It was well into the fall by the time the bunker was completed, and Fiddleford felt worse and worse. It didn't help that he'd been using the memory eraser on not only Stanford, but on entire construction crews, and he'd continued to use it on himself.  Stanford himself had made it clear that the bunker was to remain a secret, and yet the two of them couldn't build it alone.

It was the only way to get the bunker completed quickly, Fiddleford told himself, trying to justify his actions and ease his guilt. It had definitely been the right thing to do. But then, why did he feel so anxious and unnerved?

"Fiddleford?" Stanford's voice jolted his assistant out of his own head.

"What- yes?" Fiddleford responded a little too quickly, trying to cover up the fact that he'd not been paying attention. Giving him a sideways glance, Stanford repeated himself.

"You're sure no one could make it past your security systems?"

"Definitely not." Fiddleford assured Stanford, and it felt good. These days, Fiddleford wasn't entirely sure of much, but he knew that those security systems- all of them- were absolutely impeccable.

"Good." Stanford took a slow, deliberate breath before smiling slightly. "We're nearly there, buddy. We just have to hold out a little longer, and then the portal will be finished." Nervously, Fiddleford flashed a small smile as well.

"But.. where does it end?" He finally asked. He couldn't take not knowing anymore.

"Where does what end?"

"I don't know.. all of this." Fiddleford gestured to the bunker surrounding them. "I mean, once the portal is completed, assuming it is successful in its purposes, what then?" Fiddleford stared pointedly at Ford before continuing. "You have this dream of becoming a renowned scientist, and I can respect that. But that's not what I want for myself. Eventually, I want to return home, and have things go back to the way they were." Ford blinked and opened his mouth slightly like he wanted to say something.

"I'm sorry I never considered that before." He said honestly and with a hint of sadness in his voice. It was rare that Ford openly expressed any emotion, so Fiddleford knew that he really had blindsided him. "I just assumed you'd want to be in the limelight as well."

"No." Fiddleford paused. "But that isn't to say that I haven't enjoyed working with you." Fiddleford put in quickly. "I have. It's been eye opening for me, and I have missed you since we parted ways after graduating college. I just don't want my personal life to change once this is over."

Although Stanford was quite anxious to get back to the portal, he and his assistant began spending more and more time in the bunker. Stanford especially liked the bunker's cold silence, and the bunker's laboratory had so many functions that the one in his home did not. The cryogenic chamber was the most technologically advanced one, and Fiddleford really wanted to test it out. However, they had no rest subject. There was the creature being held in a steel cage that could, amazingly, change his shape, but Ford had gotten attached to it and wouldn't allow it to be frozen, much to Fiddleford's dismay.

"Don't get too attached to that thing, Ford. I'm serious." Fiddleford said, eyeing the shapeshifter warily. The thing was now the size of a large dog, and it was learning to speak. Both of these things unnerved Fiddleford deeply.

"I won't. Look, the only reason I haven't allowed you to..." Stanford looked over at the shapeshifter sleeping in its enclosure. It could understand English, and frankly what he was about to say would likely turn the creature on them, teeth bared. Stanford stood and motioned for Fiddleford to do the same and follow him out of the room. Once they were out of the shapeshifter's earshot, he continued.

"I haven't allowed Shifty to be frozen yet because I want to-"

"You named it?!" Fiddleford snapped, looking as though he'd been slapped. Stanford glared at him.

"Yes. I swear, I'm not getting attached to him! I just want to finish testing his DNA. There's a reason he's able to shift like that, and it's encoded in his cells. If I can just analyze some of those skin samples I took, I'll have the answer, and then we can.. freeze him." Stanford finished quietly, and his statement was met with a stony faced Fiddleford.

"Alright." He finally sighed. "I trust you."

More weeks passed, and things were alright for a while. One night, though, things took a turn for the worse, and Fiddleford found himself in the bunker's entry hall, standing face to face with ...himself.

"Shifty?!" Fiddleford recoiled at the sight of his own vicious smile. "What are you doing out of your enclosure?" The shapeshifter laughed without humour and spoke in a horribly raspy voice.

"You and I both know it is a cage. Don't patronize me by calling it an enclosure." He took a menacing step toward the real Fiddleford, who instinctively took a step back.

"Okay. The question still stands, though. Why are you here?" Fiddleford asked again, not bothering to hide the angry suspicion in his voice.

"Doesn't matter." The shapeshifter snapped before grabbing Fiddleford tightly by the shoulders.

Stanford jerked his head up at the sound of clanging in the metal hallways of the bunker. "Fiddleford?" He called.

"Yes!" A raspy voice that sounded vaguely like his assistant's sounded. Then he slunk into the room, and Ford immediately noticed that he seemed quite weary and bedraggled.

"Are you alright?" He asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Yes."

"Oh. Well, there are some cough drops that work really well over in that cupboard." Ford offered, gesturing with his chin to where a tall cabinet sat.

"Actually-" Fiddleford's voice was interrupted by a coughing fit. Finally it ceased, and he continued. "I was wondering if I could look through your journal for a remedy? I do think I've come down with some sort of... supernatural sickness."

"Huh. Yeah, sure. Just wait here." Stanford sighed, walking towards the bunk room he shared with his assistant. It took only a second to find his journal, and he grabbed it quickly. As he was walking out of the room, he heard a strange noise.

"Hey!" He called, trying to see if an animal had gotten into the bunker or something. "Hello?" A loud noise, like a muffled voice, came from his right, and a tall metal safe rattled very slightly. Moving very slowly, Stanford walked over to it and unlocked the door. What he saw shocked and appalled him.

"What?! What's going on?" He yelled, then kneeled and began to untie a shaking Fiddleford. Why he was quivering so violently- whether it was from rage, shock, fear, or even all three, Stanford didn't know. As soon as his bonds were undone, Fidd stood and removed the piece of cloth that was gagging him.

"What happened?!" Stanford repeated.

"That.. thing happened! It's turned on us!" Fiddleford spat before beginning to pace the length of the room.

"Shifty?" Ford breathed. As much as it pained him, he had to admit now what he'd subconsciously known all along- the shapeshifter was just too dangerous to be allowed its freedom anymore. The time had come to-

"We have to freeze it. Tonight." Fiddleford stated adamantly as though reading Stanford's thoughts, glaring at the wall with a gaze that could melt steel.

"I know." Stanford agreed quietly, staring at the floor. Then he remembered the reason he'd come into the bunk room at all. "It's after the Journal." He said, looking around the room. His eyes fell upon a maroon-jacketed plumbing manual. "Maybe we can use that to our advantage."

Fiddleford watched as Stanford found a spray can of gold paint and sprayed one of his hands completely gold and slapped it down on the book's cover. It vaguely resembled the journal Stanford wrote in so often.

"I'm going to tell the shapeshifter I carelessly left my journal in the cryonics room. You're going to have to head into the control room and hit the button to close the tube on it. You got that?" Fiddleford only nodded. They both took off into the room housing all the cryogenic tubes and Stanford tossed the fake journal into the largest one. Fiddleford ran into the control room and watched Stanford leave the room at a brisk walk.

Fiddleford tried to stay alert to his surroundings, but his mind kept flashing back to everything that had gone wrong since his arrival in Gravity Falls. The list was getting pretty extensive. A flash of movement caught his eye, and Fiddleford looked up to see the shapeshifter, still in the form of himself, climb up into the cryogenic tube. Without any further thought, Fiddleford slammed his hand down on the button to close the airtight glass door before walking out into the open space in front of the now writhing and screaming shapeshifter. Seconds later, Stanford joined him.

"I'm so sorry." Stanford whispered, staring at the screaming, shifting form being frozen inside the tube, and Fiddleford didn't know if he was apologizing to him or the shapeshifter. He kept quiet as more screams tore through the chamber.

The next day, the two decided to abandon their work in the bunker. Neither man wanted to stay down there for another second, and within a couple of hours, there was no sign that anyone had ever lived in the bunker. Late the next night, the second Fiddleford got a moment alone, he grabbed the memory erasing gun. For a long time he stared at it, questions echoing through his mind.

How many times have I used this now?

Could this have side effects I don't know of?

And most importantly,

Is this.. is this really helping me?

He didn't know how to answer those questions, and it bothered him. This was something that he'd created; he of all people should know how it operated! Trying to clear his fuzzy head, he glared at the gun. I'm going to try to sleep tonight without this. No nightmares or crazy visions, he promised himself.

An hour later, Fiddleford was still wide awake, tossing and turning. Too many thoughts were running rampant in his head. Many times he considered getting the memory gun, but always he decided against it. Ever since he'd begun using it obsessively, he seemed to be disoriented, his thoughts a blur. It was doing something to his mind.

"It's nearly December." He told himself quietly. "In a few months this will all be over." A few more minutes passed, and one thought stood out among the rest.

I'm never going to use the memory eraser on myself again.

He didn't know just how quickly that promise was going to be broken.

Hi guys! I've got a bit of news regarding this book. Specifically, it's ending. It's going to come soon, you can expect about three more chapters in total. I'm sorry for the late update, by the way. I was busy during the weekend, and for the past few nights I've had quite a bit of homework! Tonight I got a night off, though, so I finally updated Ignorance Is Bliss.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment or vote if you enjoyed. Later!