Gideon's collar felt empty.

Every time his hand went up to rub the amulet, a habit he'd gotten into over the years, he remembered all over again. His amulet was gone. They'd bested him and taken it right off him. And now it was on the way back to the Northwest Manor.

On the way into the hands of Gaston.

He tried not to dwell on that thought as he, Mabel, Dipper, and Melody walked down the street towards the Mystery Museum. This was a happy occasion — they'd rescued Mabel. That was all that really mattered right now.

Mabel sidled up beside him. "Hey," she said.

"Hey. You feeling okay?"

She sighed. "As okay as I can be after all that."

Gideon sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry about Pacifica. She really is my friend, but. . . well, since she won't apologize, I will."

"Thanks," Mabel said. "A-and thank you for coming after me. It really means a lot."

She stopped and, blushing, pulled him into a quick hug.

He returned it. "What are friends for?"

She pulled back and looked up at him. She was easily half a head shorter than he was. "Are we friends now?"

"Of course," he said. "Wasn't that obvious?"

Mabel smiled and shook her head. "You never can tell with you."

Gideon blinked. He thought he'd been perfectly obvious. He'd started acknowledging her existence, hadn't he?

Mabel went up to walk next to Melody, but Gideon hung back. He usually hated physical contact of any kind — too many bad memories. But Mabel. . . hugging Mabel felt good. Safe.

"So, big day, huh?"

Gideon looked over to see Dipper smile a knowing little grin. He rolled his eyes. "Yes, if that somehow escaped your notice. We did just have to rescue your sister from a cult."

Dipper didn't rise to the bait. "Mabel doesn't give hugs to just anyone, you know. And if I had asked her if she wanted to hug you yesterday, she would've looked at me like I'd gone crazy. What changed?"

Gideon simply shrugged.

The boys caught up to Mabel and Melody. The Pines chatted amiably with each other, but Gideon's mood dropped with every step he took. He had to go back. He'd run away from his father. And now his amulet was in Gaston's hands, too. If he wanted it back. . . he had to go and endure whatever torture Gaston had in mind.

Well, he might as well get it over with now.

He came to a stop in the street. "Well," he said, "this is where I leave you."

Mabel stopped, her eyes widening. "Wait — now?"

"Yes," Gideon said. "I've done what I needed to do. And now it's time to go home."

He could see Mabel's mind racing behind her eyes. "Um — but — d-don't you want a chance to give Ford the second Journal yourself?"

He paused. Did he? It would be a good excuse to put off his punishment. He suspected that Mabel was offering solely for that reason. But. . . he already had to give the Journal away once. He wasn't sure if he had the resolve to do it again.

Mabel grabbed his hand. "C'mon, I bet it would really mean a lot to Ford."

So Gideon let her drag him after her, though he doubted Ford would care either way. As long as he got his Journal back. Still, Gideon couldn't find it in him to resist procrastinating Gaston's wrath for just a little longer.

The walk back to the Museum took longer now that they weren't in a hurry. They still walked fast, though, to get out of the cold. Towering snowbanks on either side of the street glistened in the moonlight, and light snowflakes started drifting down to add to them.

After a while, Mabel started shivering. Gideon started pulling an arm out of his coat to give it to her, but by the time he got it off, she was already wrapped in Dipper's. He shot Dipper a glare behind Mabel's back. Dipper shrugged, grinning at Gideon's eagerness.

When Dipper started to shiver, Gideon did nothing to help warm him up.

The Mystery Museum was dark when they made it up the steps. "Oh, I forgot the porch lights," Melody said. She opened the door and hit a light switch inside; the porch lights flickered on overhead. "I swear, when none of us but Ford is home, this place looks abandoned."

They all filed in. "Thank goodness," Mabel said. "I'm gonna go change."

She gave Dipper his coat back and hurried off to the bathroom.

"Well," Melody said, "I think this victory calls for some hot chocolate. Who's in?"

"Me!" Dipper said. Gideon shrugged.

As Melody went into the kitchen, Waddles came. . . well, waddling into the entryway.

"Hi, Waddles! We got Mabel!" Dipper scooped the pig into his arms. Wasn't that thing heavy?

Dipper held Waddles up to Gideon, who shied away. "Do you remember Gideon, Waddles? You attacked him once. It was awesome."

Not for me, Gideon thought.

A few minutes later, Mabel came back into the living room, to where the boys had moved as they waited. "Much better," she said. She was back in her everyday outfit, with her pine tree shirt and orange hoodie. "Here, Gideon." She held out the black dress she'd worn, draped over her arm.

"Oh," he said. "You can keep that. It doesn't even fit my mother anymore, and it's not going to do any good wasting away in that closet."

"You sure?" Mabel said. "Because it's probably going to waste away in my closet, too."

Gideon shrugged. "You never know. Go ahead and keep it."

"Okay." Mabel put her backpack and the dress down on the couch. She reached into the pack and pulled out the second Journal. Oh. Right. That.

"So," she said, handing it out to Gideon, "should we go give it to him?"

Gideon took the Journal hesitantly. It felt good to hold it again, but he knew it wouldn't last long. "Won't Ford be asleep?" he tried.

There was a scoffing noise from behind him, and Gideon looked back to see Melody, standing in the entryway with a mug. "No," she said. "He'll be up. Probably just to spite me, at this point." She lifted the mug and sighed. "Well, maybe I can bribe him to bed with hot chocolate."

Gideon got to his feet, holding the Journal against his chest, and followed Melody down the hall, with Mabel and Dipper trailing behind.

When they reached a closed door, they heard a growl of frustration through the wood. "No! Not you too!" There was a faint crash. "Stupid cameras!"

Melody tried the knob, sighed when it wouldn't turn, and knocked. "Ford?"

"I'm fine, Melody," he called, sounding peeved. "Don't disturb me unless the world is ending."

Gideon took a deep breath. "What if someone had your Journal?"

There was a long pause. Then the sound of a chair scraping against the floor and, a few seconds later, the lock on the door turning. "Come in."

Melody rolled her eyes and opened the door, letting her three companions enter the room before following suit and closing the door behind her. They appeared to be in a lab of some kind.

Ford stood a few feet away, looking haggard. There were deep bags under his eyes, and his hair stuck out in all directions, as if he'd been running aggravated hands through it. Underneath it all, though, Gideon could see his excitement.

Gideon took a few slow steps forward. Was he really going to do this? He used to read this Journal with a flashlight under the covers. He used to read it after particularly painful sessions of punishment. He basically had it memorized at this point, but. . . he still liked having it in front of him, waiting to be read once more.

He steeled himself and held the Journal out to Ford. "I found this buried out in the woods a few years back," he said. "It's. . . important to me, but Mabel told me about what you're trying to do. So I'm giving it back to its original owner. Um. . . good luck."

Ford took the Journal and stared down at it with disbelieving eyes. After a moment, he tucked it under his arm and looked up at Gideon. "Thank you," he said with a small, tired smile.

They stood there for a minute. "Well, I'd better be going, then," Gideon said. "Thanks for. . . for writing it."

He turned and walked out of the lab.

He was just about to open the door to leave when he heard running footsteps behind him. "Hey," Mabel said. "I-I know what comes next. What you're going to face if you leave now."

No, she didn't, not really. She knew the basics, though, and that was enough to worry her. Gideon appreciated that.

"S-so," she continued, putting herself between Gideon and the door, "you can stay here. Hide out, wait until this all blows over. I'm sure Melody will be happy to have you. W-we'll keep you safe."

Gideon smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you," he said. "It really means a lot. But I can't."

"Wh-why not?"

"Because," he said, "my father won't stand for it. He'll send servants after me, possibly even come himself if the servants fail. I couldn't force that on your family, especially without my amulet to defend myself. I need to go get it back. And the longer I try to stall, the worse it'll be for me later." He sighed. "Thank you for the offer." He moved to get around Mabel.

"Wait!" Mabel grabbed at his sleeve. "Gideon, this is — this is a crime. Why haven't the cops put a stop to this?"

Gideon gave a humorless laugh. "Please. There may be cops here, but in name only. They wouldn't dare accuse Gaston Northwest of anything. And even if they did, the Order would just wipe their memories."

"But aren't you in charge of wiping people's memories?"

Gideon closed his eyes. "I thought I was. I acted like I was to try to stop them from taking my amulet. But I think there may be. . . other methods."

When he opened his eyes again, Mabel was staring at him, looking like she was about to cry.

"Hey," he said. "It's okay. Going to save you was far, far more important than submitting to my father. I'll make it."

"Can — can I come visit you?"

Gideon's small, reassuring smile faded. "No. . . I don't think so. I wouldn't want you to get caught in this. My father will have plenty against you after tonight. Gaston hates being defied."

"And insulted," Mabel said with a tiny half-smile.

Gideon smiled back. "You definitely told him."

He moved to grab the doorknob, but then remembered something. "Oh. I forgot." He reached into an inside pocket and pulled out a stack of dollar bills, bundled together in a rubber band. He held it out to Mabel.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Payment. For helping with the ghosts."

"O-oh." Mabel reached out and took it, not looking at it. "Thanks."

"Thank you, Mabel. You were wonderful today. I'm sorry for how it ended." He stepped around her. "Goodbye, then."

"G-goodbye."

Gideon opened the door and stepped out into the frigid night, heading out into the darkness and leaving the light of the Mystery Museum behind.