Chapter Text
The first thing Dipper felt was... cold.
And pain. Being flown through time and space does not come with a soft landing. He sat up and rubbed his head. At least the snow softened the fall a bit.
Wait, snow? He looked around. He had landed in the woods in the middle of a snowstorm. Crap. They went too far in the past. Or future. He couldn't tell yet.
"Mabel?" He called, looking around. She was nowhere to be seen. "Mabel!" He picked himself up and started looking every which way. She was right next to him before, she couldn't be far... could she? "MABEL!" His voice was lost in the blustering wind. She wasn't there. Neither was the time machine.
This was bad. This was really really bad. If she wasn't here, she could be anywhere, or anywhen. She could be being chased by dinosaurs, or stuck at the end of time and without the time machine he could be stuck in a snowstorm forever and-
He took a deep breath. "Relax. One step at a time." He told himself. If Mabel wasn't there, he needed shelter. He had only been standing in the snow for less than a minute and he was already shivering. Taking a look around he realized he recognized this part of the woods. The shack wasn't far away. So, he started making his way through the snow.
God, it was cold. By the time he reached the clearing he couldn't feel his legs. Being dressed for the summer also didn't help. Then he saw the shack. It looked much sturdier, like it had only been built a few years ago. Dipper made a mental note he was in the past. It looked... wrong. Never mind the fact that the giant "Mystery Shack" sign was missing, but there was barbed wire surrounding the place. One of the windows was boarded up, a satellite dish was gathering snow nearby, and there was a large wooden sign that displayed the words, "STAY OUT!"
'That's... ominous.' Dipper thought to himself. But it was the shack. He would recognize it anywhere. He walked up to the porch, shook the snow off his shoes and was about to knock but... stopped. He took a moment to think. Was this a good idea? The place looked like a fallout shelter with all the barbed wire, and he couldn't shake the feeling he was walking into something bad. Would Stan even be here? Would anyone be here? And even if Stan was here what could he say? Would Stan believe he was just lost? He couldn't tell the truth, he'd never believe it. And even if he did, he was god knows how far in the past. He couldn't just risk the safety of the timeline by barging in, could he?
A frigid breeze answered his question. He was not staying out in the cold, and he had nowhere else to go. So, he knocked.
Before he even finished knocking, the door swung open and he had a crossbow pointed at his face. "WHO IS IT!? HAVE YOU COME TO STEAL MY EYES!?!?" A voice shouted.
Dipper froze and looked up at a deranged looking... Stan? He barely felt like Stan. He looked decades younger, was wearing a trench coat and was staring down at Dipper with a crazed look in his eye. Oh, yeah, and he was also pointing a crossbow at him. Dipper didn't know what to expect but it wasn't... this.
"WELL?!" Stan shouted, still pointing the crossbow at Dipper.
"Well- I, uhhh, I-I-I'm... uh..." Dipper stammered. He had completely lost his words. He just didn't want to get shot with a crossbow. "I... think I'm lost?!" Dipper shrugged with the biggest 'oh, god, don't shoot me' voice.
Ford looked down at the boy. He didn't look like a threat. He was just a kid. And what was he doing in the middle of the woods in the middle of winter dressed like that?! He could be a puppet of Bill's, but he didn't look possessed. At least, not currently. But Ford couldn't let some kid into the house. He had secrets here. Things he needed to keep hidden. He was just about to turn him away, when he noticed the boy's hat. The hat with the pine tree symbol. The same symbol he saw in that prophecy so long ago. That was no coincidence.
Ford lowered the crossbow, pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Sure." He threw his hands in the air. "Why not?!" He grabbed Dipper by the collar and pulled him inside.
Before Dipper even knew what was happening, he suddenly had a light shining in his eyes. He asked, nervous, "Uhh, what's happening?"
After seeing he wasn't possessed, Ford sighed. "You can stay here until the storm blows over. Just... try not to touch anything." He hung the crossbow up and hurried to the kitchen to hide his notes, leaving Dipper alone.
"Ooo... kaaaay..." Dipper said, utterly confused. Not knowing what else to do, he took a seat on the couch, trying to warm up. He looked around. The shack was just as uncanny inside as it was outside. The dinosaur skull was in the fish tank. There were scattered notes, beakers, and other weird, science-y stuff everywhere. The shack was never the cleanest place but the shack in this time was an absolute mess.
And this past version of Stan was just as out of place. He was pacing and mumbling to himself like he was half-crazy. So many questions buzzed through Dipper's head. What year was it? What happened here? What was up with Stan? How would he get home?
And where the hell was Mabel? Was she alright? Had she made it home? How would she find him? Would he be stuck in the past forever with this deranged version of Stan? He had to take a deep breath. 'It's fine.' He thought to himself. 'It's time-travel. Once she finds when I am it'll be like she never left. She could be here any second now.'
'Any second now.'
Any second now...