Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It all happened so fast that none of the twins really knew what happened. There was a bright flash of light, illuminating the room in a nasty blue hue, almost like fire. Their ears were ringing from the excessive amount of noise coming through the machine and all the shouting. What was going on? 

“Mabel!!” Dipper screamed, shouting for his sister after the blue light died down a touch. He remembered. Grunkle Stan- well if he even was their grunkle that is, barged in the room, begging them not to shut down the weird giant machine he was hiding underneath the Shack. What was its purpose? Either way, gravity started to break, people and things were flying around the room, and Mabel… She trusted him and.. “Mabel, are you alright!?” Dipper shouted despite his body being in pain from the falling impact. He was dusty and might’ve gotten cut on some flying debris but that wasn’t important. What was important was getting to Mabel and making sure she was okay. 

Dipper heard Grunkle Stan groaning, trying to regain his composure. Everyone was just a tad disoriented with what had just happened. Dipper didn’t care to look back at him; he didn’t care at all what he was feeling at that moment. Was Stan really who he claimed he was? Dipper had many questions but he pushed them into the back of his mind to save for later. He ran towards the portal which was now shut down. 

He looked around, his concern growing by the second. He couldn’t see her. He couldn’t find Mabel. Panic started to set in as he started digging through piles of metal and debris, hoping that somehow she would be underneath one of them.

“Mabel, where are you!! Mabel!!” Dipper screamed. Grunkle Stan rubbed his head slightly before looking up at the now shut down portal. His eyes widened as he realized what had just happened. He stared in disbelief, a single tear running down his cheek. Dipper continued to search frantically, running across the room and swiping away anything big enough to hide a person underneath. 

He looked back at Grunkle Stan who just stared at the portal, a sudden flurry of anger arising within him. He ran up to him, his fist clenched into a ball and planted it on his chest. It didn't do any damage. 

“YOU!!” Dipper shouted, not quite sure what to do or how to feel. “What happened to her!? Where’s Mabel!?” Stan kept his eyes glued to the portal, almost grieving in silence. Another tear. He slowly turned his head to face Dipper’s, a face so full of despair that it almost made him flinch. He backed off slightly. 

“...Dipper I…” Grunkle Stan almost whispered. He looked into his eyes, his face full of anguish. Dipper tried to hit him again, still only achieving faulty damage. 

“TELL ME!!” He shouted, his own eyes started to form tears. He sensed that something very wrong had happened judging Stan’s own looks. Before he could protest, Stan pulled him into a tight embrace, not letting him have the chance to escape even if he wanted to. Dipper struggled, trying to break loose. “Let go of me! Tell me what happened to Mabel, right now!!” Grunkle Stan sobbed quietly through his words, confusing Dipper even more. 

“...Your sister she.. Oh Dipper I’m so sorry…” He squeezed onto him, his tears now continuously falling from his eyes. Dipper didn’t understand what he was trying to say and he was getting frustrated with his lack of answers. “Mabel got taken somewhere else…” Was all Stan could say. Dipper sucked in a breath, still so confused with their current situation. 

“What do you mean ‘taken’!? Where’d she go!? Why are you just sitting there!? We need to get her back!!” Dipper continued to hit him both in anger and to escape his grasp. Stan didn’t move, allowing Dipper to take his anger out on him. He just quietly sobbed while Dipper screamed and hit him. 

…

Mabel opened her eyes, her pupils still adjusting after the bright flash the machine had made. It was blurry and she felt extremely disoriented. It felt like she was floating. She groaned slightly as she tried to look at her surroundings, her eyes not wanting to cooperate with her just yet. It was dark but light, her body felt like it weighed nothing at all but felt a lingering sensation of drowning at the same time. She tried to shake her head but it made her feel worse, nauseous even. Her surroundings became clearer and she took that chance to observe where she was. She gasped as she realized she actually was floating in some sort of parallel of space filled with stars and what seemed to be bubbles. She tried to turn around to see if the portal was still there but it was hopeless. She was stranded. 

She would have started hyperventilating if it wasn’t for a current to pull her in a certain direction before she could start. She yelped, still trying to process where she was and exactly what happened. The air was cold but fortunately didn't have the capability to end a life. She flew through it, her hair slowly swerving along with her. The different colored bubbles started to look intimidating as Mabel got close to one. She sighed in relief as she flew past one but almost immediately started to scream as another one was coming up and was about to collide right into her. She shut her eyes and braced for impact, only to be met with a weird goopy texture, practically phasing through her body. She shivered as the last of her body phased through the bubble, still unaware what the bubbles were or if they were even safe to touch. 

As if gravity just re-applied itself inside of the bubbles, she fell towards the ground, her hands luckily able to save her head from taking the majority of impact. She groaned as she lay still on the floor. Inside, Mabel truly felt like crying but she knew that it wouldn’t do her any good. She was in a brand new mysterious place and was all alone. No one to help guide her along through this unsettling experience. She sucked in a tear and let her head rise up from the ground, taking in her new environment. It seemed like she was in a field of some sort; long grass, some random crops sprouting up here and there. It was confusing but she tried to focus on what was important. Getting home. 

Mabel pushed herself up with her knee and stood, getting a better view of the place. The yellow-ish grass almost went up to her shoulders- she took note of that incase she ever needed a place to hide from anything. The ground was firm as she walked through the dirt and it seemed there were many harmless insects flying around some of the flowery plants, well harmless she hoped. She didn’t know where she was going, she didn’t know who could be out there, and she was terrified to find out. 

“...Dipper?” Mabel sheepishly called out even though deep down she knew he wouldn’t be able to call back. “...Grunkle Stan?” She traversed through the weeds, the shoes on her feet making a soft thumping sound on the dirt. The thoughts in her head flew around like crazy in a chaotic dance; one she’d prefer not to learn. She was wondering things like, ‘Where did I go? What is this place? Am I gonna die?’ 

All of a sudden out of the corner of her eye, it seemed like a building was emerging from the distance. Some sort of cabin made solely out of wood. Her face lit up, almost on the verge of crying again - she was safe! She sped up her pace from a slow nervous walk to a run, not even thinking about the possibility that some sort of monster could be living there. Mabel knew if anything were to happen, at least she would have her grappling hook by her side the whole time. 

She was closing in on the cabin, maybe a bit too excited to have found it. Closer up it looked beautifully made, in her standards at least. The wood had a nice gray tone to it and it even had some small windows on the sides. For a second, Mabel wondered if this was a parallel universe to her world and this cabin was supposed to be the shack. She brushed it off cheekily knowing that there was no way ‘parallel universes’ actually existed. 

She was only about 15 steps away from its small porch when all of a sudden she heard some sort of weird sound. Pausing for a moment, Mabel looked behind her, not really knowing what to expect. Her eyes widened as she saw some sort of shackle flying towards her. It was a light green glowing color and it almost looked alien. She shrieked and tried to run in the direction of the cabin but before she could progress any further, the shackle clung to her right ankle. 

“Ah!!” Mabel cried, trying to break her leg loose by shaking it around. She couldn’t even see what the shackle was connected to and it only made her more confused with her situation. “What is this!?” Her ankle stung- the bonds felt like it was built up of those small shocks people got when they slid down a slide or accidentally touched someone's hand on a metal chair. In reality it wasn’t torture but the mix of her emotions made it feel so. Was somebody there? Were they going to capture her? 

She shook her head harshly before rolling over to sit properly on the ground. If there was any chance of getting out of this situation then she would have to stay calm and think clearly. She tried to take a deep breath and placed her hands on her leg, tugging to see if it would budge at all. Her heart dropped a little bit more every time when nothing happened. She groaned and scratched at her face, not knowing what to do or what was going to happen to her. 

Mabel was forced to stay in this position for longer than she would ever hoped to. About 15 minutes had passed and absolutely nothing happened. Mabel had tried to hit the chains and even attempted to slide the sleeve of her sweater through the ring attached to her to see if it would help her slide out. It did not. She eventually gave up on that idea and put her sweater back on, head crazy and filled with different feelings and emotions. It was impossible to escape whatever was clinging onto her, it seemed like there was no other option than to just give up. She laid down on the dirt, her side hitting the ground with a pat. There was nothing more she could do it felt like. A few sniffles escaped her as she silently endured the pain surrounding this situation. 

She would have stayed put in this position for a while longer if she didn't hear an ominous sound from the side of the cabin. Was someone there? Her head rose from the ground as she tried to look towards the direction of the mysterious sound. It seemed like there was a bright light coming from its direction as well which only made the atmosphere even more unsettling. Mabel thought of it like an electric buzzing sound but it also felt soft to her ears as if a pancake of lightning was being split open with a butter knife. It didn’t matter if it was a pleasant sound though; she was still terrified. The light started to die down, disappearing into the air or whatever she happened to be breathing in, and she saw a figure arise from the mist. She stared for a moment longer as the figure stood. It stared at what Mabel thought was their wrist for a moment and she wondered just who or what that was. She felt her heart race as the figure suddenly turned in her direction and promptly started making its way towards her. It looked angry. 

Her eyes widened and she looked back down at the shackle, trying one more time to tug herself out before that thing could reach her first. She desperately flailed her body as she tried to figure a way out of this situation. Normally, Dipper would say something nerdy and then the day would be saved but this wasn’t the case. It felt like every part of her body was trying to perform a different action as she frantically tried to escape. 

It wasn’t until the figure was only a few steps away from her when she looked up slowly, wondering, hoping this thing wouldn’t be deciding her fate. Her eyes were tear filled as she observed what looked to be a human which was a good sign but it still looked intimidating- dark clothing, scarf and goggles covering the majority of their face. She took a shaky breath in as she shook her head from side to side, not even noticing herself doing it. It was almost an auto-response. 

As if the universe was testing to see how scared they could push her, Mabel’s eyes widened in fear as the figure pulled out some sort of device that looked like a gun. Before she could protest and plead, the figure started talking first. 

“Who are you and what business do you have here.” It was obviously a question but the way they spoke sounded exasperated in a way that sent chills down Mabel’s spine. She couldn’t speak properly- it felt like her throat was closing in on itself as she tried to muster up words. 

“..I..! Wh-..There, I..I don’t-..!” Her head was spinning as a tear rolled down her cheek. She gently tried to scoot back but was unable due to the restraints. She was very visibly shaking. 

“Who are you?” The voice sounded agitated and angry, a more stern and strict way of speaking flying out of their mouth. They twitched the gun directed at her as if to intimidate her even more. 

“I don’t know!!?” Mabel held her head in her arms and tried to face away from the person. Her answer didn’t seem good enough for them for it took a step closer and groaned in what Mabel thought sounded like rage as if it was irritated with her. Mabel peeked with one eye and she saw the figure roughly raise their free hand up to their face to pull off the accessories. They ripped off the scarf and hit the goggles on their face to fall behind them, connected to something so it wouldn't hit the ground. Her face softened a bit as she stared at the person's face, almost in disbelief. The person was a man, about a million years old, wore glasses around their eyes, and had a gray set of hair on top of everything. It was uncanny to Mabel to see someone she recognized in this complete stranger. 

“...G-..Grunkle Stan?” She allowed her arms to slowly fall back to her sides and she spoke incredulity. It didn't make sense. Just before, Mabel was contemplating whether Stan was even their grunkle at all and now here he was with a gun pointed to her face! Was he some secret evil mastermind who eliminated anyone who saw something they weren’t supposed to? 

The man looked visibly confused at her change in demeanor and lowered the gun by just an inch. His brows were furrowed in either anger or skepticism. 

“What did you just call me?” He spoke as if the name somehow offended him. Mabel gasped slightly and blinked just to make sure she was seeing things right. 

“You.. Why did you make that portal? Were you lying to us when you said you loved us?” Mabel sniffled again, her words coming out much smoother and clearer now. The man was clearly taken aback by her statement but did not let the gun fall. He had an angry expression on his face but Mabel noticed how it almost looked like he was confused, his eyes darting to the side every now and then. 

“...This is new. Are you some sort of sick creature that morphs into helpless kids and sucks the memories of their victims to use against them?” Mabel stared at the man, a face that could only be described as, ‘what the h are you talking about?’ Alongside her confused expression, she also held a guise of disappointment. Was Stan really making weird jokes after everything he just did? The man looked down at Mabel after she stayed silent and furrowed his brows even more. His gruff and intimidating nature returned as he kneeled down to interrogate her further. “How did you know my name. Tell me, now.” 

Mabel felt like crying again. This didn’t feel like her Grunkle at all. Why was he acting so weird- so different? Was this really the person who threw the awesomest parties, did art and crafts with her, and enjoyed breaking the law with her and Dipper? Nothing about this made any sense to her. 

“...What are you talking about?” She looked at him with a downhearted expression, her gut twisting with every word that came out of her. “Where did your stupid portal take me!? Why are you acting so weird!?” She cried, pounding her fist on the ground. She wouldn’t have been so frustrated if he wasn't kneeling with a gun in front of her with her ankle caught in some sort of magical chain device. She wiped her eyes with her arm swiftly, trying not to get any stray pieces of string stuck on her face. “Did you even want us to stay in Gravity Falls with you or did you just want to throw us away like our parents did!?” Mabel shouted towards the ground, still feeling overstimulated with the weapon in her face. 

The man looked at her for a second longer before scoffing and shoving his gun in its holder around his waist. He harshly grabbed her shoulder and looked her straight in the eye as he spoke sternly. “Just who are you!?” He shook her back and forth as he yelled, hoping he’d get a real answer out of her for once. 

Mabel winced at the unexpected contact and looked at him with wide eyes, answering his question even though she thought he knew already. 

“Mabel! …it's me Mabel, Grunkle Stan don’t you remember? Mabel Pines!” Mabel spoke almost out of fear. She saw the man’s expression change from stern and scary to surprised and confused. 

“Pines..” The man muttered to himself as he let go of her shoulder and she sighed, glad to be free of it. “You’re a Pines?” It was obvious he was still skeptical of Mabel’s whole existence but he seemed shocked about all the personal information she seemed to know. “...Do I know you? Why do you refer to me as a..Gunkle Stan?” She cocked her head slightly to the side when he pronounced Grunkle wrong. Shouldn’t he know that word? 

“Grunkle. Grunkle Stan.” Mabel corrected hesitantly. “...You're.. Not my Grunkle are you…” She spoke, her voice embedded in layers of sadness. He just.. Looked exactly like him. 

The man placed his arm across his knee, thinking to himself for a moment. “Seeing as I’ve never met you before I would believe not.” He stared down at her, still trying to understand the situation himself. “You mentioned Gravity Falls; what were you doing there? Who were you staying with?” 

Mabel frowned, realizing for sure that this was not the Grunkle Stan she knew. She looked at him trying to refrain from wetting her eyes further. 

“Me and my brother got sent there by our parents to spend summer with our great uncle Stanford.” The man’s face scrunched in confusion, looking down before connecting eye contact again. 

“What dimension are you from?” 

Mabel gave him a blank look almost as if he were crazy or something. “What.” The man sensed her confusion but instead of elaborating like a normal human being, he grabbed her pointer finger from her right hand and shoved it in some weird small device he had lingering in his coat pocket. She felt a small sting on the tip of her finger and jumped at the pain that came out of the blue. 

“Ow!!” She yelled, tugging her finger out of the contraption. The man said nothing, his eyes fixed on the little box in his hand. Mabel sucked the blood off her finger and wrapped it in the extra sleeve fabric around her arm, staring angrily at him. Although she looked to the side for a second when she noticed the man’s face widened in surprise, curious to why he needed a blood sample and what the heck that box just told him from it. 

“You’re from dimension 46’/?” The man stared at her as if he just discovered the secret to solving the hardest math equation in the world. Mabel stared at him, not knowing what the heck any of that meant. “Your great uncle Stanford.. That wouldn’t make sense unless someone was posing to..” He started to talk to himself, looking at the ground now instead of facing Mabel. She was still so confused with every word he spoke of. Dimensions? What in the world was he talking about? He looked at her once again, ready for more confirmation. “What year are you from?” 

“Uhh.. 2012?” Mabel spoke, curious to why he was asking so many weird questions. 

“That’s what I thought… If you thought I was your great uncle.. Stanford.. Then who is your grandfather..?” He asked, almost a bit hesitant. Mabel looked at him, a bit skeptical herself to why this stranger would need all this personal information about her life. She probably shouldn’t be telling this guy all her secrets… whatever! 

“Um.. My grandpa Shermie Pines.. Why do you need to know all this?” Mabel asked but was surprised to see the man with a face of pure astonishment. 

“Shermie..” The man muttered, staring Mabel right in the eye. “Are you.. My niece? How.. How did you get here?” Mabel stared up at the man, expression filled with utter confusion. 

“But you’re not my Grunkle Stanford! He’s so much different!” The man stood up and covered his mouth with one of his hands. “I got here through this weird portal he was hiding in his basement! Do you know him?” 

“You said his name was Stanford?” He looked down at her scratching his neck. “ My name is Stanford! I don’t know who you were staying with but.. You obviously thought I was him. There's a chance that.. That was my brother.” Mabel gasped, trying to connect all the dots together as she figured out all of what was happening. 

“Brother!? W-what?” Mabel stared at the ground, recalling all of the fake ids she and Dipper had found what felt like so long ago. “I mean… Our grunkle does like to lie but.. He never mentioned having another brother.. And you’re trying to tell me your Stanford? Then who-?” She paused, trying to remember hearing about any of this from her Grunkle Stan before. 

“My brother Shermie you know but I also have a twin. His name is Stanley. He must’ve stolen my identity once I… left.” Stanford looked away for a moment, deciding to leave out a few of the ‘un-important’ details. He cleared his throat before continuing. “So..” He started, trying to recap what they had discussed, “Your name is..Mabel correct? And You have a brother who must be my nephew. Did he come through the portal as well?” Mabel sniffed one more time and continued to watch the dirt surrounding her. 

“No…He…He wasn’t there when I opened my eyes.” Mabel hugged her knees, remembering that Dipper wasn’t with her anymore. She wanted to go to sweater-town. 

Stanford looked down at the sorry mess, unsure of what to do. Well for starters he should probably get her cleaned up. He noticed the shackle still promptly hugging her foot and twitched slightly, forgetting that was even there. He dug his hand around in his coat pocket, searching for a specific tool. He knelt down again and started freeing Mabel from the shackle she was bound to. Mabel just stared at him as he worked, head resting on her arms and knees. 

Ford sighed, a drip of sweat rolling down his face despite the air being quite chilly. He took his gizmo whatcha-macallit and jammed it directly onto the chain making a buzzing sparky sound, dismantling it immediately. Her ankle broke free of the shackle and she scooched over slightly, letting her foot wiggle. 

“I uh.. Sorry about that. My defense system can be pretty harsh.” He coughed, instantly feeling guilty when he saw the red scratched and almost slightly burnt ring around her ankle. He perked up slightly though, remembering something important. “Speaking of,” He pulled out a small case from his inner coat pocket and opened it up revealing 3 identical watches. It had a square screen and was colored black all throughout. “Wearing this watch will keep you safe from it! It can also be used as a communication device but that is not important right now. Can you walk?” 

Without speaking, Mabel pushed her hands on her knees so she could stand up, still being quite short next to him. She rocked back and fourth, alternating her feet to test if her legs were up to the challenge before silently letting her feet align parallel with each other. She didn’t look up at Stanford but gave him a respective hum with a nod of her head, answering his question. He gave a stern nod in response and started walking.

“Then follow me. I need to fix that leg of yours up.” Mabel followed behind him, looking out and into the distance. The fields seemed like they went on forever. The cabin was the only building that stuck out of the grass. She sighed through her nose, still trying to process everything that just happened. At least she had some sort of guide to help her now. It felt nice to not be alone even if he was just threatening her with a weapon a moment ago. 

The two made it up the two wooden stairs, the boards creaking as their weights shifted the positions ever so slightly. Ford opened the front door- it was a screen door but the inner door didn’t seem to be attached at the moment- before he suddenly stopped, Mabel almost bumping into him as a result. He hesitated but turned around before walking inside. 

“...You can just stay out here for a moment. My house is not.. Guest friendly quite yet.” He was lying right through his teeth… Ish. It was true his base was filled with potentially dangerous items and was a cluttered mess but he also didn’t want to let a strange kid he just met stay and access all of his things without him knowing one hundred percent that it was safe for him to do so. For all he knew this was some sort of entity that could make very believable back stories to reel in their victims. He looked at Mabel for a moment who just stared up at him before turning around again to walk inside. “Right, be back shortly.” 

The door shut, leaving Mabel to herself on the deck. Ford walked through the cabin, grabbing random and various trinkets that lingered around the area. He remembered there was a med kit somewhere just..didn't remember where it could be hiding. The cabin was big for just one person but was is no means as big as his old house, the shack. There was no upstairs and technically, every corner of the house could see each other. There weren’t any rooms. It’s not like Ford was planning on housing guests ever. There were respective areas of course like one space for eating and another for working but there were no doors or even hallways. Although, surrounding Stanford’s bed hung a curtain if he ever wanted to look at something other than his work and problems as he slept. 

Trudging his way around the house, he made sure to pick up some of the more important things to put away later while he searched. The med-kit ended up being in a cabinet in his kitchen-esque area. He had to squat down to its level as he pulled it out from the darkness. He opened it to look at its contents before deciding it had enough to help heal Mabel and stood up to start making his way back. 

When he opened the screen door again he almost started to panic when he didn’t see her right away. He heard he move her head to look up at him though and he realized she had taken a seat right next to the door out of his original field of vision. He sighed quietly, almost thinking she had found a way in and was about to rob him or something.

He knelt down to her level and placed the kit on the ground, opening it up. He didn’t ask to start working instead just gently lifted her foot into his hands as he dabbed the irritated area with a cloth and some type of cream/substance. Mabel sucked in a breath, wincing at the sudden small currents of pain. 

“Your leg will be fine. This isn’t anything major thankfully.” Ford spoke, not lifting his head up to look at her. He kept his eyes on her ankle as he continued to work at it. “The defense protocol is only supposed to stun, not give big injuries. Although I guess it is a little more sensitive to human skin.” 

Mabel curiously watched him as he finished wetting her ankle with the weird goop and reached for the bandages. It was weird, he felt both gentle and harsh at the same time. Mabel just turned her head to the side as Ford started to wrap her ankle. She imagined little aliens that represented the pain on her foot being trapped inside a blanket of rainbows, or the bandages, unable to escape until they all turned into little puppy dogs. She smiled very slightly, it helped her take her mind off of the real world for a moment. If this even was the real world. 

Stanford nodded to himself, observing the finished job. The bottom of her foot was neatly wrapped in the bandages and he gave it a small pat before setting the roll down on the wood floor. “There.” He gave her a small smile. “How does it feel?” Mabel looked down at her foot and let it sway from side to side, hitting her other shoe. 

“Its nice. Thank you, uh.. Grunkle..Stanford?” It felt weird for her to call him her grunkle Stanford. This wasn’t the grunkle she was used to referring to. He looked down at her, obviously taking note of her unsureness. 

“You needn’t call me that if you wish not to.” He breathed quietly. “...And I’ve been meaning to ask- what does ‘grunkle’ even mean?” He asked, not yet ready to stand up. Mabel looked up at him, her face lighting up ever so slightly. It was nice thinking about something normal instead of weird bubbles and space and all that jazz. 

“Grunkle is a word me and dip dop made! It’s much easier to say than great uncle. Smart right!?” Ford was almost taken aback at her change in attitude. She was much louder and energetic than she was a moment ago. Was that normal for her to have such drastic mood swings? He’d have to write it down later. 

Even though Stanford himself would never use the word grunkle, he decided to humor her, thinking it was the least he could do to make her feel a bit better. “Very interesting… it must help save a lot of time.” He smiled warmly. It felt a little odd if he had to admit- he never smiled much since arriving besides a few rare occurrences. 

“Yeah. It did.” Mabel swung her feet side to side and looked away, her small smile still present on her face. Before he could forget, he pulled out the case with the watches and held it out to her. She looked at them curiously and then back at Ford. 

“Pick whichever one you want. They’re all the same.” This watch would not only allow Mabel to be protected by the base’s security but he also wanted her to wear one so he could keep tract of her location. It was neat, it even allowed him to view her heartbeat. Mabel had seen commercials about ‘smart watches’ before and she really loved the idea so she had no problem accepting the gift from him. 

“Woah..” She gently picked up the one in the middle with both hands and almost cradled it in her arms. Ford chuckled slightly before closing the container and placing it in his inner coat pocket. She placed the watch on her left wrist and tried to use her other hand to tighten it but she couldn’t really accomplish it. It even slid off her hand and Ford had to catch it before it fell to the ground. He made a small ‘whop!’ sound as it landed in his palm and he let out a quick sigh. 

“..Here, give me your hand there,” He motioned. Mabel followed his order and held out her hand in front of him so he could place the bracelet portion around her wrist. Before it could fall off like before, he tightened the fabricated belt to fit her and returned her hand to her. Stanford could almost see the stars in her eyes as she looked at her new accessory. He smiled slightly and stood up, pleased with his the general results. He thought for a moment before glancing down at the girl who was till staring at the watch in awe. “I will.. Be right back.” 

He walked through the door again and let it shut before slowly pacing around one of his desks. Mabel didn’t seem like she was lying and she certainly looked like a human so.. Why did he feel so uneasy about letting her stay inside? He sighed and glanced over at some of the many random cluttered pages around the walls and furniture. One stuck out to him. 

Trust no one.  

He winced and swung his head in the direction of the window, watching as Mabel tinkered with the watch happily. She was just a normal girl wasn’t she? He couldn’t risk it. He had only met her how many minutes ago and even though he had some concrete evidence such as her blood confirming her to be bound to dimension 46’/, he had encountered some who were crazy enough to inject the blood of innocent bystanders to get out of trouble with intergalactic law keepers. He would just have to.. run a few more tests and collect some more information before he knew for sure she was really who she claimed to be. 

But for now, he couldn’t send her away, especially if the girl outside really was his niece. His family. He sighed and walked over to a random chest in one of the corners of all the clutter. He opened the box and rummaged around, pulling out a standard gray blanket and an old pillow he had stopped using because it became too flat. He walked over to his bed and placed the smooshed pillow onto the mattress before grabbing his current one and walking towards the door once again. 

“You know what you should add to this watch?” Ford looked over at mabel who was standing with her back to him. He wasn’t expecting her to speak so suddenly right after he walked through the door again but he curiously hummed in response. Mabel shot around and let her arms fly up in the air. “A karaoke feature!!” Stanford blinked, not expecting that answer at all. 

“A…karaoke feature?” Mabel hopped over on one leg and nodded her head. Seemed like she was doing much better now which honestly surprised him quite a bit. 

“Uh huh! Your watch is cool an’ all but it could really use some pizazz!” She gave him jazz hands and tried to prove her point further with some of her voiced sound effects. “Got any glitter on hand by any chance?” Ford stared at her but she replied for him before he could even open his mouth. “Ah, don’t even worry! I always have some!” She shook her arm and some glitter started to fall from the inside of her sleeve and onto the watch. He couldn’t help but crack a smile at her silliness. 

“You seem to be the expert here.” He grinned. Mabel noticed the pillow and blanket in his hands and curiously stopped what she was doing to ask. 

“What’s with the slumber party gear?” Ford glanced at the items in his arms and his face drooped a little bit, remembering why he had came out in the first place. He did feel a bit bad about it since she seemed like such a bright girl but he knew he had to be sure. He cleared his throat before speaking. 

“...The contents in my house are very dangerous. I must ask of you to stay out here until I get it sorted out.” He watched Mabel’s expression, trying to pick out if she could see right through him. She just took a few steps towards him and held out her arms. He stared a moment longer, almost wondering if this was some sort of tactic to get him to change his mind before realizing he was still clinging to the items. He almost pricked up a bit as if he had just awoken from a trance and handed the blanket and pillow to her. She fluffled the pillow and tossed it on the floor before sitting next to it, wrapping the blanket around herself. 

“That’s okay Grunkle Stanford. I understand.” He felt bad but he knew he couldn’t give in to the temptation of letting her inside. He knew he would have to lock and seal the door. 

“You let me know if you need anything, alright? If theres any danger out here you just shout for me.” Mabel nodded up at him and closed the blanket tighter around her body. Ford looked at her for just a moment longer before opening the screen door one more time. He walked inside but peeped his head out for one last word. “Goodnight Mabel.” She looked back up at him and gave him a small smile. 

“Goodnight Grunkle Ford.” He walked inside and let the door fall shut softly. He stood there for one more moment, his brain almost taking a bit longer to process things before quickly opening the door again, almost surprising Mabel. 

“You know,” he spoke, “I think I prefer Grunkle Ford over Grunkle Stanford.” He said bluntly, looking down at Mabel as she stared back up at him. Her face seemed to beam up at him. Even though Mabel had also just met him and they haven't really gotten to know each other yet, she really appreciated him acceding with her style and accepting the title grunkle. 

“Okay!!” 

It didn’t feel like night time but the sky seemed to quickly change its form from a light sheepish yellow to a beautiful dark blue with hints of pink and green. Mabel wasn’t tired just yet so she decided to stargaze for a while; if those bright lights in the sky were even stars at all. She laid upside down on the porch steps, her head resting on the pillow she had placed on the dirt. The roof of the house still seemed to cover half of her view but she didn’t really mind that much. The night sky that did happen to be in her field of vision was striking enough. It was unlike anything she had ever seen and that was saying something. I mean, shes literally bathed her eyes in sparkles before but it didn’t amount to how dreamy the sky here was. 

She would’ve fallen asleep while watching the sky if her head didn’t start to hurt from all the blood rushing to her skull from being upside down for too long. She had to force herself to slowly sit up and move the pillow back under the canopy for the night. Looking at the window she noticed that the lights were now off signaling to her that she should probably try to get some rest if Grunkle Ford was doing the same thing. She placed the blanket down on the wood; luckily it was long enough to both sleep on top of and cover herself fully at the same time. She rested her head on the pillow, trying to sink into comfortability. It was hard because she still felt stiff from the wooden floors but she had become a bit used to falling asleep on the shacks floor enough for her to still be able to get a good night of sleep. She felt her eyelids flutter close as she wondered what the next day would bring. 

Would this be another fun adventure? Once she got back to her own.. Dimension.. Ugh that still felt weird.. Would she be able to brag to dipper about how cool she was? She chuckled with her eyes closed, imagining how jealous Dipper would be when she told him she had gotten to fly through space. Plus, she would be able to reunite Grunkle Stan with her new grunkle! If that wasn’t a prideful accomplishment she didn’t know what would be. 

As her brain continued to create thoughts and wonders, her consciousness finally went into rest mode as she began to sleep. Ford’s brain on the other hand was still flourishing with thoughts that surrounded what he was going to do and how this all affected him and his tasks. It’s not like he had a job to go to every morning but he wouldn’t ever say he wasn’t busy in this nightmare realm. There was always something to do and someone to run away from. 

He had blown out his lights for the night and got into bed but he couldn’t help but just lay awake, analyzing every possible scenario he could think of. He felt the need to be prepared for anything and everything. He shut the curtain surrounding his bed and tried to block out all the mental pictures his mind mustered up. He sighed and dragged the skin of his face down with his fingers. 

This was definitely not how he was expecting his day to go today. He was just scoping out some spare tools and mechanical parts from a dimension in-between the cracks of the others when he got the signal on his watch that there was a life form found stooping around on his property. He thought he was going to be met with someone with 18 eyes or a floating lizard head or anything the imagination could make up but was surprised to be met with the figure of a human girl. It was extremely rare for human looking entities to be found in the nightmare realm; maybe thats why he was a little less hesitant to trust Mabel, but there were always shape shifters out there or even beings that make someone imagine themselves looking a certain way when in reality they look a lot different- almost like a mirage. There were tricksters everywhere and he would be lying if he said he didn’t adopt that title himself. In Fact he was planning on stealing those tools and mechanical parts but had to flee back to the cabin when he was alerted of Mabel’s presence. 

He turned to his side and tried to make that pillow more comfortable but its days of bringing comfort were long gone. He let out a deep sigh and tried to quiet his mind regardless, knowing he needed to get some good rest to prepare himself for whatever he was going to do about the Mabel situation the following morning. There was a lot he needed to think about- he was worried it would keep him up all night but thankfully his mind slowly started to drift off into nothingness as he began to sleep. He always had trouble falling asleep, it was a miracle he was able to so ‘quickly’ but he also had a hard time staying asleep. He would just have to cross his fingers and hope for nightmare-less dreams. 

Chapter Text

“Dipper, you’ve gotta eat.” Grunkle Stan watched sorrowfully as Dipper hid underneath the covers of Mabel’s mattress. It had taken Stan a while to even get him to leave the basement but now he stopped doing anything at all. Stan knew that if given the chance, Dipper would have stayed in the basement until the very moment Mabel returned to him. It tore his heart in pieces knowing that Dipper had to go through the same thing he did but so early on. 

Dipper stayed quiet, the flashlight underneath the blanket turning off. “M’ not hungry.” Stan frowned and walked over to the bed. He sat in silence for a moment, gathering his thoughts and thinking what exactly he wanted to say to him right now. He held his head low and sighed. 

“Look kid.. I know how you feel. Better than anyone.” He started. He could see Dipper shift under the blanket slightly. “And I know that all you wanna do right now is find a way to fix it, but these things take time. I know it’ll be hard but you’ll end up gettin’ more work done if you take care of yourself, believe me.” 

Dipper flapped the blanket down with his arms, his face angry and dis-trusting. His face was a bit red from staying underneath the covers for so long, the heat not having any possible way to escape. He looked Stan directly in the eye whilst a flurry of emotions ran through his head. 

“How would you know!? You lied to all of us, created a doomsday device,” He felt his eyes begin to water so he shut them close, trying not to mess up his words, “And you took away my sister!!” 

Stan let his face drop to the floor in guilt. He had so much he wanted to say to him at that moment. It was my fault. I'm sorry I lied. We can get through this. I didn’t know this would happen. You have every right to hate me.  

He was having a hard time collecting his thoughts so he kept his head down for a moment longer, rubbing his face with his hands. Dipper stared at him. He didn’t know how to feel about any of this. Yes Stan lied and it cost him Mabel but…He obviously felt bad about it. It made Dipper feel guilty as he yelled and screamed at his grunkle but that’s all his body felt like it could do at the time. 

Stan took a long sigh, his face still resting in the crook of his palms. It seemed like now was the time to tell him the truth. Now more than ever. 

“I know I lied and I know I made a mistake but believe me kid…I never wanted to hurt this family. The reason I didn’t tell you about the portal was to protect you from it. But.. I guess it wasn’t the only reason.” Grunkle Stan talked in a quiet tone, keeping himself collected for the sake of his nephew. 

Dipper stared at him, his face just a little bit softened. His desire to have the answers to everything made him just a little curious to know despite the grief he had been enduring. “What do you mean?” Dipper leaned forward a touch, wondering just what Stan was really up to all this time. 

“Dipper, Shermie ain’t my only brother. I had a twin. Just like you and Mabel…” Stan sucked in a breath, forcing himself to keep it together. Dipper stayed quiet but his face was filled with a surprised but confused expression. “His name is Stanford.” Dipper stared at him wide eyed like he was trying to piece the information together bit by bit. 

“Wait, your parents named you both Stanford? That…doesn’t make a lot of sense..” Dipper clasped his hands together and laid them on his lap, scooching just a touch closer to Stan. 

“No, kid it’s just..” He sighed. He didn’t want to make this overly complicated but obviously he wasn’t saying things in the right order. Even if he did, their situation was already complicated so it wouldn’t do much for them. “Me and my brother had this big fight. I was so mad and I…I lost him. I lost him to the same portal we lost Mabel to.” He paused, taking another deep breath. “This was my brother’s house so I decided to pose as him, Stanford pines; Mr. Mystery. All the raised money I earned from the shack went straight to the portal, trying to get him back..” 

Dipper’s face softened in an almost guilty look. He was still incredibly mad at his great uncle and still so confused but.. Stan was also in pain. He was right; he never lied to break this family apart. Maybe it was just too complicated and dangerous for them to know. Although they would’ve been able to get a lot more done if Stan had just told them both this from the beginning. 

“...I’m.. sorry Grunkle Stan..” Dipper hung his head low. He still felt like he could yell at him some more but deep down he knew that it wasn’t the time for it. They sat in a somewhat comfortable silence before Stan decided to break it, clearing his throat promptly before speaking. 

“Ah, don’t worry yourself ‘bout it kid.” He gently placed his hand on top of Dipper’s head and ruffled his hair. Dipper closed his eyes as he messed up his hair, breathing out softly. Normally things were happy or exciting when Stan noogied him but he didn’t even feel like he was allowed to smile with all the dread in the air. Instead he just leaned onto him when Stan released his hand. It took him a moment but he reciprocated and placed his arm behind him in a somewhat side hug. They stayed like that for a while. 

…

The bright light source in the sky seemed like it came up early. Was it the sun? Or was it different here? Either way, the light made its way to Mabel’s face and unfortunately her eyes as well. It wasn’t dangerous just…Mildly annoying. She groaned as she covered her eyes with her sweater and turned to the opposite direction of the light. She had stayed huddled up by the side of the wall all night, never really getting that good of a night's rest. 

Ford on the other hand was already up, child-proofing or hiding all of his research and weapons away so that if he decided to let Mabel in or if she somehow got in herself, his work wouldn’t be harmed. He had woken up from a shallow dream, the sky still dark and misty. The habit of waking up early was something Ford never really broke out of once he arrived. It was as if fear constantly surrounded him, knowing someone or something could ambush at any moment. Of course as time went on, Ford started to get to know his surroundings better and he even started constructing the cabin he’d been using as a home base for so many years. It felt good to have some sort of a routine but he also never stayed at his base for any longer than a few days in case of the chance he was being tracked or hunted down. 

Stanford took a glance around his cabin to make sure everything was clean, admiring the effort it took to complete. It had honestly been a while since things had been cleaned up- even if it still technically looked a bit dirty. He turned his body in the direction of the window that rested near the front door. 

As he walked towards it,  his brain started to compute millions of scenarios and questions again. What if he was hallucinating last night? Was Mabel real? What if she ran off during the dead of night? They all seemed to scream and jumble as he walked but once he glanced through the glass they instantly hushed. Ford felt silence as he stared at the little girl still sleeping on the hardwood under his canopy. His heart slowed down a little and he took a second to wonder why he was even nervous in the first place. He didn't know her! He would have been just fine if Mabel had run off and he never saw her again…right? 

He stepped sideways towards the door and lightly pushed it open to better observe her. It seemed like she was still sound asleep and he also noticed that somehow she had gotten ahold of some googly eyes and stuck them to the watch. He couldn’t help but smile very slightly with one of his eyebrows raised. She was such a kid! 

Ford knelt down almost silently; he didn’t want to wake her plus he had already learned how to be sneaky and quiet when he needed to be. Raising his arm and glancing, he took note of her heart beat that his watch identified to him- 52 bpm- she was still sleeping soundly according to it. He sighed as he gently placed his hands underneath and around her body, one supporting her head and the other her legs. Without any other thought he swiftly hoisted her up into his arms making sure not to be too harsh and accidentally wake her up. He figured he had already cleaned up a bit inside and there really wasn’t a point to keeping her out there if he decided to let her in eventually. He was honestly surprised how fast he had begun to trust her- not that he fully did just yet- but he felt a sense of family within her. 

The door closed quietly behind them as Ford made his way to his own bed. It was nothing fancy but it was certainly better than where he had made her sleep last night. He gently set her down, the mattress adjusting to the slight change in weight. She looked peaceful and seemed like a normal kid but…only time would tell. 

Ford gently picked up the raggedy red blanket he had been using for years and draped it over her body, leaving her head out so she didn’t have to breath hot air from underneath. That always bothered him as a kid- he wanted to sleep underneath the covers because it made his whole body warm and fuzzy but after a minute the air became hot and it felt uncomfortable to breathe in. He remembered ripping his blanket off of him and gasping for clean fresh air while Stanley just laughed and tried to stay under longer than him…Right…Stanley. 

Ford looked away from Mabel after recalling a memory with his brother. The only times he ever thought about him was when he was angry and the only memories he would think about were the bad ones. He huffed and started to walk off, not needing this at the moment. He had to distract himself with something. 

He walked over to his old and dust-filled desk and sat down. From where he was sitting, his back was facing the direction Mabel was in but he knew he would be able to hear her if she got up. His desk was not clean in the slightest. Cleaner just a tad from the general sweep he had done that morning but there were still an assortment of random and various things lying about it. There were a few pens, some random papers he used to scribble his thoughts in when he didn’t have the time or capacity to do it better, a desk lamp that had definitely seen better days, but most importantly his journal. Unlike the journals he used to keep when he was back home in Gravity falls, this one was filled with the adventures and experiences he had been met with during his time in the nightmare realm. He didn’t write about every single one and he even didn’t have much time to write anyways but he always tried. 

He took one last glance at Mabel who was sleeping soundly in his bed, seeming considerably more comfortable than earlier, before turning back towards his desk and sighing. He opened and flipped through the pages of the book and landed on the next blank page he could find. He hadn’t sat down and just wrote in a while so he tried to calm himself and enjoy the feeling of his ink pen gliding on the page like he used to. Everything that had happened in the last 24 or so hours was an incredible change of pace and he figured it would be the most obvious thing to write about. 

July xx 2012 

I had been observing a potential mechanical apparatus supplier in a lesser known market dimension before something unexpected happened. There was an alert from my watch informing me of something on my property! Of course I fled the scene; I can go collect my items another day when he’s not looking, but what was really surprising was just who was there…

Mabel Pines. Or so she claims. There was a little girl who was trapped in my defensive system who at first glance seemed to be a normal child. I’m glad she came- I had not tested my security systems in a while. I had tried to interrogate her, asking who she was and such, but she seemed clueless to anything I was talking about. After testing her blood it seemed as if she had traveled here from the same dimension that I originate from… 

Apparently she’s Shermie’s grandchild, (I’m a great uncle?) and I couldn't be more happier aware of my situation now. If she truly is just a little girl and perhaps even my own great niece, things will surely get trickier around here. Another mouth to feed is another person to hold me back. Although, I’m not incredibly worried; I’ll be fine. 

Stanford continued to write in the journal and even started to set the composition for the small sketch he would soon complete of her appearance. He was so focused on his work that he didn't even hear the small shifting and little sounds coming from behind his direction even though he was convinced he would be able to. His pen slithering along the page wasn’t the only sound in the room anymore. Not only did he not hear the yawning and stretching from behind him but he also didn’t notice the small footsteps making their way towards him. It wasn’t until- 

“Ah! What- what is it!?” Stanford’s head flew around after feeling two little taps on his side. He was met with that girl again, standing curiously and looking up at him. She flinched back slightly when he yelled. He looked not only surprised but also a little angry. Mabel didn’t know if he was angry at her or at something else. She took a step back and fidgeted with the rim of her sweater. 

“Uhm.. Well I don’t know, I just thought you would want to know I’m up.” She glanced to the side for a moment, unsure of how to actually act around him. She never had a problem with just being herself around strangers and boys but it was a bit different when her family was nowhere near her and she was staying at a grumpy pant’s house. “So…What do we do now?” 

Stanford cleared his throat, not actually meaning to snap at her like that. He wasn’t used to having more people residing in his house. Maybe he’d also have to test his hearing somewhere later but for now he looked down at the little girl who stood unsure of herself. He looked to the side for a moment in thought before turning his chair towards her direction and leaning down slightly. He tapped his chin slightly as he talked, changing his demeanor and being more aware of children’s sensitivities. 

“I’ll be honest, I don’t know. I haven't made it back to my home dimension since I got here.” Mabel’s face drooped slightly, a little bit of worry sitting deep within her. Ford looked down at his watch and winced at the information. He was supposed to visit a being in the fugitive city dimension; basically just a regular old timey city but filled with “fugitives.” Were they really fugitives if everyone there was considered one? If they were supposed to be there? It didn’t matter, he was getting off the subject. 

He couldn’t leave this girl alone with all of his stuff. It was way too dangerous for his research to be exposed to bare child hands. Mabel just stared at him while he sighed and looked back at her. “I suppose we're sitting ducks for now.” 

Even though Mabel was a little nervous with her situation, she decided not to worry too much about it and she pushed all her bad thoughts to the back of her head. Even if she couldn’t focus on getting home, she could at least focus on getting to know her new grunkle. 

“I love ducks! Quaack!!” She felt her eyes move in opposite directions as she quacked sillily and Ford just stared at her as if she were an alien. Well, no, he had seen plenty of aliens in his time so he was looking at her like she was just a… Really strange child. “You’ve seen the show Ducktective right!?” 

“Duck..Whattive?” 

“Augh- no!! Ducktective!! It’s just like, the greatest show of all time.” Mabel scoffed playfully and swooshed her hair out off her face. “Me, Dipper, and Grunkle Stan were all gonna watch the season finale when it came out. Don’t suppose you got some sort of..intergalactical television set do you?” She rubbed her hands together as if she were awaiting a hot meal to come out of the air any second. Ford just rubbed his neck awkwardly, not really understanding half of the words that just came out of her mouth. 

“I don’t believe I do…” Stanford replied and let his arms rest by his knees. “Although I know someone who has built one before, I doubt I’ll be allowed to use it. I’m sure you can find some other way to occupy your time with.” Stanford didn’t understand why kids seemed to love mindless brain mulching tv-shows like the one she was describing. 

Mabel scrunched her face slightly, just a tad disappointed she wouldn’t be able to watch her favorite shows anytime soon. She didn’t let it ruin her mood though. “Like what?” She silently bounced in place, honestly a bit excited to hear what Ford would suggest for them to do together. 

Ford turned back around to his desk and waved his arm in the air, dismissing her elsewhere. “Go..daydream or draw a picture or something.” He glanced around his desk and shuffled together the cleanest papers he had lying around and handed them to her. She looked at them for a moment before frowning and taking them into her hands. She had thought they would be able to have some fun despite how dumb this adventure had been compared to the rest. She shuffled with the three random papers in her hand and looked back at Ford. 

“Do you have any colored pencils I could borrow?” He didn't respond, rather looked around his desk for a moment and picked up whatever he could find. He held out his hand that had one pencil and one blue ink pen but he didn’t take his eyes off his desk. Mabel silently took them, disappointed with her selection. 

As she walked back towards the bed, she tried to make the most of her situation. She already had two colors to work with; she could make something neat out of them! She just had to think about what she could draw using gray and blue. Maybe a sky and some clouds? Nah it needed more. What about blue raspberry popsicles and..! And uh..gray lead flavored.. No no, she could do better. Suddenly a better thought popped into her mind and she quickly dropped to the floor, laying out her supplies in an organized mess. Even if her new grunkle was busy, she was sure a nice drawing could cheer him up in no time! 

She worked hard on her masterpiece knowing that some artwork would surely spruce the place up a bit! A happy home equals happy residents after all. She had decided to draw a cute dolphin in an ocean of blue. A perfect theme for the colors she had available! Some of the papers Ford had given her had random scribbles or words she didn’t understand and on them but thankfully one of them had a fully blank side for her to draw to her ginormous heart's content. She used the pencil to outline and color the cutest dolphin she had ever seen! It had a huge smile and eyes bustling with sparkles. Now, as the professional and best artist Mabel knew she was, she knew to keep the middle dolphin the focus and she drew the silhouettes of two dolphins in the distance, gracefully jumping above the water. 

It was really coming along! She tossed the pencil down and picked up the pen, excited to color in the waves and the water. As she opened the cap and placed the end of the pen on the paper though, hardly anything came out. “Whaat?” Mabel disappointedly groaned to herself. She pushed the pen down harder and harder, running it in circles until a hint of blue finally came out. Sure the paper was dented with the pen’s pathways but at least she got some color out of it. 

It worked a little better now; maybe all it needed was a push, and she started to draw the waves in. The drawing would look so much better if she had access to some pretty sunset colors but she was determined to make this work. Even if the waves looked scratchy and uneven, she still thought it looked great because her drawing skills could always elevate even the driest of pens. 

She held the drawing of her pretty dolphin in the waves and sat upwards to look at her strange grunkle. It felt like hours had passed but in reality she had been quietly working for thirtyish minutes. It seemed like Ford didn’t move at all either. She stood up and dusted off her knees, picking up the drawing to show what she had made for him. 

Stanford was working quietly to himself, the only sounds being his breathing and the scritchy scratchies coming from his book he seemed to be writing in. Unlike that morning, Ford could hear Mable approaching but part of it was because she was running over excitingly and making loud thumping noises with her shoes. He placed his pointer and thumb across the bridge of his nose, lifting up his glasses slightly and sighing before looking over to see what she wanted from him. 

Mabel stopped her light run with a final jump and held out her drawing so Stanford could see it clearly. “What do you think!? Isn’t she beautiful?” Mabel felt her own eyes fill with sparkles as she asked, hoping her grunkle would think the same of her art piece. 

He nodded his head, not exactly in agreement but rather acknowledgment, and took the drawing from her, examining it for one moment longer before placing it in the farthest corner of his desk and returning to his work. 

“Yes, yes, very nice.” Mabel furrowed her eyebrows. That was it? Did he know he was sitting before the one and only Mabel Pines, the artist and craft master of all time!? She turned around and stomped back to the bed again, sliding downwards into a criss-cross grumpy applesauce. Normally she’d protest or try to make something even better but she just sighed and flopped onto the wooden floor. She was right. This adventure sucked. 

…

“Uggghhhh…” Mabel sighed loud and obnoxiously. “Huuuuugghhhh…” Ford rubbed his face, trying to block out the noise. “Aaaarrrrgggghhhh..!” 

“What? What is it?” Stanford asked, turning his body to look at Mabel laying on the floor. It had been a while, probably an hour or so, and it had been soooo boring. She tried to jump on the bed but Ford immediately stopped her. She tried to explore the house to look for anything worthwhile and cool but Ford forbade her. She tried to come up with a cool new dance to show Candy and Grenda when she came back but Ford said she was being too loud. There was nothing she was able to do besides sit and be quiet! It was insufferable! 

“I’m hungryyy..!!” Of course Mabel could purposefully be annoying when she felt the need to but she wasn’t lying either. She hadn’t eaten since the day before and still, that was at breakfast! It’s not like she could sit down and have a nice meal when she had her day busy with FBI agents and heart wrenching grunkle related secrets. 

Stanford took his eyes off his work and hummed in acknowledgment. It was almost as if he forgot that children needed to eat… That was his mistake. He stood up and stretched his legs for a moment before walking over to his small kitchen area and rummaging through his old dingey cupboards. “I’m sure I’ve got something around here somewhere..” Mabel lifted her head off the floor and looked over in his direction. She actually wasn’t sure if Ford was going to get her something to eat based on how he had been acting before. Her face lit up and she quickly stood up to run over to him. 

She eagerly ran up to his leg and hovered closely, excited to finally eat again. “Do you have any pancakes? Or cakes? Or pans!?” Anything sounded good at that point. 

Ford chuckled and continued to search through the compartments for anything to eat. “I’m fairly certain I have a few pots and pans scattered around. You’re welcome to use them. Just try not to make any noise with them. Oh and don’t use the stove; it probably doesn’t work the same way a stove would back at your home.” Mabel rolled her eyes. Is she allowed to do anything here? Nevertheless she tried to peek in his cabinets on her tiptoes, trying to catch a glimpse of any potential dinner items. 

Ford perked up momentarily after what seemed like he found something. He said something like, “Ah, there it is,” before walking to a different cabinet and grabbing a glass cup. Mabel couldn’t see what he had grabbed but she hoped it was something yummy. He filled up the glass with water from his sink and gently placed it down on the counter that laid in the middle of the room. Excitingly, he turned around to show Mabel what she would be having. 

“Here we are! Now depending on when you last ate you might want to take 2, especially if you said you were feeling sluggish.” Mabel’s face dropped in a mixture of disgust, horror, and utter despair. Her grunkle was not holding a delicious plate of food. He was holding a bottle of old people pills. 

“Ew no! I said I was hungry, not sluggish! What even are those!?” Mabel retorted, backing away and pointing a harsh finger at those smelly old things. Ford looked confused and looked at her and back at the pills. 

“They’re nutrition pills! What, do you prefer patches instead?” He asked as he lightly shook the bottle, making a soft rattling noise. 

“Grunkle Ford, where's the real food!? I can’t live like this!!” Mabel dramatically clutched her heart with her hands and shook. Stanford really didn’t understand what was so unappealing about them. 

“No..That’s what they’re for. They keep you alive.” Mabel almost slapped a hand onto her forehead- this guy was clueless! “It’s a good thing I even have these! I had discovered a more efficient way of achieving a daily amount of nutrients and protein that I stopped using those silly pills in the first place.” He waved his hand as if that was supposed to be relatable or something. Mabel just stared up at him in dis-belief. “If you’d like, I could implement that process onto you as well. You’d never have to eat another meal in your entire life!” 

“No!! I want to eat meals and taste different tastes- don’t make me immune to happiness, you monster!” Obviously she was being overly dramatic calling him a monster but they both knew it. Even Ford could tell when she was just being Mabel even if she had only been here less than a day. 

Ford was unsure of what to do. Even If he did have any food in this place it would have definitely been moldy or decomposed by now. He couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten something in his mouth with the purpose of filling his stomach. He found it to be a waste of time really. 

“I’m sorry Mabel but this is all I have right now. What would you like me to do?” Mabel sighed and let her body slump in disappointment. She flopped on the floor once again and started to roll herself over to her corner as Ford just watched. What could he do? It would be better just to sleep it off at this point and just forget about being hungry in the first place. Stanford stopped spectating and shook his head side to side as he walked up to her rolling body. 

“No, no no, It doesn’t matter if you want to or not.” He said as he grabbed her and placed her upright again. “I’ll try to get something in the future but for now you have to take these. Your body needs nutrients to thrive.” 

“But everything else needs food to thrivee..” Mabel whined. “And there’s no way I’m swallowing one of those things!” She pointed at the bottle that sat on the counter. Ford glanced over at them and sighed. Mabel silently wished that she had never brought up food at all because now she was going to be forced to take them anyways. She nervously gulped before Ford looked back at her. 

“I know and I’ll get you some food one way or another later but I need you to-” 

“Distraction!!” Mabel yelled, pointing at a random spot in the room. Normally this would work better when she actually had a distraction but oh well. Had to make do with what she had. 

Ford whipped his head around in a confused and startled way to where Mabel was pointing. It was as if his brain didn’t compute that she had said ‘distraction.’ How could he have fallen for that? Maybe if she said something like, ‘hey look over there!’ or, ‘watch out!’ but distraction? Really Stanford, you need to step up your game. 

As Ford was distracted, Mabel jumped back and started running in the opposite direction. Even though she was running away because she didn’t want to take some nasty pills, she couldn’t help but laugh and giggle as she ran away. It was the first burst of energy she was finally able to release after doing absolutely nothing all day. She wasn’t going to go outside…Ford would be able to catch her before she could finish opening the door. She could jump on the bed and close the curtains but that was basically pointless. It wasn’t until her eyes locked on a slightly opened closet or perhaps divet in the wall. That was perfect. 

Stanford quickly fixed his gaze upon Mabel running across the cabin and he stood up as fast as he could. He certainly wasn’t expecting that sort of reaction but for right now he had to worry about catching up to her. “Mabel! Stop!” That was useless and that girl was unstoppable. He almost caught up to her, his running fast and swift, but the spirit of a determined child would never lose to even the fastest of sprinters. 

She made it to the closet and shut the door, being able to see Stanford’s face for a split second before it slammed close. She stuffed her shoe under the small space between the door and the floor so it would be harder to open, acting as a lock. Ford was close behind and he had to stop himself with his hands on the wall in order to not crash. He grumbled but tried to think about the situation differently. He had to remember that she was just a kid, a small and energetic kid. Not everyone was going to act like him and he had to remind himself of that. 

“Haha!! You’ll never get me out now!” Mabel exclaimed from within the small opening. Ford could easily rip that door right off the hinges and grab ahold of her but instead he just sat down, one of his hands resting on his knee. He sighed and sat patiently, trying to think of why she did all of this just to avoid taking a nutrient pill. Part of Mabel was expecting him to rip open the door as well and was pleasantly surprised with her solitude. She sat down after a moment, only being able to see slivers of Stanford through the shutters. 

They just sat there for a minute in an almost uncomfortable silence. Mabel didn’t know if this was some sort of intimidation tactic or what but it was weird that he wasn’t saying anything. Ford had just been thinking and wondering the whole time about different things. Either if it was about the pills themselves or just about what he was going to do with an energetic child running around like her. He didn’t know if he was fit to take care of a child. Especially when they were so…needy. It was quiet for just a moment longer before he decided to speak up. 

“Mabel, are you…afraid of taking pills?” He inquired, trying to observe her expression through the door but he really couldn’t see her all that well. Mabel frowned and looked to the side, even if he couldn’t see it. 

“No.” She answered grumpily. “Those ones are just stinky.” It’s not like she was lying per say…Just avoiding the real question a little bit. It’s not that she had previously had a bad experience regarding taking pills or anything.. Well actually her problem is that she had never done it before. Needles and pills and all that chilling doctor stuff was not something she particularly enjoyed judging solely off of the things others had told her. One time, someone told her they had to swallow fish pills! Like the eggs? How gross was that!? Another time she had read on the internet that pills could get stuck in your throat and kill people! She was NOT willing to take that chance. 

Ford thought to himself for a moment, trying to figure out how to solve this little conundrum. He didn’t know much about kids or how to solve their imaginary problems so all he could really do was try his best. “Would it help if I took one with you?” 

Mabel shifted in the closet, taking his offer into consideration. She knew she would have to leave this small crevice eventually and she sighed, taking her shoe out from underneath the door. It didn’t look like Ford was going to chase her around again so she slightly kicked the door open with half of her foot. She sat there with her arms resting on her knees. She probably was a little famished from no nutrients even if she didn’t want to admit it. The only thing she didn’t want to happen was if she accepted and then had to eat pills for the rest of her life. Ford better keep that promise about getting some real groceries. 

“I’ve never eaten one before. I don’t know how to do it.” She rested her chin in her arms and looked to the side as Ford sat in front of her. He smiled slightly and stood up, letting his hand stay outwards for her to lift herself up with. 

“No matter. It’s easy, I can show you.” Mabel looked up at him and took his hand, gently hoisting herself up again. Ford took the first step towards the kitchen and allowed Mabel to follow close behind. Mabel continued to hold onto his hand until they reached the counter with the dreadful container of pills sitting exactly where he had left them. She made a disgusted face at them as Stanford grabbed the bottle and shook out two of the small colorful and oval pills, handing one to Mabel. 

“Now all you have to do is place it on your tongue and take a sip of water. Pretend it’s not even there.” He popped the pill into his mouth and nodded at her before taking a small sip of the water from the cup and swallowing. “See? Just swallow as you would normally.” 

As encouraging as Ford looked, all Mabel could do was frown at hers, not wanting to do anything with it yet. He waited patiently for her to try; the cup of water on stand-by. It didn’t seem like there was anything else she could do so she took a deep breath and popped it in. It didn’t taste like anything and she didn’t exactly know whether that was a good or a bad thing. She held her hands out and Ford passed her the glass of water for her to take a swig. She squeezed her eyes shut and gulped the water, probably a bit more than she had to, and washed it all down. When she opened her eyes, Stanford was smiling at her and nodding his head slightly. She stood there for a moment, trying to figure out where the pill had gone. 

“I..I did it?” Ford took the glass from her and placed it on the counter again before congratulating her. 

“Yes, you did! Good job, kiddo!” Mabel’s face lit up into a blinding smile and she started to bounce in place slightly. Of course she did! She’s invincible! Her expression was now determined and fierce as she spoke. 

“Gimme another one!” The glass of water was somehow already in her hands again and Ford was honestly surprised at her sudden change in mood. He shrugged and dumped out one more, handing it to her. Quicker than the first, Mabel swallowed the pill and chugged the water. Stanford watched, nodding his head encouragingly and thoroughly impressed with her pace of learning the new skill. The moment she stopped drinking, she took one single breath before nodding and holding her hand out again. “Another!! I’m on a roll!” Her smile was large and it almost looked like there were small fires in her eyes. 

“Now Mabel, you’re not supposed to take more than two at a time.” He closed the lid of the pill bottle and placed it back on the counter. 

“But I only took one pill! Just twice! As Long as I don’t swallow two at once right!? Come on, gimme one more!” Stanford couldn’t help but roll his eyes slightly as he grabbed the bottle and put it in a cupboard he knew Mabel wouldn’t be able to reach.

“That’s not exactly how it works…Anyhow, you should be proud of yourself!” He shut the cabinet door and walked back over to her, still beaming even if she wasn’t allowed to have anymore. 

“I know and I am!” She placed her hands on her hips in a heroic pose and Ford couldn’t help but smile just a tad more. “I still want you to get some real food though. I need you to taste some of my wonderful creations.” She smiled devilishly even though Stanford had no idea what she meant by ‘creations.’ He didn’t pay too much mind to it though so he nodded his head and promised he would go out and grab some sometime. 

Stanford looked back at his desk filled with clutter and his work. There was still much he wanted to write about and other work that he wanted to get done but then he looked back down at Mabel. This went against so many of his original thoughts about playing it safe and waiting but then again, he wasn’t even planning on letting her inside for another few days so if he had broken that rule, surely he could break a few more and trust his gut on this one. 

“So…Would you like to tell me about this..Ducktettive show you were mentioning earlier?” He still got the name wrong but he could practically see her face change from happy to sparkling excited happiness overload. It’s not as if Mabel was waiting to finally do something fun with her new found family member or anything. 

“Would I?!!” She beamed. Stanford got dragged over to the bed and was forced to sit down one one end if it, Mabel on the other. She mentioned “needing to get some more furniture because it looked pretty gloomy in here,” before she started her spiel on her favorite show and Ford tucked that thought in the back of his mind. He really wasn't planning on humoring her like this but seeing her happy made a part of him happy too. It was as if her joy was infectious even though they still barely knew each other. He was getting closer to finishing the majority of the tests to make sure Mabel was who she claimed anyway and his gut was definitely telling him that this girl was in fact normal. He didn’t know that he would enjoy having company but then again he hadn’t really been around humans much in his 30 years of being here let alone a family member. Instead of worrying about every detail like he normally would, he allowed part of him to let go and enjoy the atmosphere Mabel carried with her. Things would surely become more interesting than they were before. 

Chapter Text

The aroma of sweet floating air filled the kitchen in a tight embrace and the steam radiating off of the heated surfaces danced around on the ceiling. There was nothing like starting a morning with not only a complete breakfast- but a delicious one at that! 

Stan was in the kitchen doing one of the things he did best: cooking for the kids. Things had been pretty hectic in the shack recently and it definitely took a toll on both of them. Neither of them had been able to sleep very well for the past week and Dipper especially was having a hard time accepting to take care of himself. It took a lot of nudging in the right direction but they were getting somewhere. 

The kid was still sleeping in his room and Stan thought it might help cheer him up if he had some real food for once. Even though Stan was still devastated with their current situation, he had to be strong for Dipper. He needed it most. 

Stan whisked around some batter in a bowl, careful not to make a mess. He had been able to somewhat cook before that summer but he had to admit his skill increased exponentially when he realized he couldn’t just feed them greasy takeout every single day. Especially since that would be so darn expensive. He actually enjoyed it more than he thought he would and he’s sure the kids reciprocate the feelings. Mabel was always ecstatic to see a home made breakfast sitting on the table for them to eat but then again…She was ecstatic to eat anything. Even if it wasn’t exactly..edible. Dipper kept to himself a little more but even his face could be seen lighting up when the table was full. 

He poured a section of the batter onto the pan before setting down the bowl and grabbing his spatula. He tried his best to make his signature pancakes knowing that stancakes probably sounded a little less appetizing than on a normal day. If they even were appetizing on a normal day. That was the fun in it- it was a gamble! He chuckled to himself as he continued working on the meal. 

He flipped the last pancake onto a plate and went back towards the stove to make sure the bacon wasn’t over cooking. He sniffed the sizzly air and could almost feel himself drooling. Yes, he could be captivated by his own cooking, so what? 

As the last of the bacon and eggs finished cooking, he left them unattended for a moment as he swung open the fridge doors to get some OJ out. He grumbled as he looked around, not seeming to find any. He could have sworn they still had loads of it but he supposed he hadn’t been to the store in a minute. It was a miracle he was even able to evade the FBI agents from further investigating the shack and taking him into custody. He had a brilliant idea to get rid of them, one he was sure no one else could top. 

Once those pesky agents arrived back at the Mystery Shack to arrest him again, he started pushing out every big and terrifying exhibit he could out the door and windows. He honestly wasn’t so sure it would work but he was a risk taker. The two agents in charge must have had a fear of the supernatural or something because the moment they saw the “monsters” jump out from the inside they were immediately stunned and petrified. 

Little did Stan know that they were already terrified of the shack because of when Dipper raised the dead on them. It actually worked out pretty nicely! Those wimpy agents were screaming at their squads that the shack was corrupted and they’ll figure something out later. Even if they looked extremely dumb it’s not like they could just dis-obey their orders. Well, that was in the past now! For now, he had to finish cooking this delicious meal for the two of them. He could get some more orange juice later. 

Inside of the twins’ bedroom laid Dipper who was still asleep for the most part on Mabel’s bed. The sun glistened in through the window but he really didn’t feel like getting up yet. The last week had been exhausting and it felt like him and Grunkle Stan had done hardly anything to fix that stupid portal yet. Stan said he had been working on it for 30 years. Was he not going to see his sister until they were adults? They would miss everything! He groaned and continued to sulk until he heard a soft knock at his bedroom door. 

“Hey Kiddo, I made some breakfast. Do you wanna come down?” Stan spoke lightly through the door. Dipper only rubbed his face and slithered off of the double mattress, trudging his way to the door. Grunkle Stan was standing outside the door with an oven mitt on and a sentimental smile when Dipper pulled on the knob. He looked up at him, his eyes red and swelled. Stan didn’t comment on it, making sure to remain with a consistent composure. He rarely cried as a kid but he knew how good and surprisingly healthy it was to let it out. He did everything in his power to make sure that Dipper felt safe enough to show his emotions; especially since he was ridiculed by his father for it way back when. 

“I guess.” Even though it had been a week, Dipper still found himself the same, or maybe even more, depressed about their whole situation. He didn’t want to wait 30 years to see Mabel again. Grunkle Stan had told him things would be faster than his attempts to get his brother Stanford out since he had access to all three journals now but he had his doubts. 

The two of them made their way down the wooden stairs and into the kitchen. Stan watched as Dipper’s sulky mood slightly uplifted once he saw the various food items and he heard his stomach grumble. Without direction, Dipper made his way over to his designated spot at the table and sat down, scooching his chair in. Stan brought him a plate and fork to stab however many pancakes he desired. Dipper wiped his nose with his arm and sniffled, wiping away his morning fatigue. 

“Wow, thanks Grunkle Stan.” Dipper said softly. It was a good thing Stan had those ears of his because he might not have been able to hear it otherwise. He smiled and grabbed a plate of his own, sitting down in his respected spot as well. 

“S’no problem. Figured it had been long enough without some real meals. Go ahead, take your fill.” Dipper gave him his best try at a smile and began to move a few pancakes to his plate. Stan plopped more eggs than cakes on his and loaded it up with bacon. It was silent for a little bit; neither of them really knowing what to say to the other. Both of them just continued to make their way into their meal, the usual bustling energy long gone. 

Dipper reached for the syrup to dump on his breakfast but he couldn’t help but hesitate slightly when he saw the two bottles. Normally he and Mabel would play the syrup races and see which syrup was the fastest to reach their mouths but with her gone, her bottle sat untouched and lonely. Dipper bit his tongue, really not feeling like crying again. He tried his best to distract his mind with something else as he squirted a glob of the syrup onto the stack of three pancakes he had grabbed. 

Stan watched out of the corner of his eye as Dipper practically melted into the taste of his meal. He smiled just a tad to himself and continued to dig through his own meal. The silence didn’t feel awkward- it was actually sort of nice for both of them to be content with eating in peace. Although conversation was nice too and Dipper was the one to start it this time. 

“Hey Grunkle Stan, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” Dipper looked away from his meal and at his Grunkle as he chewed another bite. Stan finished swallowing a chunk of his food and looked up as well. 

“Go ahead, shoot.” Grunkle Stan had already told him the general scope of the situation and how they got to where they did but after thinking about everything and letting that information sit for a week, he realized he was never actually told what Grunkle Stan’s real name was. 

“You said your brother's name was Stanford and we’ve been calling you Grunkle Stan like…forever now but I never did learn what your real name was.” Dipper took a sip of his water in between sentences and wiped more of his sleepiness out from his eyes. “Should we be calling you Grunkle Tod or something?” Stan let out a singular chuckle at both the fact that he forgot to tell Dipper his name and at Dip’s thought of what his name might have been. 

“Hah. No no, you can still call me your Grunkle Stan.” He raised his hand and stretched it over the table, waiting for another hand to give it a shake. “The names’ Stanley. Stanley Pines.” He spoke as if he was introducing himself to a stranger and Dipper couldn't help but smile slightly. He gently took his hand and shook it up and down- a lot less force than Stan would have used but he let Dipper take control of this one.  

“Nice to meet you, Stanley Pines.” Dipper went along with it and it actually helped him calm down a little bit. He gave his hand one last shake and released it before putting his own hand on his chest. “I’m Mason but my friends call me Dipper. Or Dipping sauce. Or Dip-dop. Or...you get the point.” He chuckled slightly as Stan watched with a smile but confused eyebrows. 

“Whatiszzat- a nickname?” He asked as he fed himself another small bite. 

“Huh? No, Dipper is my nickname.” Dipper tried to recall if he had actually told Stan his real name either but nothing seemed to come up. Did neither of them actually know each other's names for half of the entire summer? He had to admit there was some humor in it. “I never told you, did I? Heheh, like Grunkle like uh..gruh-nephew.” He tried to make a good play on words but failed miserably, just shoving another bite of pancake into his mouth. 

“Yeah, guess so.” Stan chuckled, finishing the last of his meal. It felt good to finally share a laugh after such a devastating past week. Of course both of them still felt incredibly depressed but knowing they weren’t alone definitely helped. 

Stan offered to clean up the table which was totally unlike him. Dipper knew he was trying his best to be nice and reassuring and there was no way he could say no to not having to do the dishes. He had told him to run along and do something fun while he stayed to tidy up and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t appreciate it just a bit. 

He decided to go for a walk into town. His brain kept telling him to stay and work on the portal but his heart told him he really did need to get out of the house and escape a little bit. He didn’t really know what he would go once he got there but even just walking would be enough. 

There were only a few people out and about on the streets. Most of them were actually sticking inside after all the gravity anomalies started to make everything float and weird. Without those blind eye folks it seemed like all the residents in the town would remember all the wacky and mysterious things that went on underneath everyone’s noses. While he was walking, he noticed someone he recognized and they seemed to see him too. 

Wendy saw him from across the street and waved, jogging across the road to talk to him. Dipper didn’t even feel anything in his brain chemistry spark like it used to. Was that a good thing? I mean, he had already told her everything and they were still very good friends despite him being lightly rejected. He still felt just a little nervous to talk to her after all that bunker and shapeshifting nonsense but after the portal he didn’t feel anything. 

“Yoho, sup’ Dipstick? How’s it hanging?” Wendy stuffed a hand in her pocket after she reached the sidewalk and stuck her other hand out for a fist bump. Dipper returned it but not as enthusiastic as Wendy would assume as normal. 

“Eh, I dunno… Things could be better.” Dipper replied with a sad shrug before looking back up at her. He didn’t just want to sulk around though, he knew he was supposed to be having fun out here. “What about you?” 

“I hear you man; my dad made us all go on this ‘family bonding trip’ per say,” Wendy started, using hand quotations, “but I think it was just a trick to put us all to work.” She rolled her eyes and moved her hair away from her eyes with a flip. Dipper slightly un-hunched his back, standing up straighter and less zombie like. He had to admit, talking to some friends actually did make him feel a bit better. 

“That’s just like what Stan does to us!” Dipper cracked a smile for the first time in a while whilst pointing a finger in the air as if he were imitating his grunkle. “Hey speaking of- you’re not leaving because the Mystery Shack is temporarily closed right? Don’t tell me you have to work at your cousin’s logging camp..” 

“Depends how long it’s closed for I guess. I’m sticking around for as long as I can.” Wendy shrugged. Dipper frowned slightly. He didn’t want one of his only friends in Gravity Falls to leave, even if he didn’t feel like seeing anyone sometimes. He didn’t just..make friends like Mabel was able to do. She could say hello to someone and in a second they’d be bffs! She even befriended Pacifica before he started to get to know her true self! Was he just not cut out for making friends or something? There was one thing he knew for sure though; he didn’t want to lose anyone else. He needed to find a way to have the Shack up and running while also working on that portal somehow..

…

The cabin was quiet…too quiet. Ford looked up from his desk, his head buried in work and other things. He stretched his back, his spine making a few popping and cracking sounds. When did he first sit down? The ‘sun’ shone in the sky, proof of the day’s passing. 

“Mabel?” He looked around the room, searching for the little girl he had been living with for a week. She had been doing origami a second ago…well at least he thought it had only been a second. The floor was scattered with small birds and stars around that closet she hid in what felt so long ago. Ford’s mattresses laid on the floor next to everything. He had just been sleeping in his work chair for the time being and allowed Mabel to take his bed but she insisted on moving it over there. Ford guessed she liked having her own little area and the mostly empty closet did just the trick for her. She didn’t hide in it like she had when they were discussing the problem of food but rather liked the darkness it provided when it was too bright or she needed some space. 

The past week had been intense. Ford wasn’t exactly comfortable leaving her alone just yet…There were too many things that could go wrong. Although, he had to admit he was starting to enjoy her company a little bit and his trust only seemed to grow by each passing day. Of course he was still being careful and always held a hair of doubt but he would be lying if he said he didn’t like her overly energetic and bubbly personality to lift up the atmosphere in his, what Mabel liked to call, ‘gloomy cabin.’ 

A couple days ago, Mabel had been coming up with various jokes and puns to pass the time. Ford per usual, was sitting at his desk but he wasn’t ignoring her either. He tried to multi-task, humuring her when she asked him knock knock or something along those lines. But there was one instance- Stanford was writing something down and Mabel had asked:

“How many Mabel’s does it take to unscrew a lightbulb?” Ford continued writing but tried to think about the question. He had actually put his pen down to think about the riddle for a second, not understanding what the correct answer might’ve been. He rubbed his chin for a moment before turning around, ready to hear what she had to say. It was baffling to say the least when Mabel was no longer walking around on the floor but instead standing on the backrest of a chair on the verge of falling off, reaching for a defective lightbulb he hadn’t gotten around to replacing. She screamed, “JUST ONE!!” before jumping upwards and clasping her hands around the glass. Stanford could almost feel his heart jumping out of his body when the chair toppled downwards and she spun around with her hands gripping the bulb. If he wasn’t so frantically worried at that moment, he would have admitted she did good to unscrew it all by herself. 

The lightbulb popped out of its socket and Mabel gracefully fell back to the floor. Ford was already on his way to try and bring her down or catch her at that point but he ended up just embarrassing himself. Mabel landed on her two feet, lightbulb in hand while Stanford fell onto his knees and hands. He took a moment to breathe before shifting his weight, sitting on his knees to look at Mabel. She had a big grin on her face and waved the lightbulb around tauntingly. He couldn’t stay frustrated when he saw how proud she looked and he cracked a light smile, chuckling with the dramatics of the situation. 

He had told her to never scare him like that again and she agreed but Ford was pretty sure she was crossing her fingers from behind her back. As of now, the socket was still empty. He needed to find something to replace the light but he hasn’t left his cabin since Mabel had first arrived. Ford had told her once he got a new light that he would allow her to screw it back in. With his help of course! There was no way he was going to let that girl try to balance herself on the backrest of a chair like that ever again. Although he still needed to figure out just how he was going to deal with her and also continue traversing through the multiverse. He’d figure something out- he always does. 

Stanford walked over to Mabel’s little area, checking around for any signs of the child. He opened the closet to see if she was hiding away by herself but she wasn't there either! There weren’t many places to go.. Where could she be? 

She wasn’t hiding under the bed frame or even in any of the cupboards close to the floor and ultimately Ford concluded that she was no longer inside or she somehow found some of his research and tinkered with it enough to make her invisible. He headed his way towards the front door figuring his first conclusion was the most plausible. 

The door frame squeaked open, its old rusty hinges praying for a break. He took a look on the porch but alas, no signs of the girl. He frowned slightly, just becoming a little bit more worried. That kid had a way of surprising him when he least expected it and he was sure she would do it again. 

His footsteps were loud as they walked down the two steps and onto the dirt. The grass swayed along with his boots, some unfortunate strands getting smushed underneath them as he walked around outside. She..wasn’t outside from what he could tell. Well, not in the front anyway. Before he started to worry more, he started to make his way to the ‘backyard’ which was basically the same as the front. Never ending long clumps of yellowish green grass as far as the eye can see. 

Stanford had almost forgotten that he could look up where Mabel was on his watch as he neared the end of the side of the house. He brought the watch up to his face, his other hand tinkering with the buttons slightly, his figure emerging into the back side of the house. He looked at the identification profile he had set up for her on the watch and looked at her location information. To his surprise, it said she was in the same place as him, outside and in the back! His eyes squinted at the information before a familiar voice shouted out. 

“BLARG!!” Mabel shot up from behind him, jumping onto his back as if she were playing leapfrog. He was too tall though so she ended up falling back on her feet and into the dirt. Stanford immediately whipped around, his coat twirling in the wind. 

“Mabel! What are you doing out here?” Ford spoke after regaining his composure. She swayed to the sides and patted her hands on her skirt for no particular reason. 

“Just playing. There’s not much to do in there, you know.” Mabel stepped to the side and showed Ford where she had been for..how long had she been out here for again? There were small drawings in the dirt and also an attempt to make some sort of dirt castle but since the soil was so dried out and thin, it just looked like a small lump in the ground. 

Ford was relieved she wasn’t doing anything that could possibly get herself or him into trouble but he still wanted to get something across, kneeling down so he could be at her height. “Please make sure to inform me when you leave the area. You gave me a fright when you suddenly disappeared!” 

“Grunkle Ford, I’ve been out here for 2 hours. Did you seriously just notice I was gone?” Mabel raised an eyebrow. She took note that her grunkle was prone to getting sucked into his work to the point nothing bothered him in the slightest. “And I did tell you, remember? I said, can I go outside? And you said-” Mabel stopped talking, holding her hands out to show how he said nothing at all. Ford squinted slightly; he hadn’t even realized how deep into his work he had been. Normally he would make sure she knew not to sneak around sternly but it was technically his fault this time. He gave a small cheeky smile and chuckled nervously.

“Oh, I suppose I did hear you mutter something earlier…” Ford cleared his throat, his fist in front of his mouth. “In the case that happens again, please make sure to get verbal confrontation from me before deciding whether or not to go somewhere. A light tap on my arm is fine- it’s too dangerous for you to be alone without my knowledge of it.” 

Mabel nodded her head slowly, silently agreeing to let him know next time. Stanford pushed his palm on his knee and stood back up, dusting off the leg that was unfortunate enough to have to touch the dirt. He took a step away and turned back around when he noticed Mabel not following. 

“Aren’t you coming in?” Stanford asked, a hand gesturing towards the front of the house again. She looked at him, one of her eyebrows raised again. 

“I have to come in?” Mabel reciprocated. Ford knew where she was now, did she really have to go back? It’s not like it was the most fun thing in the world or anything but she enjoyed the breeze and textures of something new. It was difficult for her to find fun things to do when she was stuck in the same cabin, with the same gloomy attire, with the same non-tasty pills for dinner. When was he going to let her explore!? Or at least leave and come back with something fun for her to spend her time with. 

“Err…I suppose not necessarily.” Ford spoke, his brows furrowed slightly. “Though, I would feel more comfortable if you were inside.” Mabel sighed knowing there was basically no way she could refuse. It was almost like a guilt trip! He gave her the choice to stay outside but acted all sad and stupid about it, making her want to come inside. She silently walked up to his side and started making her way in, her head hanging low. Ford smiled seeing her comply with his request but couldn’t shake the small guilty feeling he had as well. As little as he knew about children, he knew they needed experiences and color and this cabin gave Mabel none of that. He walked back with her, his hands behind his back while he thought of something that might cheer her up. 

Mabel walked up the wooden creaky steps and placed her hand on the doorknob, ready to walk in before hearing her grunkle’s voice, stopping her in her tracks. 

“Would it make you happy if I ran out and got you a treat of some sort..?” 

Mabel turned around, her whole face lighting up with stars and glitter in her eyes. Ford could have sworn some sparkly sequence popped out of her eyes when she blinked but he didn’t have much time to think about it since Mabel ran towards him and wrapped him in the biggest hug her little arms could allow. She was practically bouncing up and down as she clung onto him, her glum attitude disappearing in a second. 

“YES!! Grunkle Ford, yes!! Would you really!?” Stanford smiled lightly, not expecting this reaction but at this point he wasn’t really surprised knowing how excited and happy this girl could be at times. He appreciated the contrast from his usual serious efforts in the nightmare realm. 

He pulled one of his arms out from beneath her tight grasp and lightly patted her head, not knowing whether or not he’d regret leaving. Should he just bring her with? No…One second imagining that and Stanford knew she’d be gawking at every little thing, drawing attention to themselves. There wasn’t one dimension that wasn’t dangerous, no matter how safe and even silly they may seem. He would have to go through some more ground rules before he left but…he was pretty confident in his conclusion that Mabel was normal. Not some kind of entity..anomaly..no. 

All that work he had spent at his desk really helped convince himself. He had plucked a few loose hairs from her and each strand confirmed her humanity. The blood he used to determine her home dimension didn’t have any other traces of different types of blood, although…it was a little alarming to find traces of five different types of glitter just from one drop. Her story and appearance have remained constant throughout her stay and every single theory he had surrounding Mabel somehow not being who she claimed was either debunked or proven to be false. The only thing he was nervous about leaving her alone now was if she would somehow get hurt or damage something inside. 

“Of course. Did you have something in mind?” Maybe he wouldn’t regret leaving her alone but he certainly regretted asking that question. 

“Um, obviously!! I was thinking- you’d really benefit from getting a pig! But then I would be betraying waddles…Nevermind! We need to paint the cabin rainbow !! Or Pink!! Wait, wait, wait, stop. I’m hungry and I need some real food. Get some cotton candy flavored ice cream! Or..Ice Cream flavored cotton candy? Does the multiverse make that? Hold up! I need drawing supplies- your colors are lame! But if you get more color pencils then also get me some knitting supplies!! They just go together, like groom and bride!” Mabel blabbered on and on, letting go of him to fully accentuate her thoughts. All Stanford could do was stare at her, flabbergasted at the amount of things she wanted. He knew she needed a few things but..wow. 

Stanford waved his hands in the air lightly, trying to get her to stop or at least quiet down a bit. “Slow down Mabel!” She finished her last thought then zipped her mouth shut, looking up at him. All he could do was sigh and awkwardly look to the side. There was no way he could get all that stuff in one trip! There was also no way he was willing to get some of the things she had mentioned… He had to come up with a way to decline but still keep her happy somehow. “How about…I surprise you? Would you like that?” 

He wasn’t very sure that would work but she seemed to enjoy the idea just as much, ecstatically nodding her head in agreement. 

“You know me SO well!!” She excitedly spoke, placing her hands on her hips and flashing him a big toothy smile. Stanford didn’t exactly agree with that quite yet…He was glad Mabel thought he should know her well but he really didn’t other than she’s a very optimistic and bubbly girl. “Surprise it is! Are you going now? How long will it take?” 

“Hold on now Mabel, I want to make sure I’m very clear about the rules when I’m gone. It’s important to me that you take this seriously.” Mabel whispered the word, ‘seriouss,’ to herself before waving a hand over her face, her expression changing from excited to sincere. She looked up at him with undivided attention and waited for him to speak. It was quite impressive in his eyes actually! “Alright. Depending how this goes, you can expect me to travel out quite frequently. I need you to make sure you keep your hands to yourself- no touching my work or the stove, make sure you don’t break anything. Understand?” 

“Hands to myself, don’t break stuff yup, yup.” 

“I shouldn’t be gone too long today but if I’m ever away for longer than a day, do not take more than 2 nutrition pills. And make sure you go to bed at a reasonable hour! I will be keeping track of your heart rate every now and then so don’t try to be sneaky. Got it?” 

“Don’t take a lotta pills, sleep a lot, understood.” 

Stanford nodded his head before kneeling down to the dirt again in order to be eye level with the small girl. He held his arm out and showed her the watch that sat snugly around his arm. Without needing further direction, Mabel stuck out her own arm with the watch, waiting for him to speak again. 

“I’m going to teach you how to contact me with this. Do you know morse code?” Mabel gave him a sarcastic face, her eyebrow raised as if he should know by now that of course she didn’t know. He looked back at his own watch and cleared his throat. “Right…Yes. I suppose we’ll deal with that at a later date. For now I’ll teach you how to use your voice .” 

It didn’t take too long for him to teach her how to use the watch’s features, it actually took less time than he thought it might have. The screen was wide but it didn’t work with the touch of someone’s finger. It had a small rotating dial on the side which could be used to select certain things on the menu. Stanford had taught her how to select his name and basically give him a call. Although there was no such thing as ‘answering’ or ‘hanging up.’ It worked sort of like a walkie talkie, the call coming through whether the person on the other end wanted it to or not. 

He also showed her where they would do morse later on, a small button on the top that made both watches light up at the same time. Even though Mabel didn’t know how to type in morse code, Ford told her to click the button a few times before she tried to call him if he was out. 

“You see, just give it a few taps to warn me before sending your voice through. If you don’t get a tap back, don’t talk.” He spoke firmly, trying to accentuate his seriousness. Mabel nodded her head slowly, taking in all the information. “Would you like to try it?” 

She nodded her head more enthusiastically this time, giving him a smile. He had her go through a scenario to get used to his rules surrounding watch communication. 

“Alright, now signal to me that you would like to talk.” Ford adjusted his position so he was now sitting on his knees instead of kneeling and waited for Mabel to complete his ‘training’ per say. She tapped the button a few times as fast as she could then paused, looking at Ford for his next direction. Ford lightly tapped the button on his watch in response, resulting in both lighting up again. Mabel looked at the watch before quickly perking up again, confidently hitting the voice control. 

“Rainbow kitten butter sneeze.” She spoke the first few words she thought of and almost shouted them into the watch a little bit before looking at him again. Her voice came out of the other watch that rested on Ford’s arm and he nodded his head with a smile, giving her a little thumbs up. 

“Very good! Try that one more time.” Right away, Mabel hit the voice button again and started reciting ‘Rainbow kitten butter sneeze’ one more time before he waved his hands lightly through the air. “No, no try signaling me to talk again.” He corrected and placed his hand back on his knees. She made a little, ‘ohh,’ of realization before spamming the button again, making both watches light up in unison. Unlike the time before, he kept his hands on his knees and didn’t say anything, giving her an encouraging smile. Mabel looked up at him for a moment before taking one of her hands and pretending to zip her mouth closed. Stanford excitedly nodded his head again. “Atta girl! That’s perfect. And remember, don’t call unless you absolutely need to, alright? It should be used as a last resort.” 

He began to stand up again, dusting off both his knees for a moment. He looked down at Mabel once again and gave her a small smile. He’d be lying if he didn’t admit how nervous he was to leave her all alone. There’s too many bad things that could happen…But he would have to at some point, whether that was today or 50 years in the future. 

They both started to make their way back inside, Ford holding the door open for her to walk in, and he started rummaging through some of his things. Mabel instinctively went back to her own little corner, sitting on the mattress on the floor, bouncing on it slightly as she sat while he scanned the walls and chests around for anything he might need. Mabel saw him hide a few weapons in his coat even. She wasn’t very phased though- almost everyone carried something to protect themselves back home! Dipper had that weird book, Grunkle Stan had the shiny knuckles and who else knows what, and Mabel had her grappling hook! She almost wanted to tell her Grunkle Ford that he didn’t have to pretend he didn’t have any. It’s not like she was scared or anything.

Suddenly, Stanford was walking back in her direction, shoving one more random thing in his endless coat pockets. As he made it to his destination, he kneeled down to be at eye level with her once more, resting his arms on his knee. 

“You will be alright, yes? Do you have any questions before I leave?” Stanford asked firmly, almost staring her down. Mabel looked at him back, her hands gently gripping the ends off the mattress she sat on. She looked down, thinking for a moment if she even had any questions. As she looked back at him, she shook her head no and began to stand up. 

“No. Just make sure you come back.” Mabel spoke, suddenly wrapping him into a hug. Stanford wasn’t expecting the sudden contact but after a split second he relaxed and wrapped his own arms around her as well. Mabel didn’t exactly know what was out there but she knew it must be dangerous she supposed, Ford kept telling her to be careful and he had that nasty security system so there must be something out there. 

“You be good now, don't do anything I wouldn’t do. Don’t do anything I would do either.” Stanford expressed as he stood up from the floor, fixing his coat for a moment. He took one last glance at Mabel and a deep breath, almost convincing himself that everything would be okay. He started making his way towards the door giving Mabel a little thumbs up before opening the screen door. Mabel watched intently as he walked out, closing the door behind him but when she saw a huge light of colors, she ran towards the door herself to give it a look. She opened the door, her mouth slightly agape as she saw the beautiful portal that appeared out of thin air. How did he do that? Was he a portal whisperer? She saw her grunkle go through the portal before it zapped back out of existence. She stood there for a moment longer, staring at what once was a multiversal gateway to whatever universe he had travelled out to. Despite all the things she had seen in Gravity Falls, that was really really cool. 

…

Stanford found himself in a back alleyway of the dimension he had travelled to. Now, he wouldn’t call it a black market per say…but it totally was. It was a lesser known dimension that got overthrown by dimension hoppers and beings with nowhere else to go. These things existed everywhere. Between dimension to dimension, anyone would be bound to run into a trade market. Although this one was definitely lesser known. It was better for the dimension to be smaller and less inhabited if he was planning something. Especially something big. 

He collected his thoughts and cleared his throat before walking out of the alley, ready to browse the selection of things they had out for the day. Most of these markets had almost everything going from essential day to day items, (which includes the…let’s say interesting alien uses of day to day things,) to huge mechanical tech that Ford found himself snatching quite more often. 

The streets were cold with concrete and metal scraps pushed off to the sides. If Ford guessed correctly, there was probably something living in those trash dumps like there always was in every dimension like this. These places were safe if you weren’t a fugitive or criminal being looked for so it wasn’t unusual to find scampering beings living it up. 

The air was chilling and damp; he was surprised he couldn’t see the moisture coming out of his mouth, but it was contrasted with the warm and light-filled strip of local businesses and outlets. It was as if day and night mixed to make a somewhat comforting place to be if he wasn’t so paranoid about someone recognizing him. He had to keep his head down at all times just in case he bumped into someone he had stolen from before. Those could get…pretty messy. 

The market was pleasantly crowded, great if he needed to disappear from a vendor, with many different races and beings walking around and pleasantly shopping. Some of the vendors were shouting to either attract customers or catch a shoplifter. If he was lucky, that wouldn’t happen to him. He had become quite the pickpocketer in his time in the nightmare realm and it has proven to be quite useful. He would forever be grateful to his mother for teaching him this skill, even if he didn’t think it was right at the time. 

As he walked down the strip of vendors and shops, he snatched up a few small trinkets that he deemed could be useful in some way or another and even got himself that lightbulb he was itching to replace before he scanned the area for more. He still had to decide what would be a good surprise for the little girl back at his base and whether or not he should steal or actually buy it. Whatever was more safe for her; you never know what kind of things vendors will tamper with in case it’s stolen. 

One shop in particular piqued his interest as he walked by scanning the area. The sign read, ‘Human-like antikes,’ a horrible name in Stanford’s opinion. It was supposed to be a clever play on words or something like that but he barely understood what it was trying to convey. When he had met the owner previously, he was explaining how the last word was antiques but smashed together with his name, Ike. Oh please, that really sucked, even if it did rhyme. 

He walked inside and was greeted with the familiar area filled with random junk that probably belonged to people before this. Some of the stuff in there definitely did not belong to humans but most of it was genuine so he found it a good place to come back to whenever he needed something specific. None of it was new though, everything definitely had a previous owner and was greatly used, as was pretty much everything no matter the shop. 

What could he get Mabel… Everything looked pretty dull. He quietly walked around the small shop, the floor boards creaking as he took each step. It kind of reminded him of his Pa’s pawn shop except a lot more broken down and looking as if it belonged to a hoarder. Things were stacked on top of one another and everything was basically gathering dust but these items also held potential so Ford had to remind himself to not judge so quickly. 

He took another step, his boot rolling slightly as he stepped on a thin cylindrical object. As he lifted his foot he saw it was a dirty colored pencil, presumably pink underneath the dust. He spotted a few more just lying about on the floor in the small walkable area. Surly Ike wouldn’t notice if he just so happened to place it in his coat pocket. 

Stanford reached down and slid the pencil up his coat sleeve, grabbing a few more that were close by. They must’ve fallen out of the flimsy cardboard casing but that was perfect to get a little something extra. He knew he should probably get something a little better than four used colored pencils but it would add to the surprise. As he stood up again, he acted as if he were adjusting his coat, letting the art supplies gently find their way into the inner pocket. Clearing his throat, he wandered around more, looking for something he could get. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar… well not face but more like a blob. A fat old lightly cream colored alien that he recognized as Ike, the store owner. Yes, Stanford stole from his shop every now and then but he would still consider him… an acquaintance. He wouldn’t go as far to call him a friend. 

“Stanford, my friend! It’s been too long!” Ike spoke with a smile, waddling over to where he stood. Stanford just watched as he squeezed past all of the junk lying about to get closer to him, the alien making a quiet puffing nose as he traversed across his store. Once he had gotten closer to him, Ford gave him a light smile, nodding his head at his arrival. 

“Yes, it really has. I see the store is still running smoothly?” Stanford asked, striking up some friendly conversation; sometimes he was able to get deals on certain things if he was in a good mood. Ike’s blobbly head nodded with a grin. 

“Oh yeah, business is a thrivin’!” He nodded his head enthusiastically. As he talked and chattered, Ford observed how the alien would fidget with the random objects scattered about, fixing them up and repositioning them to make them look more presentable to the eye. The fascinating thing was, he had these short stubby arms but could retract them, make them longer to reach whatever he needed to. “You come looking for anything in particular?” Ike asked, flashing him a smile. 

“You have a daughter, correct? What would she find amusing in your assortment of things? I’m looking for a… well a gift I suppose.” Ford decided to leave out the detail that he had another person sticking around him. Obviously he had never told Ike or anyone for that matter that he had a home base and he would especially never tell anyone where it was located. 

“A gift for a miss, hmm…I think I've got something that’ll suit your needs!” Ike suddenly turned around, scattering through different items and junk to find what he was looking for. It seemed he knew exactly what it was just didn’t know where he placed it, alongside probably everything else in this store. 

Stanford waited as Ike shuffled around, picking things up and looking under and tossing everything around. How did this place ever stay organized? Well, it didn’t- not at all. But fortunately, Ike came scampering back with an item in hand, a little dusty and worn down. 

“My little one loves eatin’ the filling inside of these fellas! Go on, have a look.” Ike gestured to hold out his hands so he did, and soon a small gentle bear was placed in his hands. It seemed like it used to be a light brown color but because of the dirt and debris it took a more darker shade. At least the stuffing inside wasn’t hard as a rock, it was actually still somewhat fluffy. 

He poked the teddy with his thumbs, turning it around and inspecting it, before looking back up at the alien and nodding his head. “Yes, this should do well. Thank you.” 

“Wonderful! Just follow me over to the side, I’ll get you all checked out.” Ike blubbered, smiling as he slid his way over to the small counter on the other side of the wall. It had a bunch of junk sitting on top of it so as he made his way behind the island he made sure to scoot the various items off to the side, a few falling off onto the ground. Stanford just nodded his head and made his way over, holding the bear in one of his hands. 

As he made his way over to the junky counter, he spotted something else out of the corner of his eye, sitting on a box close to Ike’s position. It was a large journal, a square, that seemed to have bright empty pages inside from what he could tell. Once he made it over, he quietly pointed to the book, glancing back at Ike. 

“You know, I think I’ll take that one as well.” Stanford spoke, gesturing towards the large journal sitting out in the open. Ike looked down to where he pointed and extended his arms to grab it, picking it up and reeling it in towards his face to have a look. He blew some air on the book, cleaning it of its dust. Smiling, he placed the journal down onto the counter alongside the bear Ford had put down as well. 

“Alrighty then! I think that comes to like thirteen or.. I dunno twelve, whatever you got in that coat of yours.” Ike rolled his odd elongated eyes with a small toothy grin. Ford simply nodded and reached in one of his many pockets to pull out a small pouch. He grabbed a handful of small metal circles and gently shook them in his hands to count how many he had picked up. He slid two coins back into the small pouch before placing what he had in his palm onto the counter. 

Ike happily picked up the coins and dumped them in a jar that was concerningly out in the open for anyone to snatch while Stanford tucked away the teddy and the large journal into his inner coat, strapping it in so it wouldn’t fall out. He had gotten used to walking around basically wearing different objects if his pockets weren’t big enough so it didn’t really bother him a whole lot. 

“Thank you Ike, I’ll be seeing you.” Stanford held up a hand for a quick nonchalant wave before turning his back and walking in the direction towards the doorway. Funnily enough, Ike was also missing his door. It was like he was begging to be stolen from but maybe that never happened solely because he’s just so nice to everyone around him. He carried a cheerful attitude that contrasted through the dark and coldness of the nightmare realm like a select few of others. Stanford was never really a fan of the more chipper people in the multiverse but for some reason, he hasn’t been quite bothered by it recently. Wonder why that was. 

Alright, he was on track… He had gotten something for Mabel and now he had time to collect what he had been meaning to for the past week. There was a specific gear that he had been wanting to find to complete a small invention he was in the midst of creating. It was a little project to see if he could find a way to make a thermal heater that didn’t require any fuel or resources for the majority of its lifespan. The idea was that he’d only have to feed it materials once to start it up and then it would use excess heat to power itself, providing everlasting warmth. He wanted to make it portable as well so he supposed he would have to turn it off and re-fuel it sometimes but the concept was a strong one. 

As he walked back onto the strip with the different vendors and the few permanent stores, one destination rang in his head. There was a being named Falco that he remembered specialized in different spare parts and machinery. There was no doubt that he would have what he was looking for. 

Falco was an interesting thing… He had a tough, mean looking exterior and he wasn’t afraid to threaten his own customers if he saw fit. Thankfully, Stanford never had a reason to get on his bad side. Well, that Falco knew of, of course. 

After a moment longer of traversing towards his destination, he finally came into view of the familiar pop up store with a big sign that read, “Death Metal”- probably another dumb play on words. Although, he wouldn’t be surprised if it was because Falco had killed before. 

He walked around the front side of the store and looked around at the different metal materials that were on display… and out for grabs. It would be a tricky maneuver to steal from the front displays but it was a plus there was no window casing to protect the random assortment of things from a passersby like him. 

This store was much more neat and organized than Ike’s old thrift shop, although now that Ford thought about it, maybe that wasn’t a good thing. The less clutter and junk flying around, the harder it would be to snatch something up. It was fine though, he was very confident in his abilities- there was basically a 95% chance this theft gives him no problems. 

As he was roaming around silently, he suddenly caught sight of the spare part he was looking for- the intricate and inhuman designed gear that would work perfectly for his job. Inside his mind, he was extremely happy to have found it especially since it was in the open display! But on the outside he stayed calm and almost invisible, just a random viewer from within the crowd. 

He glanced upwards, identifying where Falco was at that point in time. He was talking to one of his customers at the moment but it seemed like he was walking up to the front to greet other wanderers out and about. As long as he was distracted, he would be able to make this work.. 

Ford hovered around the part he needed, not swiping it until he knew for sure that the coast was clear. Falco seemed busy with a customer, his back was turned, and there was no one seemingly looking at him. This was it- the perfect shot. 

Ford held his breath- just something he did whenever he did something risky and ‘morally not right.’ He didn’t enjoy stealing for the most part but it was vital to his survival and he had grown used to it. Although Stanley had always been better at this than he was back then. It didn’t matter, he was still experienced and had a clear opening to what he wanted. He took his hand out of his pocket, hovering above the gear as he did a last second check that no one was watching him. Alright, this was it, he almost had it. 

Stanford moved his hand downwards with everything going according to plan when suddenly…

“HEY GRUNKLE FORD!!” 

Stanford’s eyes widened when he heard the voice of Mabel and his hand involuntarily scooped up the gear into his palm, many passerbys turning their heads to look at the commotion. Ford freezed for a moment, watching as Falco turned around looking a lot angrier than usual. That’s right.. He was uh… holding the gear.. Right in front of him.

It didn’t take him long to immediately mute the watch and dash in the opposite direction, not hesitating to push anyone out of his way as he made his escape. He couldn’t just give it back- Falco would have his neck either way! He knew he was being chased; there was no doubt about it. 

Falco roared and jumped over the display tables, yelling at an alien named Jarnip to watch the shop and dare not let something like this happen again while he was gone. Jarnip just gulped as Falco ran off after Stanford without another word. 

“GET BACK HERE!” Falco screamed as he ran after Ford in a blind rage. Ford didn’t reply, didn’t look behind him, and kept desperately looking for a place he could discreetly slip out of. Things weren't looking too good for him but it’s not like he hadn’t been chased before. Although it felt extremely embarrassing for him to get caught like this- of course the little girl would forget the commands about the watch! What did she even need back there? Was she in trouble? From what he already knew about her, probably not, but that wasn’t important right now! He had to get out of this mess with the least amount of damage possible. 

He finally made it into a different strip of shops with less people, although it was still partially crowded. Some beings were screaming, others just continued with their day to day lives and their shopping. In a quick and swift motion, Ford jumped over a stack of boxes and shoved the gear into a coat pocket, pulling out one of his weapons during the same action. Landing on one foot and stumbling down slightly, he fired a couple shots before darting forward again. Drat, it didn’t seem like any hits landed on the guy. 

He didn’t waste any time darting forward, his dark coat flying behind him. He needed to find a way out of this and fast if he wanted to make it back to his shelter unharmed. But… he also had to think of the possibility of Falco tracking him down if he managed to escape. If he somehow managed to place a tracker on him or even just scan him with a dimensional detector gun, both his and Mabel’s location could be revealed. He had to take care of this in a way that would stop Falco from trying to track him down while also ensuring that Falco’s buddies didn’t try to come after him either. 

He could feel the slight burn in his lungs from what felt like an endless amount of sprinting away from his pursuer. He was thankful most people who were just doing their daily shopping seemed to be getting out of his way- probably just so they didn’t accidently get involved. It was as if he were a negatively charged end of a magnet and everyone else was positive. Except for Falco of course because it seemed like he was getting even closer now. He could hear the spiky clanking of his weirdly designed boots and his rage filled grumbles as he chased him. 

It wasn’t long until Ford readied his gun up again, making sure it had fully charged bullets for him to shoot out. He took a deep breath- the deepest breath one could take while sprinting away, and turned around quickly with his eyes locked onto that beast of an alien. He aimed for his prickly head and took the shot by pulling the trigger with his finger, a blast of light shooting out the end of his cyber gun and heading towards the man chasing him. Although it didn’t strike him in the head, a good shot landed through his shoulder, a sopping green glowing liquid splurting out as Falco yelled and clutched the distressed area. Ford huffed as he ran, a slight smile arriving on his face. He was just glad he had been able to hit him! Not that he was doubting his skills or anything, of course he had hit him! He was the very intelligent Stanford Pines after all- 

Just as he turned his head around, he saw a very scared looking little girl, her three eyes staring in a frozen shock as he was about to completely trample over her. Stanford sucked in a breath, not expecting to see a terrified little purple child holding a little pink bear blanket stuffie in front of him. He had to think quickly in order not to just run over her because she obviously wasn’t going to move in that terrified state of hers. 

He lunged forward since there was no way he’d be able to slow himself down in time. He used his speed to his advantage and dove into a somersault, the little girl getting trapped in his arms for a moment before he was able to come to a much safer stop than what he would've if he kept going. He heard her squeak in shock before he stopped and extended his arms out so she could leave un-hurt. She cowered for a moment, glancing up at his scary human face before jumping out of his arms and running off to the side while hugging her blankie, a much taller and older alien running towards her as well. The man alien scooped her into a protective hug, keeping her safe in his arms. He stayed like that for just a second before looking up, making direct eye contact with Stanford for a moment. Ford almost flinched at the sudden action before realizing that a stunned shoulder would not stop Falco from charging at him and he needed to jet. He broke the subtle eye contact and began to dart off again, leaving him and his little girl be. He didn’t know why he bothered even looking at all but apparently he did. 

Stanford began running again, looking for any possible escape. With one glance behind him he could see that Falco was actually much closer than he thought he would be with that shoulder. He didn’t have regenerative bodily mechanics did he!? No.. He still seemed to be bleeding a lot from the wound… Maybe he’s just that used to the feeling at this point where it didn't bother him as much. 

As he was running, he quickly spotted a nice and shady looking alleyway- perfect to slip into and leave quietly. Maybe he’d have just enough time to enter and summon a portal before Falco could get to the alleyway in the first place. Well, it was worth a shot, he didn’t have much of a choice anyways. He had no other options at that point. 

He ran towards the opening, his feet sliding and skidding on the pavement to reduce his speed as he bumped into the brick wall, redirecting himself into a new different path. He noticed a few things as he ran down the dark corridor: empty plastic (or different substance made?) boxes, and interesting yellow liquid on the ground and.. A sewer drain. That’s perfect. A portal could take too long to form and Falso could easily jump in with him, bringing that monstrosity right back to where Mabel was. He couldn’t let that happen. 

He quickly shoved a hand into his pocket, no longer running but hearing Falco approaching from the distance, and pulled out a multi-functional tool which he switched to a small hammer and used the claw end of it to pry open the small sewage opening. Knowing how big Falco was, there was no way he was fitting in there. 

He finally got the lid open and kicked it off to the side, placing the tool back in its spot on his body before preparing to jump in. Things were actually going pretty smoothly so far! That was, until instead of falling to the bottom of the sewer like he expected when he started to jump in, he was met with a meaty hand holding him up as if he were a weak little kitten. 

Ford stared up at Falco who had grabbed him mid-air, turning him around to face him while holding his hand around his neck. Crap, this wasn’t good. Ford couldn’t think that well when his airways were threatening to be the death of him! But that’s what he had to do if he wanted to get out of this situation. 

“You.” Falco spat, clearly irritated and extremely rage filled. “You think it’s okay to steal from Falco?” 

Stanford tried looking at him but his eyelids kept bouncing as he was deprived of his air. Falco’s hand was ridiculously strong! Now, he had to think rationally about this… Below him was an open sewage hole, there was no one else in the alleyway besides them, and Ford was still holding his gun. If he did this right he may be able to escape unharmed.

Ford grunted weakly, his hand shaking as it tried to aim anywhere on the being who was choking him. All he needed to do was wound him, stun him and cause him to let go so Ford could finish the job or escape. There was no way he could mess this up- he was huge and right in front of him! But his arm was weak and couldn’t hold itself up for long. He sucked in a raspy breath before pulling the trigger, the beam of fiery light bouncing out of the gun and onto the concrete floor. Falco turned his head and watched as it missed his foot just barley, the light bouncing elsewhere. He looked even more angry that Ford attempted something like that while in this position. That idiot! He couldn’t even land a single hit when he was right in front of him! 

He darted his head back to Ford with an angry rage-filled look in his eyes but it quickly turned to one of surprise when he saw all the bright colors swirling around with each other below the man he was choking. He had opened a portal when he was looking at the bullet!? That was- that was less than a second! 

Stanford used his strength to place his feet on the big alien’s torso, essentially using him as a leg press to shove him into the wall behind him with a big shove. Falco stumbled back slightly while Ford dropped down towards the floor, or rather, the portal. 

“Distraction!” Stanford taunted with an evil smile. He enjoyed that more than he should’ve. He could feel his body pass through the portal barrier, watching as Falco scurried and tried to reach him but it was already closing. He probably should’ve just let him go because when he reached his arm through the spinning portal to try and grab him, the thing closed and Ford watched as only his arm made it through. He sucked a breath through his teeth, almost in a sympathetic way for Falco. Yikes! What a bummer for that guy, huh? 

Ford came down from his adventurous high and let out a sigh. Did he say distraction? Nevermind that- no matter how fun it was seeing Falco get tricked like that, he was still upset that any of that happened in the first place. What was Mabel thinking!? That little girl almost got him-! No, Stanford would never die to the likes of someone like that. But still, his point stood. 

He grumbled quietly, almost feeling a little annoyed when he noticed something glowing from his side. The watch… The light was going off gently at a steady rhythm. How long had that been happening? It wasn’t being spammed like Mabel had done before, this was more cautious. 

Ford’s gaze softened at the sight of the watch lighting up slowly, the light turning on and off again. Was she scared something happened to him? Ford let out a quiet sigh, realizing he shouldn't be that mad at this little slip up. Something was bound to go wrong with the first time he left her alone- he should be thankful it was something as minor as it was. 

Stanford placed his own hand over the small button, Tapping back and sending a light signal to Mabel’s watch. That was supposed to be the signal for her to be allowed to talk. Did she get that now? 

“-Grunkle Stanford?” A slight static buzz came through before Mabel’s voice appeared through the watch. She was calling him his full name. “Are you okay..?” 

Ford couldn’t help but feel a bit of relief at hearing her voice. It was reassuring to know she was okay and it was actually kind of nice for her to make sure he was too. 

“Yes, everything is up to par.” Ford replied. “I will be back very soon. Everything go alright?” He could almost picture the relief on Mabel’s face as well when he replied. He must’ve freaked her out when he didn’t respond to her calling earlier. Hopefully she wasn’t thinking she killed him or anything. 

“Oh, good, good!” She replied after a moment, a relief washing over her. Ford couldn’t tell what part of his message she was replying to at first but he had a feeling that it was all just her being glad he was alive. “It uh, went well. Please hurry back.” 

Stanford was a little taken aback by her lack of positive googling energy and noticed her slight hesitation in her voice. Something didn’t happen while he was gone, right? “I’m travelling through the portal right now, I’ll be back in less than a minute, okay?” 

He waited for a moment but there was no response. He was about to call out her name one more time before finally her voice came through again. 

“Okay-!” The static ended meaning that was all she was going to say. What was that all about? Now Ford really wanted to get back.. 

…

The zapping colorful image of the portal appeared back in the dimension where his home base was- where Mabel was. He glided through the gateway and stepped out onto the grass, eyeing the cabin in front of him. Okay, nothing exploded, that’s good. But now he was walking towards the door, expecting to see some damage on the inside or something along those lines. Was something broken? Was Mabel hurt? 

He opened the door, letting it swing and hit back onto the wood a couple times as he stepped inside. It was quiet- much like this morning, and there was no sign of the little girl- 

“Grunkle Ford!” Mabel grinned, emerging from the closet and running towards him. Oh, so that's where she was hiding. She must really like that thing. 

“Mabel! Did anything happen while I was gone? What’s wrong?” Stanford almost demanded, kneeling down to her level. Her grin turned into an ashamed frown as she held her hand behind her back like a guilty dog. 

“I…I did something I wasn’t supposed to.” Mabel spoke, her whole demeanor changing slightly. Ford’s eyebrows furrowed, expecting the worst. Of course she did something wrong. 

“What? Mabel, what did you do?” Ford asked a little too sternly. He didn’t want to scare her off and not tell him, especially if it was something dangerous to her, him, or the cabin. Mabel looked down at the floor, fiddling with her sweater gently. 

“I…I ate three.” 

“...What?” 

“Pills. I ate three. I’m sorry…” 

Stanford looked down at the helpless little girl beneath him, looking so guilty over what she had done. That's it? She ate three pills instead of two? Yeah Stanford told her not to do that but… that wasn’t anything that would significantly damage anything! He couldn’t help but crack a small smile, almost trying to keep himself from snickering. 

“Mabel, I don’t..” Stanford tried to reassure her but this was kind of funny he had to admit. He had to hold a fist in front of his mouth to keep his composure. “That doesn’t matter, you’re fine. It’s just a general safety suggestion, I’m not mad.” He gave her a small smile before thinking of something else. 

Mabel looked up at him slowly as he reached into his coat pockets, fishing out a couple of certain things. Her eyes seemed to light up as she realized what he was pulling out. What was this? It looked like..

“A bear? And colored pencils!? And-!?” Mabel gasped excitedly when she saw Ford pull out the large square book filled with empty pages. It had a light blue cover and plenty of space for her to write a title and vandalize with stickers. Was this a dream come true!? 

“A Mabel’s scrapbook 2.0!?” Mabel grinned, her positive energy bubbling back and resurfacing. It seemed like she was bouncing in her place, extremely exciting at the sight of these gifts. Ford didn’t even know she liked to scrapbook or that she had one beforehand but he was now extremely glad he had decided to buy it alongside the little stuffed bear. He hoped that would make her a little more comfortable and possibly keep her entertained for a little while longer. 

Mabel immediately set the things on the floor after being handed them and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Stanford gladly accepted, wrapping his own arms around her. He almost expected it at this point so there was no reason to be startled. 

“You’re welcome, I hope you like them.” Ford smiled and gave her back a small few pats before releasing her. She was just as bubbly as ever, nodding her head enthusiastically. 

“Yes, I do! A lot! Thank you Grunkle Ford!” Mabel smiled before picking up her things with one arm, surprisingly, and suddenly yanking on Ford’s coat sleeve as she ran over to her little corner. Stanford let out a little yeep but followed anyway. Of course, he’d always still be a little startled at her actions no matter what it was. 

She opened the book to the first page, letting go of his sleeve and digging under her pillow for something. Her hand emerged with the pencil and pen she had gotten from him earlier but also a red whiteboard marker. She kept those under her pillow? Maybe Ford should invest in a little chest or even a dresser of some sorts, but that didn’t matter at the moment. 

“I found this while you were gone- and with these new ones we can make so much stuff!” Mabel grinned excitedly. Ford just looked at her, her words computing in his mind for a moment. We? Oh he understood now.. Mabel wanted to draw with him. Normally he would decline and get back to his work but… well he was going to make an excuse and say he’d indulge just so she wouldn’t go crazy but would it be crazy for him to say he kind of wanted to as well? 

“127 different combinations we can make with these. Can you believe that?” Ford smiled at her, his hand motioning towards the colored pencils and the other writing tools. Her face only seemed to light up more. A part of her was expecting him to tell her to do it herself or something. This felt nicer. 

“Not at all! I think it’s infinite!” Mabel grinned before grabbing one of the new colored pencils as if it were the last of its kind and super rare, even if it was just some grimey old pencil. Well, a little bit of drawing with that and the color would come out perfectly. 

They both laid down on their stomachs, gripping their own respective tools in hand. Mabel was mumbling, “What should we draw?” as Ford smiled back at her. It seemed that he really didn’t mind her company as much as he thought he would when he initially thought of how this would all play out. It felt kind of nice to not be alone anymore… And this girl was his family.