to the teen, and his cheeks reddened. Bill glanced back at him.

"You okay, Pine Tree?" He wondered with a smirk as alarms started blaring through the agency.

"There were cameras in the room..." He realized, his stomach churning. Bill started laughing as he ran through the hallways. Dipper didn't think it was very funny, but seeing that Bill didn't seem to care relaxed him at least a little bit.

The two rounded another corner then skid to a halt. The way was blocked by a row of armed agents, all with their guns pointed at Dipper and the demon's heads.

"Don't move!" One of them ordered. Bill smirked again, his visible eye flashing.

"I was going to say the same thing to you. Tempus claudum!" He announced. The agents stopped moving, but the alarms were still going off. Dipper furrowed his eyes in confusion as they continued on their way again.

"Why didn't everything stop?" He wondered aloud. Bill glanced at him as they slowed down, reaching the section they'd been looking for.

"Mind control takes a lot out of ya, kid. I didn't want to waste any unnecessary energy, so I just pinpointed the halt in time." He explained as he waved his hand over a keypad, muttering something under his breath. The keys started to shine, their brightness fading based on the order in which they needed to be pressed. Dipper couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. Why did Bill have to take away his magic ability? What if something happened? What if someone got hurt and Bill wasn't there to help?

"Hello? Earth to Pine Tree? Or do you not want to save your family?" Bill called, snapping Dipper out of his thoughts. Bill raised an eyebrow at him and Dipper just rolled his eyes again, leading the way through the door. He grabbed an agent by the shoulder to brace him and drove his fist hard into the man's gut, making him double over, then kneed him in the face, knocking him out. Dipper brushed himself off as Bill gaped at him. The teen smirked.

"What? I told you I'd been practicing, remember?" He teased. Bill rubbed his nose as he recalled the boy's punch. Dipper laughed for a moment before he remembered where he was, and all humor left him. "Come on, we need to find them." He said sternly, calling them back on track. Bill nodded and closed his uncovered eye, focusing as much as one could when alarms were screaming in your ears.

His eye opened again and he gestured in the right direction before taking off that way. Dipper followed quickly, matching his stride step for step. The dream demon came to a stop right outside a cell door. The insides of the cell were cold, damp, and cramped. It was miserably dark, and all warmth and happiness seemed to be sucked into the drain in the middle of the floor that served as their toilet. Dipper's heart ached at the sight of his disheveled family, and he wrapped his fingers around the bars, feeling slightly unstable at the sight and smell. A slight sob escaped his lips.

At the noise, Mabel's head shot up and she spun around. Her brown eyes were still filled with determined joy. It was almost as if, after the events of Weirdmageddon, she refused to let herself lose hope ever again. At the sight of him, though, they filled with relieved tears and a smile trembled into existence on her face. She leapt to her feet and ran forwards, trying to hug her brother through the bars.

"Dipper!" She sobbed, clutching his arms, his shirt, anything she could reach through the bars as the others looked up in surprised jubilation. Dipper and Bill coaxed her off so they could open the cell door. The dream demon waved a hand across the lock pad then punched in the numbers. With a chink and clattering of metal against metal, the cell opened and Mabel threw her arms around her brother once more. She hugged him so tightly he was finding it a bit hard to breathe.

"Oh, Dipper, we thought they killed you! We thought we were next! We thought...we thought..." She cried, tears of joy mixing with exhausted dejection. Dipper hushed her lightly.

"I know, I know. It's okay. Everything's gonna work out, it's fine. Come on, we don't have much time to waste." He reminded her as he pulled away, trying for a reassuring smile. Bill just stood to the side, not saying a word as he watched the scene play out. He didn't make eye-contact with anyone, not even Dipper. It was almost as if some horrible thought had come to fruition within him. His eyes had a glassiness to them that could only be described as dread. When he caught Dipper looking, however, he quickly smirked, wiping the look from his eyes.

"Pine Tree's right. We've gotta get the heck out of dodge if you guys value your lives." He pointed out. Stan narrowed an eye at the dream demon, but didn't comment as he nodded and motioned for Wendy and Soos to exit the cell, following soon after. Bill and Dipper locked eyes when the sound of booted footfalls came from the hall.

"We're out of time." Dipper realized, his stomach turning cold. Bill smirked slightly and winked at him.

"Leave time to those dorks in the future." His eye shone gold and blue flames danced on his hand. He spun around and threw a ball of fire at the wall. The explosion ripped open the metal and shattered the concrete, sending debris flying everywhere. A section of the ceiling started falling down towards the group, but Bill held out his hand and the object froze where it was.

"Go! Hurry!" Bill instructed, still weakened from his weeks of experimentation and his recent mind control escapade. He wouldn't be able to hold it up for long. Dipper started towards him, but the demon glared a warning and Mabel took his hand, practically dragging him out of the building. Just as the agents and soldiers burst through the door, Bill leapt forward and let the section of the ceiling drop, crushing the agents underneath it. The dream demon fell to one knee, breathing heavily. Dipper pulled away from his sister's grasp and knelt beside him.

"Bill! Are you alright? We've gotta go! More agents will be here any moment!" He asked urgently. Bill huffed, a hand to his covered eye.

"Stupid human body and it's limitations." He grumbled, wobbling to his feet with Dipper's help. The group moved away from the agency painfully slow, but Bill didn't have the energy to run, and Dipper refused to leave him behind, ergo his family went slowly as well.

"Freeze!" Came the shout behind them. Without waiting to see if the group would comply, agents and soldiers opened fire on the escaping experiment and their leverage. Bill mustered up as much energy as he could and shoved Dipper away from him to safety, out of the direct line of fire. He thrust a hand in the family's direction and an invisible barrier formed, making it impossible for anyone to get closer to Bill and the agents, or the other way around. Dipper was too shocked at first to really process what was going on, and only rolled onto his hands and knees to be able to see. Bill raised both his hands as gun shots rang through the air and a massive ball of flaming blue and gold energy formed between them. The energy kept growing and growing, seeming to seep from Bill himself. Then, with a shout of anger and effort, Bill Cipher launched the fireball at his enemies and their base. The agents were incinerated on contact and the entire base exploded in a mass of flames, debris, and light. The chunks of stone and metal couldn't penetrate the barrier-like-forcefield Bill had put up, and soon everything settled.

The forcefield dropped but Dipper didn't move. He just sat there for a moment, his mouth ajar. There was a rustling in the trees as Dr.Carson appeared, having escaped the base once the alarms went off, but Dipper didn't pay any attention. His eyes were on Bill, who was breathing heavily, his back to the group. Everything was okay...right?

Bill Cipher fell to his knees, and Dipper was jolted out of his shocked immobility. He raced forward and caught the demon before he could fall all the way to the ground and gasped. Bill smirked weakly up at him.

"Like I said," he croaked, "s-stupid human l-limitations." The dream demon's body was riddled with bullet holes, the white shirt stained with blood. His hands trembled, his body shaking.

"H-Heal yourself..." Dipper told him, his throat tight. Bill winced slightly and tried to shake his head.

"I-I...can't..." He breathed and Dipper's eyes welled up with tears.

"No... You're going to be okay! D-Demons can't get killed like this, right?" He insisted. Bill raised a weak and bloodied hand to his face, his fear beginning to show in his eyes. His uneven breathing started to come in short, painful rounds, and he attempted a smile, but it didn't work. A panicked tear dripped down his face as he rested his hand against Dipper's cheek.

"No, b-but humans can." He whispered. Agonized fear mixed inside of Dipper's distraught heart and his jaw trembled as he grasped Bill's hand.

"No, please... Please, you can't..." Dipper began desperately. Bill closed his eyes against the pain for a moment, grunting slightly, fear making his already labored breathing hard to achieve.

"D-Dipper, it's okay. It's okay, I..." He tried to stay brave, tried to make it seem not as bad, but he gasped in the agony that flared through his body and he felt himself slipping away, felt himself wanting to give in, and terror boiled over in him. Tears streamed from his eyes and he clutched Dipper fearfully.

"D-Dipper, I'm s-scared...I don't want to die...I don't...It h-hurts..." He sobbed, and it tore Dipper apart. The teen didn't say a word, though, as he held Bill close to him, squeezing his eyes shut against the reality of it all. He could feel the demon's heart racing, uneven and rapid, he could feel his body shake as he cried on his shoulder. Dipper's hands were covered in blood, and his family was standing in shock a few yards away, but he didn't care. He rubbed Bill's back soothingly and began to hum the tune the demon had been whistling what felt like ages ago. As he hummed, he could feel Bill starting to relax, and he realized why he knew the song. It was the lullaby Bill had sung him to put him to sleep when he was testing out his powers. Dipper started to sing softly so only Bill could hear.

"The sun sets as you close your eyes. Rest assured, my dear, that like the sun, when you rise, I will be here." He recalled the words. Bill let out a sigh, and didn't breathe back in. His heart didn't move, and neither did he. Dipper's throat tightened painfully as the demon went slack, but he refused to let him go. He continued to sing, rocking back and forth, his voice shaking as tears dripped down his face, his eyes closed against the agony, still holding Bill's body close to him.

"Don't let your fears into your mind, dream a good dream for me tonight, for when you rise, my dear, I will be here. You're safe now, darling, don't wake, don't fear, for I will always be right here."

A/N: So, uh...yeah. We've only got one chapter left guys, then we can get started on the next book! :) ... :| ... :( Okay, I don't know if this guys made you sad or not, but when I started singing the lullaby, I choked up a bit... Sorry if it sucks, I kinda made it up as I went. If you guys wanna hear it, just tell me! :) Also.... I'M SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO WRITE THIS!!! I've been really busy, and exams are coming up, so UGH! Anyway... I hope you guys aren't too mad at me, and hopefully the next chapter won't take me 2 months to write... XD I'll howl to you later!