Archive of Our Own ^beta

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.

Chapter Text

The room was small, and if she was being honest, a little gross.
There was a mattress off to the side but no duvet or sheets, Mabel couldn’t tell if Stan had purposefully removed them or if the motel simply hadn’t provided them. A large, obnoxious fan was buzzing up ahead, one of its blades missing.
“Well, here we are!” Stan announced, with more enthusiasm than what she had come to expect from him. Mabel didn’t know much about Stan’s life before he became ‘Mr Mystery’. She’d always imagined her Grunkle off on amazing adventures, scamming to his heart's content and travelling around the globe. Not…this.
He looked exhausted, like he hadn’t slept in a while. He was staying at this dingy motel in a lifeless, grey city. Mabel suspected that he was on the run, probably from the authorities, which definitely wasn’t out of character for him. But there was something sad here, something broken. Mabel didn’t know the whole story, and she didn’t think she wanted to know.

“Um…just put your stuff wherever.” Stan commented, making his way towards the mattress. He took a seat, trying to determine how to best approach this situation. He could barely take care of himself, how was he supposed to take care of a kid? The girl placed the weird little device she had been carrying on the dresser, taking a good look around the room. “So if you’re from California how the hel- I mean, heck, did you get all the way down here?”
The girl remained standing, probably not wanting to sit down anywhere, and honestly Stan couldn’t blame her. The whole building was a walking health hazard.

“I was…looking for my brother.” Not a complete lie, Mabel was trying to find Dipper. If they’d somehow ended up in the same time then she needed to find him.
“Your brother?” Grunkle- Stan, asked. “Is he around here?”
She shook her head. “No. We got separated.”
“Seperated…” The man took a moment, seemingly lost in thought, before responding. “How?”
“Oh, um….” Quick, Mabel, think of a lie! “...We were…waiting for a train! Yeah, and he got in the car before me by accident!”
“Huh. Do you have any idea where he was going?”
“...We were going to Oregon to visit our family.” Not a complete lie. The twins had initially arrived in Gravity Falls to spend some time with Grunkle Stan over the summer.
“...Oregon?”

She was going to Oregon? Really? Well, that’s a hell of a coincidence.
Stan crossed his arms. “The train station isn’t too far from here. But you really shouldn’t be out here on your own.” What were her parents thinking?! Letting two kids travel the country on their own? He would offer to walk her there but, well, he was a wanted man. He couldn’t risk being found by trying to take care of a little girl, right? While he felt terrible for her the reason he had survived this long was because he was self-reliant. He’d just end up dragging her into his crazy, dangerous lifestyle.

“Right. Yeah. The train station.”
Mabel hummed, her expression falling a little. She was an idiot for thinking that Stan would let her stay with him. He clearly had his own life going on. “I’ll get going now, thank you for everything.”
Stan looked away, not meeting her eye. Mabel sighed, walking towards the dresser. She picked up the time tape-measure, intent to get out of his hair as soon as possible, before noticing the assorted items laid out beside it. There was a mostly empty bottle of whisky, a carton of cigarettes, and a small postcard. The front of the card boasted a glossy image of a forest, one that she recognized instantly. The writing read: ‘Greetings From Gravity Falls”. Mabel didn’t like to snoop but she was genuinely curious. Why would a younger Stan have something like this? Was he going to send it or had it been sent to him? She was about to flip it over when Stan snatched it away, holding it close to his chest and fixing her with a stern, almost cold look.
“That's mine.”
“O-oh. I’m sorry.”
“It's okay, kid.”

Mabel started towards the door. Young Stan wasn’t a mean person by any means but he clearly had a lot of issues that he had to deal with. It was probably better that she left now.
“Wait.”
She turned around.
“I never got your name, kid. I’m Stan Pines.” She was a little caught off guard that he had given her his real name out of the blue.
“I’m Mabel, Mabel Pi-” No, she couldn’t give him her actual last name. It would, like, cause a paradox or something. She didn’t know. Time travel wasn’t exactly something she understood.
“-Princeton. Mabel Princeton.”
“Well, Mabel Princeton, It was nice to meet you.”
“...Can I ask you a question, Mister Pines?”
He recoiled, clearly a little uncomfortable. “Just call me Stan. Please.”
“Okay, Stan. Have you ever been to Gravity Falls?”
“What? You mean like on the postcard. No, can’t say I ever have. And I ain’t going to. Why do you ask?”
“My brother and I. We were heading to Gravity Falls.”

“...I don’t think the train goes all the way to Oregon, kid.”
“Well, we weren’t supposed to take the train the whole way. We were, um, connecting through different trains. Then we were gonna take a boat, then a plane-”
“-Okay, okay. I get the picture.” Stan held out his hands, signalling to her that he, in fact, got the picture. This was still on the parents, though. “How much you got on ‘ya?”
Mabel looked at him, confused. “How much?”
“Yeah, how much money? You got enough for a plane ticket?”
“...I actually don’t have any money.”
“...What?”
“Oh, no wait!” She produced a small, copper coin from the front pocket of her sweater. “I’ve got a penny! That's something.”
“Penny ain’t gonna buy you a ticket, kid. Anywhere.”
“...I know that.”
“So what's your plan?”
“My plan?”
“Yeah. To get to Oregon.”
“I could stand outside somewhere busy. And sing songs! I know BABBA’s whole catalog! I’ll make enough money-”
“-I’m gonna stop you right there.”
“Or I could hitchhike!”
“You are not hitchhiking all the way to Gravity Falls. That's insane, not to mention incredibly dangerous.”
Mabel crossed her arms. “Oh yeah? How do you know?”
“It's basic common sense! I mean, what are they teaching kids in school these days?”
“Have you ever tried it?”
“I don’t need to hitchhike anywhere, I have a…well, a car.”
“What happened to it?”
Stan sighed, looking away. “Got impounded a while ago. That's why I’m still here…I don't have the money to pay to get it back.”
“So that's your plan? To just sit around and wait until you have enough to get it back?”
“It was. But it's lookin like I’m gonna be hanging around here a little longer than I planned.”

“...Why don’t you just steal it?” Mabel questioned. Now, the thought had crossed his mind, but if he got caught he was looking at some serious prison time given his less-than-favourable record.
“Hey, stealing is my bread and butter, but only an idiot would try to steal a car. The lot is sure to be heavily guarded and even if I managed to get to the car what then? No way I get it out of there before the cops show.”
The girl stood in silence, thinking. Stan had never liked silence, it was uncomfortable. Suffocating. When Ford had watched him go, closing the curtains for the last time, he’d been silent. He didn’t speak up, didn’t say anything, even though they’d planned to be there for each other for the rest of their lives.
“What if you had help?”
“Huh?”
“Yeah, help!” Mabel gestured to herself, almost proudly. “I do crazy stuff all the time! Once a raccoon got into my smile-dip stash so I kept it and named it-”
“-I’m not stealing a car with you. You’re what, eleven?”
“Twelve, actually. But I’ll be thirteen soon!”
“Don’t you have enough problems on your own to deal with?”
“That's why we do this together! I help you steal your car back, you get to leave the city without being arrested, and you can drop me off in Oregon!”
“Oregon is still a ways away. I don’t really have anything I need to do there.” But he did. Ford’s letter confirmed that he was in Gravity Falls, the same place Mabel was going. It's not like he had a plan or somewhere specific he was going to go next, he usually just picked a random state that he hadn’t been banned in yet and went from there. But, if he took her to Gravity Falls, he’d get to see Ford again. And then, after all these years, he could finally tell him off. He could give Ford a piece of his mind and then he’d just drive away and never see him again, the inverse of what Ford did to him. Poetic justice! “...But…” Oh God, was he really about to do this? “...I guess I could drop you off.”

Mabel clapped. “Yes! Yes yes yes!” She squealed, bouncing over to Stan and wrapping her arms around him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! You won’t regret-”
“-I’m already regretting this.”
“We’ll have so much fun! We’re going on a road trip!”
She was just full of energy, huh? It was sweet but a little intense.
“Keyword there being road, kid. We need a car. I mean it doesn’t have to be mine exactly but something from the lot.”
“Right. We’re stealing a car.”
“I already told you, it's too risky, we are NOT stealing a car.”

Chapter Text

They were stealing a car. Yes, this was happening. How on Earth did she manage to talk him into this? Well, she was incredibly persuasive, smart. A thinker. She reminded him of Ford, not the Ford who watched as he was thrown out of his home, but the Ford he grew up with. The kid was pretty weird, but it was a good weird.
“Okay. That’s it.” The pair were huddled outside the gate. The lot itself was quite large, surrounded by a thick fence, barbed wire lined the top of it. It was too high to realistically climb over and Stan wasn’t interested in the prospect of falling and breaking a few bones. It didn’t look like anyone was there, however there was a small guardhouse off to the side of the lot. The lights were on.
Mabel took in her surroundings. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy but, in all honesty, she didn’t expect it to be this difficult. The whole lot was locked down like a fortress. Darn! If only she had her grappling hook with her.

“...I knew this was a bad idea.” Stan sighed, turning away from Mabel. “We should think this through, come back later. Maybe there’s a- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
The man whisper-screamed at the girl who was already halfway up the fence.
“Mabel, get down from there right now!”
“It's okay. I’m not gonna fall. I’ve got this!” Mabel beamed, flashing him a thumbs up, only to narrowly avoid falling ten feet to the ground. “Whoops…”
“Are ‘ya trying to give me a heart attack?!”
Mabel had tied her sweater around her waist before she had started climbing. As she approached the top of the fence she untied it, laying it over the barbed wire.
“I see a gate! I’ll unlock it from the inside.”
She hoisted herself over the fence. Once she had cleared the wire she grabbed her sweater again and began her descent.

This girl was insane. Did she ever feel fear? Stan watched, partly in horror, partly in amazement, as Mabel started over towards the gate. It was locked with a thick, metal bar. Mabel took in her surroundings. There were around ten broken-down cars and the small guardhouse. Mabel couldn’t see anyone inside at the moment but, through the window, she could see a small coffee machine, an outdated computer monitor, and a ... .a pair of bolt cutters!
Mabel looked back at Stan, gesturing to the guardhouse. The man instantly mouthed “no” and crossed his arms in an ‘X’ formation. Obviously he didn’t approve. Oh well, better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right?

Mabel crouched down and made her way over to the guardhouse. There was a man asleep at the desk, he was hunched over which explained why she hadn’t seen him earlier, snoring loudly. Hopefully he wouldn’t mind if she borrowed the bolt cutters, she’d have to make sure to leave them by the gate after unlocking it. She crept inside. The guard let out a loud snore and she froze, however he remained unconscious. Mabel grabbed the bolt cutters, they were heavier than they looked, and quickly snuck back out of the guardhouse. Mabel, a criminal! Although she knew she should probably feel ashamed, stealing was illegal after all, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. If her Grunkle, her actual Grunkle, saw her doing this he’d probably be incredibly proud. She felt a pang of sadness then. What if she never saw him again? What if she really was stuck here forever? She shook her head. No! Snap out of it, Mabel! Now isn’t the time. She started back over to the gate.

Shit, shit, shit. Where had she gone off to? What happened to opening the gate? Had she gotten caught? Stan worried, then had to stop himself. No, she’d be fine. She was resourceful.
When Mabel exited the guardhouse holding a pair of bolt cutters he let out a breath that he hadn’t even known he was holding. The girl had a solemn expression on her face before she locked eyes with him again and her demeanor seemed to change. She grinned, holding up the bolt cutters. Oh, thank God. Wait…when had he gotten so attached to her?
“I got them! I’m gonna open the gate now…”
“Do you even know how to use those?”
“Well…no. But it can’t be that hard!”
Stan facepalmed.
Mabel fastened the pliers around the bar and pushed down with all her strength. At first nothing happened, but as she applied more pressure the metal began to creak, and eventually it snapped. “Yes!”
Stan shushed her, pushing open the gate from his side. Okay, in and out. As long as his keys were still in the ignition, or in the glovebox, he could just break the window and open it. The alarm in his car hadn’t worked for half a decade so there really wasn’t any problem. He looked around. There were maybe ten cars, all beat up, some beyond repair.
“So which one is yours?”
“Red sedan, 1965 El Diabolo. Dark Maroon.”
“....El what?”
Stan groaned. “Just look for a red car.”
“Red car, got it.”

The pair stalked around the lot, Mabel bounding ahead. Stan was at a loss, wondering how this girl managed to retain so much energy even after scaling a fifteen foot fence with barbed wire and stealing a pair of bolt cutters presumably directly under the nose of a guard. The door to the guardhouse opened with a large ‘bang’. Ah, speak of the devil. Stan motioned for Mabel to hide as he ducked behind a particularly decrepit white car. The girl found her hiding spot behind a pile of scrap metal. The guard stepped outside, turning on his flashlight.
“Who’s there?” He called out, expectantly. “This is a private lot!”
Oh shit. Okay, okay. This is saveable. He just needed to think of a-

Mabel signaled him, waving almost violently. What was she doing? Oh, this kid was going to be the death of him. Prison it is, then. The girl pointed somewhere off to the side, Stan followed her gaze to a dark red car. Yes! That was it!
“Last chance. Get out here now, hands up. Or I’m informing the authorities.”

They found it! Now there was the issue of the guard, and getting out of here undetected. She needed a distraction, something to throw him off the scent. Mabel rummaged through the front pocket of her sweater, looking for something, anything. Her fingers clasped around the broken time-tape machine, and she momentarily considered throwing it. The noise was sure to attract the guard’s attention. But…she couldn’t. She couldn’t sacrifice it, as of now it was the only thing that could possibly get her home. If only she had one of her handmade glitter bombs, or really anything heavy. Then the idea came to her. The penny! She still had it in her pocket.
Mabel tossed the penny as far as she could to the other side of the lot, it bounced off the side of one of the cars with a resounding ‘tink’ as it fell to the ground. The guard instantly turned to the direction of the noise, starting off towards it and away from the duo.

Did this girl seriously use a coin as a distraction? He hadn’t even thought of that! There was absolutely no way he could have snuck in himself, even with all his experience, without Mabel’s help. Mabel quickly darted in the direction of the car and Stan quickly followed suit.
Stan clenched his fist, ready to break the side window. Sure he’d probably get a few cuts, but what else was new? “Wait.” Mabel whispered, pulling on the side door. “It’s unlocked!” She whisper-screamed in excitement. Huh. The pair quickly got inside, however in their panic Mabel ended up in the driver’s seat and Stan found himself in the passenger seat.
“Quick! Move over!”

“The cops are on their way!”
Oh shit, the guard was coming back over.
“There’s no time.” Mabel whispered, and as much as Stan hated to admit it she was right.
“Okay…okay. Let me think…”

They were going to get caught if she didn’t do anything. Mabel looked down, noticing the key was still in the ignition. Okay, Mabel. You’re going to learn how to drive four years too early.
She turned the key and the car announced itself with a resounding hum. Mabel gripped the wheel, looking out the front window, as the night guard approached them. He was brandishing a nightstick and a flashlight, waving the former in front of him threateningly.
As she placed her foot lightly on the pedal Stan’s expression soured, a flicker of understanding making its way up his face. “...Mabel…”
The girl flashed him a cheeky grin. Either she didn’t understand the gravity of their situation or she was deliberately trying not to. “I know what you’re thinking, Mabel…Mabel no.”
As she experimentally applied pressure to the go pedal she looked back at Stan, confidently.
“Mabel yes.”

The car sprung to life as she pushed down as hard as she could on the gas pedal. Stan, who had not been wearing a seatbelt, hit his head on the dashboard. He groaned in pain, lifting a hand to the new wound. It was a little bloody but nothing serious. Mabel sped up, aiming for the fence and pleading with the powers that be that the car was strong enough to push through it.
“Hey, hey!” The guard screamed, finding himself in between Stan, Mabel, and their probable freedom. “Move!” The girl motioned. “Move! Get out of the way!”
They came to an abrupt stop and Stan narrowly avoided hitting himself on the dashboard again.
“He’s not gonna move…he’s not gonna move. What should I do?!”
“...Just keep going. He’ll move.” He was reasonably confident that this would work, it was a game of chicken between an automobile and a human being.
The girl looked back at him with an expression of horror.

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of sirens in the distance. They needed to go. Now. “Floor it, Mabel!”
“But what about the-”
“Don’t think about it! Just go, go, go!”
The girl let out a small, whimpering noise, before she slammed her foot back on the gas pedal.
The car speeded ahead, narrowly missing the guard as Mabel had swerved to avoid him, before breaking through the metal mesh fence with a large ‘bang’ sound. Just like that, they were off.

“Whoa, kid! You’re a natural!” Stan beamed. Sure, she’d almost killed a guy, but she had still managed to get both of them out in one piece.
Mabel remained uncharacteristically silent, her attention focused on the open road.
“...Mabel? Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah. I think so.” In reality Mabel was maybe two rungs below a panic attack. He’d moved, yes, just like Stan said he would. But what if he hadn’t? She’d still try to turn to avoid him, sure, but trying to turn so abruptly at that speed…there was no guarantee that she’d pass him.
“Let's stop here. We gotta swap and I need a smoke.”
Mabel nodded, pulling over on the side of the road. Driving was fun. Almost killing an innocent person…not so much. They got out of the car, Stan producing a carton of cigarettes from the glovebox and a lighter seemingly out of thin air, while Mabel remained silent by the car.
It wasn’t surprising that he was a smoker but it was surprising that he was so upfront about it.
Her Grunkle smoked as well but he always tried to hide it, he never smoked in front of people and always made sure to be a ways away from the Mystery Shack. He wasn’t very good when it came to lying about his addiction, even though he was incredibly convincing when it came to lying about literally anything else.

Stan tried to concentrate on the cigarette in his hand as opposed to the probable trauma he’d just inflicted on this young girl. Their first day on the road and they’d already almost committed a murder. It was one thing if you accidently hit someone else’s car on the highway(something that Stan had done multiple times)or grazed someone on the side of the road(Stan had only done this once but the woman had been VERY angry and, honestly if you’re wearing camo print running at night, you kind of deserve to get hit by a car). It was an entirely different situation when you floored it at max speed and hit a passerby. Granted this guard was trying to stop them, so he didn’t feel too bad about it, but the guard wasn’t exactly the party he was concerned about. He looked back to Mabel. The girl was leaning against the side of the car, looking down at her feet.

“Hey.”
No response. Mabel turned away from him.
“...If you feel bad about what happened…it wasn’t your fault. I’m the one who told you to speed up, I’m the one who pressured you. You’re a good kid. I mean that.”
He heard her sniffle despite her still making an effort to hide her face from him.
“If it's a legal thing don’t worry about it. Your record is squeaky clean compared to mine…do you want to know how many cities I’ve been run out of? I mean, what we did isn’t technically a real crime. A real crime requires pageantry, pizzaz! And most importantly money-”

“-It's not that.”
Mabel sighed, slumping down to the ground while sliding down on the car.
“...I guess it's just…I’ve always thought that I’m a good person. But…I don’t think I am anymore.”
“Why? Because you almost committed a little manslaughter? That's practically a rite of passage-”
“-Because I keep messing up.”
Stan stopped.
“I’m the screw up, I’m the bad one. I…I guess I just thought I’d grow into something more than that. Before we…were separated, my brother and I got in a huge fight. And it was about something so stupid! But the things we said to each other…” She looked down. “I can’t ever take that back. And now…now I might never see him again.”

“Look. I’ve made a lot of bad choices in my life. And let me tell you…it's not all black and white. No one is good or bad, we’re all just a part of the spectrum. But the fact that you still care about your brother, even if you parted on bad terms…that says a lot about you as a person.”
He smiled a little.
“Your brother is very, very lucky to have a little sister like you.”

“Oh, I’m not his younger sister. We’re twins.” It seemed like Stan’s words had gotten through to her. But…seriously? This girl had a twin? He tried to picture a male version of Mabel, nearly identical, with the same flashy colors and bubbly personality. Nope…he couldn’t do it. Maybe they were completely different, like Ford and him. But from what Mabel had told him it seemed like they usually got along pretty well. He’d just assumed that Mabel was the younger sister because, well, she still had that childlike innocence inside of her. She hadn’t been corrupted by this cruel, unjust world yet.
“His name is Dipper. We call him that because-”
“-Whoa, whoa hold on. Your twin brother’s name is…Dipper? Like the big dipper?”
“Yep!” She beamed, her earlier bout of depression seemingly forgotten for the time being.
“...So what? Do your parents hate you or something?”
Mabel laughed, wholeheartedly.

Chapter Text

“...So Creggy G and Greggy C are two different people?”
“Yep!”
“And the band is called ‘Sev’ral Timez’? How do you even pronounce that?”
“Well, it’s spelled Sev’ral Timez but you pronounce it like ‘Several Times’.
“So why didn’t they just name their band Several Times?”
“Because it's fun! It's cool! It's a fun name and I like it.”
Stan scoffed, keeping his eye on the road. They’d been travelling through the night. Stan was exhausted but he was still able to concentrate. Unfortunately being the country’s greatest con man required him to work countless hours with little to no sleep. Mabel had slept for a few hours giving Stan some, much needed, quiet. Then she woke up, they played ‘I Spy’ for thirty minutes, and now they were talking. They covered everything from slang, to the refined art of macaroni crafts, and now boy bands. Granted, Stan wasn’t very adventurous with his music taste, but if the band was really as popular as Mabel was saying it was a little odd that he’d never even heard them mentioned before.

“Hey kid. Pass me that map in the back seat.”
Mabel did as she was told. The back seat of the car was incredibly dirty, all manner of assorted junk rolling around on the floor. It wasn’t exactly sanitary.
“Okay…” Stan unrolled the map, bringing the car to a stop at the side of the road.
“Lets see…we’re about fifteen minutes away from a picnic area. They should have a rest stop nearby or something…we can grab something to eat and relax for a little bit.”
“What? We need to get to Gravity Falls right now!”
“Look, Mabel. I dunno how driving works from wherever you’re from-”
“-California.”
“-BUT here we listen to our bodies. And right now my body is telling me that I need a burrito and some rest before my goddamn head explodes. Okay?!”
Mabel slumped back, flinching at his tone. Stan sighed. He’d been too harsh. He wasn’t good with kids, he knew that, but it didn’t mean that he wasn’t trying.
“I…I’m sorry.”
Mabel perked up. Maybe she had misheard him. “...What?”
“I said I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. I’m just…tired.”
Now, her Grunkle never apologized for anything, even when he was clearly in the wrong, which was often. The closest he’d ever come to apologizing was when he accidentally broke one of Soos’s Evangelion DVDs and gave him enough money to buy a new one. He even gave Soos the rest of the day off.
“It's okay. I get it.” She smiled, warmly. Stan didn’t exactly know how to reply to that. The fifteen minute drive was spent in silence before the pair arrived at the picnic spot. Stan parked in the designated space before they both exited the car. There was a little clearing, some benches, and a gas station in the distance.
“I’m gonna go get food.” Stan gestured to the gas station. “Wanna come with?”
Mabel shook her head. “Nah, I’ll just stay here.”
“Any requests?”
“Some chips would be nice. I’m not really hungry.” Stan wondered if she was still dealing with his outburst from earlier and was overcome with guilt. He remembered his father, the things he had said to him, the things he had done to him. In all his years on the run he had tried his best not to think about his parents…

_______________________________________________________________________
When he had been kicked out of his home he had been confused, upset, and heartbroken. When he drove away he found that he couldn’t bring himself to leave just yet, he’d pulled over a few blocks away and just sat there, in silence. Stan noticed a box of cigarettes and a lighter in the passenger seat, probably his father’s. He knew that he’d probably get a mouthful from him about taking them but, at this point, who was going to tell on him? He left the car, took out a cigarette and lit it. He pressed it to his lips and, instantly, began to gag and cough. Who would subject themselves to this? Why?
“...Stanley?” A voice. His mother. “Stanley? Are you out there?” The woman was carrying a large, duffel bag. She approached the car cautiously.
“...Yeah, mom. It's me.”
“Oh Stanley!” She wrapped him in a hug. They stayed like that for a minute before she stepped back. “I’m so, so sorry!”
“Why are you sorry? I’m the one who messed up.”
“It was an accident, right?”
“...”
“Your father…he can overreact.”
Stan scoffed. “No shit.”
“Stanley! Watch your language.”
“...Sorry, mom.”
She eyed the carton of cigarettes. At first Stan thought that she’d be pissed at him but she only motioned for them, and he handed them over. “Didn’t know you were a smoker.”
“Those are mine. I left them in the car.”
“...”
“I have a life outside of my family. I love you all more than anything but I’m not just a mother. I’m an entrepreneur, a psychic, a woman, a lover-”
“Ew! Mom, gross!”
She laughed, lighting her cigarette. “My point is that your life isn’t defined by your family, or your connections to them. We don’t get to choose our family, we can’t change the past. We can’t just press a button and undo everything…but we can decide how to best approach our future.”
“...Ford was the one with the future. And I ruined it for him.”
“Your brother is highly accomplished. He’s smart and solves issues competently and without error. But being good at something doesn’t always mean you are happy. Stanford needs you, and you need him.”
“Then why didn’t he say anything?”
“He was angry…and scared.”
Stan let out a little, dry laugh. Ford, scared?
“...I brought this for you.” She lifted up the duffle bag.
“Oh, its okay, I’ve got some stuff-”
“-Do you have food, money?”
“I’ll figure it out.”
She sighed. “Just take it.” Stan picked it up, it was heavier than expected, and lifted it into the back seat of his car. His car. Wow, that was weird to think about.
“You know that I love you, right?”
“...Yeah. I do.”
She smiled, warmly, before wrapping him in another tight hug. “Ah, mom…can’t breathe.”
She released him, stepping back.
“Wherever you go, whatever you do, I’ll always be here for you. So when you find somewhere to stay…” She handed him a small piece of paper. “Give me a call, okay?”
“...Why are you helping me? I don’t need ‘ya pitying me or anything…I’ve messed up enough all ready.”
She laughed, genuinely. “It should be obvious…”

“Because I’m your mother.”
_______________________________________________________________________

“That’ll be fifteen dollars and forty nine cents.”
“What? For a bag of chips, some beer, and a burrito? What kinda scam is this?”
The clerk sighed, not meeting his gaze. “I don’t make the rules here.” He was a short, odd looking man. He looked to be Stan’s age, maybe a little older. He wasn’t ugly or threatening but something about him was…off. Cold and distant, even inhuman.
“You’re a sick bastard, you know that? I’ve been driving through the night!”
“Sir, if you have an issue-”
“-Damn right I have an issue!”
“-Then you can take it up with our complaints department.” The man gestured to something near one of the shelves, a small metal box. He could see a flicker of light beneath it, probably a small fire. He had to admit that it was a pretty clever bit. Stan knew how to appreciate a good con, but not at his expense.
“...Huh.”
“Again, that is sixteen dollars and fifty four cents.”
“What?!”
“Price just went up.”
“You’re a real wise guy, ‘ya know that? Fuckin’ freak.”
The clerk turned away from him and towards the shelves.
“You should really be more careful about who you antagonize. One day you’ll mess with the wrong person.”
“...Is that a threat?”
“No.” The man paused. His voice was monotone, no inflections. It was incredibly unsettling. “That is a warning.”
“Ugh, fine. I’ll pay for it.” Stan groaned, pulling his wallet out from the front pocket of his coat. He produced a handful of dollar bills, counting them out, before laying a few down on the counter. He waited a minute, for the perfect time to strike before grabbing the items, the money, and darting towards the exit.
“Hey!”
“Haha! Sucker!!”

Mabel groaned. She was so bored! Stan had gone to the rest stop to get them some food and she wished she had gone with him, there was literally NOTHING to do here. She’d tried looking for shapes in clouds, drawing in the mud with a stick, and even spinning around in a circle until she felt like she was going to throw up.
There was no one else here, just her, Stan, and the car.
Now, she knew that she shouldn’t wander off, but there was no harm in a little exploration, right?
The site was at the edge of a forest, with huge trees and assorted foliage, the kind of thing that Dipper would search day and night to find some new mythical creature. Maybe she’d see something cool, she didn’t know.
The girl started off towards the forest and away from the car. She continued walking, looking up at the sky. The leaves formed a sort of canopy, allowing only minimal light to pass through and creating an incredibly aesthetically pleasing atmosphere. Mabel saw something rustling in the bushes and turned towards it. A white furry creature jumped out in front of her, observing her from a safe distance. It clearly was a little intimidated by her.
“Awe! A bunny!” The girl exclaimed, crouching down. The rabbit was fairly large, like a big dog, with little, feathered wings on its back. Mabel gasped. “Whoa! A flying bunny!”
The creature looked her up and down, Mabel took a tentative step forward and it froze before bounding back into the bushes. “No no no wait!”

It seemed like mythical creatures existed beyond Gravity Falls. This is exactly the kind of thing Dipper would be freaking out about. She continued walking forwards, not sure where she was going. Eventually she came to a clearing. There was a large, rock structure in the center, so she approached it. “...Huh.” The whole thing was covered in symbols, maybe writing? Nothing she recognized. There was a drawing of a monstrous spider near the top. Mabel approached the back side to find even more drawings. There was a large white rabbit with wings(probably the thing she had bumped into earlier), a bird covered in what she assumed to be fire, and a…werewolf? Something wolf-like. But the thing that stood out to her most was the etching of the triangle. It had one, large eye but no other features. Was this a symbol too? Or was it another monster? Mabel was trying to come to some sort of conclusion when she heard a branch snap behind her. She slowly turned around. When her and Wendy were hanging out one day she taught Mabel what to do and what not to do during a confrontation with a bear, and apparently running and showing fear was the worst possible thing to do.
But it wasn’t a bear. She recognized it instantly.
The rabbit stood at around nine feet tall. Its wings unfurled behind it as it approached her, snarling.
“Um…hi?”

“...Mabel?” Stan called out, making his way back to the car. “I dunno what kind of chips you like so I just got you-” He paused, looking around. The car was exactly where he left it but the girl was gone. Maybe she had wandered off? “Mabel, are you here? Hello?”
No response. He was starting to get worried now. Just then a piercing scream echoed through the forest.
“Mabel!” He took off, running as fast as his legs could carry him. Stan wasn’t exactly an athlete but, in high school, he’d been reasonably competent when it came to sports or any physical activity. It was one of the few things he could hold over Ford’s head.
Stan found himself in a clearing. Mabel was cornered by a large rock structure. There was…what looked to be a white bear in front of her. God, that thing had to be like ten feet tall.
Upon seeing him Mabel called out. “Grunkle Stan!”
There was that word again: ‘Grunkle’. He made a mental note to ask her about it if they both managed to get out of this alive. The creature turned around, locking onto him. Oh no, this wasn’t a bear. It had large teeth, long fuzzy ears, and were those…wings?
“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!”
“Look out!” The monster charged at him, he narrowly darted to the side and it smashed into one of the trees. He could hear the wood snap and buckle but it did little to deter the rabbit-beast.
It snarled, running at him again. “Shit shit shit…..” Stan panicked. Maybe he could lose it in the forest.

He ran as fast as he could, trying to lead the beast away from Mabel. If he couldn’t escape he could at least buy her some time. As Stan made his way through the woods he could hear the cracking and splintering of the trees behind him. He just needed to make it back to the road, maybe it would just give up. Then he could go back to Mabel, but he couldn’t risk it now that the monster was following him, he’d just end up leading it back to her.
He could see the edge of the treeline. Yes! Home free! Just then he heard a loud bang. One of the trees behind him fell forwards. “No no no no no!” He screamed as it smashed down, taking a few of the others down with it. The force knocked Stan to the side as a branch pierced its way through his side. “FUCK!’ He exclaimed in pain. The wound wasn’t deep but it was enough to keep him from getting up. He lay there, uselessly, as the monster gained on him. It screeched, preparing to run him down once again. Okay, so this is the end. Climactic, sure. He’d fought off gangs, been thrown into the trunks of cars, and even been arrested for pug trafficking. But this was the thing that would kill him. Some stupid, mutant rabbit with an attitude problem.

“WAIT!”
He looked up to see Mabel, standing a few feet away. “What are you doing?!”
“I know why she’s upset!”
“I’m sorry, SHE? You can’t reason with this thing!”
The rabbit’s ears perked up as it looked back at Mabel, narrowing its eyes.
“Look, look!” The girl held up a fluffy bundle, making sure the rabbit could see it.
“He’s okay! Your baby, he’s okay!”
The creature’s demeanor seemed to change. It approached Mabel, cautiously, its nose twitching. The bundle of fur let out a little ‘peep’ as Mabel lowered it down, allowing it to walk towards its mother. The mother rabbit let out a loud purr as the smaller one ran over to her. She nuzzled its face and cooed, whatever anger she had initially felt seemingly dissipating.
Stan watched as the two reconciled, wide-eyed as Mabel trotted over to him.
“How…how did you…”
“Don’t talk, don’t move. I…I’m not great with first aid so…”
“It's okay.” Before she could react Stan grasped the end of the branch and, in one motion, managed to pull the whole thing out. He screamed, the wound bleeding profusely. It sucked but he’d dealt with worse. Stan managed to get one of his arms out of his hoodie, he pressed the cloth to the wound(luckily it was already red) and held it firmly in place.

The mother rabbit began to walk back into the forest. The baby looked back at Mabel, let out a little peep, and then followed suit.
“Bye!” Mabel waved as they left. Then she turned back to Stan. “Are you…are you gonna be okay?”
“Yeah. This is just a scratch.” It was more than a scratch, obviously, but nothing that whisky and gauze couldn’t fix. Besides it's not like he could go to a hospital even if he needed to.
“I don’t get it. It- I mean she was so angry…”
“Of course she was. She thought we were trying to take her baby away, or threaten him. She saw us as a threat.”
“But if she thought we were dangerous why would she put herself in the line of fire?”
Mabel took a moment to think before replying. “Because…”

“Because she’s a mother.”

_______________________________________________________________

The man watched the car speed off from his post at the counter. Once he was sure that they were gone he walked out from behind it and towards the back wall of the gas station. He flicked off the lights, made his way to the center of the store, before sitting down, crossing his legs, and closing his eyes. No point in locking the door; no one came here anyway. It wasn’t like it was a real store, he wasn’t in this for the money, but he had to keep up appearances.
To the outside eye his actions looked like some odd meditation practice, but in reality he was engaging in something much, much more impressive.
He recited some words under his breath, having memorized them countless times, before finding himself in the familiar, grey void of the Mindscape.
“I found her.” He grinned, almost maliciously. “And she’s not alone.”

Chapter Text

“Disco girrrrl, coming throouggh, that girl is youuuu!” Mabel hummed.
“Oh, the agony!” Stan groaned, jokingly. “Please spare me!”
The girl laughed. The pair were sitting by the car in a large parking lot. There were a few RVs, some people outside barbequing and a huge lodge off to the left. There were some patches of forest here and there but the woods were thin, he had heard some construction when they had pulled in. But what could they be building out here?
“...God I need a shower.”
“We both do. I’ve been in this sweater for five days.”
“They’re bound to have running water in the lodge.” He gestured to the building behind him.
“Tell ‘ya what…you go and take a shower and I’ll look into getting us some new clothes. They’re bound to have some sorta gift shop in there.”
Mabel nodded. “Okay!”
“We’ll meet back here in twenty?”
“Sounds good.” She flashed him a thumbs up.
“...Don’t wander off again, okay? Seriously. My side still hurts.”
“I won’t.” She held out her pinkie finger. Stan paused for a moment before accepting the gesture. They both started off towards the lodge, Stan leading the way and Mabel bounding behind him.

“Hiya!” A chipper, black-haired girl rang out. She looked young, maybe seventeen, with a few facial piercings and dark lipstick, in stark contrast to her bubbly attitude. “Welcome to the Werepoint gift shop! I’m Miya, how can I help you today?”
“Hi, um…do you sell clothes here?”
“We sure do!” She gestured to a rack of t-shirts. Stan started over towards it and began sorting through it. The first thing that drew his attention were the obnoxious slogans, ‘welcome to Werepoint, when what meets where’, and ‘I survived two nights at Werepoint and all I got was an unforgettable experience’. Ugh. He groaned. Now if Stan had a gift shop he’d come up with a better slogan and he’d name it something super cool, but obviously he would never have that opportunity. Him? Owning a store? He chuckled a little under his breath, it was funny to even think about. Stan picked up a few of the t-shirts and some sweatpants, making sure to get the smaller size for Mabel. He also made sure to grab a few packs of themed underwear before approaching the counter. He noticed that the majority of the shirts had art of wolves on them. Weird. Most of them depicted the animals with glowing red eyes and horrifying grins, it was definitely off putting but he’d live. The items were actually fairly priced. Stan was, as always, tempted to shoplift but the girl, Miya, seemed genuinely kind and he didn’t want to get her in trouble if stock went missing. He was a thief, a grifter, but even he had morals. As he approached the checkout he noticed a small notebook on sale near the counter. Hm. He shrugged, mentally. It was only a dollar, and maybe it would give Mabel something to do during the long stretches on the road. He picked it up as well as a little pencil.

“So…uh…what's with all the monster merchandise?” Stan gestured to the front of one of the shirts as Miya rang him up.
“Huh?” She looked down to where he was pointing. “Oh! You mean the Werepoint Wolves, right? It's an old legend…” The girl began to speak in a stereotypically spooky voice and Stan had to force himself not to laugh. “...Werepoint used to be a small, peaceful town. Then…out of nowhere, they struck!” Miya punctuated. It was clear that she was having a lot of time recounting this.
“The Werepoint Wolves were shapeshifters. They looked human most of the time but they were really monsters. They took over the town…they burned down farms and homes. If they didn’t kill you outright they would bite you…and then you turn into one of them.”
“Oh. So like werewolves?”
Miya tilted her head to the side, seemingly in confusion. “What?”
“You know…werewolves?” She shook her head. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Seriously?”
Miya handed the clothing back to him. Stan nodded in thanks before taking them. He didn’t really leave tips…but he found himself putting a few dollars in the tip jar before he left. Huh. He was really letting down his reputation as a hardened criminal. Maybe Mabel had something to do with it. She forced him to get out of his head, to take care of someone who isn’t himself.
“Bye!” Miya waved as he left. “Come back soon!”

Stan started off back towards the car. He hoped that he had the right size for Mabel, and that she wouldn’t mind the creepy werewolf prints.
“-it came back again-”
“-next time I’ll shoot the fucker I swear to-”
“-grabbed my burger from the grill the moment my back was turned-”
“-damned raccoons-”
There was a group of three people hanging out near an RV. Once they noticed him staring at them a woman with dark brown hair and a cigar in her hand called him out directly.
“What are ya staring at? You got something to say?”
He shook his head. “No. I just overheard you…”
She scoffed, taking a drag of her cigar, before turning back to her friends. “Fuckin’ city kids…”
“...You said something about a raccoon?”
“We dunno what it is.” One of the men clarified. He had blond hair and was wearing a t-shirt with the American flag printed on it. “Just that it’s been stealing our food for months.”
“I shot it a while ago but I didn’t get a good look at it…but just two nights later it was back.”
The other chimed in. “I told y’all before!” He turned back to his comrades. “That thing ain’t no raccoon…it was big. And fast.” This man was a little more heavy-set, with thin grey hair and blue eyes.
“You’re big and fast.” The other man teased, elbowing him in the shoulder.
The woman sighed. “It started stealing a little while after the construction began…at first it was a few times a month, then a few times a week, and now it's basically every night.”
“What are they even building out here?”
She shrugged. “Beats me. But the working theory is that, whatever this thing is, it's probably pissed about all the trees going down.”
The grey haired man gestured to a large rifle leaning against the side of the RV.
“I don’t give two shits about why it's here. I just want it gone.”
“...Maybe we’d have got it a while ago if you weren’t such a shit shot.”
“I am not a shit shot! I said ‘ya, I hit it!”
The woman turned to him. “‘Ya grazed it.”
“Can ‘ya just let me breathe, Mimi?!”
It was clear that this conversation was moving on without him. He left the three to their argument as he started back towards his car, clothing and notebook in hand.

After her shower Mabel felt amazing. It was such a good feeling to be clean again after days and days on the road with the same old clothes. She was wearing a fluffy bathrobe that she had picked up after she was done showering. They probably wouldn’t even notice it was gone. Hanging out with Stan had one big downside: he was a terrible influence when it came to the law. Just then she heard something in the bushes. Not wanting another bunny-beast incident she stayed put. There was a flash of green before she even noticed the figure. There was someone near the edge of the forest, crouched down low so it was hard to see them.

“Hi.” Mabel said. The girl froze. She was partially obscured by the treeline but Mabel could make out her long, red hair and deep green eyes. “Do you want some?” She held out the bag of chips. When they had left the picnic spot Mabel had eaten all of them in under fifteen minutes so they’d had to stop and buy more. And more. And more. She felt bad that Stan had to pay for her food but he said he didn’t mind because he was also picking stuff up for himself(also he’d shoplifted most of it). The girl stepped forward, cautiously, and Mabel could see her better now. She was taller than she had expected and she was a teenager. She looked like she was fifteen but Mabel had never been good at guessing people’s ages. She was wearing ratty, old clothes and there was a large scar on her forearm. The girl approached Mabel, stepping out into the light. She examined the chips, cautiously. “They’re not poisoned or anything. Just regular potato chips.” The girl looked her up and down for a second before grabbing one of the chips. She held it to her chest, like she was guarding it, and looked back at Mabel as if she was going to take it away from her. Mabel just smiled and nodded and the girl stuffed it into her mouth. She grabbed a handful immediately after.
“You can have as many as you want, I’ve got, like, tons more.”
“Thank you.”
Her voice was low and quiet, it was almost hard to hear her. Her tone was tentative as if she was going to flee and run back to the forest at the slightest sign of danger.
“My name is Mabel!” Mabel held out her hand, expectantly. The girl looked at it, seemingly not knowing what to do, before sniffing her palm. A little weird but it was clear that she wasn’t dangerous.
“...Briar.” The girl, Briar, spoke.
“It's nice to meet you, Briar. Do you live around here or are you travelling like me?”
“...I live here.”
“Cool!” Mabel exclaimed. Briar flinched. “Sorry…I can be a little loud sometimes.”
“...It's okay.”
“So how far’s your house from here?”
Briar shook her head. “I live here,”
“...Like in the parking lot?”
“No.” She gestured to the forest behind her. “I live here.”
“In the forest?” Briar nodded.
“That's so cool! So are you surviving off the land?”
“...Kind of.”
“I’m travelling with my…” She trailed off. What was her relationship to young Stan? He wasn’t her Grunkle, but he wasn’t NOT her Grunkle. “...My friend, Stan. We’re going to Oregon!”
“...What’s Oregon?”
“Well-”

“Mabel!” Stan called out. “I got some clothes. Kinda a weird selection but…”
“Yay! It was really nice to meet you, Bri-” But the girl was gone. The only thing that hinted towards her presence was the empty bag of chips Mabel now held in her hand.
“Okay…”
“There's some sorta creepy legend around here about werewolves. I got what I could but it was all werewolf themed. Missed opportunity if you ask me. Maybe if they had more interesting stuff they’d still be getting real customers.”
Stan laid the clothes out on the hood of the car. “Alright. Take ‘yer pick.”
He held up two of the shirts. “Sketchy wolf drawing or sketchy wolf drawing?”
“Hmm ... .I'll take sketchy wolf drawing!” She pointed to the one on the left.
“Nice choice.” He grinned and handed the shirt over to her.
“Alright, now I’m gonna go shower.” Stan picked out his own selection of clothes.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do! Actually…don’t do anything that I would do.”
He waved goodbye as he walked back over towards the lodge. Mabel watched him go before turning back to the woods where Briar had vanished. She hoped she ran into her again before she left, but it was clear to her that Briar was very skittish and didn’t like to be around a lot of people. But if that was the case…why was she hanging around a huge parking lot?

That night Mabel slept in the car. It actually wasn’t too bad. Sure the backseat was a little dirty but, when she threw out the garbage and dusted the seats with her already-pretty-gross sweater it practically looked brand new! She found herself doodling in her notebook as she drifted off to sleep. Unfortunately her dream about landing on a planet purely inhabited by kitten-unicorns was rudely interrupted. There was a loud ‘bang’ outside the car. Now, Mabel knew a little about self preservation, and she definitely knew that going outside in the middle of the night to find whatever was making that noise was a huge no. She tried to ignore it, despite her curiosity, but then it came echoing again. And again.

Alright, that’s it! She sat up and swung open the door. Whatever nightmare creature was out there it should prepare itself to meet the Power Of Mabel!
But there was nothing there. Just the parking lot. Weird. Really weird.
She heard a rustling noise behind her and turned around to face it.
“Aha!” Again there was nothing there. She looked down to find two empty bags of chips. HER chips. “Noooo!” She picked one of them up and shook it out. Not even crumbs were left.
More rustling.
Mabel looked up in the direction of the sound.
Sitting atop one of the RVs was a strange, partly visible figure. It had dark fur, what looked like long ears and a fluffy tail. In its claws was a half-empty bag of chips. It noticed Mabel staring at it and froze.
“Thief!” She gasped, pointing at it.
The creature seemed to clutch the chips closer as it leapt from one RV to the other. It was graceful, fast, and agile. Kind of like a cat.
“Hey! Give those back! We…we were going to pay for them eventually!”
She ran after it as it continued to flee but it was hard to keep up. Mabel had to switch strategies. She climbed up the side of one of the RVs just as the creature jumped down to it. It froze again, as if waiting for her to make her move. Mabel lunged for the chips and it evaded her effortlessly.
“Give them back you evil cat burglar!”
It turned around, preparing to leap once again. “Oh no you don’t!” She ran, smashing into its lower body before it could jump and sending them both crashing to the roof of the RV.
The creature hissed and shook her off, knocking her towards the edge of the vehicle. It wasn’t super high but if she fell wrong she could break something easily. Mabel tried to pull herself up by the railing but couldn’t manage it. Just then two claws reached out, she braced herself but the creature didn’t scratch her. Instead it lifted her back up.
It stood away from her the moment it did so, allowing her to get her bearings and get to her feet.
“...Thanks?”
“You’re welcome.”
“You can TALK?!”
It nodded. Now that it was close enough she could actually get a good look at it. It was taller than her but not as big as she had initially assumed. Its fur was a deep orange and its ears were black-tipped and perky. It had deep, green eyes.
Mabel gasped. “BRIAR?!”
“...No.”
“Briar! OMG it's you!!”
“Don’t know anyone by that name.”
“You really scared me! I thought you were a monster or something…”
Briar tilted her head to the side. “You…you aren’t afraid?”
“Nah.” Mabel shrugged. “We’re friends, right?”
The fox-girl looked her in the eye, seemingly confused by her statement.
“We’re…friends?”
Mabel beamed. “Yeah! Sharing chips together means an automatic friendship.”
Briar looked from her to the bag in her hands, then back at Mabel.
“...I’m sorry about the chips.” She handed them over, giving Mabel a good look at her clawed hands. “I scavenge what I can find. And I…I really liked them.”
“You could’ve just asked.”
Briar shook her head. “Not like this.”

“...So…is this like a nightly thing for you?” Mabel asked. She hoped that she wasn’t being invasive, she obviously didn’t want to make Briar uncomfortable or upset.
“It's more like…the human thing is a daily thing for me.”
“This is really what you look like?”
Briar nodded. “I’m Werefolk.” She gestured to Mabel’s shirt and the girl looked down at it. She hadn’t thought much of it at the time but now, seeing the artwork and comparing it to Briar, she could see how much of a caricature it was.
“Like from the story, right?”
“The Werepoint Wolves.”
“So…do you really eat people?”
The fox-girl looked a little offended. “Of course not.”
“It's just that…in the story…”
“The story is wrong.” Briar’s expression darkened.
“...So what is the real story then?”
“You wouldn’t believe me. No one ever does.”
“Oh yeah?” Mabel puffed out her chest, confidently. “Try me!”

Briar sat down at the edge of the RV, her tail curling behind her.
“...Werefolk have lived at Werepoint for generations. My family, we all grew up here. Eventually the town was built and my people had to adjust to it. My ancestors hunted in the forest at night and during the day they’d go into town to work. But everything changed when one of us was caught. They labelled us as demons possessing human bodies, bloodthirsty monsters. They would chase us through the forest and, when they found us, they’d kill us. As the town grew the number of Werefolk gradually dwindled…until we disappeared.”
Wow. That was the most depressing story she’d ever heard. And she’d seen Dipper’s attempts to get with Wendy(the majority of which were incredibly sad but kind of entertaining to watch).
“But if everyone else disappeared, how are you still here?”
“When the construction started the few of us that remained couldn’t rely on the forest anymore for food. It was too loud, too exposed. They started chopping the trees down. All the animals had either migrated elsewhere or were too small for us to survive off of. Everyone else followed suit. They either got jobs and assimilated into human society or they went off in search of new territory. I stayed behind. This is my home.”

“So that's why you’re stealing food…”
The other girl nodded.
“...If it wasn’t for the development you wouldn’t have to…”
“It isn’t my first option but it's my only option right now. If I get caught that's it, and tourists aren’t coming by as much as they used to. I’ve been mostly stealing from the people who live here long term but…” She lifted her furred arm, exposing the large scar that Mabel had noticed earlier when she was in her human form. “They’ve been getting better at shooting. It's only a matter of time.”
“But that's…you can’t just give up…what if you tried to talk to them? Maybe then they’d understand-”
“-No. I can’t reason with them. That woman…the one who leads them. She’s evil. And the other two do exactly what she tells them to.”
“...So you’re just going to keep doing this until they catch you?”
“I don’t have a choice.” Briar stood up, towering over Mabel. She flashed her a sad, apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Mabel. You and your friend should leave tomorrow morning. It's not safe here.”
The fox-girl sniffed the air, expectantly. She presumably found a scent that she liked and lept off the RV and down onto the ground.
“Briar! Wait!” Mabel shimmied down the side of the vehicle onto the front of it before making her own descent to the pavement.
She continued to trail Briar but the other girl was much quicker than her(duh, she was a fox!).
Mabel continued calling out for her again but she didn’t want to risk someone hearing her.
Eventually Briar made her way to one of the RVs near the back of the lot and Mabel was able to catch up to her. There was a pile of food laid out, mostly canned food and meat. Briar sniffed it before leaping towards it. She didn’t notice the snap trap until it was too late.
“Stop! It's a trap!”
Briar looked back at her the moment it slammed shut on her leg. She let out a screech of pain, falling to the ground. Mabel could only watch helplessly as the fox girl tried to tear her leg away only for the metal teeth to dig in more.
“H-hang on!” Mabel approached her as Briar whined. She tried to pry open the trap with her hands but to no avail: the thing was locked on tight.
Just then she heard footsteps rapidly coming closer. Both girls froze like a pair of deer in headlights as they gradually came closer.

As Stan wandered through the parking lot during sundown he found himself thinking about what those three wackjobs had told him earlier. Was there really something out there? At first Stan was worried that it might be a bear but, after the earlier run in with the rabbit monster, he gradually entertained the possibility that it might be something worse. If it hadn’t been for Mabel he would be dead right now. Her quick thinking is what saved both of their lives.
He couldn’t put her in danger again. Once daylight came around they needed to be back on the road ASAP.
“Hey! City boy!” A voice called out. He turned around to find the trio from earlier sitting in collapsible chairs by the RV, exactly where he left them. They were huddled around a bonfire, the grey haired man roasting hot dogs over it.
“Come 'here, come ‘ere!”
“Me?”
“No, the queen of fucking England. Yes you!”
He approached the group cautiously. They didn’t seem like bad people but they were drunk and had guns so…it didn’t hurt to be careful.
The woman gestured to one of the chairs and Stan sat down.
“We’re keepin’ watch out here. Need as many eyes as we can, ‘ya know.” She passed him a flask and Stan took a swig from it before handing it back.
“For the raccoon?”
“I told ‘ya, it's not a raccoon!” One of the men, the one who was presumably a bad shot, exclaimed.
“Yeah, yeah. We get it Jerry.” The other groaned as the flask was passed to him. He pulled the hot dogs away from the fire and set them down on a paper plate.
“Oh, right.” The woman facepalmed. “Stupid, stupid me. I’m Mimi. That’s Jerry. And that’s Matt.”
“...I’m Stanley.”
“Huh. Stanley?”
“What, is my name not country enough for you?” He spat. It wasn’t like they were being rude at the moment but, at this point he was getting a little pissed off at them. These people had no idea what he’d been through, what he had to do to survive, and yet they were making fun of his name?
The trio remained silent. Then Mimi burst out laughing. The other two followed suit.
“Oh man! You got me good, you got me good!”
“‘Not country enough for you’, you’re a riot!” Jerry chimed in, taking one of the hot dogs.
Matt looked at him, disgusted. “Just use a bun…”
“I told ‘ya I’m trying to watch my weight!”
“Oh you’re watching it alright, watching it go up.”
“You’re a fucking asshole, you know that?”
“Awe, you know you love me.”
Mimi shook her head. “Jesus, you two. Get a room. Preferably one that isn’t ten feet away from my RV, I can hear everything, ‘ya know.”
“Then move the ‘fuckin RV!”
“Why should I have to move?! Ain’t my fault that I can hear you two going at it from-”
Stan looked at the two. They were a bit of an odd couple but, hey, good for them.
“...I don’t suppose you can shoot, huh Stan?”
“Not with a rifle, no.”
“Oh, it’s real easy!” Jerry said, passing the flask back to him. “Like shooting a shotgun with less recoil.”
“I’ve never used a shotgun either.” That was a little bit of a lie, he had used one before, but not very well.
“Well ‘ya better learn quick. We’re killing the fucker tonight.”
Stan paused. “Has it ever actually hurt anyone before? I need to know what I’m getting myself into…I’m travelling with this kid and I can’t risk…I can’t risk anything happening to her.”
Mimi stopped, thinking, before shaking her head. “No one that I know of, at least. But then again no one’s even got close enough to it…we don’t even know what it is.”

Just then there was a strained, barking noise that echoed throughout the park. The four of them looked up.
“Speak of the devil…” Mimi grinned, grabbing her rifle. Jerry followed suit while Matt went to his RV, producing two shotguns. He handed one to Stan. It was actually much lighter than he expected. “Think it fell for the trap?” Then another screech.
Jerry smiled. “I think so.”
The four of them started off, Mimi leading the way and the others behind her. Stan trailed along, not really sure what he should do. Was he actually about to join an angry mob to kill a monster? It was more like a determined mob…but it was still a mob.
As they approached the source of the screeching, Stan could only hope that Mabel was asleep safe and sound: he didn’t want to put her, no, he COULDN’T put her in danger again.
“Kid for the first time in your life…please please please do what I told you to do…”

Chapter Text

“Ha!” The dark haired woman let out, triumphantly. “‘Ya thought that you could keep on gettin’ away with it, huh?”
The creature, whatever it was, seemed to glare at her.
“It's been a while, Briar. Did you really think that you could hide from me forever?”
She sneered. The animal let out a low growl in return.
“You had a good run…but now.” Mimi trained her rifle on it. “Now ‘yer gonna pay…”
“Mabel…” Stan pleaded. “Mabel get over here right now…”
The girl only seemed to clutch the monster tighter.
“Move, kid.” Mimi spat, her eyes never leaving her target. “I won’t ask again.”
“Mimi wait!” Matt called, almost desperately. “She’s just a little girl-”
“-Shut up! I’m not letting it get away!”
The man seemed to shrivel up, folding into himself and looking away. It was clear to Stan that she was the leader of their makeshift group. Up until this point he’d just assumed that she was in charge because she was the more mentally sound(and usually the least inebriated)member of the group. But, seeing how Matt reacted to her outburst, he quickly came to the conclusion that she was the craziest out of all of them.
“You don’t understand!” Mabel reasoned. “She…she’s not dangerous!”
“Mabel! I’m not kidding! Get away from that thing!”
“No!” The girl shook her head, violently. “She’s my friend!”

“Hah!” Mimi laughed, almost manically. “Those things can’t have friends! They’re vicious, violent monsters driven by their lust for blood.”
Stan turned to her, confused. “Wait…you know what this thing is?”
“Of course I do. So trust me when I say that we need to end this now.”
Mabel screamed. “No! Leave her alone!”
“Last chance…” Mimi grinned, her finger hovering above the trigger. It became clear to him that she was going to shoot it point blank without any regard for Mabel’s safety.
“Three….two…”
The girl shut her eyes and hugged Briar closer.
“...One!”
There was a loud bang. Mabel squeezed her eyes shut. If she was really going to die here at least she would die protecting her friend. But there was no pain. There was nothing. Slowly she opened her eyes.

Mimi’s rifle was still smoking, the bullet having been shot onto the pavement. Grasping the barrel of the gun was Stan, his own gun discarded as he stared her down.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”
“Me?! You were just about to shoot a child!”
“You have no idea who you’re messing with! Now you’ve fucked everything up!”
She socked Stan in the jaw causing him to fall onto the harsh concrete. Mimi was a lot stronger than he had assumed she would be, he’d give her that much. Looking at her now he could see that she was muscular and well-built, almost like a soldier.
“Now…” The woman sighed, turning away from him and back toward the girls. “...We can get back to business…” But the two were gone. The trap lay on the ground, broken and covered in the fox creature’s blood. There was one pair of bloodied pawprints leading away from the site.

“Fuck!” Mimi dropped her rifle. “Ugh!” She grasped her hair, yanking it to the side in a bout of red hot frustration.
She stared off into the forest, seething with anger. Then, without looking back, she called out to Jerry and Matt. “Get him on his feet.”
The two men complied, Jerry grabbing him by his left shoulder and Matt following suit on the other side. They pulled him up so he was standing and kept their grip on him, preventing him from moving. When Mimi had shoved him to the ground the wound on his side had reopened, blood soaking through his Werepoint novelty t-shirt. Jerry pulled out a bundle of rope(where did he even get rope?) and began to tie Stan’s wrists together.
Mimi looked at him, almost disgusted. “You’ve pissed off the wrong person, Stanley.”
“I piss off a lot of people. You’re not special.”
“I’ve been following those things for years until there was only one left. And by letting her go you have undone all of my efforts.”
“Oh, so you’re a psycho.”
She grinned but it was a poor mask for her anger. “I’m a psycho who knows what she’s talking about.” Her thick accent had seemingly dissipated. Had it all been fabricated? Was she angry enough that she couldn’t keep up the act anymore?
“...Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you. Not yet anyway. You will be useful, Stanley. Because you’re about to lead them right back to me.”
Stan spat on the ground, a mixture of mucus and blood. “You almost murdered a child and you want me to help you? Fat chance. Go fuck yourselves, all of you.”
“Huh, that's weird…I don’t remember giving you a choice.”
She snapped her fingers and the two men tightened their grip.
“We’re going to the pit.”
Jerry seemed a little concerned by the mention of this ‘pit’. “Mimi…maybe we just call it quits for tonight-”
“-I will tell you when it's time to quit! I will tell you when it's time for anything! Do you understand?”
“Yes, Mimi.”
“Look at me.”
“...Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Now take him.” She gestured to Stan, then she picked up her rifle and started off into the woods. The pair trailed behind her with him still locked in their grip.

“Do you still smell them?”
Briar sniffed the air, expectantly. Then she nodded.
“Yes. They’re moving.”
“Moving where?” When Briar had broken free of the spring trap she’d grabbed Mabel and carried her off into the forest. Now the two were sitting up a tree, Briar holding Mabel close so she wouldn’t fall.
“The construction site.”
“Why?”
“It's what they do. Sometimes. When she’s upset…”
“That woman. She knew your name.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Briar looked away. “Her mother. She was a hunter, she shot my father. And then she shot more of us. And more. When she died her duty was passed down to her daughter.”
“But how did she even know you were here?”
“People like that…they’ll always know. They know how to track us, they know where to find us.. She isn’t the only one out there. A few years ago she came back to Werepoint. I think she had a hand in the development project, she wanted them to flush us out. She killed the few of us that were left until it was just me.”

“...What happened to my friend? Stan?” She was almost afraid to ask. She felt bad about leaving him, even though she knew he could handle himself. But if everything that Briar had told her about Mimi was true then he was in serious danger.
“The man who grabbed her gun?”
“Yeah…”
Briar gave the air another cautionary sniff before turning back to Mabel.
“He’s with them. He’s hurt, bleeding.”
“We need to get him back!”
Briar shook her head. “No. You saw what happened back there. It's too dangerous. Because you helped me they’ll think that you’re their enemy too.”
“We can’t just leave him!”

“...”
“Briar. You’re my friend, I don’t want them to hurt you. But Stan is my friend too…and I can’t abandon him here.”
“...Just like you didn’t abandon me.”
Mabel nodded. “That’s what friendship is. Putting yourself in danger, fighting against impossible odds. But it's worth it in the end…because you love your friends. And they love you back.”
The fox girl took a moment to think before she replied. “Alright. Alright, I’ll help you. But we need to be-”
“-BRIAR!” Mabel squealed, hugging her. “I knew you’d come around! I knew it!”
“We need to be quick. And careful. We need a plan.”
“Can the plan involve glitter?”
“...”
“Right. Not the time. Got it.”

“Just set him down here.”
Jerry and Matt lowered Stan to the ground, allowing him to sit upright. Jerry had presumably left his shotgun by the parking lot but Matt still had his hoisted up on his shoulder. The four of them were facing a large pit, carved out by what looked to be excavators. There were a few, large, pieces of machinery that he, obviously, concluded that they were part of the construction project.
“...What happens now?” Jerry asked.
“Now we wait.” Mimi kept her rifle pointed at Stan, almost like she was daring him to move.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve been held at gunpoint. But it's for sure the most uncomfortable.” He fiddled with the ropes as best as he could, if he couldn’t escape at least he could get to a more comfortable position. Maybe if he kept her talking he could look for an opening.
Mimi laughed, and god he was starting to hate her voice.
“This isn’t a hotel.”
“No shit.”
“This is you paying me back earlier. If you’d have just let me shoot the thing we’d be back in the parking lot, drinking whisky and talking about whatever. But no, you had to go and play hero.”
“I’m not the one who almost shot a kid.”
“...I wouldn’t have shot her. I wasn’t even aiming for her, she was just in the way.”
“Right. I don’t believe that for one second.
The woman faced the pit in front of them, motioning for the men to drag Stan to his feet again.
“I hunt monsters.”
“All that thing did was steal food. It never hurt anyone. Even when it was trapped it didn’t try to attack Mabel. Or any of us, for that matter. It just ran away.”
“Have you even considered that maybe it took her to eat her?”
The thought had crossed his mind. Being dragged through the woods with a psychopath and her cronies had given him a lot of time to contemplate the worst-case scenario.
“Yeah. That's what I thought.”
The pair nudged Stan closer until he was basically at the edge of the pit.
“Want to know a neat fact?”
“Oh god. I would rather you just shoot me.”
“Werepoint has a very…interesting profile. When rain hits the dirt it sinks in, like normal. But when rain hits the rock it washes down. When it rains it forms a thick clay-like mud. After a few days of rain everything, rotting animals, dead trees, fungus, completely washes away. Like it was never even there.”

“So you’re going to throw me into a giant pit?”
“Oh, we don’t need to throw you. One little push should be enough.”
“And that's how you’ve gotten away with murdering people?”
“I don’t murder people. Not when I can help it. But sometimes they get in my way…and look where you are, Stan. In my way.”

“But if your little fox friend shows up perhaps I’ll reconsider.”
“Yeah, nice try.”
“No, really! I liked you. I really did. I thought that if I showed you what it was then you’d come around. Like these two.”
She gestured to Jerry and Matt, both of whom were uncharacteristically silent.
“Oh yeah, because if Mabel was dead I’d be stoked to hang out with her murderer.”
“See that’s the thing about you city-people. You’re all too soft to realize the full gravity of the situation. One little girl is a small price to pay for getting rid of that monster.”
She leaned in. Stan took the chance to spit in her face.
“Fuck. You.”
Mimi wiped it off of her cheek, unfazed. Just then there was a loud, high-pitched howl from behind them.
“Right on cue.” She motioned for Matt who pulled out his shotgun, leaving Stan solely in the care of Jerry.

Briar leapt down in front of the four of them, claws brandished. She locked eyes with Mimi and narrowed them, seemingly sizing her up. Mimi, for her part, looked ecstatic. She levelled Briar with her rifle.
“Alright! Now that’s what I’m talking about!”
Matt shot at the creature which Briar avoided by ducking to the side. She grabbed the front of the gun and attempted to rip it away from him, however he fastened his grip and she ended up yanking him to the side and to the ground. He screamed out in pain and reached for the gun only for Briar to kick it away from him.
“Shit!”
“Hang on!” Jerry left Stan’s side and ran at her. He produced a small swiss army knife from one of his pockets and attempted to stab her in the leg. He ended up grazing her as she grabbed his upper body, using his strength against him and knocking him to the ground next to Matt.
“Can’t you idiots do anything right?!” Mimi screamed as Briar turned to her. The two had a sort of standoff. Without the gun Briar could take her easily but Mimi was standing far enough away that, if she tried to run at her, she could easily be hit. And Mimi, unlike her comrades, was an excellent shot. Briar let out a low growl as she pawed the ground with her front feet.

“Psst! Stan!”
A little voice from behind him rang out. He couldn’t turn around but he could recognize it easily.
“Mabel?”
“Shh! They’ll hear you.”
Briar lunged at Mimi who stepped to the side, evading her. Then she shot the rifle, hitting Briar directly in her back leg. Briar screeched, blood dripping from the wound as she tried to regain her balance, almost getting shot again as she narrowly rolled to the side.
“You came back.”
“Of course I came back!” Mabel whisper-screamed, eyes trained on the altercation in front of her. She fiddled with the ropes binding his hands, untying them.
Briar sprang up as Mimi readied another shot. She managed to tackle the woman to the ground at close range, where it was harder to aim, and bit her directly in the shoulder.
“Fuck!” Mimi screamed, punching at her and attempting to escape. Briar only sank her teeth in deeper.
The ropes fell to the ground, uselessly. Stan stood up, his side aching.
Mimi hit Briar’s head with the butt of her gun, forcing her to let go. Briar had the upper hand but she was slowing down, probably due to the gunshot wound on her leg. Mimi clutched her shoulder, blood gushing.
“Little shit!” She hissed in agony. She readied the gun with her uninjured arm. Just then Stan crashed into her at full force sending them both toppling over. The pair rolled towards the edge of the pit. Mimi was knocked off, screaming as she fell. Stan could only watch as the woman plunged to her death. He managed to grab the edge of the cliff and tried to hoist himself up. A pair of clawed hands grabbed the cloth of his shirt and pulled him back to safety.
Stan rolled over, panting. Then he looked down to where Mimi had disappeared. There had been no sound when she’d presumably hit the ground but no one could survive a fall from that height.

“Stan? Are you…alright?”
He turned around to find Mabel kneeling over him. The fox monster- Briar, stood a few feet away. She was the one who had pulled him up.
“...Thanks?”
Briar nodded and grinned, as best as she could in her fox form.
Matt and Jerry were trying to regain their bearings but froze as the trio looked back at them.
“Go, go, go!” Jerry rasped, swinging Matt’s arm around his shoulder as the two of them limped off back into the forest. Stan watched them go. There was no use in going after them now.

“Mabel, are you okay?”
“Yeah…but…” She gestured to her clothing. It was covered in dirt, a little bit of blood, and a few leaves. “...I ruined my new shirt.”
Stan laughed, pained.
Just then there was a low rumbling from beneath them. Stan leapt to his feet, hissing again as pain rang through his side. The two girls stepped back, wide-eyed.
There was a sharp scratching noise as a large, clawed paw gripped the edge of the cliff. The thing, whatever it was, pulled itself up effortlessly. Standing in front of them was a huge creature. It had dark brown fur, a long cat-like tail, eyes with slit pupils, and huge paws.
It zeroed in on Stan, gaze narrowing.
“....Oh shit.”
Mimi was at least three times Briar’s size and Briar was a lot taller than most people in her fox form. She slammed her claws down on the rock, sparks flying, before getting on all fours.
Stan tried to run but she managed to grab him, pulling him beneath her and began digging into his side, aggravating the already excruciating wound.
“I’m going to enjoy this, Stanley!” Mimi laughed, triumphantly. Stan struggled to no avail. This was the second time he’d been attacked by a monster and he was getting tired of it.

Then Mimi was thrown off of him. He looked up to see Briar wrestling her away from him, sharp little claws scratching up her side. Mimi roared and flung her off, Briar’s back hitting one of the trees as she slumped down. Mimi turned back to Stan only to be pulled back by Briar again, who had quickly regained her footing. Mimi was significantly stronger than her but Briar was quicker. She clung to Mimi’s back, sinking her teeth into it as Mimi thrashed around. Mabel and Stan could only watch as this battle unfolded. Stan’s gaze fluttered to Mimi’s discarded rifle. He grabbed it and looked through the scope. There was no way to hit Mimi without also hitting Briar and he doubted that one bullet would be enough to incapacitate her.

Mimi managed to knock Briar off again. This time she stayed down, unresponsive. Mimi let out a triumphant roar before turning back to the duo. Her gaze fluttered from Stan to Mabel. His eyes widened. “No!”
Mimi pounced towards her at full speed, Mabel screamed and closed her eyes.
Then she was knocked off course by Briar who, despite working with an injured leg and various wounds, was able to tackle her. The two went flying off the cliff and down into the pit, Briar gripping Mimi tight as the catlike-lion(what animal was she exactly?)-monster howled in pain.
“BRIAR!” Mabel sobbed, watching them fall. They vanished and, maybe twenty seconds later, they could hear a loud crash from below.

Mabel fell to her knees, whimpering as she covered her hand with her mouth. Stan didn’t know how to comfort her. Briar had just sacrificed herself to save both their lives.
“....Briar…” The girl sniffled, her eyes never leaving the pit.
“Mabel…Mabel we have to go.”
She shook her head. “No…she could still be down there…”
“She’s gone.”
“No!” The girl sniveled. “I’m not leaving her!”
“We have to.”
She knew he was right. Mabel broke down in sobs, covering her face with her hands. Stan waited a moment before offering his hand, which she took. The pair started off back into the forest and towards the RV park.

“Alright.” Stan announced, cradling his now bandaged side. Mabel was sitting in the passenger seat next to him, looking out into the forest. Stan, for his part, looked back at the park. Matt was sitting outside of his RV, smoking a cigarette. When he noticed Stan looking at him his eyes widened, he looked like he wanted to say something, and then he stomped the half-smoked cigarette into the pavement before quickly heading inside.
“We ready to go, kid?”
“One second.”
Mabel pushed open the door of the car and stepped out. Stan watched her go but didn’t interfere. She was doing what she needed to do.

She walked to the edge of the forest, where she had first met Briar, and crouched down.
“...Thank you. Thank you so much.”
A tear worked its way down her face.
“...I don’t have any of the plain chips left. So I brought you these.” She lifted a small bag of chips labelled ‘spicy and sour’. “I hope they’re okay.” Mabel let out a little sniffle, wiping her nose.
“Goodbye, Briar.”
Mabel set the bag down near the treeline and made her way back to the car.
She opened the door and put on her seatbelt as Stan turned the key and the car rumbled to life.
“Let's hit the road. We have a lot of ground to make up for if we’re going to make it to Gravity Falls.”
Mabel turned towards the window as the two drove towards the exit of the lot. She found herself looking back at the treeline. Everything was exactly the same as it had been when she’d met Briar for the first time…except, when she looked for it, the bag of chips was missing. Her eyes widened.
“Mabel? You good?”
She turned to face him, a large smile on her face.
“Yeah…yeah I’m good.”

Chapter Text

Mabel and Stan had stopped in a small town. Stan needed to fill up on gas and, in all honesty, he needed a break to stretch his legs. They were around halfway to Gravity Falls now, maybe a little more, and they had some time to kill.
They were standing around a gas station, Stan filling up the car while Mabel doodled away.
“Do you think this one’s okay?” She asked, showing Stan the page. There was a small fox surrounded by a few trees and a bag of potato chips.
“Yeah.” Stan smiled, warmly. “I think she’d like it.”
Mabel nodded, turning back to the notebook

“Excuse me.”
Stan whipped around. No one was there.
“...Down here.”
The man looked down to see a small boy dressed in dark clothes. He looked around nine or ten. He was holding a tray continuing a pitcher of what he assumed to be juice and a few glasses.
“Would you like some?
“Huh?”
“I’m selling lemonade because my cat is very hurt. All the profits go towards helping him.”
Mabel gasped. “Oh no!”
“What kinda disease does your cat have?”
“It isn’t a disease. He got hit by a car.”
“And that didn’t kill him outright?”
Mabel elbowed him in the shoulder. “Stan!”
The boy shook his head. “Its okay. I’ll just keep looking for help.” He started off, not even bothering to say goodbye. Mabel nudged Stan again. “We should buy some!”
Stan shook his head. “Nah. Its like he said, he’s gonna keep looking.”

“But Stannnnn its a kitten! We have to help!”
She exclaimed.
“We don’t have to do anything-”
“-Stan! Please!”
“Ugh…” He rolled his eyes. Mabel was incredibly persuasive. When she begged for something he found it legitimately very hard to refuse her. “...Fine.”
“Yay!”

“Hey, kid!” Stan called out. The boy stopped walking.
“How much for two glasses?” He started back over to them, the same neutral expression on his face.
“Seven dollars.”
“Seven bucks?! For lemonade?!”
The boy looked down, not meeting his eye.
“Fine. Whatever. I’ll pay.”

“...I can give you a discount. I haven’t gotten a lot of people this week so I can drop it to six. For you.”
“Oh, wow. I feel special.”
But Stan painfully handed over the money anyway.
The boy nodded, handing over two of the glasses.
“It was nice to- oh.” Mabel had tried to thank him but the boy was already on the move, walking through the gas station presumably to find more customers.
Stan watched him go and then took a cautious sip of his lemonade. It was sweet, too sweet. Mabel, however, seemed to love it. “Wow! This is so good!” She exclaimed, gulping the whole thing down.
“Eh, I’ve had better.”
“At least we helped someone today, right?”
Stan looked off in the direction that the boy had vanished in, his expression unreadable.
“...Yeah. We helped someone.”

The two decided to spend a night in a motel. It was significantly smaller than the one he had stayed in all the way back when he met Mabel but it was much cleaner and nicer. Mabel was taking a nap, curled up in one of the twin beds, and Stan was having a cigarette and a can of beer on a bench outside. He didn’t see any non-smoking signs so, hey, it was fair game.

He heard a faint ‘mew’ from above him and looked up. A small, black cat was watching him from the roof. It tilted it’s head, curiously. “Go away, shoo!” Stan wasn’t a cat person. He also wasn’t a dog person. He didn’t like the idea of having a pet. Letting an animal live with you rent-free? Nah, he’d manage without it. Stan’s father hadn’t let them have pets growing up, he explicitly forbade it actually.
It let out another meow, leaping down and beginning to approach him.
“I said get! Go!”
The cat looked from him to the open can of beer beside him. It jumped up onto the bench and kicked it over. The liquid spilled out, staining Stan’s Werepoint-themed pants.
“Oh, that’s it!”
He got up as the animal darted away. He wasn’t going to hurt it, obviously, but no one and nothing made him waste a perfectly good can of beer and got away with it.
Stan followed it as it ran off through the wooded area.

They came to a small clearing. Stan could hear someone talking.
“Smokey…Smokey where did you run off to?”
He recognized the voice as the boy from earlier. Stan crouched down low in some bushes, watching the scene play out.
An injured cat, huh?
It looked perfectly fine to him.
The boy was sitting down on a picnic bench, nearly identical to the one Stan had found. He had a tray of milkshakes beside him. He lifted one up, offering the cat a sip(ew)which it accepted.

“Aha!” Stan announced, triumphantly, as he stood up.
“I knew it! I knew it!”
The boy flinched back, caught off guard.
“This isn’t what it looks like.”
“Oh really? Then explain this!” He gestured to the little cat beside him.
“That isn’t my cat. I don’t know where-”
“-Oh save it for someone who cares. Word of advice, kid. Don’t try to pull a fast one if you don’t have the skills to back it up. Now, I’d like my money back. Plus some extra cash. Unless you want everyone in town to find out about your little scheme.”
“I already spent it all.” He gestured to the milkshake tray.
“WHAT?!”
“When people think a child or an animal is hurt they feel bad. They’ll pay whatever they have to in order to make themselves feel better. I’m not doing anything more than capitalizing on that.”

“What about my money?!”
The boy shrugged, not reacting or even registering his anger. It was like he was a robot and it was really starting to piss Stan off.
“It isn’t my fault that you fell for it. Sorry.”
“Oh, you just wait! I’m gonna tell everyone that-”
“-Tell everyone what?” He raised an eyebrow. “You’re a complete stranger and I’m just an innocent little boy. Do you really think that they’ll believe you over me?”
He smirked before his expression evolved into one of panic. “Oh no! Help me! Help me! This scary man is trying to hurt me!” The boy cried mock tears. Then he switched it off, just like that, and grinned at Stan. “I mean come on. It’s just too easy.”
Stan had to try his best to not want to hit an actual child.
“What do you even need the money for anyway? Chocolate bars? Skateboards? Whatever kids these days like?”
The boy’s expression darkened for a moment. “That is extremely personal, thank you.”
The small cat mewed and the boy began to pet it’s head.
Just then there was a female voice. “Randy! Randy! Time for dinner!”
It rang out. Randy stood up, giving his milkshake one last sip before discarding the empty cup on the ground. He grabbed the rest of the tray. Oh, so he was a litterbug too.
“I have to go. Bye bye!” He waved, mockingly, before running off, the small cat bounding behind him.
“Hey! Get back here!”
Stan called. But it was no use, he was already gone.

The next day Stan and Mabel went into town.
They wandered around, trying to find somewhere inexpensive to go for an early dinner. Stan didn’t have a lot of money and, right now, it’s not like he could run a grift. There was also the fact that a nine year old had scammed him out of six dollars. Yep, no way he was forgetting that.
“Mabel.”
The girl perked up. “Yeah?”
“Do ‘ya mind looking for a restaurant on your own for a little bit? I got something I need to do.”
“Okay!” She flashed him a thumbs up. “I think I saw a diner near the motel. I’ll go take a look and maybe we can meet back at the room.”
“Works for me. Stay safe, kid.’
Mabel nodded before darting off. Stan wished he could go with her but, at this point, he was sure that nothing could faze her. They had fought off monsters as well as a particularly committed psychopath, it had been Mabel who had gotten them out in both situations. She’d been the one to calm the bunny-beast and her friendship with Briar had been the thing that defeated Mimi in the end. He wasn’t worried about her.

Stan walked around. The town was small and quiet, there were a few people outside.
He approached an older woman walking her dog.
“Excuse me?”
“Hm?”
“I need to ask you about something. A little kid, maybe ten years old? He’s probably got a tray of lemonade-”
“Oh! You must mean Randy. He’s a little odd but a sweet kid, really.” She paused, her expression shifting as she lowered her voice.
“It's just so terrible what happened…poor boy.”
Stan rolled his eyes. The cat was alive and well! But he wasn’t going to get into it now. Stan knew that Randy was right, if he were to tell her about his grift she’d probably call the police. Or something. “Uh huh. Listen, do you know which house is his? I’ve got to talk to him.”
“The big house, down the road.” She gestured behind her to a row of near identical houses. At the end of the street there was a large, black house. It looked a little worn down, standing out against the others.
“Thanks.” He started off, the woman waving goodbye.

Stan knocked on the door.
“Hey, I gotta talk to you about your son.”
No response. He sighed, ringing the doorbell.
“Oh come on….”
Again there was nothing. He rapped on the door again and, this time, it creaked open. It must have been unlocked.
“...Hello?” He stood in the doorframe, cautiously. Now Stan wasn’t exactly new to trespassing but he had manners, and entering someone’s home when he wasn’t robbing them(which he had done. Multiple times)seemed a little too far.
Still he needed to speak with Randy’s parents. Let’s see how tough he acts when they know what he’s been up to. He inched his way through the door and began to walk inside.
“Anyone home?”
No response. And so he kept walking. Was this any of his business? No. But no one scams him and gets away with it! He was a professional, for crying out loud! He practically invented the whole ‘my pet is sick’ routine(well, maybe not exactly in those terms)!
Stan came to a long hallway, walls adorned with pictures. Most of them were cat related. Stan shook his head. Ugh. There was a photo propped up on a long table. It was an older photo, Randy was there. He looked maybe six or seven. Next to him was a tall teenage girl and, behind her, was a woman. She had her arms around the two of them and looked like she had been captured mid-laugh. They were all dressed in swimsuits and a print near the bottom of the frame read ‘Wild-West Waterpark’. It was a happy picture. He shrugged it off.
As he ventured deeper into the house he heard voices. Stan headed in their direction.

Randy was standing in a small bedroom next to a taller woman.
“...I don’t think it’s happening today, Randy.”
He knew that her voice was the one he had heard previously, but she didn’t look old enough to be his mother. Maybe an older sister?
Randy shook his head. “But…the doctor said.”
It was then that Stan actually got a good look inside the room. There was a much older woman laying on a hospital bed, an IV bag positioned above her. She was connected to various monitors and instruments. Stan recognized her as the woman from the picture.
“The doctor said that he wasn’t sure.”
“What if she never wakes up?”
“Randy, don’t say that. She might wake up any day now.”
“But what if she doesn’t?”
The girl sighed, wrapping him in a hug. “...She’s going to. I promise. She’s going to.”
She stood up, letting him go before leaving the room. Stan stood to the side, ducking down beneath the table, but she didn’t even seem to notice him. Stan watched her go and then turned back.
Randy was kneeling beside the bed. “Mom…”
So she was his mother.
“I brought you these.” He lifted up a tray of milkshakes, Stan recognized the cups. “I know you can’t drink them right now…but don’t worry. I’ll put them in the freezer until you can.”
Oh man. This was not what he was expecting.
“I sold more lemonade today. I only need a bit more money and then we can afford to keep the house, at least for a little while.”
The little cat jumped up on the bed, nuzzling itself on the woman’s shoulder.
“Smokey is helping me. Cass is working at the supermarket now. Last night we went out to look at the stars. It was great, you’d have really liked it. We’re doing what you said, we’re trying to have fun. To stay strong. But…”
The boy bowed his head, kneeling with tears streaming down his face.
“...Please don’t leave. We need you. I need you. I miss you so much.”
Stan decided that he had seen enough. Quietly he snuck out the way he came in. He could hear the girl from before presumably on the phone from down the hallway.
“Please, we just need another month-” A pause, and then. “-I know we were late but we’ll have the money this time, just please don’t-” He left through the front door, closing it carefully behind him.

A few hours later the pair were sitting in the diner Mabel had chosen. The food wasn’t great but it was inexpensive, which Stan was in no position to argue against. Mabel had gotten a chocolate milkshake which she poured extra sugar into when she thought Stan wasn’t looking. He didn’t particularly care, let the kid eat as much sugar as she wants! She deserved it.

‘...You aren’t going to get anything?” She asked, tentatively. Stan had been acting weird all day. First he said that he had to do something and now he wasn’t eating. Mabel couldn’t help but be worried. She understood that Stan wanted to keep some secrets to himself(and she was doing the exact same to him)but whatever had happened seemed to have affected him greatly.
“I’m not hungry.”
But Stan hadn’t eaten anything but a sandwich yesterday, and now he wasn’t eating anything at all. The girl considered bringing it up with him but she didn’t want to overstep his boundaries and ultimately decided against it.
Halfway to Gravity Falls…it certainly didn’t feel that way. Even with all they’d been through over the past week it still felt like their adventure was just beginning. Mabel was hoping that, once they got to Gravity Falls, she’d find Dipper. But she didn’t actually know if he was going to be there or not. Mabel still had the tape-measure back in the car. But there was no guarantee that Dipper would be able to fix it, he had seemed just as confused as she was when they’d first encountered it. The girl swirled her straw in her milkshake, lost in thought.

Stan, for his part, was looking out the window.
What was his plan exactly, when he got to Gravity Falls? He’d have to make sure that Mabel reunited with her brother, obviously. And then he needed to deal with Ford.
But still, it seemed like he didn’t have the whole story. He didn’t think that Mabel was lying, he didn’t think that she could lie. Mabel didn’t have a dishonest bone in her body.
Still…Stan thought that maybe she wasn’t letting him in on something.
She was so desperate to get to Gravity Falls as quickly as possible, and he could understand that, but she was acting like her brother being there wasn’t a given. But where else could he be? Was he lost somewhere just like Mabel had been?

The two sat in near silence for a while before Stan decided that it was probably time to get going. He threw a few crumpled bills on the table(he left a tip but it was far from a generous one)and they left the diner. Mabel took her milkshake to go and was sipping away, happily, as the duo left for the car.
As Mabel slipped into the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt Stan noticed a scene playing out nearby.
Randy was carrying the tray of lemonade and talking to a couple who, he assumed, were passing by.
“My cat. He’s very hurt. All the profits I make go towards him.”
“Oh no!” The woman exclaimed. “Of course we can help you, honey. Gabby, how much can we give?”
Her partner pulled out a leather wallet.
“It’s seven dollars for two glasses…but I can give you a discount. I haven’t been getting a lot of customers so…I can drop it to six. For you.”
“Why aren’t you just the cutest little thing? We’ll pay the full price.”
Randy nodded as the woman handed him the money, in return he handed them two glasses.
“Thank you. It means a lot.”
The two waved goodbye and left.

“Hey, it’s the guy from before! We should get some more lemonade for the road.”
“...” Stan approached the boy.
“Randy.”
The boy looked up at him. “What do you want?” He sneered.
“...How much for the jug?” Stan gestured to the pitcher of lemonade on the tray.
“What?”
“The jug. How much?”
“Oh. Um…”
Stan pulled out his wallet. He offered Randy a twenty dollar bill. “This enough?”
The boy looked from the money in his hand and then back at Stan.
“This is all I can spend right now. I’m not working and I’m travelling. I’d offer more but-”
“-Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why are you helping me? I thought you hated me.”
“I don’t hate you. Hate takes up a lot of energy, ‘ya know?” Stan sighed, stretching his hands out behind his back. “You were right. You put on an act and I fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. I gotta respect that and know when I’m beat.”
“...”
“Consider it a gift. From one con man to another. You’re going places, kid. You’ve got talent.”
Randy didn’t look him in the eye as he handed over the pitcher.
“I’m sorry about the other day. I really am. I just…I need the money for-”
“-You don’t have to explain anything to me. Just use it for something important, okay?”
“...Okay.”
“Yay! Lemonade!” Mabel announced, grabbing the pitcher out of Stan’s hands. “Ooh, wait!”
She reached to the backseat of the car and pulled out the two empty glasses that they had left behind after their first round of lemonade.
“Do you want to sit and drink some with us too, Randy?” She asked. He shook his head.
“Thank you. But I…I need to get back to work.” He looked from the bill in his hand and then back to Stan. “It looks like more travellers are going to be passing through today.”
Stan laughed, flashing him a thumbs up. “Go get ‘em, kid!”

Randy waved goodbye before starting off. The two watched him go, Mabel pouring the lemonade and then handing a glass to Stan. Stan took a few sips and then took the pitcher, topping it off.
“I thought you didn’t like the lemonade?”
Stan laughed a little.

“I think it’s starting to grow on me.”