Archive of Our Own ^beta

Part 1: Instrumental
(The shot starts with Dirks sunglasses sitting on a bedroom table. The shot slowly pans into the sunglasses, until darkness overtakes the shot)

Part 2: This one's about a dream that I had last night
(The shot cuts to Dirk sitting with Jake, the two of them relaxing together. Dirk looks away, the frame cutting Jake out of the frame to show Dirk trying to gather the courage to confess)

Part 3: How an old man tracked me home
(As he looks back, Jake has been replaced by Jade's grandfather, who seems to be sitting peacefully)

Part 4: And stepped inside
(Dirks face scrunches in confusion and disappointment)

Part 5: Put his foot inside the door
(Jade's grandfather begins to glitch, turning transparent like a hologram, and Dirk startles, but begins to reach out, looking worried)

Part 6: And gave a crooked smile
(The shot pans in on Dirk's hand, as a holographic hand grabs his arm)

Part 7: Something in his eyes, something in his laugh
(The shot pans out to show a holographic Lil' Hal, standing above Dirk, holding onto his arm with an amused expression. As Dirk tears his arm away with an annoyed look, Hal starts to laugh, and Dirk furrows his brow)

Part 8: Something in his voice that made my skin crawl off
(The shot cuts to Hal abruptly cutting his laughter short, as he peers down at Dirk smugly. The shot pans into Hal's shades to show Dirk's wary expression staring back)

Part 9: He said I've seen you here before
(The shot pans out as Hal extends a hand out to Dirk, who pointedly does not take it)

Part 10: I know your name
(Not losing his stride, Hal simply starts walking around Dirk)

Part 11: Yeah, you could have your pick of pretty things
(He leans closer to Dirk, suddenly turning into Jake, causing Dirk to scramble backward with a flustered expression)

Part 12: You could have it all, everything at once
(Dirk's embarrassment quickly turns into anger, as he stands up, firsts clinched)

Part 13: Everything you've seen
(The shot pans out, showing Hal's back as he faces an angry Dirk)

Part 14: Everything you need
(Hal turns to face the camera, turning his back on Dirk, all the while continuing to casually tease him. In the background, Dirk starts running toward Hal)

Part 15: Everything you've ever had in fantasies
(The shot cuts to Dirk as he punches Hal, who bursts into thousands of mirror fragments. Looking confused, Dirk suddenly catches a glance at one of the mirror fragments. Hal stares back at him)

Part 16: You have one life, you have one life
(The shot cuts to Dirk floating in a void. Mirror fragments float around him as he looks around)

Part 17: You have one life left to leave
(A mirror fragment containing Hal floats by, both Hal and Dirk looking away from each other)

Part 18: You have one life, you have one life
(A sudden beam of light illuminates onto Dirk. He tries swimming up towards it) 

Part 19: You have one life left to leave
(The light starts reflecting off the mirrors, forming a cage of light around Dirk)

Part 20: I woke up from my dream
(The shot cuts to Dirk as he wakes up, groggily pulling himself up)

Part 21: As a golden man
(He's confused to find himself on a rooftop in Texas)

Part 22: With a girl I've never seen
(Noticing Lil Cal is beside him, he startles, quickly throwing the puppet away from him)

Part 23: With golden skin
(Dirk notices Dave is standing on the roof, back towards Dirk as he stares into the sun)

Part 24: I jumped up to my feet
(Dirk scrambles up, reaching out to Dave, looking confused, but happy to see him)

Part 25: And she asked me what was
(The shot cuts to Dirk's point of view, as Dave turns around, talking to Dirk with an amused expression)

Part 26: Wrong
(The shot abruptly cuts to Dirk's hand as it's clenched around Dave's shirt, with Dave limp and bruised, seemingly exhausted and anxious)

Part 27: And I began to scream
(The shot cuts to Dirk's hand abruptly dropping Dave, before panning out to show he has turned into Bro. His face is twisted with horror)

Part 28: I don't think this is me
(Dirk slowly backs away, before looking down as he realizes he's at the edge of the roof)

Part 29: Is this just a dream, or really happening?
(The shot cuts out to show Dave screaming with horror, while Dirk purposefully walks backward, off the edge of the roof)

Part 30: You have one life, you have one life
(The shot cuts back to Dirk, in the void, where he's trapped in a cage of light. He notices something in the distance)

Part 31: You have one life left to leave
(The shot cuts to Jake and Dave in the distance. The shot pans to show their wary, conflicted expressions)

Part 30: You have one life, you have one life
(Dirk looks away, full of shame. Looking at the cage of light, he notices a weak link. If he can push it out of formation, the entire cage should dissolve)

Part 31: You have one life left to leave
(The shot pans in on Dirks's hand, as it slowly reaches out to grab the mirror fragment. The shot is suddenly enveloped in a blinding light)

Part 32: What direction, what direction
(As the light fades, Dirk finds himself in a mirror maze, dozens of splinters sneering at him)

Part 33: What direction, what direction 
(As Dirk backs into a mirror with Hal's reflection in it, his body morphs into Hal)

Part 34: I'm splitting up, I'm splitting up
(Dirk stumbles away, shaking with horror, only to bump into a reflection of Bro, causing him to turn into Bro)

Part 35: This is my personal disaffection
(As Bro only peers back with a guarded expression, Dirk slams his fist into the mirror, turning back into himself as Bro's reflection shatters)

Part 36: What direction, what direction
(Dirk pants, shaking with exhaustion, before suddenly noticing a blank mirror with no reflection. He starts running towards it)

Part 37: What direction now?
(The shot abruptly turns 90 degrees as Dirk is supposed to collide with it, turning into a roof as Dirk runs off it)

Part 38: I looked outside the glass
(As Dirk plummets off the roof, he seems apathetic to his current situation)

Part 39: At the golden shores
(Dirk notices a movie reel speeding alongside him, and tilts his head)

Part 40: Golden shifts and masts, with golden cords
(The reel shows rapid-fire shots of him doing things that hurt or upset people)

Part 41: As my reflection passed I hated what I saw
(The reel abruptly ends with a mirror, as Dirk's unhappy expression stares back at him)

Part 42: My golden eyes were dead, and a thought passed through my head
(As Dirk looks away from the mirror, he looks down, and notices he's plummeting towards his own pair of shades, scaled up to be the size of a building)

Part 43: A heart that's made of gold can't really beat at all
(Dirk scowls bitterly, the shot cutting away just before he makes collision with the shades)

Part 44: I wanted to wake up again
(Dirk is suddenly in the cage of light again, which begins to dissolve as he holds the weak link mirror fragment)

Part 45: I wanted to wake up again
(Dirk's body starts fluctuating, as he turns into Bro and Hal, and he begins swimming toward the light again)

Part 46: Without a touch of gold
(Eventually, he reaches the light, which ripples upon impact)

Part 47: Without a touch of gold
(As he pulls himself through the light, he finds himself on the Texas roof again, and his body stops fluctuating)

Part 48: What direction, what direction
(Standing at a distance facing him, is a body that fluctuates between Hal and Bro)

Part 49: What direction, what direction
(As Dirk looks away, The alternating forms of Hal/Bro look away too, as caught in the reflection of Dirks's sunglasses)

Part 50: What direction, what direction
(Dirk reluctantly looks back, just as Hal/Bro decides to do the same thing)

Part 51: What direction, what direction
(Something in his hand stings, and Dirk looks down to see the mirror fragment is still in his hand. The alternating Hal/Bro stare back at him)

Part 52: What direction, what direction
(Dirk's own body starts to alternate between being Hal and Bro, as he suddenly seems to resolve himself, and he becomes Dirk again )

Part 53: What direction, what direction
(Dirk starts moving towards Hal/Bro, who starts walking backward toward the edge of the roof, looking nervous)

Part 54: What direction, death or action 
(Dirk breaks into a sprint, as Hal/Bro starts to careen over the edge, his arm raising up as Hal/Bro's leg dangles off the roof)

Part 55: Life begins at the intersection
(Dirk grabs Hal/Bro by the shirt, pulling them back onto the roof and into a crushing embrace)

Part 56: What direction, what direction
(Initially stuck into stunned silence, Hal/Bro hugs the shaking Dirk back)

Part 57: What direction now
(As Dirk pulls away, he finds Hal/Bro has turned into himself, and smiles warmly at Dirk)

Part 58: I woke up as before
(The shot cuts to Dirk abruptly wakes up in a bed, shooting upwards)

Part 59: But the gold was gone
(As he looks facing forward, the shot shows him staring into a mirror where his own reflection greets him)

Part 60: My wife was at the door with a night robe on
(Jake peaks in, looking puzzled. He invites Dirk to have breakfast with everyone, before ducking out)

Part 61: My heart beat once or twice
(Dirk turns to look at his shades, which are sitting on the bedroom table next to him)

Part 62: And life flooded my veins
(Dirk smiles softly his eyes bright with life)

Part 63: Everything had changed
(He dons his iconic pair of shades gently)

Part 64: My lungs had found their voice
(The shot cuts to Dirk entering the kitchen)

Part 65: And what was once routine was now the perfect joy
(The alpha timeline kids and Hal are hanging out with the beta timeline kids and trolls. There's a lot of chaos as there seems to be a food war, his friends and Dave pause what they're doing to smile at him before the chaos resumes. Dirk smiles, walking to go join them)

Part 66: You have one life
(The shot cuts to a screen divided by 3 panels. Bro appears in the right panel)

Part 67: You have one life
(Hal appears in the left panel)

Part 68: You have one life left to leave
(Dirk appears in the middle panel, as the left and right panels disappear behind the middle panel, making the shot whole again)

Part 69: You have one life
(The shot cuts to Dirk trying something Dave made during breakfast, grimacing slightly, but trying to be encouraging)

Part 70: You have one life
(As Dave's attention is caught by an argument between Terezi and Karkat, Dirk notices Hal catching his eye. Hal seems wary)

Part 71: You have one life left to leave
(Dirk seems awkward but gives Hal a thumbs up. Hal grins back)