A Code to DeCipher (BillDip)

Chapter 12

Once the Pines and Co. entered the base, chaos ensued. Alarms blared as invisible sensing lasers were triggered, and the sounds of booted footfalls grew closer as the group ran blindly down the halls.

"Split up!" Somebody ordered. Dipper immediately ducked into another hallway and pressed himself against the wall just as three agents ran past him. He was breathing heavily, fear making it hard to catch his breath. He heard the sounds of gunshots a few hallways down and winced, closing his eyes. Oh God...what have I gotten us into? He wanted to give up. He wished he could go back in time to the day on that porch, and tell himself to lock the door and run, because none of this would have ever happened if he had refused to help the demon at his doorstep. His tranquilizer trembling in his hand, Dipper took a deep breath, getting his thoughts under control. He dared to close his eyes for a moment, pressing his hand against his jacket to make sure his journal was still there. He opened his eyes again, checked to make sure there wasn't anyone waiting around the corner, and started forward. He jogged through the hallways, unnerved by the lack of agents in his area. Does this mean the others have already been captured? He thought to himself nervously. Just as he considered this thought, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. His head whipped around in time to see Mabel sprint down the hallway he was headed towards. He picked up the pace to reach the doorway, then pressed himself against the wall, his tranquilizer prepped. He spun out from behind the wall and fired. There was a small grunt then a thump as the agent hit the ground. Mabel skid to a halt and turned around. She only had time to give Dipper a small smile before more alarms went off and a door closed between them. Dipper wanted to call out, but he didn't want to call anyone to their location. Dipper looked down at the paralyzed agent, whose eyes were following his every movement. Dipper crouched down and pulled the gun out of his stiff hand. The agent's eyes flooded with terror, but Dipper didn't touch him. Instead, he took the gun and threw against the wall with all his might. The gun slammed into the metal, bounced back and tumbled across the floor, the pieces scattering. Dipper let out a relieved breath, worried that the gun would have gone off instead of breaking. Suddenly, another door started closing down the hallway, getting ready to lock Dipper in the hallway. The teen gasped slightly and sprinted forward, caution forgotten as he made a mad dash for the closing door, sliding down from the ceiling. I'm not going to make it... He realized. Suddenly, he remembered reading something in the journal. Before he could even process just what it was he was remembering, he raised a hand to the door and shouted:

"Tempus claudum!" He cried. There was a flash, and the door stopped moving. Dipper stumbled to a halt in shock. That actually worked? He thought to himself incredulously. He blinked a few times then kept going, wonder what he had just done. It wasn't until he came across three government agents seemingly frozen in place that he decided to get out the journal and look up his spell.

"Time Halt..." He read aloud. He scanned the page, pulling out his small black light pen he carried around, double checking that there weren't any drastic side effects. He didn't find anything, except a vague warning about not over exerting oneself. The spell Dipper had casted was only temporary, though, so he'd have to move fast.

By the time Dipper Pines found the door he was looking for, time was beginning to catch up with him. He heard the alarms beginning to start up again, slow and lethargic, drawn out. The sounds of the emergency doors sliding closed were picking up once more. Time was speeding up, but nothing was moving as fast as Dipper's heart. With every door he opened, he grew even more anxious, and he slipped a little deeper into despair. After struggling with the codes of the first few doors, Dipper had decided to risk using another spell.

"Non potest cohibere crinem me." Dipper recited, his hand resting over the coded lock for the door. There was a soft click and Dipper slouched a little as exhaustion was piled onto him once more. The time spell had worn off, the alarms blaring once more. The teen opened the door and all fatigue vanished. Inside the room, strapped to the table, bleeding and barely conscious, was Bill Cipher. Dipper ran to him and grabbed his wrist to check his pulse. At his touch, Bill's eyes flitted open, and a small smile flickered on his face.

"Took you...long enough, Pine Tree." He managed to say. Dipper struggled with the leather straps and metal cuffs around Bill, the sounds of footfalls getting closer. Bill grabbed Dipper's hand.

"Stop it. Get out of here..." He ordered, forcing Dipper to look at him. The boy furrowed his eyebrows.

"But..." He began, Bill cut him off.

"Just go." He insisted. Dipper set his jaw, pulling out the journal and skimming through, searching. "Dipper..." Bill growled, already loosing his strength again. Dipper ignored the dream demon, despite him calling the boy by his real name. He read over the spell a few times, then put the book back in his jacket. He let his hand hover just above the straps and metal, then closed his eyes and focused.

"Quod vinculum solvere vincla!" He recited. With a chink, the metal cuffs cracked in half and the stressed leather released its tension and snapped back. Before Dipper could do anything, Bill grabbed him by the shoulder, harsh and angry.

"Don't you ever cast a spell again, Pine Tree, you hear me?" He snarled, sitting up. Dipper just gaped at him, shocked by his anger and his words. Despite only recently discovering he could use the journal's chants and spells, he had grown fond of it, despite how exhausted it made him. Bill sighed and Dipper helped him to his feet. He was still missing a shirt, his chest marked with gashes and bruises that made Dipper's stomach churn in anger and slight queasiness.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. It's great you can use magic, but..." Bill trailed off into a smirk. He nudged Dipper with his elbow. "You look terrible, Pine Tree." He laughed and Dipper rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, cause you look so much better." He teased back with a small grin and slight laugh. Bill gave him his usual smile, his eyepatch moving up and down as he wriggled his eyebrows.

"Of course I do, Dip-Dop! You mean to tell me I don't look good?" He questioned. Dipper mocked him with a shrug. Bill crossed his arms indignantly, his fake shock plastered on his face.

"What, no butterflies?" Bill teased, poking Dipper's stomach. Dipper laughed again, his relief that Bill was alright blinding him from their situation. He shook his head.

"Come on, let's get out of here." He suggested, letting Bill lean on him so he could walk. They had just gotten to the door when footsteps behind them made the two turn around.

"Where do you think you're going? You and the demo aren't going anywhere, Dipper Pines. Especially now that we know you can use magic." The door slid closed and before anyone could do anything, something hard hit Dipper in the back of the head. His knees gave way and he fell to the floor. His head hit the cold surface and he slipped into a world of black....

A/N: Long overdue and less than satisfactory? Yep, that sounds like me. Haha! Hope you liked it! I'll howl to you later!