Chapter Text
Chapter 1 - Remembrances
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“Sometimes, you look the same
Just like you did before the accident
When you're staring into space”
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7:34 pm, September 16th… 3 months and 18 days after the attack.
“UNO!” a voice yelled from inside the Mystery Shack, scaring all of the crows off the roof. In the small living room of the shack, Stan, Ford, Dipper, and Mabel all sat on the floor with boxes of board games and cards around them.
“What, how?!” Dipper spat as Ford and Mabel joined him, jokingly groaning and letting out disappointed complaints. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Ford said over his niece and nephews complaining. “That’s no fair! How?!” Mabel said with a slight giggle at the end. This was the third game in a row Stan had gotten down to one card first.
“Oh, stop whining, you ninnies,” Stan said sarcastically, “go, Ford!” Ford huffed, then looked at his cards. He then looked up at the two kids waiting impatiently as he decided on the card. He then took a breath and slapped down a plus four card. Stan let out a loud “HAH” as he mockingly pointed at Dipper, but the boy only smirked and slapped another plus four on top of that one and locked eyes with his uncle. Before Stan could react, Mabel squealed as she put another plus four on top of Dipper’s.
“BOOM! Take THAT!” Mabel yelled as Stan stared at the pile with his mouth dropped open. Mabel laughed the whole time she watched her gruncles begin to bicker at each other and Stan sluggishly drawing twelve cards.
For Dipper, though, he could hardly hear his uncles. Instead, he focused on Mabel. She looked so happy… So normal. Dipper could barely see the scar on her cheek, and since she was sitting, he didn’t really notice the braces and metal rods around both her legs. After the accident, especially in the weeks immediately following it, Mabel wasn’t the same. And he didn't blame her. His thoughts were suddenly cut off by the sound of Ford’s watch going off.
“Welp, time for more meds, kiddo.” He said, not really changing his voice–he didn’t want to ruin the mood. Mabel just nodded and threw the pillow off her lap, revealing the rest of her brace. All the way from her hips to her ankles was a metal brace made up of rods and screws to support her legs and keep them from hitting anything. Dipper hated seeing Mabel’s braces. He would usually pretend that they weren’t there and nothing had ever happened to make himself feel better, but just seeing them brought him back to the horrific day everything had happened.
Dipper dropped his cards and reached out to Mabel, one half of him wanting to try to stop her from getting up and the other half wanting to help. He could see her fear through her smile, but he didn’t want to hold her back. Instead, he looked up at Ford, who had looked down at his brother. Ford bent down and gently helped Mabel to her feet. He wrapped his hands around her ribs and lifted her to stand slowly. Her braces prevented her from bending her legs, so he was careful not to move her legs too much. Her hips were mostly healed at this point, and her legs were pretty close to being healed… but because of the few hours of paralysis and the number of broken bones she suffered from, she would have to go through boatloads of physical therapy to learn to walk again. Once she was straight, she looked up at Stan, handing her the crutches that strapped onto her forearms.
“You sure about this, sweety?” Stan said as Mabel gripped onto Ford’s arms before she grabbed onto the crutches.
“Yeah,” she said with a smile, “It doesn’t hurt that bad right now, and I need the practice anyways.” That was a lie. Even if her legs had mostly recovered, it was still painful to put pressure on them or try to walk. But she hated the feeling of sitting around and having others. Dipper studied his uncle's expressions. They seemed concerned, but there was no telling Mabel no. So slowly, Ford let go of the girl, watching her legs like a hawk to ensure she was holding onto the crutches at the right height so that her legs didn’t bend too much. She then slowly headed towards the kitchen with Ford close by her side.
“She’s doin’ good, ain't she?” Shan said playfully, punching Dipper’s arm as he sat down next to him. He leaned back onto the couch and rested his arm on the seat.
“Yeah,” Dipper said with a sigh. She stared sadly as Mabel slowly took baby steps towards the table, causing the clanking of her braces to fill the room. Ford lifted her onto the chair and then disappeared into the bathroom to get her painkillers. Stan stayed quiet for a moment, looking up at his niece and Ford (who had now returned from the bathroom), then back down at Dipper.
“Doing okay?” Stan said quietly. He watched as Dipper stayed completely still, processing the question, then he looked up at him.
“I’ll get back to you on that.” Dipper said with a slight smile. Suddenly, they heard Mabel spit her water out at the kitchen table and burst out into laughter. The two sitting on the floor snapped their heads towards the commotion to see Mabel holding a cup with her meds in the other hand, laughing, and Ford in the seat in front of her whipping the water off his face; he, too, was laughing. They guessed Ford had said something that made Mabel laugh, which resulted in her spitting her water out into his face. Both Stan and Dipper smiled at the sight.
Dipper couldn’t stop staring at Mabel whenever she was happy like this. He had gone so long staring at her bloody, blank face lying in a hospital bed, fighting for every breath she took.
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“It's hard to believe you don't remember it
Woke up in the ambulance
You pieced it all together on the drive”
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10:12 am, June 4th… 4 days after the attack.
Dipper lay against his sister’s side as the machine monitoring his faint heartbeat and pulse rang in his ears. Every few seconds, the sound of the ventilator breathing for Mabel filled the room. Dipper lifted his head, glancing up at Mabel, then around the room. Stan was on the opposite side of the room in a chair, sound asleep. He looked around the rest of the room in search of Ford, but he wasn’t there. Instead, the door was cracked open, meaning Ford had left.
The boy quietly rose from his position, and with one last look at his unconscious twin, he made his way to the window observing the town. The hospital in Gravity Falls was small, but they were on the second floor, allowing him to look over the town. As the rain trickled down the window, Dipper thought about what the doctors said. Along with a ton of minor fractures all over and the now repaired brain bleeding, Mabel’s legs had been completely shattered from the impact of the attack. This meant Mabel would have to learn to walk again, maybe even talk again, before she could go back to her everyday life.
Dipper wasn’t even sure if they would ever see a “normal life” again. He had overheard the doctors tell his great uncles that Mabel had suffered from a brain bleed and some excessive brain swelling. As a result, Mabel was “probably going to have a personality change and most likely have some memory loss.”
Dipper squeezed his eyes shut, just thinking about the attack. It was so sudden and startling that none of them could have anticipated it. He remembered opening his eyes after the explosion. Smoke was everywhere, causing his eyes to water as he stumbled to his feet. Looking around, he saw both of his uncles unconscious, hanging from blue chains, and in the distance, a long hallway. At the end was a door with a shooting star on it. The boy was snapped back into reality when he heard the door opening behind him. In walked Ford, tiredly rubbing his eye with one hand and holding a book in the other.
“Oh hey, Dipper,” Ford whispered in a raspy tone. He gently put his book on the end of the bed, careful not to accidentally hit Mabel’s legs (although they were somewhat protected by screws and metal braces). “Did you get some sleep?”
“Barely.” Dipper said quietly, leaving the window and heading towards his uncle. Ford sat down in one of the dual chairs, leaving room for Dipper to sit.
“Yeah, me too,” Ford said, settling back into the semi-comfortable chair. Dipper climbed up next to him and gently leaned his head onto Ford’s arm. Ford smiled, having always loved physical touch but also the fact that Dipper trusted and loved him enough to feel comfortable to show affection towards him, even if it was as simple as leaning his head on his arm.
“Wonder how Stanley does it.” Ford said with a chuckle as he looked at his sleeping brother. “That doesn’t exactly look comfortable.” Dipper looked over at Stan and let out a quiet snort. Ford smiled hearing Dipper, but when the boy sighed and looked back over at his sister, his smile faded.
“So, how are you?” Ford said, looking down at Dipper. The boy looked up at his uncle, confused, then back at Mabel.
“Me? Oh, I’m fine… I should be asking you that! How’s your head?” Dipper studdered, not wanting to talk about himself. But Ford stayed quiet, just staring at Dipper until the boy looked up at him.
“Dipper.”
“I’m okay. Really, Gruncle Ford.” Dipper said, sliding away from his uncle out of annoyance. Ford slightly rolled his eyes at the dramatic action, but he didn’t say anything about it.
“Really? Cause if my brother were laying in a hospital bed with a machine breathing for him, I don’t think I’d be ‘okay’” The room filled with silence. Ford wondered if what he said was a little too passive-aggressive, but he at least got the point across.
"Okay, yeah, I’m not fine.” Dipper spat, crossing his arms, not looking at his uncle. The two were quiet for another moment before Dipper spoke once again. “Mabel’s going to die, isn’t she?” his voice was shaky, but the tone of it was almost emotionless.
“No, Dipper, Mabel is going to get bet-”
“That’s not what the doctors said!” Dipper said, finally turning towards Ford with tears streaming down his face. “You heard them, the list went on and on, and I didn’t hear a single good thing in any of it! She’s probably not going to walk again; she may not be able to talk, her memory could be gone, she could be blind, she may not even make it through the end of the week!” with each of the five points he made, he used pointed at a finger. As he spoke and became more and more upset, Ford noticed behind him that Mabel’s heart rate began to rise. “So no, Gruncle Ford, I am absolutely not okay because I have to sit here every day-”
“Dipper.” Ford tried to interrupt, seeing that Mabel’s heart rate just kept increasing.
“-in a hospital room while my twin is dying, and I can’t do anything about it!”
“Dipper, stop! You need to calm down, look!” Ford put his hands on Dipper’s shoulders and turned him around to face Mabel. At this point, her heart rate was 136 bpm, and the monitors began beeping. The noise woke Stan and he sat up to move closer to Mabel.
“What happened?” Stan said, looking over at Ford and then back up at the monitor. Mabel’s heart rate was slowly going back down after Dipper had stopped panicking.
“I don’t know.” Ford said, gently rubbing Dipper’s back to calm him down, “Dipper was freaking out, and I think, somehow, it triggered Mabel to respond to him.”
“Oh.” Stan said, taking a breath and sitting back in the chair. “You alright?”
“Yeah.” Dipper said in a raspy, shaky voice. He reached up and whipped a tear. Stan sadly looked up at Ford, who gently took Dipper and lifted him up onto his lap. In response, Dipper just broke down. He tried to stay as quiet as he could, resulting in his sobs sounding like whispers. However, he couldn’t keep the gasps and the squeaks quiet. Ford just held him. He too sat back in his chair and just gently stroked Dipper’s hair.
“I just want her to be okay.” Dipper spoke up after a while in a quiet tone just above a whisper.
“Your sister is going to be fine, Dipper.” Ford said, “She’s Mabel. She’s a fighter, and she’s in really good hands. I think you only heard the list of the potential challenging effects of her injuries, but they also gave us some good news. The brain bleeding didn’t cause any excessive brain damage, and they were able to repair her legs well enough that amputation is basically off the board.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. And you’ve seen it yourself, Mabel’s already looking better, and it’s only been a few days. That just gives us hope that she’ll be in for a speedy recovery.” Ford let Dipper soak in all he had just said as he went back to silence and comforted the boy.
For a short amount of time, Dipper felt peace. But it only lasted for a few seconds, and then he returned back to his “overthinking.” He felt guilty. He knew that nightmare was a sign. He felt like if he had done more digging, maybe somehow, some way, he could have stopped everything before it even happened.
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3:30 am, May 24th… 7 days BEFORE the attack.
Dipper’s head pounded as he slowly lifted his head. He was in Bill’s pyramid–except this time, he was alone. No Grunkle Ford, no Grunkle Stan, no Mabel… just him. The boy slowly pushed himself to his feet and rasped in pain as he looked around. Before he got far, something splattered beneath his foot, causing a sound to echo throughout the walls. Dipper looked down in horror to see that he had stepped in a pool of dark, sticky blood that was now spattered onto her leg, staining his socks and the hem of his shorts in spatters. Before he could truly react to the blood, he heard an awful scream.
“Mabel.”
He spoke barely above a whisper. The boy then took off towards the scream, leaving a trail of bloody footsteps behind him.
“Dipper, help!” Mabel’s voice echoed in an excruciating scream, “help me!”
“Mabel?!” He now yelled, panting as he ran–the screams and begs becoming louder and louder. “Mabel! Where are you?” This time, his yelling was interrupted by sudden sobs in between his words. Dipper was exhausted and hurting, but he didn’t stop. As he ran, the surroundings around him slowly turned into a long hallway, filled with hundreds of doors opening and slamming as he spirited past them. At the end of the hallway was a large pink door, chained with black and bloodied chains… in the center of that door was Mabel’s shooting star. The door appeared to be getting farther and farther away. Dipper growled in anger loudly, then all of a sudden, everything stopped.
He was standing right in front of the door in silence. No noise came from the other side or from anywhere for that matter. Everything was completely quiet. Dipper took a deep breath before slowly turning the handle of the door and pushing it open. The door creaked open loudly, revealing a black room with a thin layer of water, not even ankle deep. In the center of the nothingness lay a limp, bloody body. Mabel’s body.
“MABEL!” Dipper cried as she scrambled towards his sister. He slid to his knees and cautiously hovered over the girl’s body. She was still breathing, but it sounded horrible. It sounded like it was taking everything in her to get one breath in–and Dipper could hear the blood gurgling in the back of her throat. “Mabel? Wake up!” Dipper said as he rolled her over onto his knees. He gasped at the sight. Her face was covered in burns, bruises, and blood and her eyes were shut. “Please, Mabel. Mabel!” the girl’s eyes fluttered open. She whimpered in pain, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Dipper.” she whispered.
“H-hey, Mabel. You’re ok. I’ve got you. We’ll get you out of here, Mabel, don’t worry.” Dipper stammered as tears streamed down his face.
“No.” Mabel then said as a tear escaped her eye.
“Yes, Mabel.” Dipper said in a shaky voice, “just s-stay with me, okay?” Mabel’s eyes began to shut, “No, no, Mabel, stay with me! Stay with me, Mabel, Please!”
~“Dipper!”
Dipper cried as Mabel’s eyes opened and closed. She then looked over at him, terror in her eyes, and whispered.
“Bill.” then Mabel’s eyes shut, and her chest stopped moving.
“Mabel? Mabel, no, no, wake up! Please! Mabel!!” Dipper screamed. As he cried, the malicious laughter of his worse enemy filled the room. He clung to his sister, screaming her name and begging her to wake up, ignoring the laughter. “Mabel, please! I need you! Don’t leave me!”
~“DIPPER, WAKE UP!”
~Dipper shot up in bed, breathing hard. Other than his shoulders moving up and down as he breathed, his body was completely still–scared of what could happen if he moved.
“Dipper?” Mabel said cautiously, not wanting to touch or startle her brother. Suddenly, the boy whipped around and wrapped his arms tightly around his sister, letting out a few quiet sobs. Mabel looked up at her uncles with wide, teary eyes as she returned the embrace, gently stroking Dipper’s back. Once Mabel closed her eyes, letting a couple of tears escape from her eyes, Ford sat down and looked at Stan, worried. Sure, they had seen Dipper cry multiple times, but never like this.
“It was horrible, Mabel.” Dipper whispered quietly.
“What was?” Mabel said, pulling her brother out of the hug. Dipper wiped his eyes and kept his head hung. Ford gently put his hand on the boy's shoulder, and thankfully, Dipper took a deep breath.
“Bill had you. And I couldn’t find you.” Dipper’s voice cracked pitifully as he spoke. Stan felt anger burning inside of his chest at the sound of the triangle demon’s name. “You were screaming. And then it stopped.” Dipper looked up at Mabel, tears pouring out of both their eyes. “He killed you, Mabel.” Dipper then fell into Mabel’s arms once more and continued to sob. Ford stood, not being able to sit while he was so angry at himself. He blamed himself for the twins ever coming into contact with Bill. Stan left Ford alone and sat on the bed. He began stroking Mabel’s hair, comforting her as she comforted her brother.
“It was just a nightmare, bro-bro. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.” Mabel whispered as she let out a few quiet sobs herself. “I’m alright. Bill’s gone.”
"Was this your first nightmare?” Stan asked quietly after some silence.
“Since last year, yeah.” Dipper said sadly as he pulled away from Mabel and whipped his tears. Ford again felt his heart fall into his stomach from guilt.
“Bill’s dead, Dipper.” Ford said knelling infront of the boy. “We killed him last year. You don’t have to worry about him anymore.” Dipper nodded and looked down at his lap.
“I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry for, kiddo.” Stan said patting Dipper’s back. “It’s not like you can control these things.” Stan glanced over at the clock. It was 3:46 now. “You feeling better enough to get back to sleep?” Dipper nodded again. Internally, no. He did NOT want to go back to sleep in fear he would have another nightmare. But he hated keeping everyone up. Mabel slid off the bed to let Dipper climb under his sheets. Stan stayed on the bed until Dipper had gotten comfortable and Ford turned off the lamp and helped Mabel into bed. Once the kids where in bed and ready for sleep, the two men then made their way to the door, saying their goodnights for the second time that night.
The second the door shut, Dipper scrambled out of bed, grabbed his pillow, and made his way over to Mabel’s. She knew he was going to want to sleep in her bed since the dream was about her, so she had already moved over and pulled the covers back for him to have a space.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Dipper?” Mabel asked in a whisper.
“I’ll be okay, Mabel.” Dipper said pulling the sheets over his body, “Just make me a promise, alright?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t die any time soon.” Dipper smiled a little as they joked.
“Promise!” Mabel giggled as the two cuddled up together. “G’night, bro-bro!” she said sweetly.
“Night, Mabel.” Dipper said. Within minutes, Mabel was fast asleep. But Dipper just layed there, not being able to get comfortable. He finally flipped onto his back and starred up at the ceiling. Mabel groaned in her sleep at his movement, and threw her arm around him. Dipper gently grabbed onto her arm and just starred, deep in thought. He’d had nightmares before, but something about that one was different. He literally felt like he was experiencing everything happening. The pain in his side as he ran, the emotions, the fear. It all felt so real. He knew Bill was dead and gone, but there was something inside of him that was telling him otherwise.