Chapter Text
The thunder rolled in the distance and the sky turned ever darker as the two sirens and the convicted pirate dashed through the streets. Bill’s eyes flicked up to the sky knowing that they were screwed if it started to rain. It didn’t help that his hands were still shackled but so far they didn’t have an opportunity to stop running. The days of capture had taken a toll on the man though and he could already feel his lungs starting to give in and his legs grew weaker.
Dipper seemed to notice this, as his pull grew stronger on Bill’s hand.
“Come on, we can’t stop.” the boy hissed through his teeth and Bill scoffed, wanting to spit something back, but he knew Dipper was right. So they went on, running through the small alleys and crowded streets in the hope that they could get rid of the mob following them. Bill could faintly hear Tad screaming his name from somewhere behind them.
“Where are we even going?” he gasped after a while. He really wouldn’t be able to run for much longer.
“To a friend!” Mabel chimed from the front and then stopped. Dipper skidded to a halt, almost running into her.
“What are you doing?” he snarled anxiously. Bill took the moment to lean against the siren and caught his breath.
“You go on. I’ll distract them. Bill’s not gonna make it otherwise.” Mabel quickly said. Bill liked the sound of that. Dipper apparently didn’t.
“That’s too dangerous.” he insisted and shook his head.
“No, it’s not. It’s more dangerous for us to stay together. Besides I doubt they can withstand my magic.” she giggled and then ran past them, back from where they came. “We’ll meet at McGuckets place!” she called back. Then she had vanished behind a corner.
“Come on, Dipper.” Bill mumbled and straightened himself again, starting to walk on.
“I can’t.. I can’t lose her.” Dipper hissed, starting to walk after her to Bill’s amazement. He reached out again and grabbed the siren’s wrist.
“Don’t be stupid! She can fight for herself!” he insisted and now it was his turn to drag Dipper along, even if he didn’t know where they were going. At first Dipper seemed almost aggressive and whipped around to face Bill, but one moment of intense eye contact seemed to change his mind. The boy’s blue eyes softened again and he took a deep breath.
“Alright, you’re both right. Come on Bill.” he sighed before taking the lead again. Relief flooded through the pirate.
It took them little more than ten other minutes to reach the edge of the town, a small and dilapidated shack becoming visible in the distance. In that moment the sky broke loose, heavy raindrops fell from the sky and Dipper gasped, starting to run again. They were so close to their goal when Dipper fell, almost dragging Bill down with him, since they were still holding hands.
Bill groaned and turned around to look down at Dipper. It was almost a miserable sight. He was pretty much covered in mud and his vibrant blue tail lay uselessly on the ground. The boy’s shoulders were shaking and his face spoke of pure frustration.
The pirate fell on his knees in front of him and gently took Dipper’s face into his hands. Dipper avoided eye contact and Bill could see tears glistening in his eyes, probably from embarrassment.
“I can’t believe you're putting yourself through all this trouble for me. Are you stupid?” Bill huffed, trying to crack a smile.
“I must be the most idiotic siren to ever exist, yes.” Dipper replied, blinking the unshed tears away. He then reached up with one clawed hand and worked on the shackles, managing to break them off after three minutes of work. Bill rubbed his wrists, making a face. They still hurt but at least he could move again. He immediately scooped Dipper up into his arms, not really caring if he got dirty in the process. He was pretty much a wreck anyway.
The texture of Dipper’s tail made him feel a bit weird, since it was such an odd mix of fishy scales, yet a somewhat human feel. His tail was not cold, as to be expected from a fish, but rather warm.
“Oh god… Mabel.” Dipper mumbled close to Bill’s ear, while wrapping his arms around the pirate’s neck.
“I’m sure she’s found shelter. Don’t worry, she’s smarter than you.” Bill replied, earning an offended look from the siren. He laughed. While walking up to the house, he hugged Dipper closer and the boy let out a squeak of surprise, which he quickly tried to hide through awkward coughing. Adorable.
“I love you, Dipper.” Bill said as they had almost reached the house and his voice was so low that the words were almost drowned out by the rain and thunder. But Dipper must have caught them anyway because he could feel the siren stare at him. Before the boy could answer though the door flew open and an old man stepped outside.
“Come in, come in!! Before ol’ poseidon washes you away with this downpour!” the stranger cackled. Bill frowned. This guy seemed familiar but he had never really seen him before, right? Whatever this sudden realization was, he pushed these thoughts away and quickly stepped inside the house, shaking himself. He was completely drenched and his hair hung into his face.
The weird old guy shuffled through the house and before Bill could even get a word out there were two blankets tossed right in his face. He almost dropped Dipper out of surprise.
“Thanks.” he grumbled and walked over to a couch, that looked like it would fall apart any minute, and sat down, placing the siren in his lap. Dipper had held onto the blankets, passing one over to Bill now, which he used to dry off his hair a little.
“You must be that fishy’s friend! Funny. Ya also look familiar.” the old guy said with that annoying raspy voice of his. Bill narrowed his eyes but then shrugged.
“His name’s William, by the way. William, that’s McGucket.” Dipper exclaimed as Bill opened his mouth. Now he stared at Dipper with an eyebrow raised, but didn’t complain. He must have had his reasons. It wasn’t far from the truth.
“Yeah. Nice to meet you. Thanks for saving our butts.” Bill grinned. He did catch the suspicion in the old man’s eye though. It was gone as quickly as he had noticed.
“Well, imma make us some tea!” McGucket almost yelled and scurried off into the ’kitchen’ in the corner of the room.
“Really, tea is just hot water.” Dipper mumbled to Bill and rolled his eyes. The end of his tail flicked a little in obvious irritation.
“William, huh? How’d you guess my real name?” Bill dismissed the comment and stared at Dipper instead, his expression rather amused though. He rested one of his hands on the blanket that lay over Dipper’s tail and started to dry him off. That seemed to cause some discomfort in the boy but he knew he’d transform back sooner or later.
The siren’s cheeks grew a bit redder and he scratched the back of his head.
“Well, McGucket said some things about Bill Cipher and I didn’t want him to freak out. His memory isn’t the best so he probably didn’t recognize you as ‘the monster’.” Bill noticed the silent accusation in Dipper’s tone. He frowned. Did the boy really think he was a monster just because of the rumors spread about him? Yes, he had been ruthless in the past but had he not yet shown Dipper that he really cared?
“Do you think I’m a monster?” he asked quietly and brought his face close to the siren’s. Dipper’s fins flicked downward almost nervously and he laughed awkwardly.
“Not much more of one than I am.” he answered. Bill just stared at him for a few seconds but then smiled and rubbed their noses together. Dipper giggled a bit only to groan a second later, starting to squirm on his lap. The transformation must have begun. Bill loosened his grip a little, but kept Dipper steady. It was a little weird to sit like this but he had decided that he would try to get over himself and give the kid the comfort he needed.
McGucket returned with some steaming cups, that were really just filled with hot water, about ten minutes later. Just after he had set the cups down on a wobbly table, the door was thrown open. Everyone whipped their head towards the open door only to sigh in relief as they saw Mabel standing there. The girl quickly rushed inside, closing the door behind her.
“I see you didn’t get out of the rain as fast as I did.” she snorted while watching her hatch-mate squirm in misery. Dipper gave her a death stare in return.
Bill chuckled, watching the girl flop down next to him on the couch and catching her breath. It looked like she had been running a lot.
“What’d you do to these poor men?” Bill asked her and he grinned.
“I sang them into prison and locked them up in a free cell! They stood no chance. I think this Tad guy was especially pissed at the turn of events.” she explained, Bill breaking into laughter.
“Well, they got what they deserved!” he hummed. He could feel Dipper’s tail split into legs again, which prompted him to look at his lover. Dipper’s expression changed from a pained to a relieved one and Bill couldn’t help himself and ran a hand through the boy’s brown hair.
“We need to leave soon nonetheless. We can’t stay at this place forever and they will probably get help soon.” Mabel added but smiled at both of them.
“We can steal my Ship back from them! It’s somewhere in the harbour. But I can’t take it without help.” Bill proposed. He frowned though when he saw the sirens look at each other, almost as if uncomfortable. Then Dipper cleared his throat and spoke up.
“We… I mean, I kind of hoped you might wanted to come with us. Into the sea that is.” he said and looked nervously up at Bill. For a moment the pirate didn’t understand.
“How the hell am I supposed to live in the sea? Do I look like a fish to you?” he huffed, frowning at him. Dipper wrung his hands.
“We have a spell that can turn you into a siren. I was going to propose that on the island but then you got taken away..” his voice trailed off. The moments went by as Bill just stared at him, trying to figure out if this was some kind of joke. The silence stretched into an uncomfortable length.
“You want me to become a siren?” he asked, deadpanned. That seemed like the dumbest idea ever thought of. How could he just throw his entire life away? He didn’t even know what it meant to be a siren. Sure, he wanted to be with Dipper but it had never once occurred to him that this could be a possibility.
“Do you not want to?” Dipper finally broke the silence, pulling Bill out of his thoughts. Bill looked at him and he could tell that Dipper was terrified of his answer, even if he tried to hide it.
“Star child, I don’t know if I can. I’m a pirate, not a siren.” Bill sighed, resting his hand on Dipper’s cheek. His lover leaned into the touch and then reached up to rest his own hand on top of Bill’s.
“We can teach you. You wouldn’t need to run from anyone anymore. And we could be together.” for some reason, the latter argument made his insides twist and he wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.
Yes, he had just admitted to loving the boy, but he still was not entirely sure if what he felt even was love. He’d never felt this way before in his life and it was just confusing. Even now, a small part of him just wanted to run away again and force himself to forget the siren, but he decided against it.
He would never know what he really wanted if he didn’t try everything. And it really was true, that if he lived underwater, he could not really be charged and hanged again. He took a deep breath and made up his mind.
“Well, this is probably the dumbest decision i’ve ever made in my life, but fine. I’ll come with you.” he answered. A loud screech made both him and Dipper flinch and both of them glared at Mabel.
“I’m sorry, that’s just so adorable! I can’t wait to show you everything. Oh and you definitely need to meet pacifica. I bet she’ll be so interested in your stories!” the girl babbled before Dipper reached out to slap his hand over her mouth.
“Jeez, relax.” he groaned and Bill laughed.
“Sure thing, Shooting Star.” he said and flashed both of them a grin. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
After finishing the ‘tea’ Bill, Mabel and Dipper departed from McGucket and made their way back to the place where the siren’s had apparently come onto the land. Mabel was the first back in the water. Dipper followed soon after and Bill hesitated before he undressed, and waded into the water. It felt cold on his skin and he shuddered a little, almost starting to regret his decision again.
Before his mind could convince him to run away again though, Dipper swam close to him and took his hands.
“Don’t worry. This spell involves no kissing.” the boy chuckled, making Bill realize again that he was probably the best thing that could have ever happened to him and he would be stupid if he gave all of this up, just because he was conflicted.
“Then stop hesitating and do it, Star Child. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” he replied and laced their fingers together.
With a small nod, Dipper closed his eyes and started to sing a soothing melody, soon laced with words in an ancient language far beyond Bill’s comprehension. He could feel a tingling sensation run through his body, both uncomfortable and oddly exciting at the same time. The water around him began to glow a little.
When his body started to transform it was hard not to panic. Thankfully Dipper had moved from holding his hands to wrapping them around his waist instead, holding him steady. Then his legs gave out under him and he sank into the water completely. He shut his eyes and gasped for air, surprised to find that he could indeed breathe underwater.
The spell was still ringing in his ears as his legs fused together.
He must’ve blacked out at some point, because when he opened his eyes again the blinding light as well as the pain he had felt during the transformation was gone. Instead he lay on the ground, the surface a few meters above him.
“Dipper! I think he woke up again!” Mabel’s voice was even more beautiful underwater. Then Dipper swam into his sight, his expression full of excitement and admiration.
“Bill, you’re stunning. I’ve never seen such a colour in our colony!” Dipper breathed out, finally prompting Bill to take a look at himself.
His eyes widened as he carefully sat up and saw his tail. It was a bright golden colour that matched his hair. He reached up with a hand to feel at his ears and sure enough they were now fins, matching Dipper’s.
“Shit, I really am amazing.” he said, finding that his voice sounded clearer than before. Before he could move Dipper had grabbed his hands and pulled him upwards. The urge to use his hands while swimming was very strong but he found that using that pretty new tail of his wasn’t as hard as he had thought at first.
“I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone!” Dipper exclaimed, throwing his arms around Bill’s neck. For a moment he looked like he was going to kiss him but then he just rubbed their noses together, like Bill had done earlier.
“Well, we should probably not waste any more time then!” Mabel cheered. “Last one home is a sea slug!” she exclaimed and swam off, deeper into the blue.
Dipper was about to follow her but Bill held him back.
“Star child, wait.” he said, earning a confused look. It made him smile. Being with Dipper in his own element was kind of amazing and maybe it was the spur of the moment or maybe it even was the atmosphere, created by the setting sun, that made him feel like this. Whatever it was, Bill leaned in and pressed his lips to Dipper’s, wrapping his arms tightly around the other as his tail snaked around Dipper’s.
He could feel Dipper’s heart beat speeding up, their chests pressed together, but after a moment of shock, the boy returned the embrace, as well as the kiss.
“I love you so much.” Dipper whispered as their lips departed and Bill smiled at his boyfriend.
“I love you too.” he replied. “Now let’s get going or else Shooting Star won’t shut up about winning.” he added.
Bill grabbed Dipper’s hand again and they started racing after Mabel.
“Don’t get used to the kissing though, I don’t know what bit me there.” Bill chuckled as they got farther and farther away from the land and his old life.
Dipper laughed, air bubbles rising to the surface far above them.
“I wouldn’t have expected anything else.”
The End