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Stanley was tidying up the living room when he heard the unforgiving groan of the stairs bowing under the weight of a foot.
"Grunkle Stan?" a voice came.
Mabel.
He recognized her voice instantly - how could he not? He had spent all summer memorizing the rise and fall, the tones of his great-niece and nephew.
"What is it?" he replied absentmindedly. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
He heard a sniff behind him and turned around to face his great-niece. She was standing in her pajamas, with tears streaming down her face and rubbing her nose. He felt his heart squeeze in his chest.
"What happened?" he inquired.
"I had a nightmare..."
Nightmare? Why should she be having nightmares?
"C'mere and sit with me," Stanley waved her over as he sat down on his old recliner. Mabel shuffled over to him and sat on the sofa's arm.
"Tell me what happened." Stanley prompted.
"...I had a dream about Bill."
"The weird triangle-pyramid demon thing?"
Mabel laughed bitterly, "Yeah, him."
"What did he do in your dream?"
"Bill showed up. He had hurt Dipper and Dipper was knocked out. A-and-" Mabel's voice caught. "A-and Bill was tr-trying to kill him and-" Mabel broke out into sobs. "A-and you and Grunkle Ford were de-dead."
Stan wrapped his arms around her, trying to shield her from the horrors of her mind. Her shoulders shook as he began to rock her.
"A-and the wo-worst part is that there was n-nothing I could do to save any of you." She cried even harder than before.
"Shh, it's okay, pumpkin." Stanley squeezed her a little tighter to show his comfort. He was never really good at this whole comfort thing, but she seemed to respond to it positively.
Deep down, Stanley was scrambling for purchase, fighting the panic surfacing. He was back, watching the real Stanford disappeared through the portal. Nothing he could do to save his brother, except to rebuild the portal. And when he finally figured it out, finally mashed his remaining brain cells together, and brought Stanford back through, there was no thanks in return. Stan's feelings oscillated between fear, anger, and grief.
How could he reassure her that he, Stanford, or even her own twin wasn't going to be killed by a demon that was always on a murderous rampage?
"It was just a dream, Mabel. It won't-"
"But what's even worse is that Dipper keeps spending time with Grunkle Ford and I feel like I can't talk to him anymore... it's like I'm losing him."
She feels like she's losing him too. Why can't it be different this time? It was supposed to be different.
"It's all just so awful, Grunkle Stan," she continued.
"I know, kiddo."
Silence settled between them, heavy and solemn. Stan reached for the first thing he could think of.
"But if you ever feel that you can't talk to Dipper, you can always talk to me. Ford and Dipper can be Ford and Dipper, and we can be Stanley and Mabel."
Mabel turned to him and smiled brightly. "Stanley and Mabel sounds nice." Stan grinned.
The silence returned, lighter this time. Mabel had leaned further into their embrace, laying her hand in the crook of his shoulder. Stan sat there with his favorite - sue him, he could have a favorite - younger Pines twin. He didn't know how long they had sat there, contemplating. His eyes flicked to the kitschy owl clock on the wall. 2:47 am.
Frowning, Stan nudged Mabel with his elbow. "Hey, kiddo, shouldn't you go back to bed? It's late."
"Would you tuck me in?" Mabel mumbled, eyes bleary and barely open. Something warm - amusement, care - blossomed in his chest.
"Of course."
Stan ushered Mabel up the stairs, trailing behind her. When they reached the attic door, Stan gently pushed it open. His eyes wandered to the left side of the room, taking in the lump on the mattress.
Good, he was asleep.
Stan stood in the doorway as Mabel climbed into her bed and pulled back the covers. Once when she was settled, Stan proceeded to tuck her in and he kissed her forehead. He reached the doorway, hand almost on the doorknob, when Mabel said, "Goodnight, Grunkle Stan. I love you."
Stanley turned around and smiled at her, his heart warming. "I love you too, pumpkin. Goodnight."
He watched Mabel smile and snuggle into her bed even more.
Stanley closed the door softly behind him. When he got into bed himself much later in the night, he still had that full blown smile on his face.
I promise you, Mabel, no one will hurt you, Stanley silently swore. I will make sure that no one dares to lay a finger on you.
And with that thought, he fell asleep.