Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Mabel, look out the window! We’re almost to the house.” Dipper told his sister. She looked up and squealed in excitement, she couldn’t wait to see her parents again. Dipper hoped that maybe his parents had stopped arguing and were ready to be a family again, because he knew his sister had no idea about the arguments and he wasn’t ready to tell her.

Mabel started rambling about all the things she couldn’t wait to tell them about what happened over the summer break and how much she missed Waddles already. Dipper couldn’t really hear what she was saying because he was focused on watching the house that looks just like all the other houses around it.

Except for one thing. One very worrying thing that Dipper was sure his sister had overlooked. He could feel the lump in his throat forming as the bus stopped in front of the house.

The front door was wide open. Not the kind of open from when you leave it open during a neighborhood barbecue. The kind of open from when someone broke in. The kind of open that broke the lock on the door, which Dipper could see on the floor despite the distance between him and the house.

Mabel poked his shoulder to break him out of his thoughts, “What’s wrong, bro-bro?” She followed his gaze to the front door and raised an eyebrow, punching him ‘playfully’ in the shoulder, “Oh come on! Mom and dad leave the door open all the time. I bet they're inside right now making dinner!”

Dipper rubbed his shoulder and nodded, knowing that it’s possible but still unable to shake the uneasy feeling he had, “Yeah, okay.” He took his twin’s hand in his, worried but knowing that as long as she was there they’d be fine. At least he hoped so.

They walked towards the front door, and Dipper’s concern only grew upon seeing that their dog, Scruffles, didn’t come to greet them. He reminded himself that there’s normal reasons for this. Maybe she was at the vet or out back going potty. 

Mabel didn’t notice anything amiss and pulled him towards the kitchen. That’s when Dipper saw the blood streaks on the floor, ones that Mabel definitely didn’t notice. “Mabel, look. Blood.” Dipper stopped walking and yanked her back to keep her in place. He pointed at the red splotches and trails whilst holding back the urge to throw up.

Mabel gasped loudly, then giggled and punched him in the shoulder again, “That’s just tomato sauce, Dip-Dip. Look at the chunks. Mom and dad probably dropped it, they’re probably just making a second batch right now for dinner. They’ve never been very good at cleaning things up right away.” She couldn’t hide the unease she felt, but she wanted to hide it for Dipper’s sake. She needed to be the optimistic one because she knew he’d worry over everything if she didn’t keep her cheerful attitude all the time. He saw right through her.

“Mabel, that’s not tomato sauce! That’s blood and those chunks are probably flesh!” Dipper was scared, but he kept his voice low just in case. He held a hand over her mouth to prevent her from being loud. Then he heard a crash coming from the kitchen, and he grabbed the baseball bat that was laid next to the front door.

Mabel stayed silent for once, grabbing the iron stick thing that their parents used to poke the fire, though she didn’t remember what it was called. Both twins held their weapons up, walking towards the kitchen slowly and quietly. Dipper opened the door to the kitchen slower than a snail, only opening it a crack just in case. He poked his head through ever so slightly, just enough for him to see the room.

Dipper jolted back, grabbing Mabel’s arm and booking it towards the front door, his grip on the baseball bat tightening. His knuckles were bone white by the time the twins had reached the road, and Mabel was utterly confused. “What did you see in there, Dipper?” She asked, yanking him back to stop him from running down the road.

“We need to leave, Mabel! Now!” Dipper nearly screamed, his eyes watery and his entire body trembling. He pulled her again to run down the road, not wanting to stay there for another second. Mabel just followed, knowing that this had to do with the blood that she so foolishly convinced herself was just tomato sauce.

They ran for what felt like hours, though in reality it was about twenty minutes. They were outside a gas station now, panting and holding themselves up against the brick wall. Mabel needed answers now, they were far enough away that whatever Dipper saw was no longer an immediate threat, “Dipper, what was in the kitchen? What did you see?”

Dipper shook his head, tears streamed down his face, “You don’t want to know,” He exhaled, voice quiet and shaky, “It was worse than anything we’ve ever seen.”

“Worse than Bill?” She asked in a slightly teasing way, trying to help him feel better. She didn’t expect him to nod and burst into tears. She could guess what he saw, but she knew that there was more to it than she thought. 

She hugged him tightly, “It’s… it’s going to be okay. We can call the police or- or Grunkle Stan. We’ll be okay.” She wasn’t sure if she was telling that to her brother or to herself. It didn’t matter because it seemed to work.

“The police. Call the police. I- I’ll call Stan.” Dipper choked out, slumping down and just sitting against the wall with his knees to his chest. He watched her do the same. They pulled their phones out simultaneously.

This was not the ‘Welcome Home’ that Dipper had expected. Not at all.

~~~

Dean slumped in his seat, rubbing his eyes and letting out an exhausted groan. Saying that he was tired was an understatement. He hadn’t slept in three days, not since his dad traded his soul for Dean. He felt guilty.

What made it worse is the case that Bobby had given them. Two kids returned home from their summer spent in a place called ‘Gravity Falls’, only to find their parents being eaten by a cannibalistic woman. Apparently the kids didn’t sound too sure about the ‘cannibal’ part, as if they had reason to believe that it wasn’t cannibalistic at all.

Bobby also told them that the kids had disappeared soon after making that call to the police. Their great-uncles Stanley Pines and Stanford Pines had shown up at the station demanding to see the twins, even threatening some officers when told that they were still looking and that the brothers couldn’t help with the search just yet.

Stanley had been believed to be dead until a few weeks ago, when it was revealed that he had faked his death to protect his brother, too. Just to make this whole situation stranger.

The worst part is; Dean has no way of knowing if these kids are alive or if he could save them. It sucked because he felt responsible, even if there wasn’t any way that he could have done anything. He was tired, and he felt so bad and guilty for these kids that he didn’t even know.

Sam opened the passenger door and got into the car with a heavy sigh, “Nothing.” He said bluntly, looking just as exhausted as Dean felt, “I broke into every single file, computer, call, and even personal journals. The only things the police have on the case are the bodies, the crime scene, and the phone call. There’s no evidence anywhere that could tell us where Mason and Mabel have gone.”

“Well we need to keep looking .” Dean grumbled, tapping his fingers on the wheel. He started the car and backed out of the parking lot, the scowl on his face being a huge sign to show how he felt. Angry, guilty, grieving, sad and powerless.

“Dean, maybe we should search for the monster now. Maybe it’ll lead us to the twins. There’s a high chance that whatever killed the parents targeted the children as well.” Sam tried, keeping his tone understanding and considerate. He felt guilty about the situation too, but not as much as Dean did.

Dean sighed with frustration as he drove, glaring at the road in front of him as if it had personally offended him. He was silent for a moment as he thought, then finally nodded. “We’re bringing those kids back to their great-uncles. Alive and in one piece.” He said finally, his grip on the steering wheel tighter than his grip on the land of the living.

Sam nodded in agreement, and the two brothers stayed silent for the rest of the drive. Neither of them felt like talking about their emotions right now. Not when two kids are at risk. Two kids who would be more important to them than they knew just yet. 

Sam pulled out his laptop once they reached the hotel room, searching for as much as he could. Dean called Bobby and told him everything they had learned. The hearts of the victims were missing, and the crime scene was brutal. Blood and chunks of flesh were splattered all over the kitchen. From that info, they decided on Lamia. There was too little evidence to be a werewolf or a skinwalker, and it was too messy to be a Nachzehrer.

Bobby had said that this one seems to be strange, since the last one he had seen only targeted young men. Though, he guessed that maybe it was hungry and went for the nearest food source. Even stranger, is that Lamias are very rarely seen outside of Greece.

After about an hour of searching, the brothers finally figured out where they'd find the Lamias and how to kill it. A blessed silver knife will kill it, but it would work best using rosemary, salt, and fire as well. The Lamia was in a warehouse on the edge of town, and it would be about an hour drive.

“Da da da, I’m gonna stab a Lamia. Da da da, I’m gonna mount its head on a wall.” Dean sang to himself under his breath as he got into the driver’s seat. He was still absolutely livid. As long as he could, he would make sure that no child would ever be hurt in the way these kids have. In the way he has.

Sam glanced at him with a bit of a worried expression, mumbling to both Dean and himself, “Hope those kids are okay…” Sam turned and faced the window, unsure if he should talk to Dean or not. He decided that it could wait until after the twins were back with their family.

Dean nodded in acknowledgement, “Yeah.” His grip on the steering wheel was tighter than before, and his knuckles were bone-white. He forced himself to loosen his grip and tap his fingers on the steering wheel, but it only took a few seconds for the death-grip to return.

For the rest of the ride, the brothers were yet again silent.

Chapter Text

Dipper’s eyes fluttered open, unfocused and adjusting to the darkness. He glanced around, seeing Mabel right next to him. She was unconscious still, and tied up with a chain made of bones. He looked down at himself and saw that he was as well. Creepy, but not worse than anything they’ve already dealt with.

Dipper used his head to try and shake his sister awake, the blood on his forehead smearing onto her sleeve. Her eyes snapped open and she nearly screamed before Dipper whisper-shouted, “ Don’t! They might come back.” He didn’t know who ‘they’ were, but he knew that these chains of bone didn’t wrap themselves around them, and they surely didn’t knock themselves out.

Mabel nodded shakily, swallowing hard and squeezing her eyes shut. Dipper closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall, letting out a small sigh that didn’t hide how scared he felt. Sure, he had been through worse things than this, but he was still terrified and he had a nagging fear that this is connected to the woman in the kitchen. Connected to that thing that mauled their parents.

He had no idea how long it had been. The last thing he remembered was calling Grunkle Stan and helping Mabel with getting the details right in the call to the police. After they had put their phones away, he felt something hit the back of his head and everything went black. 

Dipper opened his eyes again to scan the room, and could see their backpacks on the floor across the room of the strange place they were being kept in (a warehouse, maybe?). He breathed a slight sigh of relief, knowing that their phones had trackers in them that Stan and Ford could track if they needed to. Though he also knew that the trackers are incredibly easy to turn off, and they immediately stop sending signals when the phones die.

The baseball bat was with the backpacks, too. Lucky him. If he could just figure out how to untie him and his sister without making too much noise. He looked back down at the chains of bone, and noticed that one of the bones wasn’t even actually a bone. It was a lock painted to look like bone. Dammit, if only he had the key or even just a bobby-pin.

“Mabel, I need a bobby-pin. Don’t move , just tell me if you have one in your hair. I’ll free you first.” Dipper whispered, adjusting so that he could stand up and reach her hair without the bones clanking into each other too much. 

“Y-yeah. There’s one at the top of my braid, it should be underneath the flower charm.” Mabel whispered back, taking a deep breath and keeping her eyes on the rest of the warehouse, just in case they got caught. Her breaths slowed down to normal as she processed the situation. Right now, they were safer than they were for more than half of their summer break.

Dipper nodded and moved slowly, still not sure that they were entirely alone. He saw that there were multiple in her hair, but didn’t say anything about how excessive her bobby-pin usage was. He took one and then crouched down next to her, looked at her chains to find the lock on hers, finding it and inserting the bobby-pin carefully. After a few moments, the lock popped off and he carefully removed the bone chain from her. 

“Now do mine.” He whispered, holding the bobby-pin so that she could grab it. She nodded and took it, doing the same thing for him that he had done for her. She was a bit slower with it, but she was quicker than the author could ever be with lock-picking.

They sat for a moment to breathe, their wounds still agonizing even if small. Dipper’s head was bleeding, and Mabel had a broken nose. There were cuts and bruises all over their bodies. It hurt, and they needed a moment to regain their strength.

After a few moments of breathing, they stood up and walked carefully towards their backpacks and the baseball bat, standing back to back so that they wouldn’t get ambushed again. Unluckily for them, the ambush came from above. This really was not their best week.

~~~

Dean parked the car outside of the warehouse, then got out of the car and opened the trunk. They already had a blessed silver knife from previous hunts, so they luckily didn’t need to waste more time getting one. He grabbed it while Sam grabbed some gasoline and a box of matches.

They entered the warehouse carefully, but they didn’t get very far before seeing the blood. There wasn’t a lot, but it was there. Right next to two backpacks and a baseball bat. One of the backpacks had a bright patch sewed into it that said ‘Gravity Falls!’. Dean grabbed them and handed one to Sam, “They might want these back when we rescue them.” Both backpacks had sewn in patches and keychains and other decorations that seemed to match the owners’ interests. It made Dean feel guilty and like throwing up, but he didn’t even know why.

Sam nodded and took the purple one and placed it over his shoulder, the kitty-cat keychain hitting the unicorn one and making a bit of noise as he walked. They continued to search the warehouse, steps careful and as silent as possible with the loud decorations on the purple bag.

“ Look. ” Dean said, pointing at some chains that seemed to be made of bones. There was a dented bobby-pin next to the chains and some blood as well. Dean picked up the chains and gagged when he discovered that the bones were human. 

Sam breathed a sigh of disappointment, not sure how to feel about this. “Dammit. They must have tried to escape. The Lamia probably moved them somewhere else, probably a place more secure so that they can’t escape again.” He adjusted the backpack strap on his shoulder, frowning at the chains of bone.

Dean dropped the bones and stood straighter, “Come on.” He tightened his grip on the knife and turned away from the chains, “We’ll find them. Even if it’s the last thing we fucking do .”

“Dean-…” Sam cut himself off and sighed, following his brother without another word. When they got to the car, they didn’t put the weapons back in the trunk like usual. They set the gasoline and matches in the back seat, with the blessed silver knife hidden in Dean’s jacket. 

They drove in silence, with Sam doing even more searching than before. Sam finally spoke up after a while, “ I found them! I hacked into Stanford’s Life360 account, and there’s a signal for the kids. They’re… right here. Fuck .” He sighed with disappointment as he glanced at the backpacks. Dean sighed as well, his grip on the steering wheel tightening, if possible.

Sam continued searching until he found a warehouse nearby that seemed to match the first warehouse. Secluded, abandoned, and maze-like if you didn’t know the layout previous to entering. “I found a warehouse that’s almost exactly like the first one. Monsters tend to have patterns, right? Maybe it moved to this one.” Sam was unsure, but he wanted to be hopeful for the kids’ sakes, and for Dean’s as well.

“Then what are you waiting for? Tell me where to go.” Dean said, his tone hopeful but also cautious in case maybe they were wrong and had the wrong location. Kids were in danger and he didn’t want to risk being too slow, so he hit the gas pedal and turned illegally fast when Sam pointed left.

“It’s about 10 minutes away at legal speeds, Dean. We’ll get there quickly, you don’t need to risk us getting pulled over before we could even get there!” Sam nearly shouted, bracing himself for impact as if Dean were going at higher speeds than he was. He was only going 87 miles per hour! Who cares if it’s a 65 zone? Not Dean.

“I’m not slowing down, you big baby. 10 minutes of driving is 10 more minutes those kids are being forced to survive. 10 minutes that they could die in.” Dean grumbled, continuing to speed. There weren’t even any other cars nearby, and this area was mostly abandoned. He didn’t understand why Sam was acting so wimpy right now.

They finally reached the second warehouse and got out of the car, holding their weapons at the ready just in case. They entered carefully, keeping their steps careful and nearly silent. Finally, they reached where they assumed the Lamias would be camping out. Dean breathed a sigh of disgust and relief and nearly dropped the knife when he saw what was inside.

The kids were there, alive and awake. They were in a cage, with Mason trying to reach something that was on the floor. Mabel was climbing on the bars and trying to break free. They were still fighting to survive.

Chapter Text

Dipper reached for the key, straining his arm further than comfortable. He groaned in pain and pulled his arm back, rubbing his shoulder and sighing with disappointment. He reached through the bars of the cage to try again, doing his best to ignore the pain that came. 

Then he spotted them. Two men were standing just outside of the room, and they clearly hadn’t been there for more than a few seconds. One was holding a silver knife, and the other was holding matches and a canister of gasoline. Both of them looked relieved for some reason.

Dipper yelped in surprise, scared that maybe these were their captors. His arm caught in the bar and he practically screamed in agony when he heard the crack. He bit his lip and held his arm as the tears formed in his eyes. He glanced back up at the men, who were rushing towards the cage now with worried expressions. Though, the men were still looking around the room defensively, as if something would jump out at them.

Mabel dropped down from where she was climbing the walls of the cage behind him, “ Dipper! ” She rushed to his side and crouched down next to him, tearing off the sleeve of her sweater and wrapping it around his bicep tightly as a makeshift tourniquet, though it wasn’t the greatest.

The men reached the cage, the taller one reaching for the key on the ground while the other crouched down in front of Dipper. “ Hey , we’re gonna get you out of here and to a hospital, okay? I’m sorry for scaring you. We're FBI agents, and we’re here to rescue you. Just try to stay calm.” The man said, setting the knife down carefully and holding his hands up to show that he wasn’t going to hurt Dipper.

Dipper nodded shakily, and Mabel kept an arm between them as subtly as she could despite the cage already being in the way. Dipper took the collar of his sweater vest and bit down on it, tears streaming down his face silently. Mabel kept glancing between her brother and the man cautiously, as if expecting the man to suddenly pull a gun and shoot them both.

The taller man was opening the cage, and he threw the door open hurriedly. He lowered his head a bit so that he could see through the door of it and reached a hand in, “Come on. We’ll get you back to your great-uncles.”

Mabel helped Dipper through the entrance of the cage, taking the man’s hand hesitantly to keep both her and her brother stable. The man then scooped Dipper into his arms like a baby, ignoring Dipper’s protests, “You’re injured, I don’t want you to trip on something and land on your arm or something.” The man said it sternly, but also softly at the same time.

The other man nodded at the one carrying Dipper who nodded back. He led the group carefully through the warehouse, careful to not make any noise. Both men were quiet and definitely used to situations, and the shorter one was still holding the knife at the ready. 

That was a red flag in Dipper’s mind. The FBI don’t carry knives like that around. Or any knives, at that. They carry guns or tasers, right? Dipper and Mabel have come into contact with the FBI enough times to know this. And what was up with the gasoline and matches?

The only logical explanation that Dipper could come up with was that these were their captors and they were being manipulated. These men must be bringing them to some kind of sacrifice place. That’s why they have the fancy knife and the gasoline with matches. 

Dipper’s eyes widened and he pushed at the man carrying him, trying to get out of his hold while only using his non-broken arm. “Mabel, run ! They’re lying!” He shouted as the man dropped him out of shock, being oddly careful to make sure Dipper didn’t get hurt. 

“Mason, calm down . We’re not lying.” The shorter man  called after them in a caring but confused tone, standing still at first before taking off after the twins. The taller man followed as well, eyes wide with surprise.

Mabel looked surprised as well, “Dipper, what’s going on?” She asked, taking his hand in hers, occasionally glancing at his other arm; the broken one. She didn’t even try to stop him this time, having learnt to trust when he says to run from what happened at the house.

“Fancy knife, gasoline, matches? They’re clearly trying to trick and sacrifice us!” Dipper exclaimed as they ran, wincing and biting his lip every few steps, his arm still hurting like hell. It was broken, so of course it would hurt, he just wished that it didn’t hurt this bad.

The men were catching up, shouting for them to stop and listen to them. They seemed worried, but Dipper just assumed that they were worried of their ritual not being completed. Assholes.

When Dipper and Mabel turned the corner, it hit Dipper like a truck how wrong he was about the men. Because right in front of him was that thing from the kitchen. The thing that had murdered his and Mabel’s parents and had eaten their hearts like apples. Its upper body looked like one of those strippers on Grunkle Stan’s magazines, while its lower body was of a serpent.

And it was terrifying .

~~~

Dean should have known that these kids would be untrusting of them. They had just lost their parents and got kidnapped, so of course they were scared. He just wished that they hadn’t run straight into the Lamia.

Dean ran in front of the kids and held the knife out toward the Lamia defensively, glancing back at Sam for only a second. Every second counts, which is something he should have remembered because the Lamia caught him off guard within that small opening.

It lunged at him with its claws ready to rip his chest open, its speed being faster than the abnormal agility that Dean was expecting. Then again, he hadn’t really fought a Lamia before. Not to his memory, at least. He and his brother have hunted thousands of monsters, so it’s kinda hard to keep track.

Another thing he wasn’t expecting was to be saved by the twins. Mabel pushed Dean aside and ducked underneath the claws, while Mason lunged at it and tackled its torso to try and hold it still, using his broken arm too . Mabel took the knife from Dean before he could recover from the initial shock, and then leaped onto her twin’s shoulders so that she could reach.

She tried to stab the Lamia's heart, putting lots of force into her attack. But it grabbed the back of her sweater and threw her into a wall, and the girl dropped the knife. Mason grabbed the fallen knife with his good arm and thrusted it into the Lamia’s stomach. It shrieked and used its tail to wrap around the boy. It squeezed like an actual snake would with its prey, which would be a very good description of these kids right now.

Dean wasn’t sure how to feel about this. Two kids had saved him without a second thought, and it was as if they had done this before. Neither had looked surprised at the appearance of the Lamia, just scared. Dean felt proud but also sick to the stomach seeing Mason worsen his broken arm to give Mabel an opening.

Dean shook his head and forced himself to focus, leaping at the knife that had been dropped yet again, grabbing it and plunging it into the Lamia’s chest. He pulled the knife back out and dropped it so that he could catch the boy as he fell alongside the now-dead Lamia. He set Mason down and then ran towards the unconscious Mabel, picking her up carefully and setting her down next to her twin. 

Mason was gasping for air, eyes wide as he clutched at his chest. He hugged Mabel despite her being unconscious, holding her as if she were the only safe thing in the world right now. His broken arm was laying limp, obviously needing medical attention soon.

Mabel then woke up again, rubbing the back of her head and then hugging her brother back. Dean was even more confused because she woke up way quicker than most grown adults would have. Weird.

He looked back at Sam, who shared his surprise if his expression said anything. Sam walked towards the children and the dead Lamia cautiously, holding a hand out carefully as if the twins would attack him. “Hey, kids ? How did… how did you know how to..?” Sam trailed off, not finishing what he was saying, but getting the point across. How did they do that? How did they know to stab the heart? And how on Earth had they moved like a team so easily? And how in the world had she woken up so quickly?

Mason clutched his broken arm, looking up at them with an almost guilty expression, but he let his sister speak first. Mabel looked ready to burst into tears as she spoke, “It was just lucky. We didn’t know what to do, so we just did without thinking. We should’ve been faster, though…” 

Her brother spoke up next, “We’re sorry for… y’know , running off and assuming that you were weird cultists trying to sacrifice us…” Dean wasn’t surprised to hear him apologize, but he was questioning where the hell the boy had gotten that idea of them. Maybe it was wherever they had learned to fight monsters like that, because there was no way that what they had done was just luck. Even if Dean did end up needing to save them.

Dean sighed in frustration but he didn’t call them out. Maybe it really was just pure luck, even if unlikely. He nodded and gave them an unsure smile, placing his hand on Mason’s shoulder, the one that wasn’t holding a broken arm. “Just- just follow us . We have a car just outside, we’ll drive you to the hospital.”

The twins nodded simultaneously, standing up wobbily and holding onto one another for support. Dean and Sam looked at each other before picking up the kids. Sam carried Mabel while Dean carried Mason. The kids didn’t protest this time, clearly exhausted and hurting.

Mabel held her arms around Sam’s neck tightly, almost as if having expected him to drop her. Dipper just passed out in Dean’s arms, his breathing still shaky but soft. Dean honestly thought it was adorable how both twins were. 

Sam and Dean carried them through the warehouse. They were careful not to step on the clutter that was everywhere, not wanting to accidentally trip and drop the kids. Sam adjusted the way he carried Mabel so that he could use one of his hands to open the exit door for Dean and Mason. They left the warehouse and froze at the sight of what was outside.

The great-uncles were there. Fully armed and looking very angry.

Chapter Text

Stan groaned as he woke up, rubbing his eyes and sliding his feet into his slippers. He grabbed his teeth and put them in, grimacing at the feeling for only a moment before yawning. He stood up and walked towards the bedroom door, scratching his back as he grumbled something about early mornings.

Soos stood in the kitchen, making sandwiches for Stan, Ford, and himself. He was whistling a tune that Stan recognized, and likely all of Gravity Falls sings on a daily basis. Stan smiled and sat down at the table, grabbing a magazine from the middle before propping his feet up. “Hey Soos, the hat looks good on you. Better than it ever did on me.” Stan complimented, having decided recently to stop being such a bum.

“T-thank you Mr. Pines! I still can’t believe I’m going to be the one running the Mystery Shack! It’s such an honor!” Soos stammered at the beginning, his expression lighting up like a Christmas tree. He set one of the sandwiches down in front of Stan and another at the other side of the table for Ford. Then he continued whistling the song between bites of his own food.

Stan chuckled and took a sip of his coffee that he had left out yesterday, then spat it out and grimaced, “I guess that’s what I get for drinking coffee that was left out overnight….” Stan shook his head and took another sip anyway. 

Ford entered the room and sat down across from Stan, not having a space octopus-thing on his face this time. They ate their sandwiches and occasionally talked, most of their topics being about adventures they had gone on with a certain pair of twins. They all missed the kids, even if it had just been yesterday morning that the kids had left. 

Stan knew that the drive to Washington would probably be something that was almost overnight, considering the distance, so he wondered if they had gotten off the bus or not. He stood up and waved goodbye as he left to go check the stocks in the gift shop, just in case.

“… 20 Pine tree hats, 16 grappling hooks, 20 bobble-heads of me…” Stan counted, making a checklist of everything still there. For the next hour or so, he made sure to keep everything fully stocked and clean, then he flipped the sign on the door to say ‘Open’. Then he went to the living room to let Soos deal with the rest. Soos was the new Man of Mystery, after all.

Stan spent the next hour watching whatever shows were on at the moment, his personal favorite having been ‘Baby Cage Fights’. Ah, the joys of watching children beat each other up. What a wonderful show, he hoped it never got canceled.

Ford was in the basement for most of that time. He calculated and studied and tested and discovered. It’s what he did most days. He sported new suction bruises from the space octopus, which… wasn’t a rare occurrence. It seemed to like him, for the most part. Then again, for their species there is a fine line between liking and wanting to murder. Ford just hoped that it was the first one.

 The other part of the time was spent in the woods with his journal and pen. He wrote down everything he learned about the creatures of Gravity Falls. Apparently gnomes actually did have a secret weakness. Leaf blowers only worked because they’re so tiny and would be blown away at the slightest gust of wind, but this was more than that. It could make a gnome severely ill just by being around it. 

Fish. Gnomes are allergic to fish. Or maybe it was just Shmebulock. Whatever, it’s a chance of defense if the gnomes ever decide to go evil.

Ford learned several new things, mostly because he didn’t look for specific things. He waited for it to come to him. He learned that from the twins. Ford began to hum the song that Soos whistled earlier. The tune of the twins. He smiled to himself as he hummed.

Ford went back to the cabin at around 10:30 in the morning, ready to head back to his lab to continue his research. That’s when he heard sobs from the living room. Quiet, mourning sobs that he nearly didn’t recognize. Ford rushed to the living room, pulling out his blaster and holding it at the ready.

“ Stan ! What’s going on? Are we under attack?” Ford asked, crouching down next to his brother who was on his knees with his new cell phone on the floor. Ford picked it up and glanced back at his brother, “Did… did one of your favorite actors die? I know you love seeing them on screen, but everyone dies eventually….” Ford tried to comfort his brother, reaching a hand out to place on his shoulder.

Stan smacked it away, “It’s not that . It’s Howard and MJ . Mabel and Dipper just called to tell us that they were dead by the time that the twins arrived home.” Stan wiped his face, taking shaky breaths before standing up, “Let’s go.” 

Ford frowned and stood back up as well, “Go where? Stanley….” Ford put his blaster back into his coat, reaching out a hand to comfort Stan again, then hesitated and pulled it back instead. Ford knew his brother would prefer it if he didn’t. That didn’t stop Ford from worrying, though. Their nephew and nephew’s wife apparently just died, and Stan had known them personally. Ford had never even met them.

“To go get the twins. They need us right now. We’re all they have left now. Shermie and his wife, Enid, died years ago. And MJ cut contact with her abusive-ass family before the twins were even born.” Stan answered, grabbing his coat and pants from the rack, putting them on before grabbing the keys from the coffee table and heading outside.

Ford nodded, seeing his point. He didn’t need to grab his coat because it was still on, since he just got back from the woods a few moments ago. Ford followed Stan, opening the passenger’s side door and sitting down. He got himself buckled and watched as his brother did the same.

They drove for almost the entire day before stopping at a motel. They were nearly out of gas and it was almost midnight. They gassed up and spent the night, with Stan complaining about the prices most of the time. In the morning, they went straight back to driving. They didn’t want to waste any more time getting to the kids than they already have.

They reached the Pines household, not surprised to see the house taped off in yellow and surrounded by police cars. Stan and Ford stepped out of the car, immediately walking towards the nearest cop. Ford spoke up as calmly as possible, though the worry was evident in his voice, “Excuse me, officer. We’re Howard Pines’ uncles. We heard about what happened.”

The man frowned, “I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s truly unfortunate that your nephew and his wife had to meet such a gruesome fate. With her being pregnant too…” The officer shook his head and gave the Pines brothers a sympathetic look before leaving to meet up with some other officers. Likely to discuss the case.

Ford sighed in disappointment and Stan nearly cried again. MJ was pregnant? How far along was she? Was it even Howard’s kid? Was she pregnant before or after the couple fell out of love? All of those were questions running through Stan’s head on repeat. He felt sick to his stomach.

Stan turned back toward the car, getting in and gripping the wheel tightly as he took deep breaths. When Ford entered on the passengers side, Stan started up the car again and drove.

10 minutes later, they pulled up to the police station. Stan and Ford stormed inside in hopes that the twins were there waiting for them. They asked around at first, getting a bit more aggressive with every person to say that they don’t know.

One man finally gave them an answer as to where the kids are. Kidnapped. Nowhere to be found, and likely injured. Apparently an FBI agent had asked around as well for info on the case, and had accidentally knocked over a cup on his way out that had basically pointed them in the direction of the twins. The coffee spilled onto some photos of security footage at a gas station. The photo was blurry, but it featured an unidentifiable woman dragging two unconscious kids into a truck. It hadn’t been noticed before because it was in black and white and also too unfocused.

“Ford, c’mon. We’re gonna go find that car and get our niece and nephew back.” Stan barked out, already storming off towards the exit. Ford nodded and got ready to go as well.

Of course, he was stopped by the man, “ Wait! You can’t do that. This is an official investigation, civilians aren’t allowed to get involved unless specifically given permission by the person in charge of said investigation. That would be me, and I’m saying no. It’s too dangerous, especially for older gents like yourselves.” The man was really shaky as he spoke, nervously fidgeting with his hands and shifting his feet. 

Stan was about to argue, ready to threaten his way into the investigation, when Ford placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. “Sorry, Stanley. We should leave the searching to them. It’s best if we stay behind this time and wait for them to bring the kids back to us.” Ford sounded genuine, but Stan knew his brother. He was planning to sneak behind the back of the police anyway. 

Stan sighed with frustration and nodded, feigning reluctance to not help find the twins. Threatening the person in charge of their case wouldn’t help anyone, and injuring him could make things take longer. Ford was right, which was something that Stan would rarely ever admit, it was best to work from the shadows.

Stan practically stormed off towards the exit, still a bit upset about being told that he can’t help find Mabel and Dipper. He loved them like his own, and he wasn’t going to just wait to be told if they’re alive or not. He held the door open for Ford before following him out. Stan got into the passenger’s seat this time, he didn’t trust himself to drive legally with how pissed he felt.

Ford started up the car, driving to the nearest hotel so that they could do their searching there. Ten minutes later, he parked and got out of the car. Stan followed in silence, watching as Ford got them a room and the key. He continued to stay silent and just watch when Ford led him to the hotel room and set their stuff down.

The only things that the brothers brought was stuff that was already in the car being prepared for their trip on the Stan’O’War. They hadn’t finished packing, but there was what they needed for what Stan and Fors are doing now. They had a duffel bag of shared clothes, their laptop, and their suitcase of illegal weapons. Everything else they had was what was on them when they left; Ford’s blaster, a photo of them and the twins alongside some of their other friends in Gravity Falls, car keys, and several other weird things in Ford’s coat that Stan couldn’t even think of.

Stan sat down on the bed closest to the window, while Ford took the one nearer to the door. Ford took out the laptop and began typing, searching to find things in a way that nobody in this generation would and in a way that wasn’t working. He still wasn’t exactly caught up to the times, considering the fact that he was in another dimension for decades. 

After about an hour, Stan sighed and took the laptop from him and showed him how to use modern day technology. They spent the next two or three hours with Stan teaching Ford. It neared nightfall by the time Ford finally understood how to use the laptop and all of its apps correctly.

At that same time, Stan quickly pulled out his phone with wide eyes. He typed in the password and opened Life360. He stared at the little icons the screen represented Mabel and Dipper for a few moments before speaking, “I found the kids. Ford, I found the kids. ” 

Ford looked at Stan’s phone and his expression changed to match his brother’s. How had they not thought of this before? That was the entire reason they got the phones and made the twins download Life360. How could they have forgotten about that? ‘Dammit’, Stan thought, ‘we are way too old’.

Stan quickly stood up and grabbed the keys, rushing out the door and down the hall. Ford wasn’t very far behind, still throwing on his coat and making sure that his blaster wasn’t visible. Stan nearly threw himself into the front seat, starting the car before Ford could even get all the way in. Neither of them got buckled because they were in a rush.

Ford held up Stan’s phone so that he could follow the map while having both hands on the wheel. Stan went at least 20 miles over the speed limit, but he could care less because Dipper and Mabel were moving. Whoever had them was probably relocating them, or maybe the kids had escaped. Either way, Stan and Ford were going to save the twins if it was the last thing they did. 

The icons on the screen representing Dipper and Mabel stopped moving near a warehouse near the edge of town. Stan drove until they were right outside the warehouse, parking and exiting the car quickly. Ford stopped him from running headfirst into the warehouse, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Stanley, calm down. Whoever has them is still inside and you’re unarmed at the moment.” Ford reasoned, gesturing to a car that was parked nearby. Stan recognized the model, since it was a car that he had always wanted to have. A 67 Chevvy Impala. It was beautiful. And it disgusted him.

Ford took out a pistol from his coat and handed it to Stan, pulling his blaster out as well and holding it at the ready. They nodded at each other and were about to head inside the warehouse when they heard the door open.

Leaving the building were two men covered in blood. Holding the twins. Mabel’s head was bleeding. Dipper’s head was also bleeding, and his arm was bending in a way it definitely shouldn’t. Mabel was clinging to the tall man that was carrying her like her life depended on it, while Dipper was limp and likely unconscious.

Stan and Ford’s expressions both twisted in anger and worry upon seeing their great-niece and nephew’s states.

Chapter Text

Dipper’s eyes fluttered open, and he saw a blinding white light. When his eyes adjusted, he found that he was in a hospital bed. Everything was clean and bright, and he could hear people talking outside the room. Well, arguing. He couldn’t exactly hear what was being said, though. 

He turned his head to look around at the rest of the room, bringing his left hand up to rub his eyes. He saw Mabel sleeping on a chair next to his hospital bed, her head wrapped up and band-aids covering her arms and legs. All of them were brightly colored and had either an animal or a princess on them.

Dipper looked down at himself, seeing that he was wearing a cast on his right arm and was also covered in band-aids, though his were just plainly colored. Some were the usual brown, while others were a dark blue, and two that he could see were dark green. He could bet that his legs had several as well, but they were covered by the blanket.

He reached a hand up to check for any band-aids on his face, finding three and his own head-wrapping. He glanced at Mabel again, and wondered how long he had been there and how long she had been waiting for him to wake up. Probably not very long. She falls asleep quickly when she’s bored and then wakes up just as fast. But then again, her head injury was way worse than his. She probably had to have stitches on her back and head from when she was thrown into the wall. Dipper remembered it clearly.

He pulled the blanket off of him slowly, which was as fast as he could because he still felt weak. His left arm may not be as injured as his right, but it sure felt as useless. He stood up and wobbled a bit, focusing on his balance and making sure he wouldn’t wake Mabel up before stepping towards the door. He opened it slowly and could hear the arguing immediately stop.

Had the men who saved them been arguing? What about? Maybe one of them didn’t want to wait for Mabel and Dipper to wake up before leaving. But they’re FBI, so they can leave whenever they want, right? They could just leave someone else to watch over Dipper and his sister while they worked. Whatever it was, it wasn’t what Dipper had thought of.

Because when he turned his head towards where the argument was coming from, his jaw nearly dropped. Did Mabel know they were here? When did they get here? Did they know about the monster yet?

Standing in front of him, next to the men who saved them, were Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford. The only living family that Mabel and Dipper had left. Dipper would have dropped something if he was holding anything. He lunged towards his Grunkles with a hug, almost forgetting that his arm was broken. 

Grunkle Stan hugged back immediately, while Grunkle Ford was a bit hesitant to. “You really scared us, kid. Mabel wouldn’t let the doctors tend to her until they let her stay with you.” Grunkle Stan said, tears fell down his face. Dipper was crying too, but probably not for the same reason. 

Dipper cried for his parents. He cried for whoever’s bones were used to make the chains that had held him and his sister captive. He cried for the men who had been put in danger because of him. He cried for his sister who was injured because of him. He cried because he wasn’t good enough to stop the monster without needing to be saved again by the very men he had accused of trying to hurt him and Mabel. Most of all, he cried because he felt alone.

Nothing really made sense at the moment. All of the monsters were supposed to be trapped in Gravity Falls, so where did that thing come from? Dipper had so many questions and so little answers. He didn’t like not knowing things. He didn’t like feeling so useless. and he hated feeling so guilty for something he knew was only done because he had the best intentions.

Grunkle Ford ruffled his hair and spoke softly, “It’s okay, kid. You’ll be okay, and so will Mabel.” Dipper nodded, and wished that he could use both arms to hug them. 

A nurse suddenly spoke from behind them, making them all jump. Even the two men who had saved them, who were standing to the side at the moment talking about something. His voice was small but commanding at the same time, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we’ll need Mason to go back into bed. We’ll be giving Mabel her own room as well. Their head injuries are quite serious and they shouldn’t be moving around too much until they’ve healed.”

The nurse ushered Dipper back towards the room with one hand, his other hand holding a clipboard. Dipper could see Stan and Ford nod, while the other men did too. The men shifted their weight almost in sync, but not quite. Dipper waved at them hesitantly, giving a small smile of thanks for saving him and Mabel.

The nurse helped Dipper into the hospital bed, making sure he didn’t put any weight on his broken arm. Then he went over and picked Mabel up, leaving the room promptly without so much as even a nod. ‘Rude’, Dipper thought.

Dipper glanced back at his cast and wondered just how long it would take for it to heal again. He didn’t like not having his writing hand. Though, he could just use his left hand, it’s just as good at writing and other things as his right.

He thought back to the men who saved them. There’s no way they were FBI. Not with how they seemed to know more about the supernatural than Mabel or even Stan. And they just *happened* to have the materials to kill the monster? That’s way too suspicious. It’s as if they were searching for the monster. As if they were hunting it.

Dipper could probably ask them later, he has at least a few days here. And they’re probably gonna ask him a bunch of questions, if they want to keep up their FBI cover.

~~~

“Would you have rathered us to knock them out and risk their concussions worsening ?” Dean practically shouted at the older men, disbelief etching every single feature on his face. He couldn’t believe that Stanley would try and make everything Sam and Dean’s fault. They weren’t even there!

“We’re just saying that maybe you shouldn’t be so incompetent to let two children run off on their own while sustaining head injuries!” Stanford chimed in, clearly equally as mad as everyone else in this stupid argument felt.

Dean resisted the urge to say some very crude things, settling on; “Well maybe if you had been competent caretakers, they wouldn’t have been in this fucking situation at all! Your great-nephew and great-niece are faster than they look, we wouldn’t have caught up to them for a while if their kidnapper hadn’t blocked the way.” Dean was really angry right now, really wishing that punching old people wouldn’t get him landed straight into the dirtiest cell this city has to offer.

Sam was about to say something, probably to calm them all down, but he was cut off by the door to Mason’s hospital room opening. At first, Dean thought that maybe Mabel was going to go ask for her own room so that she could sleep comfortably, but it wasn’t Mabel.

Standing in the doorway was Mason, his eyes were wide with child-like curiosity. When the boy saw Stanley and Stanford, his eyes widened even further. Dean didn’t even know how that was possible. He watched as Mason lunged at his great-uncles for a hug, as if completely forgetting that his arm was in a cast. It was adorable, if Dean were to be honest. 

“You really scared us, kid. Mabel wouldn’t let the doctors tend to her until they let her stay with you.” Stanley said, wrapping his arms around his great-nephew. Stanford did the same, just a bit more hesitantly. It was disgustingly wholesome, in Dean’s opinion.

The old bags started crying silently, almost invisible tears running down their faces. Mason was full-on sobbing, just not the same way Mabel had when she found out that Mason would be in the hospital for a whole two days longer than she would be. It was as if he was crying about several things at once. It made Dean feel like crying too.

Dean didn’t listen to the rest, turning to Sam with a shrug and instead focusing on seeing if it was okay to leave yet, “Should we go? The Lamia is dead, so there’s really no point in staying longer than we have.” He made sure that his voice was too low for the Pines family or passing nurses to hear, since they put in their report that the kids had already been injured when they found them and that they hadn’t encountered anything other than that.

Sam shook his head, “We need to make sure that the twins won’t go around telling everyone what they saw. What if they get labeled as crazy for saying they saw a monster?” Dean sighed at his reasoning, not sure whether to agree or not. He decided not.

“They’re kids. If they say they saw a monster, people will just think that they’re traumatized and trying to cope with what happened to them and their parents. Eventually they’ll give up on trying to say anything about the Lamia and accept what people tell them really happened..” Dean reasoned, though understanding the importance of making sure that the kids’ story lines up with their report. He just didn’t want to be around the great-uncles for any longer because those men kept blaming Sam and Dean for what happened.

“Dean, I don’t think they’ll just give up on what they saw. I think they already know about the supernatural. You saw how they acted back there when they saw the Lamia.” Sam started, rolling his eyes at Dean’s reasoning because he knew that Dean could see why they needed to speak to the kids, “And I remember a news article from Gravity Falls that Bobby kept after visiting for a few days. He thought it was just an ad for some kind of movie, but that boy, Mason, was on the front cover using something to fight off a pterodactyl. I’m pretty sure it was just an ad, but a lot of actors learn about the supernatural through their roles. I mean, Tom Holland had to fight off a vampire when he filmed Spider-Man. Even monsters have movies they like and actors they don’t.”

Dean nodded at his reasoning, though thinking the whole ‘actor’ thing was kinda stupid even if there was no other real explanation for the news article, “Alright, fine. I’ll talk to the kid, you can talk to the glitter. Once they’re in separate rooms.” He glanced over at the Pines’ to see that Mason had already been sent back to the room. A nurse was currently carrying Mabel out of the room and likely to another room.

“Perfect. Just in time.” Dean grumbled, but he wasn’t really that mad to be forced to talk to a kid. He thought the twins were adorable and like little feral kittens. He also thought that they had just gotten lucky when they encountered the Lamia. He walked a measly three steps to reach the door, opening it slowly in case the kid had already gone back to sleep.

The kid was wide awake, staring at him with giant eyes that didn’t seem at all surprised. As if he had actually been expecting Dean to come and talk to him, which he probably was. “I, uh, have to talk to you. My partner is going to be talking to your sister when she wakes up.” Dean started, then sat down in the chair next to the hospital bed where Mabel had been napping just a few moments prior.

Mason nodded, “Ok.” He paused for a moment before asking a question quietly, “Is it actually dead? It’s not gonna come after us again, will it?” Mason was clearly a bit scared at the thought of it coming back to hurt him or his sister. Dean understanded that. He’d had monsters come after him years later several times. It was never a fun experience, especially when it’s your first monster.

“It’s dead. It’s not gonna come after you or your sister.” Dean confirmed with a nod before the more pressing issue at hand, “Kid, I’m going to need to ask you about everything that has happened to you and your sister since you got back from Gravity Falls. The supernatural isn’t something that the world is ready to know about yet, so we’re also going to discuss your statement to the police.” Dean leaned back in his seat and put one ankle on his other knee, clasping both hands together while he waited for Mason’s explanation.

Mason nodded, then focused his gaze onto the blanket instead of Dean. “Well, the bus dropped us off in front of the house…” Mason began.

Chapter Text

Cruel. Yes, that’s the word. His family is cruel and unforgiving. They yell and they insult and they hit. They’re plain cruel, and they get away with it just because they have money. Cruel is the first word that comes to Mary Jane’s mind any time they are mentioned.

They’re unfit to be around children. Especially pre-teens as rowdy as the twins. Mabel and Dipper are too kind to be treated the way that MJ knows they’ll be treated by Howard’s family. They’re young and innocent and beautiful. Truly the most special part about MJ’s life. Her beautiful children. Her gifts from the gods above, whichever gods those might be.

They were pure. 

They were like a sunny day right after rain.

Which is why she couldn’t stay with Howard anymore. Oh, how MJ loved him. She loved him deeply and wished for nothing more than to keep this little family of hers together and happy and safe. But no matter how much she loved him, or how much he loved her, he refused to do anything about the way his family treated her. And that would have been okay, if it didn’t mean that the twins would receive the same treatment.

MJ would not let her beautiful baby boy and baby girl be subjected to the abuse that Howard seems to think is normal. She knows it’ll be hard after the divorce, but at least the twins would be safe. It’ll take time for the kids to understand, but they’ll never take it out on her even when they don’t. MJ knows this, with all of her heart. 

Howard knew this too. He knew his wife wouldn’t stay for very long after he had decided to bring his family into their lives again. He knew it deep down, but he just wished it wasn’t so. Howard had convinced himself that everything would be fine, and that MJ would try to give his family a second chance. They weren’t as bad as she seemed to think they were.

Howard didn’t fight it when MJ sent the kids to their great uncle’s cabin out in Oregan. He didn’t fight when she set the divorce papers in front of him. He didn’t fight about the amount of child support he’d give. He knew it was for the best, no matter how much he loved his wife. 

At least… at least he was allowed to visit whenever he liked. At least he knew that MJ’d never be rude or cold or distant, even if he’d be her ex-husband. She was too kind for that. She rarely even yelled, even when she was livid.

After the divorce was finalized, Howard moved out. MJ and the twins needed the house more than he did, so he made sure that she’d get it in the divorce. His things were quickly gone and the rest of the house was untouched.

Two weeks after that, they met back up at the house. The twins were coming back home! MJ couldn’t wait to see her lovely babies any longer. Howard was excited to see them too. His family may not be enthusiastic about his kids, but they were everything to him. They were his world and he’d choose them over anything. Anything.

MJ and Howard shared their sentiments towards the twins. That was the thing they had most in common. Their love for their children being the most powerful part of them. Their children would come first before anything at all.

MJ and Howard make beef stroganoff together, just like old times. MJ found it hard not to dive back into old habits and sneak kisses, or dance with him, or spend a little bit too long staring at him while he chopped the mushrooms or onions

She cooked the beef while he chopped, keeping her eyes off of him. When the beef was done, he scraped the onions and mushrooms into the pan to caramelize and add more flavor to the beef. Then they added the milk, the cream cheese, the minced garlic, the Parmesan, and the cream of mushroom.

Howard stirred the noodles while she stirred the sauce. Careful not to let any of it spill over the side of the saucepan. Careful to make it perfect for the twins. They always did love beef stroganoff. And today their entire world view may change, so she wanted to make today as nice as possible.

MJ heard a knock at the door despite the blaringly loud music she was listening to. Howard didn’t care much for the music, but he hummed along while he went to grab the door. MJ finished up with straining the noodles and turning off the stove while he did so, a smile on her lips as she hoped it was the lights of her life at that door.

Howard shouted something, and MJ dropped the pot of noodles when he screamed in a way she had never heard before, not even when Mabel had broken her leg on the trampoline. MJ was frozen still when a snake-like woman entered the kitchen with her husband’s body dragging alongside her.

The woman had a lump of flesh in her other hand, and MJ felt like she would throw up when she glanced back down at her husband and saw the hole where his heart should be. MJ watched as the woman… ate it.

MJ didn’t even have time to react before she was on the ground with the woman above her wearing a giddy smile. MJ was in agony, but the only thing she could thing of were her kids.She knew she’d never get to see them again.

Never braid Mabel’s hair while she ranted about some cute boy at school.

Never trace the birthmark on Dipper’s forehead while he complained about the bullies.

Never tuck them in at night.

Never watch them play.

Never… be their mother. She’d never get to have that again. And it was completely out of her control.

She glanced at the kitchen door, not sure if it was out of some futile hope that someone would be there to help or not. But she quickly realized why the kitchen door was so important right now. It was open, ever so slightly. And there was someone there.

Just… someone she hoped wouldn’t be. The last face she saw before the last of her strength was gone and she faded into a sleep she’d never wake up from.

Dipper.

Chapter Text

Dipper finished his explanation after a while, and he didn’t miss the way that the man grimaced the entire way through. Dipper probably shouldn’t have gone into as much detail as he had when describing the state he found his parents in. Sure, the man had asked for him to elaborate on what he saw, but maybe Dipper shouldn’t have described in so much detail the way the blood was smeared across the floors and walls like a practiced ritual, or the way his mother’s breathing made the giant hole in her stomach stretch and tear even further.

The man seemed to look guilty when Dipper finished off with when the men had found them. Though, it was understandable. Dipper would feel guilty if he was the man, talking to a kid with injuries that could have been prevented. Dipper didn’t blame the man for anything that happened that awful night.

“If you don’t mind, my partner and I would like to stick around for a bit longer.” The man says, and Dipper could see that he was forcing his ‘I feel nothing but I’m still sympathetic, no other emotions here’ demeanor. He nodded to the man, then hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“You’re not really FBI, are you? If you are and that was rude, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry for everything. It’s my fault any of this happened. If I had just gone inside the gas station to ask for help instead of being so paranoid, we wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped. If I hadn’t unlocked our chains, we wouldn’t have been knocked out again and relocated. And if I had just trusted you…” Dipper trailed off. It’s wasn’t hard for him to blame himself 

“We’re not FBI agents. We’re hunters, we find and kill the supernatural creatures that kill or hurt people. And there’s no need to apologize. You thought you were doing what was best for you and your sister. You thought you were stopping things from getting worse in an already shitty position. I understand.” The man said confidently, patting Dipper on the shoulder gently.

The man then sat straighter and clasped his hands together as he changed the topic, “Well, anyways, back to the reason I wanted to talk to you in the first place. We need to discuss the story you’re going to give in your statement to the police.”

Dipper nodded. The man opened his mouth to speak again, likely to tell Dipper exactly what to say to the police, but he was cut off by the door opening. Standing in the doorway was the other man with a slightly panicked expression.

“Dean, we need to talk for a second. Now.” The taller man said. Dipper guessed that ‘Dean’ was the man he was talking to. Dipper looked between the two men, fully confused and wondering what was going on.

‘Dean’ looked just as confused, “Sam, can’t it wait? I was just about to talk to the kid about what he was going to say to the police.” He sounded a bit exasperated, but stood up anyways and headed to the door where ‘Sam’ was standing.

“It’s been ten minutes you should’ve already- know what? It doesn’t matter. You can just talk to him again later. This really can’t wait.” ‘Sam’ said, pinching the bridge of his nose and pulling ‘Dean’ into the hallway and closing the door behind him.

Dipper sighed and ran his hand through his hair, looking back at his cast and realizing that maybe he shouldn’t have taken his cast off too early last time it broke. Otherwise it wouldn’t have broken again. ‘Stupid Dipper’, he thought.

Dipper sat there for a while, just staring at the ceiling as he thought about the discussion. What was the story they would have him tell? He had a few ideas, but he’d prefer to actually know the answers to his questions. He could faintly hear the men talking, but the door muffled the conversation just like before. Dammit. 

~~~

Dean could tell that his brother was livid, no matter how much he tried to mask it with pure concern. “Spit it out, Sam. What’s got your panties in a twist?” Dean acted indifferent to Sam’s concerned and angry demeanor, but inside he was already stressing every possible thing that could make his brother this upset and worried.

“It’s about the grunkles.” Sam grimaced at the word, which was clearly a fusion word that the ‘Ray of Sunshine’ made up and insisted he used, “The kids can’t go with them. Stanley is a conman and Stanford has no idea what’s illegal and what’s not. They both knowingly carry around illegal firearms, and they’ve endangered the twins several times. Not to mention how many enemies they’ve made in Gravity Falls that have tried to kill Mabel and Mason.”

Dean suddenly felt cold, and almost whirled around to check if there was a ghost, but he knew there was nothing causing the sudden eerie feeling other than what Sam just said. “What? What do you mean enemies? The kids clearly trust them, who told you those things about the grea- the grunkles.” Dean questioned, his tone much more serious than before.

Sam crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, “Mabel told me. She told me everything that happened during their summer at Gravity Falls. All about the paranormal things that either tried to hurt them or tried to turn the world into a chaos playground. She even showed me some of her scars and explained the stories behind them.”

Dean froze in place, processing his brother’s words and thinking back to the twins. They both had several faint scars and they weren’t at all surprised when everything was explained to them….

But what if Mabel is just making things up to make the stories behind her scars cooler and more exciting? It would make sense, but Dean knew his brother could tell the difference between an actual story and an exaggerated version made up by a kid. Besides, the kids are 13. That’s old enough to not make up stories for attention, right?

Sam continued, “I looked into it a bit, and Stanley has a warrant out for his arrest in every state he’s been in. Which is pretty much all of them. Stanford has been seen trying to communicate with plants and just acting like a total lunatic with complete seriousness. Dean, we can’t leave the kids with them.” Sam glanced around the halls to make sure that nobody was listening to them. The coast was….

Not clear.

There was that nurse from before standing there, the clipboard clutched tightly to his chest. His eyes were wide with surprise and concern, likely for the twins. “Agents, if I can help you in any way, tell me. If those men really are as unsafe for the kids as you say, I’d like to help.” He stepped closer to them, and Dean took the moment to actually look at him just to be sure he isn’t a monster. He had no way to really tell without causing a scene, so it didn’t tell Dean anything.

The nurse was clearly fresh out of training, if his baby face said anything. Dean nodded, “First, I’d like for you to tell me if you have an explanation on why Mason’s arm broke, when it shouldn’t be possible for an arm to break like that so easily.”

The nurse looked down at the clipboard and tilted it to show the brother’s, “There’s actually evidence that it was already broken beforehand. It clearly wasn’t taken care of as well as it should have been, and the cast was obviously taken off too early. If he hadn’t re-broken it, it probably would’ve gone unnoticed and gotten much worse. Is that all you needed?” The nurse was clearly happy to be of some help, even if still obviously worried for the twins. He must still be new to being a registered nurse.

Dean thought for a moment before requesting another thing, “If you could keep the great-uncles away from the rooms for a bit, that would be great. We still need to finish talking to Mason.” 

The nurse nodded eagerly and took off to, presumably, the great-uncles’ location. Dean looked back at Sam and nodded before opening the hospital room door again and heading back in. Mason was still there, of course, but he was looking down at his arm with a bit of regret. He must have heard what the nurse said, considering the fact that the nurse wasn’t very quiet about it. Dean wondered how soundproof the rooms were.

“Hey, champ. We can talk about your statement to the police now. We can explain what Sam needed later, but we should discuss this first. Is that alright?” Dean said softly, sitting back down in the chair next to the hospital bed. Mason nodded, and listened carefully as Dean explained what he would need to say in his police statement. 

Sam was leaning against the door and occasionally added the small details for Mason to mention in his statement. Just enough for there to be holes in the story but not enough to seem suspicious. After all, scared kids never remember everything clearly and sometimes forget entire parts of what happened.

Chapter Text

So… this fic is gonna go through some heavy construction. I’m gonna go through and rewrite the entire fic. I had an idea on where I want it to go, but I can’t do that with what I’ve written already. I also just don’t like what I’ve done with this so far and I’ve made too many mistakes to just keep fixing in future chapters, because fixing those mistakes just makes more. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience.

I’ve been having some writing block lately, so the edited version of this won’t be seen for a while because I want to wait until I’ve written at least ten to twenty chapters. I’m going to add this to a series because I’m going to post some of the art I’ve been doing for this.

Been struggling mentally too a bit. Haven’t really been motivated to do anything other than just read or watch TV. I’m trying to keep myself productive however I can despite that, but I haven’t been able to do much with creativity or stuff like that.

I have a lot of projects I’m working on right now, so things are going to be a lot slower than they already are. I’m working on painting, building, crocheting, drawing, cleaning, school stuff, and so many other things. I’m also trying to finish reading some of the fics or books that I’ve started but haven’t yet finished. I’m also trying to be a bit more social because I know I can’t just spend all day in my room, especially when I can’t even do anything productive in my room because Im not allowed to have my phone in there.

I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses, even if it feels like I am even to myself. I really do want to finish this fic, it’s just going to take a lot of time.

Again, I’m really sorry about all of this and I thank all of you who have read this fic so far, even if none of it is going to be kept. Thank you for the kudos and comments I’ve gotten, it really does mean a lot to me. I can only hope that I can fix this fic to be better.

I hope you guys are all doing okay! Stay safe and happy and you! Remember to take a break every once in a while and take care of yourselves.