"Let's go.."

"How are we supposed to get across that...?" Mabel asks.

"We jump." I look back at her. "And catch the ladder."

"Are you crazy?!"

"Maybe.. But there's no way that I'm going to rely on Bill to free Amanda on his own." I take a few steps, then sprints to the opening and pauses, looking down. "Never mind.. There's a ladder on this side too....." I kneel down and start to climb down the second ladder

Mabel laughs and follows me

As we climb down the ladder, Mabel continues to try and convince me

"I know that he seems mean... And I know that he did a lot of mean things... But he does seem nice.. I promise. He's really not that bad, he thought what he was doing was right, because he was deceived by Bill. He was trying to protect us."

"From Amanda?" My sarcasm is obvious

"It was a misunderstanding.." She looks down at me

"But still.." I land on top of the elevator and climb over the side.

"Can you at least talk to him?"

"It's a little too late for compromise between me and him, don't you think..?"

"No.." She jumps down from the elevator.

"Let's go.." I walk to the smashed-open door by the control panel

Ford is unconscious by the door, and Bill is standing by a shattered and empty cryogenic chamber

"Oh.. I guess we could've just relied on Bill.." Mabel blinks

I quickly make my way over to Bill, who is holding an unconscious Amanda 

"Is she okay?" 

"She's fine.. A little malnourished.. But fine." Bill assures 

"That's good." I nod slightly

"Yes.. But it would be better  if you weren't here, and it would make my life better if I had killed you when I wanted to." Bill glares at me

"You're seriously still mad about Amanda??" I couldn't help but be sarcastic

"Of course I am!" Bill glares

"Will you two please stop arguing? All the negativity is really staring to bother me.." Mabel steps between us. "Let's focus on the positives- Amanda is alive.... Despite Dipper trusting a complete demonic lunatic over family.." 

"Hey!" Bill glares down at my sister. "What exactly  do you mean by lunatic?!"

"And Ford is NOT trustworthy!" I add

"Better than a demon!" Mabel yells

"Oh-ho you are SO dead!" Bill's typical color theme changes to red

"Don't even think about hurting Mabel!" I yell angrilly

"You're next you little--!"

Amanda clears her throat. "That's enough, thank you."

The three of us all look at Amanda, who looks a bit dazed. "No one is hurting anyon-" Bill hugs his daughter very suddenly, his colors had returned to normal

"Thank you for helping me... Again.." Amanda looks around at the heavily damaged room. "Though you could've been a lot nicer about it..." Her voice is quiet and anyone could tell that she was exhausted

"He's lucky I didn't burn him alive." Bill glaces at Ford's unconscious body

"I really don't like him either.. But killing is definitely off the table." Amanda 

"Right.." Bill is sarcastic

"I mean it.." Amanda lectures

"Can you hold off on the lecturing for five seconds? I did just save your life, you know.. I would like to at least be thanked before I get yelled at." Bill states

"Okay-- hug time's over- we want to say hello to! Put her down." I point at the floor, and Bill glares at me

"No." He glares and walks away from me and my sister. 

"No?! What do you mean no?!" I quickly follow

"I mean- you've lost all power over me because now that my daughter is safe, I don't need you anymore." He states. 

"What does that mean?!" I glare

"It means- see you never." He glares back at me, and snaps, and he disappears along with Amanda

"Bill..? Bill!! Bill-- come back here right now!! Bill!" My sister let me scream for a few minutes, until I eventually sat down.

"Aaaaand.. That's why I said we shouldn't trust Bill.." Mabel sighs. "Remember? It wasn't that long ago when Bill was our enemy and his only goal was to get Amanda back home..."

"Yeah... But I thought things were different now.." I paused to sigh.  "Apparently not."

"Well-- everything probably would  be great, but you kissed Amanda soooooo." She stopped talking when I looked at the ground. "Sorry."

"No.. You're right.. I shouldn't have trusted Bill that much.."  

The room fell silent for what felt like hours.

---Amanda's POV---

"Oh you have GOT to be kidding me!" I scream

"Please calm down.." William looks over at me from his cot. He was still injured, but recovering quickly.

"I will not! This is NOT happening again! Did none of you learn your lesson the first time?! I do not want to have to go through the trouble of escaping this place again!"

"It will be a lot harder the second time.." William points out

"Thank you, captain obvious!" I kick the locked door again, but it refuses to budge.

"You should really lay down..." William points to the second cot in the infirmary.

"No!!" I glare back at him. "Do you know how long it took me to get out of here the first time?! I'm starting NOW!" I kick the door again, and again, and again.

---Dipper's POV---

"So..." Mabel finally broke the silence. "What do we do now...?"

"I don't know..." I slowly look at Ford. "We should probably deal with him first.." I stand and Mabel follows my lead as I pick up one of Ford's legs and start dragging him to the elevator. 

We do this in silence, until we reach the elevator, where Stan is looking down at us from above. "You kids okay??"

"We're fine.." I call 

"Did you get Amanda? Is she okay?" Is his next question.

Neither of us answer, and though he doesn't speak, I know he got the message. He throws down a rope. "Tie this around Ford and I'll pull him up.."

We do as instructed, and the rope returns a few minutes later. "Now you." 

We hold onto the rope, and Stan carefully pulls the two of us up. 

The walk back to the Shack's giftshop was hours of painful silence, except for Stan's monotone humming. The entire experience was far too familiar for comfort, and I soon found myself choking back tears. 

Stan rested a pitying hand on my shoulder, and we reached the top of the staircase. "Don't worry, kiddo.. You'll feel better in a little wh--"

Mabel blinks in confusion and looks at Stan when his comforting abruptly ends. "Stan?? What is i--" She follows his eyes and also shuts up

I look between the two, and slowly follow their eyes to see Will sitting on the floor in the middle of the living room, with a nervous look on his face. "So.... I really don't know how to tell you this.."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~