Gideon crept down the rickety wooden staircase, his fingers rubbing his amulet as it cast a blue glow around the room. Each stair creaked as Gideon put his weight on it. His heart pounded. What if he got caught?

He stepped down another stair.

There was a cracking sound, and the wooden step gave way. Gideon's feet suddenly dangled over nothing.

He had time only for a thrill of panic to rush through his body before his amulet went out and he plunged into the darkness.

He tried not to scream, but it was impossible. His mind raced in terror as he fell and fell — no matter what he did, his amulet refused to activate and stop his fall.

"What a predicament you're in, Lone Wolf!"

A yellow glow sprang to life next to him, and Gideon's eyes jumped to it, hungry for the light.

And then he figured it out.

"Cipher," he said. "This is a dream."

Bill Cipher tipped his hat to Gideon. "So how are you going to get out of this?"

Gideon glared at him. They both knew that Gideon could easily become aware in his dreams, but that he never was good at controlling them.

"You can't hurt me, Cipher," Gideon said. "I don't feel pain in my dreams. So just stop this fall."

"Or," Bill replied, "we can talk while you fall forever." He folded his stick-thin legs underneath him as he fell alongside Gideon.

"What do you want, Bill?" Gideon folded his arms. If he was going to fall forever, fine. Unless Bill thought it would be funny to abruptly end the fall at any moment, which wasn't unlikely.

"I have a business opportunity for you."

"No thanks."

"You haven't even heard what it is yet."

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing, Cipher," Gideon growled. "You're behind Pacifica's disappearance, aren't you?"

"What makes you think that?"

Gideon just gave him a look.

"My proposition has your best interests in mind," Bill said. "It involves the Journals."

Gideon would be lying if he said this didn't catch his attention. But he also noticed how Bill avoided the topic of Pacifica. "You wouldn't be visiting me in the first place if you didn't want to use me to reach your goals." He knew how this worked.

"I'm fairly certain our goals line up at this point," Bill replied. "You want the Journals. I want anyone but the Pines to have the Journals. Guess who has the Journals?"

Gideon's eyes widened. "They have the first one? I knew it!"

"Not quite yet," Bill said. "But they're looking for it. And if they find it, they'll come after you for yours. But I know how you can force them out of the game."

Gideon hated that he was interested. He hated that Bill knew he was interested. "I'm not promising anything," he said. "What do you have in mind?"

"Excellent," Bill said.

With a sudden crash, Gideon landed on a concrete floor.

He got to his feet immediately. No pain, no shaky legs. Bill didn't truly have power over him, even if he was the one controlling the dream.

"The Pines are about to head out on an expedition," Bill began, "to Stanford's bunker."

"The one they hid in while Pacifica had the Museum?"

"That's the one. Stanford thinks the first Journal might be down there. Luckily for you, they'll have the third Journal with them, to navigate."

"You want me to go find the first Journal first, then steal the third," Gideon said. "That does sound like my best interests. So what's the catch?"

"No catch," Bill said. "Like I said, our goals are aligned. There is a part two, however."

"Same thing."

"Sure. Stanford built his bunker with quite a few security measures. The third Journal should have instructions on how to seal the bunker, and with your amulet you could make it locked from the outside. After you get what you came for, I need you to trap the Pines inside."

But Gideon couldn't be fooled by Bill's vague wording. "I'm not killing anyone, Cipher, Journals on the line or no!"

"Who said anything about killing? There's plenty of food down there. How do you think they survived those three days hiding from Pacifica? And they'll probably find their way out someday, but they'll be out of the way long enough that they won't do any harm."

"Out of the way for what?" Gideon demanded.

"For my plans," Bill replied. "The ones that will get me out of this pathetic dimension."

Gideon stared at him for a long while, thinking it over.

"I suppose you're right," he said slowly. "Our goals are in alignment."

He had a feeling Bill was smiling, despite not having a mouth. "Attaboy."

"Fine," Gideon said. "I'll do what I can. But no promises, and this isn't a deal."

"Sure," Bill replied. "Just a favor for a friend."

"It's not a favor, and you're not my friend. When is this trip to the bunker happening?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Great. In that case, I'd better get a good rest so I can do my duties as a Northwest before running off again. So if you'll leave my dreams in peace, and I'll get back to sleeping."

"Sure thing. Don't want to disturb your beauty sleep."

Something about that reminded Gideon of something.

Bill's glow grew brighter as he got ready to disappear.

Of course! Somehow, it had completely slipped Gideon's mind.

"Cipher, wait!"

Bill's glow dimmed.

"Pacifica," Gideon said, suddenly feeling short of breath. "Where is she?"

"You don't want to ask that question."

"Where is she?" he shouted.

Bill looked at him for a long moment, then blinked. "She's safe. Stop looking for her and she'll stay that way."

"Is that a threat, Cipher? Where is Pacifica!"

But Bill didn't answer. He started to glow brighter again.

"Don't you dare."

Bill started to fade into the yellow light.

"Answer me, Cipher!"

Gideon lunged for Bill in desperation, but his vision was blinded by yellow and his hands grasped only empty air. For a second he stared around the empty room, until it disappeared and he found himself sitting up in bed, breathing heavily. The afternoon sun streamed through his closed curtains.

It took a minute for his fuzzy brain to sort out the memories of his dreams. Dreams with Bill were always easier to remember.

She's safe, Cipher had said. Stop looking for her, and she'll stay that way.

Gideon glared at the wall. I'll do what you want, Cipher. And with the three Journals in one place, I'll find a way to bend you into submission. You'll be too scared to even dare keeping me from Pacifica. I want in on your plans, but I want in on my terms.

Bill could read those thoughts, he knew. But he wasn't sure he cared.

Gideon took a final deep breath and got up off his bed. If he was going to pull this off, he needed to go test something.