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Summary:

When Mabel stumbles upon a horrifying discovery all their lives are about to be turned upside down.

Notes:

Man, I'm on a roll! Fourth fanfic in just under a week! Let's hope my inspiration keeps on going like that.

Work Text:

On the day that the tragedy happened there was great pain. 

Mabel had been the first on that sunny morning to stumble upon the body and her scream of terror had been audible throughout the shack, alerting everyone in the near vicinity. Dipper had arrived second at the scene, after hurrying down the stairs and once he saw what had horrified his sister so much he too had screamed.

Everyone took it hard. Even Wendy, cool and indifferent as she usually was, had been shaken to her core by the event and Soos... poor Soos had been completely inconsolable, excusing himself as soon as he could to drive home and grieve in private.

The police couldn't find any leads at all. There were no fingerprints, no suspects, no nothing. Blubs and Durland had promised that they would not rest until they found the culprit, but no one had much faith in their words. The two policemen were notorious for their incompetence.

That night the twins had stayed at Wendy's house, while calling their parents and informing them of the tragedy.

 

On the first day after the tragedy there was great denial.

It was hard to believe that their beloved Grunkle was gone so soon and the twins had spent most of the day in a daze, coming to grips with the reality. Often enough one or both of them had firmly believed that they were just stuck in some horrible nightmare, only to break down all over again when they pinched themselves and realized that they were still there in Wendy's house.

When the two weren't busy grieving they were desperately flipping through the pages of Dipper's journal, hoping to find any information that might bring Stan back. Of course they never found it.

Soos had hidden himself away in his own room for the whole day, ignoring the outside world and the reality of the situation. No one heard anything from him.

Wendy, who was already familiar with the concept of grief, having dealt with the loss of her own mother in the past, tried her best to comfort the kids, offering them condolences or advice or even stuff like candy to distract them.

Around noon the twins' parents finally arrived, having driven there as fast as they could and they relieved Wendy of her burden. The Pines family booked themselves into a cheap motel for now, the children simply unwilling to leave Gravity Falls just yet while the murderer was still running loose.

Like expected the police didn't find any leads that day.

 

On the second day after the tragedy there was great anger.

The police had still been unable to find anything useful and everyone felt that law enforcement just wasn't doing enough. Motivated by frustration and anger at the cold-blooded murder the twins, together with Wendy, had set out and searched the whole town for clues themselves. They were soon joined by Soos, who had pulled himself together enough to come out of his hiding place.

The search proved completely fruitless.

No one in town knew anything and no one was considered cold-blooded enough to murder Stan Pines, no matter how angry they might have been at the conman for his many money-grubbing schemes.

This only fueled their frustrations. They were all unwilling to just drop the search, everyone wanting justice for Stan, so they unanimously kept on going and searched the town a second and even a third time.

They only gave up when night and exhaustion fell upon them.

 

On the third day after the tragedy there was great bargaining.

The twins' parents were needed at home and they felt that it would be better for their children to return with them as well, so they started planning their trip back to Piedmont. Once Dipper and Mabel heard of their plans, they spent the whole day protesting, arguing, pleading... anything to change their parents minds.

But Mr. and Mrs. Pines were resolute in their decision and just wouldn't budge.

Blubs and Durland didn't have any luck in their own endeavors and true to their incompetent nature they gradually lost confidence in ever finding any lead and began directing their efforts to other cases that they felt needed their attention more, despite the kids' complaining.

There was also the Mystery Shack. Now that the owner was deceased and there were no relatives left to claim the property - aside from Mr. and Mrs. Pines who didn't show any interest - it looked as if the shack would have to be closed down, the property going over to the town. Already Bud Gleeful showed interest in buying the property and building a theme park there based on his son, but Soos found that option unacceptable and tried his hardest to fight for the right to keep the shack open, offering to run it himself if needed.

But unlike Bud Soos wasn't as financially stable so his chances looked pretty bleak.

Wendy wished that she could help Soos with his fight. But unfortunately there wasn't much she could do, especially since her dad now seemed hell-bent to sent her up-state to work for her cousin, now that her previous job at the Shack was over.

 

On the fourth day after the tragedy there was great depression.

Mabel's and Dipper's parents hadn't budged once on their decision and so it was decided that after Stan's funeral the family would move back to Piedmont. The summer vacation was already over just as it had began.

There were still no clues to the murder at all and so the children's spirits had been pretty down that day. The journal seemed unable to help them and the policemen seemed unwilling. All their searches for the murderer had been fruitless, so now the only thing left to do was to pack their bags.

They did visit the Mystery Shack once, to grab any of the kids' belongings that were still laying around there. Mabel had cried when she had stepped foot in the now empty building and once she came upon the wax figure of her Grunkle that she had created just days before, she cried even harder.

In the end there wasn't much left in the shack to take with them, though Mabel had insisted on taking the wax figure with her. She wanted - needed - something to remind her of her beloved Grunkle and after enough begging her parents had relented.

Soos' fight meanwhile had ended in failure. At a town meeting that day everyone in Gravity Falls had voted on what to do with the now abandoned property and Bud had won enough support to buy the rights for the property. The Mystery Shack was officially over.

Again Soos locked himself in his room and refused to come out.

Back in her own room Wendy had been in contact with her cousin, planning the day when she would move in with him. She decided not to tell the kids or Soos about her upcoming move. They were already depressed enough.

 

On the fifth day after the tragedy there was great acceptance.

It was the day of Stan's funeral. Everyone was there to see him off and pay him the last respects. Soos had left his house just to be there, only to return straight home and lock himself in as soon as the funeral was over.

It was also the last day in Gravity Falls for the twins. Wendy personally saw them off as the kids carried their bags to the car, while their father was busy fitting the giant Stan wax figure into the vehicle.

Before getting in the car Dipper had turned to Wendy and promised that he and his sister would visit her in Gravity Falls as soon as possible. Wendy had just given him a strained smile in response. She still didn't have the heart to tell them the truth.

In the end the murder case was declared as unsolvable and abandoned. The murderer was never found.

 

And so the short vacation to Gravity Falls had abruptly ended, the kids returning way too soon with broken hearts and an inanimate copy of their Grunkle that could never replace the real one that they had lost.

Mabel kept the wax figure in her room, often staring at it for hours and wishing that the murderer would have gotten it instead of her Grunkle.

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