Chapter Text
Stan groaned, light fluttering in through the curtains. It was morning. Great, just what his hangover needed. He spent a few more moments on the mattress, trying to muster the courage to actually get up, before eventually biting the bullet and deciding to face the day. He got a glimpse of himself in the mirror. God. The years on the run were really starting to show. Sure, it was still him, but it wasn’t him. Gone was the youthful expression, gone was the glint in his eye. He was no longer the wide-eyed, rowdy kid from Glass Shard Beach. Something about that scared him. Stan turned away and pulled on his trademark, red hoodie. The garment was stained with booze, assorted grime, and basically every condiment you could imagine. But it was his, and his alone. That's another thing he’d had to get used to, being alone.
He’d been staying in a shady motel for the last few nights, barely leaving his room. Over the years Stan had gotten used to a certain kind of malnutrition and could sustain himself on basically anything, thus he rarely ventured out even for food. He made eye contact with the almost empty bottle of whisky on the dresser.
“Don’t. Don’t even.” He sighed. Beside it sat a small, opened letter.
The postcard had arrived exactly two days ago.
It read, in near perfect penmanship: please come, Ford.
Even after all these years he could recognize his brother’s obnoxiously perfect handwriting anywhere. When the letter had arrived he’d heard a knock on the door and Stan, ever paranoid, had instinctively grabbed his baseball bat. Maybe Rico and his goons were back for what he owed, or those suckers from Texas who he’d sold faulty car batteries. But no, it was just a postman. And a single letter.
One, single mistake.
That's all it took.
That's all it took to get him ostracized from his family, the only family he’d ever known.
One, fatal mistake.
When he’d first gotten Ford’s letter Stan didn’t even open it. It just sat on the dresser, taunting him. Eventually, after a long night of binge drinking, he’d manned up and actually read it.
Why was Stanford reaching out to him now? And where the hell was Gravity Falls? What was he even doing in Oregon? Studying trees? Messing around with UFOs and tinfoil hats?
No. He’d spent years on his own, carving out a dishonest living for himself, surviving through brawn and wits alone. Now it was Ford’s turn to wait, to wonder. So no, he won’t be going to Gravity Falls, thank you very much. Whatever situation his brother had gotten himself into he was more than capable of dealing with it alone.
Stan decided that a smoke and a walk might do him good. So he grabbed his carton of cigarettes, his room key, and headed outside.
_____________
Oh, she’d messed up.
She’d really, really messed up.
When Mabel saw the pig at the carnival she lit up. It only took one look into his little, adorable eyes for her to recognize that they were kindred spirits. But when she and Dipper got into an argument everything went downhill, fast. They were messing around with the little time-thingamajig when it broke. Just like that! And then Dipper disappeared.
Mabel was on her own. In a strange, new city. She didn’t know anyone, didn’t have any money, and had no way to get back to her own time. It hadn’t taken Mabel long to realize that she was stuck in the past. Although Dipper often got all the credit for being the ‘smarter twin’ Mabel was incredibly perceptive and had good instincts. All she had was her sweater, the clothes she had on, and the device. The little tape measurer was completely smashed, strange gears and wires poking out of it. Maybe if Dipper were here he could repair it but Mabel had no idea how it worked and she really didn’t want to start messing with it again. Still she didn’t want to lose it so she took it with her.
The young girl walked through the grey, identical city streets. She had nowhere to stay so she’d slept curled up in an alleyway. It actually wasn’t bad! Sure, it wasn’t ideal, but it's not like she would be staying for long. No one made eye contact with her, despite her trying her best to smile and wave at pedestrians. Maybe they just weren’t used to friendly faces? She’d keep trying anyway.
Eventually Mabel came to a dingy motel next to a rest stop. It was a long shot, yes, but maybe if she found enough change she could pay for a room? She left the tape measurer on the curb, scanning the streets for loose change. Aha! She picked up a small, bronze coin.
“Awe man, a penny? Really?”
She groaned.
If Dipper were here they could do this twice as fast, they’d have enough in no time!
But, if Dipper wasn’t here, then where was he? Did he make it back to Gravity Falls? Or was he somewhere else, lost in time, in the exact same situation she was?
Mabel sighed, resting her hands on her knees.
He’d know exactly what to do, he always knew what to do. Dipper was always cleaning up her messes.
To top it all off it was raining.
She hid her head under her sweater, shielding herself from the unfamiliar world.
She wished for anyone to come and save her, Dipper, Grunkle Stan, Soos, anyone.
The young girl began to sob, at first silently but eventually she began to audibly cry.
Everyone else was right, she really was just a big joke. A screw up. And now she’d doomed herself, and possibly her brother, to a lifetime of strife.
“Hey, kid.”
She cried. And cried. And cried. Because what else could she do?
“Hey!”
Mabel stopped, sniffling a little. There was someone there. Yes, a voice she recognized.
The girl poked her head out of her sweater, looking around.
In front of her stood a man in a red hoodie. He smelt like smoke and his clothes were dirty. His voice was a little less gravely but it was definitely him.
“Grunkle Stan!”
“Huh?”
She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“Grunkle Stan! I thought I’d never see you again! You wouldn’t believe what-
“-Whoa, whoa, whoa. Time out kid.” Stan shifted a little, uncomfortable. He quickly distanced himself from the girl, her smile quickly fading.
“...Oh, right.” The girl sighed.
“Um…” Stan didn’t exactly know how to handle this situation. He wasn’t great with kids and this girl was clearly distraught. The whole thing was weird. She was wearing bright, flashy colors and she stood out from the rest of the gloomy city. He should just walk away now, leave her to figure it out. Her parents probably weren’t far away, the city wasn’t exactly safe, and no one in their right mind would leave a(ten, eleven year old?)kid out here on their own.
And what the hell is a ‘Grunkle’?
“Are you lost? Where are your parents?”
“California.”
“California? Wow…you’re pretty far from home. So, uh, are they coming to pick you up?”
She shook her head, wiping a stray tear from her eye. “No…”
It was Grunkle Stan, yes, but not her Grunkle Stan. He didn’t know her and she didn’t know him. Mabel decided to withhold the time travel thing from him. She didn’t know how he’d react to meeting his niece from the future and, in all honesty, he probably wouldn’t believe her anyway.
“Do you have a place to stay? Are you meeting someone?”
Mabel shook her head.
Stan sighed. He was going to regret this, wasn’t he?
“Look…I have a room at the motel. Why don’t you come with me, at least to wait out the rain?”
He felt bad, who wouldn’t? Stan remembered what it was like to be all alone in an unfamiliar city. Sure, he’d been a bit older, but he was sympathetic to her plight.
Mabel sniffled again, looking him in the eye. She knew that she probably shouldn’t trust him right away but she knew her Grunkle: he wasn’t a bad person. Well, he was. She’d watched him steal from charity donation boxes on multiple occasions, but he wasn’t a bad person.
“I…I’d like that. Thank you.”
Stan turned.
“W-wait!”
“Huh?”
The girl stepped back towards the curb, she picked up a small, broken device. Stan couldn’t exactly tell what it was but, whatever it was originally, it was probably junk now.
“Okay! We can go now!” She beamed, her earlier episode seemingly forgotten.
Wow, she got over that quick.
And so the pair started off towards the motel, Stan leading the way and Mabel trailing after him.
Neither of them knew it just yet but this was the moment that would change everything.