The One He Protected///Gravity Falls Fanfic///TW in desc.

Escape

"Can I leave now?" Ida said, crossing her arms and standing up.

"I don't think so. You seem much more dangerous than I originally thought!" Ford argued. Dipper opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "I want out. I want to go back." Ida said firmly, getting angry.

"Why on Earth would you want to go back to the statue? How was he your FRIEND?" Ford asked, getting a bit too personal.

Ida snapped, "YOU DON'T KNOW ME, OR MY LIFE!" She managed to wince at her own yelling, the lights suddenly shutting off.

The Judge saw Dipper's silhouette look around in shock. "Soos? Did the power go off?" He called nervously. Another voice, Soos, called back, "No, the generator is on!"

Dipper froze up a bit, looking at Ida. She smirked, chuckling a bit to herself. "Oh, I really wish that I could stay a little longer, but I want to leave and go back. I think it's high time I rekindle a promise." Ida said, sighing a bit.

She tossed her long brown hair off her shoulders, putting her hand on the black star-shaped charm that hung from her neck, the gold chain glittering softly.

Ida managed a tiny, genuine smile.

The lights suddenly flickered back on, and Dipper froze in shock. The door to the containment was wide open. Ida was nowhere to be found, and the knife was missing from the table. Ford and he were in complete shock as they tried to comprehend what had happened.

"Power's back on!" Soos called over to them.

The two just stood there in shocked silence. "Where did she go?" Ford suddenly whispered, shaking his head nervously.

"We shouldn't have kept her in there, Ford," Dipper said, a bit irritated with his Grunkle's lack of compassion towards Ida. "She's just a kid, and she's obviously been through some stuff." Ford didn't seem to want to admit he was wrong, even though he knew the kid was telling the truth.

"This is no time to point fingers, Dipper." He said hesitantly, wanting to redirect the subject back to what was going on.

"We need to figure out where she went." He said, grabbing a tranquilizer gun. "We aren't capturing her again," Dipper said firmly. Ford looked at me quizzically. "Why?" He asked. "It's been a week. She's free to go." He said, straightening up from his usually poor posture. Ford sighed, knowing, again, that the kid was right.

"That creature is dangerous. She needs to be contained. I'm just trying to do what will keep this town safe." He said, his voice even. Dipper tensed a bit. No matter how much he wanted to protect him and the town, this was just wrong.

He was blinded by the fear of losing this town to madness again.

Even so, I still had to protest. "Ida," I emphasized her name, angered by the fact he called her a creature, "needs help. Not containment." Ford took a moment, thinking of what I said.

"You're right..." He sighed a bit. "Nevertheless, she still needs to be found." He continued, looking at me. Dipper nodded quietly, knowing that they'd come to some sort of agreement. "Alright, I'll go get Mabel and Stan. Remember, we need to be gentle with her." The kid said, still trying to keep a firm tone. Ford took a moment, then nodded wordlessly.