A/N My life has been pretty crazy lately and I've been on a temporary hiatus from writing because...reasons (including but not limited to: death in the family, illness and crazy stress). Getting back into writing in general has been a challenge because when I'm at my computer I've got so much crap on my mind that I draw a blank. But I have to write something or I'll go crazy! Fortunately, miraculously even, the latest episode gave me a few ideas which has led to this and hopefully it will reignite that spark needed to continue my other stuff. (Sometimes that helps) Anyway, because I can't resist the hurt/comfort genre and I'm so long winded that I can't seem to write a simple one shot to save my life, (It's over 9000!...words) here's a fluffy two shot family h/c piece set just after "The Last Mabelcorn".

Enjoy.

Just So You Know…

Mabel winces as she peels off her sweater and tosses it in the trash. She feels a little sad because she loved that sweater, loved the colour scheme and the unicorn design she spent a long time on getting it just right. Like all her sweaters it was made with love, but now it's ruined and not worth salvaging. Besides tearing off the unicorn design in rage when she learned how cruel unicorns truly are, it was also covered in rainbow unicorn tears. And when she looks down at the orange t-shirt she wore underneath, and the big red patch forming on her side, she realizes that her sweater was also covered with blood.

I thought that there was a disproportionately large amount of red in that rainbow of unicorn…stuff… she thinks with a grimace as she lifts her shirt to see a large, dark bruise forming along her side with a good sized gash in the centre. She remembers one of the unicorns trying to impale her with their horn, but she dodged the attack and the unicorn only managed to graze just below her ribcage, but she didn't realize it managed to tear the skin. It cut pretty deep too. Of course in the heat of battle she didn't really have time to think about it or dwell on it. And when they finally surrendered, giving her the unicorn hair she needed and some of their treasures and fake eyelashes, the adrenaline was running so high she hardly noticed the various injuries she had sustained in the fight. But now the adrenaline wore off and Mabel ached all over.

She turns on the tap on the bathtub, letting the water run hot, deciding against bubbles this time around, thanks to her wounds. Taking off the rest of her filthy clothes and throwing them in the laundry hamper, Mabel eases into the steaming bath, sighing with relief as it soothes her aching muscles.

She closes her eyes, massaging a sore wrist and thinks about the fight. Her lips curl into a smug and satisfied smirk as she recalls the look of pure shock on Celestiabellebethebelle's face when she threw that punch. She totally had that coming…Mabel thinks, but then her smile fades into a frown as a realization sinks in.

I punched a unicorn in the face!

All day she had tried so hard to prove that she was pure of heart. Being a kind-hearted and good person was something she strived to always be, it was something valued about herself, but when the unicorn told her that she was bad, she was devastated. No amount of good deeds could fix the wrongs that she had committed, she was made to believe that in her very core there was a horrible, unworthy human being. When it was revealed that the unicorn was lying, scamming her like some gullible tourist at the shack, but worse, something broke inside.

I punched a unicorn in the face! What kind of person punches a unicorn? Doesn't matter if she was mean to me, what I did was wrong!

She shakes her head, trying to rationalize it in her mind.

But I needed to get the unicorn hair somehow. It was to protect the Shack. If I left empty handed who knows what could happen?

But it still doesn't make it right…does it?

She thought she had learned her lesson about morality, but now that she thinks about it, she's not so sure. OK, maybe life's not so simple as black and white, but surely there was a better way to handle things than resorting to bullying a bully. But C-Beth or whatever the heck her name was wasn't going to just let her have the much needed unicorn hair, so she had to do something. But at the time she was more concerned about herself and her own broken heart to care about the whole purpose of her quest, so even if she did a good thing for her family by obtaining the hair, how could that possibly justify stooping to C-Beth's level?

The worst thing is, that punching her, and fighting her like she did felt so satisfying. Maybe it was a necessary evil to protect the Shack, but her intentions weren't so pure. What kind of person takes satisfaction in doing the wrong thing, even if it's for the greater good?

She was mean, she had it coming…but it still doesn't make it right…

"Blaarrrgg!" she groans with frustration, splashing the water slightly, deciding that she really doesn't like thinking about such moral dilemmas. But what the unicorn said to her, even if it was a lie, struck at her very core and try as she may, she just can't seem to let it go.

It's not my fault you're a bad person.

She winces in pain as her frustrated movements tug at the gash on her side, sending a shooting pain through her ribcage. "Great," she mutters with a strained but annoyed voice when she sees that it reopened and was bleeding again, turning the water a pale shade of pink. She sighs, pulling the plug in the drain and slowly, achingly climbs to her feet, nearly falling back down again as a wave of dizziness washes over her. She clutches her side and shakily turns on the shower to rinse away the dirty bathwater and properly shampoo the grime from her hair.

When she's finished her shower she gingerly dries herself off and changes into a clean, comfortable pajama set, using a clip to hold her shirt up so she can go about tending to the wound on her side.

She's no stranger to blood or first aid. She's helped patch up Dipper when he was hurt, and when Stan cut his hand a few weeks ago somehow (he wouldn't say what happened) she was the one who helped him take care of it when it started to get infected. But when Mabel tries to get a good look at the gash in her side, her vision doubles and she has to sit down on the closed toilet lid to keep from falling down.

OK, gonna need a little help here… she thinks. Even though it's not bleeding too badly, in typical Mabel fashion, she did go a little overboard donating blood earlier. She was so convinced that going that extra mile would help purify her heart, that she somehow managed to convince the nurse to let her donate more than what was considered safe. It was a good deed that certainly isn't helping her much now. In hindsight, even after having time to recover, it was pretty miraculous that she had the strength to fight the unicorns at all, with or without her friends backing her up.

"Dipper!" she calls, "I can use some help in here bro-bro!"

She presses some gauze to stop the fresh new flow of blood and waits. When she gets no answer she calls again, "Dipper!"

"Drat!" she frowns, peeking under the gauze. While the bleeding has started to slow, it still looks pretty bad and oh man, does it hurt! I looks bad enough that she wonders if maybe stitches are necessary and hurts bad enough she wonders if she didn't crack her bottom rib. How did I manage to go so long without noticing this anyway? She wonders but she shrugs it off, considering it to be merely odd. In Gravity Falls, odd is normal so she doesn't really question it further, she just wants to patch herself up so she can go to bed. After such a long and crazy day, she's tired.

She dismisses the idea about needing stitches and when she tries to call Dipper again to no avail, Mabel takes a deep breath and shakily applies antibiotic ointment to the wound and tapes fresh gauze over it herself. If she wasn't so dizzy and shaky and going at it at such an odd angle it probably would've looked much neater, but the important thing is that it will hold, at least for now.

When she's finished with that she rubs at her sore wrist and flexes her hand, noticing faint bruising along her knuckles from punching the unicorn. Her wrist is slightly swollen so she decides to wrap it. She's not able to get it tight enough to make much of a difference but it helps ease the pain a little.

Hmm, I'll have to get Dipper to help me make it tighter later…she thinks, and then she's hit with a wave of sadness. She can't quite put her finger on it, but things have changed between her and Dipper, and whenever she thinks about it she can't help but wonder what it is exactly that's changed. It's subtle, but it's there and it's not good. She sometimes wonders if maybe she's merely making a mountain out of a mole hill and it's just a phase, no big deal, but it bothers her all the same.

They still get along, sure, but ever since Grunkle Ford's come along he's been doing his own thing a lot more often. That in of itself isn't new, but usually he'd ask if she wanted to come along or help him when he went off to solve mysteries or whatever, but not anymore. Dipper spends most of his time now hanging out with Grunkle Ford which is cool—she's happy that they get along so well, but whenever she asks about what they're up to they'd both go quiet, like it's some huge secret. There's a distance between them now.

When Ford brought up Bill Cipher this morning she was shocked to be part of the conversation at all to be honest. And then she had to practically beg to be allowed to help Grunkle Ford protect the Shack from the Triangle Guy by getting the unicorn hair in the first place! I don't think Grunkle Ford trusts me all that much, and maybe Dipper doesn't either. Not anymore. But then again, I haven't exactly been the best sister lately.

Mabel closes her eyes, feeling tears start to fall down her face, The unicorn might've been lying about being able to see into my heart, but she wasn't wrong.

She sniffs, wiping away the tears and starts to get up, but suddenly tips forward when dizziness overwhelms her. She grabs the sink to catch herself, and sits back down.

When she feels steady enough, she climbs to her feet, using the walls for balance as she leaves the bathroom with the intent of going upstairs to bed.

She makes it two steps when she hears the front door open and voices carry through the Shack.

"Are you sure this will work?" Dipper asks.

"Positive, that unicorn hair made all the difference. But keep in mind that this only protects the Shack, so until I can fix the mind scanner, when you have to leave always be on guard, got it?" Grunkle Ford replies.

"Got it."

Mabel grins wanly, glad that her efforts to help her family wasn't in vain and wonders if there's any leftover unicorn hair. Maybe if she knits it into sweaters for everyone that could solve the problem Ford just brought up. I should ask him and find out… She clutches at her wounded side taking a couple of steps but she feels so woozy that she can't stand anymore so she slides down the wall, landing with a thump. There's no way she'll make it up the stairs on her own power at this point. "Uh, Dipper?" she calls, her voice a little strained.

He answers in a heartbeat and when he sees her just outside the bathroom sitting on the floor, looking pale and pathetic he stops in his tracks, "Woah, Mabel! You OK?"

"Um…I could use a little help," she replies with a weary grin, "I'm feeling a little unsteady on my feet at the moment."

He eyes her up and down and shakes his head, "Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?"

"Didn't realize how bad it was until the adrenaline wore off I guess," Mabel shrugs.

"Is that blood?" he asks, his eyes wide with worry.

Mabel looks down at her side and groans, "Aw, fudgesicle sticks! I thought it stopped by now!" She frowns, "And I liked this shirt!" Sure, it wasn't her favourite sleepshirt, the one with the floppy disk—that was in the laundry waiting to be washed—but she liked this one a lot. It's soft and cozy and has kittens on it, and now that too is ruined, just like her sweater.

"Oh yeah, I'm really concerned about your shirt right now," Dipper rolls his eyes as Ford comes up from behind him. "Let me see…"

She sighs and lifts her ruined nightshirt to reveal the bandage. Blood had soaked right through and she has to admit that it's a little worrisome. I really don't want to need stitches…she laments with a frown.

"Mabel, this looks pretty bad," Dipper murmurs.

"Well, it could be worse," Mabel says, trying to look on the bright side, "the unicorn did that trying to impale me with her horn. Good thing she missed, right?"

"I think you and I have a different definition for 'missed'," Dipper smirks, slightly amused by her optimism, "but you're right that it could be worse. I think I need to go to the enchanted part of the forest and give that stupid unicorn a piece of my mind!"

"Well, to be fair I did kind of start it when I punched her in the face."

"Seriously?"

Mabel nods sheepishly.

"OK, you really need to tell me this story in more detail later," Dipper exclaims, "but first, how did you not think to mention this earlier?"

"I told you, I didn't know how bad it was."

Dipper looks skeptical but then Grunkle Ford cuts in, "She probably didn't notice it because she was covered with unicorn tears. I know of a few magical healing elixir recipes that list unicorn tears as an ingredient and while they don't have healing properties on their own, they are believed to be effective at magically treating pain."

"See?" Mabel argues, wincing when Dipper puts pressure on it. "I'm not going to need stitches, will I?"

"Let me look?" Ford asks, not really allowing Mabel or Dipper a chance to respond, instead he pulls Dipper's hand away and sees it for himself. "Looks pretty nasty, but I think you'll be fine without."

Mabel sighs with relief, "Good because I hate stitches."

"Don't we all," Ford smiles. He holds out his hand, offering to help her up. When he pulls her to her feet she sways dangerously but he scoops her into his arms in one fluid motion, "Dipper, get the first aid kit and follow me. Don't worry Mabel, we'll fix you up like new."

"Thanks," she replies, her voice breaking a little as she unexpectedly starts to feel overwhelmed all of a sudden and begins to cry softly to herself. It had been such a crazy and harrowing day and she's so tired she figures that maybe it shouldn't be so surprising that she's a little on the emotional side.

"Mabel? What's wrong? Are there more injuries to worry about? I'm not hurting you am I?" Ford asks, adjusting his grip on her.

She shakes her head, "No, I'm just…I'm fine…well, mostly fine." She glances around in surprise when she realizes he's not taking her upstairs to their room in the attic, but he's carrying her into the gift shop. No…he's taking her downstairs to the basement! She hasn't been down there since the portal opened. Grunkle Stan had forbidden it at first, but when Dipper bonded with Grunkle Ford over that math game he changed his mind. Instead it was Grunkle Ford that didn't let her down there, only Dipper's allowed.

"Grunkle Ford?" she exclaims, looking around as he stepped onto the elevator, holding the door open for Dipper who follows close behind with the first aid supplies.

"I have something down here that should help with the healing and the pain," he says, "it's kind of a secret so I'd rather not risk my brother finding out about it. He'd exploit it for profit until there's nothing left."

"But I thought you didn't want me to come down here…"

"True, but you got hurt doing your part at protecting this family so I think I can make an exception," Ford smiles at her, setting her down on a chair. "You earned it."

Mabel sniffs and can't help but smile back. She notices that the window to the portal room is concealed with an old bedsheet, and a lot of things seem to be hidden away, so she figures it's not really a big deal for him to take her down there since there's not much to see. But the fact that he took her downstairs at all means a lot in her eyes. They got along just fine, but they never really connected before, so while he may not trust her like he trusts Dipper, she takes it as a sign that he's not completely shutting her out of his secret life anymore. Baby steps… she thinks, realizing just how badly she wants this.

"OK, Dipper, put pressure on her wound. I'll be right back, I just have to grab something," Ford says, patting her gently on the shoulder, leaving her and Dipper alone.

Dipper doesn't say anything, he just does what he's told and stares at her worriedly, like if he takes his eyes off her she'd fade away.

"I'm fine Dipper," she sniffs, grimacing as the pressure Dipper's using to staunch the blood sends shooting pain through her middle, "I'll probably be really sore for a few days but…I'm OK."

"You look like you're about to fall over," he comments, placing his free hand on her shoulder.

Mabel sighs, "It's the blood loss."

"How much blood did you lose before you noticed you were hurt?" he exclaims.

"I'm sure if it was just this I'd be doing much better right now," she motions to her injured side, "but donating a few pints of blood earlier doesn't help."

"You donated blood? I didn't think kids were allowed to do that."

"Well I was able to convince them to make an exception thanks to my adorable charm," Mabel flashes a grin.

"OK, but why on earth would you want to…?"

"I had to. I thought if I…I thought it would…" her voice trails off and she frowns, getting a lost look in her eyes. I thought it would make me a good person worthy of the unicorn's favour. I thought it would make me pure of heart…I was such a fool. "It's a long story."

Dipper notices her eyes welling with tears and sees the sadness behind them, "Mabel? Are you OK? What's wrong?"

Mabel avoids his concerned gaze and shrugs with a weary smirk, "You mean besides the fact I sorta got stabbed with a unicorn's horn?"

"Yeah."

She looks at him and sighs, "It's…it's nothing. Just today made me realize that…that um…" she shakes her head and blinks, letting one solitary tear to slide down her face, "It's nothing." She quickly wipes the tear away with her bandaged hand.

"Doesn't sound like nothing."

"It's a long story?"

"OK, so tell it to me."

Mabel is about to ask Dipper the question that's pressing on her mind but Ford returns with a small jar of something. It looks like jam, green jam.

"OK let me take a look," Ford says. Dipper drops his hand and Ford peels back the bloodstained gauze and smiles, "Well, the bleeding's slowed down now, so that's good. I'm going to clean it up a bit and put some of this stuff on it and you should be right as rain in no time, it might not even leave a scar if you're lucky."

"What is that?" Mabel asks, making a face when she catches a whiff. It stinks! Even hurt and upset, sometimes Mabel just can't help herself, "Smells worse than Dipper's farts, and that's saying something!"

"Hey!" Dipper exclaims in protest.

"Oh admit it Dipping Sauce, half a taco and you're practically toxic!"

She's about to continue but she stops. Here I go again, teasing Dipper. Ugh, I'm a horrible sister! The one consolation is that he doesn't seem to mind this time around, in fact he looks kind of amused. Probably giving me a pass because I'm injured.

"Honestly, you don't want to know," Ford replies, trying not to laugh, "But trust me when I say it works wonders."

"It's not like, goblin guts or anything like that, is it?" she guesses.

Ford chuckles warmly, "No, no, of course not!" Then his face gets serious, "But seriously, you don't want to know."

Mabel sighs and silently gives him permission to use the mystery goop, even if it does smell.

"So what this stuff is going to do is seal that gash closed, and will dull the pain and help heal it faster. I must warn you, it's going to sting a little at first…OK a lot, but give it a few minutes and you shouldn't feel a thing," Ford says. Mabel's braces herself and nods as Dipper gives her shoulder a supportive squeeze.

Ford's not lying about the stinging. Well, 'stinging' isn't quite accurate, it's more like an agonizing burning sensation that has her crying out in misery. Thankfully it quickly fades to a dull throb, and soon it goes numb and she can hardly feel it at all. "Grunkle Ford," she exclaims breathlessly, wiping away the tears in her eyes, marvelling at how much it doesn't hurt anymore, "That's amazing!"

"Good, I'm glad to hear it worked," Ford grins, "there's one more thing I'd like to give you before you go on to bed. Dipper, could you get Mabel a glass of water?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," he nods sparing Mabel a look before he heads upstairs.

"Mabel, you stay right here and I'll be back," Ford says, disappearing again.

Left alone, Mabel looks around the room and is reminded of that day when everything changed. She sees the desk where they found the other two journals and discovered what Grunkle Stan was up to. The desk is mostly empty, but there's a door covering the shelves the journals were on and it looks like it's locked.

The picture Stan had of her and Dipper is still there which makes her smile. Knowing that Grunkle Ford fixed it and kept it makes her happy. He keeps to himself so much, except when spending time with Dipper, she sometimes wonders how he feels about them. Well, her. She knows that he cares about Dipper, he's the only one Grunkle Ford can seem to trust, and even though they don't get along, Mabel knows he loves his brother. But with her she's not sure sometimes. They get along, but it feels like they're merely friendly acquaintances than family. But the photograph on the desk says a lot.

While she still feels wobbly, now that her side doesn't hurt she's also feeling a little stronger so without really thinking about it she approaches the picture, and takes it in her hands as she leans against the desk for support. She grins, remembering when it was taken. It was a fun day. They were still new to Gravity Falls, Dipper was still crushing hard on Wendy, he was just figuring out how to crack some of the codes in the journal, she hadn't met Candy and Grenda yet and they were barely warming up to the nickname 'The Mystery Twins'.

It wasn't really all that long ago, but since then things had changed so much. In some ways, Mabel's still not quite sure if it's for better or worse. She'd like to think it's mostly for the better, and is optimistic that things will eventually turn out that way if it's not, but there's other things to consider. Like Triangle Guy, as she likes to call him, and whatever Ford is so worried about him finding. And then there's the question she's been asking about herself lately, especially after today. Have I changed for the better or for the worse? I try to be good but lately…I don't know. Have I become a bad person?

"Mabel! What are you doing?" Ford hisses suddenly, startling Mabel out of her thoughts.

Feeling like she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar, she twirls around to face him, which makes her head spin and she loses her balance, blindly grasping for something to hold onto to keep from falling. She drops the picture and one hand slams onto the desk while the other grasps at the bedsheet concealing the portal room. He catches her before she can fall, and she's about to thank him until she sees the anger and disappointment in his eyes. And then she realizes that he wasn't trying to keep her from falling, he was pulling her away from the sheet to keep her from seeing whatever it was he was hiding.

Oh no, it's the scissors and the unicorn all over again…

"Whoa, Grunkle Ford it's not what it looks like…"

"Looks pretty clear to me!" he snaps, physically making her sit on the chair before he makes sure the makeshift curtain is still in place, "You know how important my privacy is to me! I finally let you down in my personal space and the first thing you do when my back is turned is start snooping around!"

"That's not what happened!" Mabel exclaims.

"I thought maybe after today I could start to trust you!"

"I wasn't snooping, I…I was looking at the picture, that's all!"

"I don't believe you!"

"Honest! Grunkle Ford…" she feels tears slip from her eyes, "I was just looking at the picture and you startled me! I got dizzy and grabbed the curtain to keep from falling, not to look behind it!"

Wagging his finger at her he's about to say something else and then his expression softens when his gaze meets her apologetic eyes. He seems to be scrutinizing her eyes carefully, checking for something. Finally his shoulders sag and softly he asks, "How much did you see?" There's no bite or anger in his voice, just disappointment.

"Nothing," Mabel insists.

"OK," he sighs, picking up the dropped picture and putting it back in place, "I guess I should believe you then."

Doesn't look like it, she thinks, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry," she cries.

He sighs, handing her what looks like a small piece of homemade candy, about the size of an M&M, "When Dipper gets down here with the water, take that."

"What is it?"

"Just a pill with a few magical components I made in the other dimension and works like an antibiotic," he replies, not looking her in the eyes, his tone quiet and flat, "It should help speed up your recovery."

"Thanks Grunkle Ford."

"Yeah, glad to help," he shrugs, avoiding her eyes, unable to hide his disappointment.

He still doesn't believe me when I say I wasn't trying to snoop around.

"Grunkle Ford?" Mabel asks. When he looks at her she continues, "Do you think I'm…" …a bad person? She stops thinks better of it and shakes her head, "never mind."

"What is it?" Ford presses with a weary sigh.

"Nothing. It was stupid," Mabel flashes a tired grin, "But…are we good?" She vaguely gestures to the desk and the bedsheet curtain.

Ford bristles, "Sure." He doesn't sound very convincing.

I guess that answers my question, she thinks sadly. Will he ever trust me now?

Dipper arrives and gives her the water, she takes the pill and at Ford's instruction drinks the whole glass.

"Looks like you lost a fair amount of blood," he says quietly and clinically, "you need to replenish your electrolytes. When you get upstairs you should have at least one more glass."

"OK, thanks," she nods, feeling terrible for betraying his trust, even though that was never her intention. Add that to my list of sins, I guess.

"Will you be OK getting back upstairs?" Ford asks, avoiding eye contact.

"Um, I'm still kind of shaky but I guess I can manage," Mabel replies quietly.

"I'll help her," Dipper offers, glancing back and forth between them with confusion, sensing the change in mood. Something must've happened when he was gone.

Mabel's eerily quiet when they make their journey upstairs from the basement to the attic. She leans on him for support and has to take a quick break when they get to the main level, feeling weak as a kitten and heavy with guilt. Not just for ruining her chances at earning Ford's trust, but all her sins. She may have torn up her list when she learned the unicorn lied about being able to see into her heart, but she remembers every item. No good deed is going to fix all the rotten things she's done. The unicorn had a point.

"Doing good deeds to make yourself look good isn't very good at all!"

She couldn't possibly measure up to be worthy of truly being considered a good person. And even when she tries to do good things, does she do it because it's who she is? Or does she do it for herself? She used to think being a good person was part of who she was, but now she's not so sure anymore.

I have changed. For the worse.

"Mabel?" Dipper asks when they reach their room and she starts crying again, "Are you OK? What hurts?"

She shakes her head, "I'm fine just…just…really tired and sore and…today…the unicorn made me realize something about myself that I didn't want to know."

"What's that?"

"That I'm a bad person," she replies, flopping into bed and curling on her uninjured side, wishing she could roll over so she didn't have to face him. But even though the stinky salve numbed the pain, she doesn't want to risk making it worse.

"Mabel, don't be silly," Dipper sighs, sitting down beside her, "why would you think you're a bad person?"

"Because it's true."

"You're going to let some dumb unicorn get to you?"

"Yes!" she whines petulantly.

"Did something happen downstairs with you and Grunkle Ford?"

"Yeah," she quietly admits, "it was a misunderstanding really, but… you know what, I don't want to talk about it right now. It's been a long day and I'm so tired."

"OK," Dipper agrees, as she buries her face in her pillow. "Want me to help you with that?" he asks, pointing to her bandaged wrist. It clearly hadn't been put on tight enough and is starting to unravel, making it pretty useless.

Mabel looks up at him to see what he's talking about, "What?"

"That."

"Oh. Sure," she sighs, reluctantly sitting up, wincing as it awakens all the various aches she had that wasn't treated by some magical mystery salve. She holds out her sore hand and he unwraps the bandage, revealing her swollen wrist and bruised and torn knuckles.

"Wow," Dipper exclaims with a low whistle, "I still can't believe you punched a unicorn in the face!"

"I shouldn't have done it," Mabel whimpers softly.

"I'm still looking forward to hearing the whole story, but something tells me she had it coming," Dipper says. "You needed to get the unicorn hair somehow, and because of you the Mystery Shack is safe from Bill. I think that has to count for something."

Mabel doesn't answer, she just watches with dull, tired eyes as he wraps her sprained wrist.

"How does that feel?" he asks, "Not too tight is it?"

"Its fine," she replies quietly.

Dipper nods and fastens the clasps to hold it in place, "And for the record, you're a good person. One of the nicest people I know."

"Thanks but… I know you're just saying that to make me feel better."

"Mabel," he sighs, "I'm saying that because it's true. Maybe you make mistakes once in a while, but who doesn't? Didn't you yourself say that morality is relative?"

"Yeah, but I was still on an adrenaline high and I wasn't really thinking."

"Well, maybe you don't always do the right thing, but you try. And I don't think a bad person would beat themselves up over doing bad things, so I think that should count for something too. Right?"

Mabel gives him a small smile and then lies back down, pulling her blanket over her head, "Good night, Dipper."

"Night," he replies, saddened that his sister is so convinced that she's a bad person for some reason that she clearly doesn't believe him, "I hope you'll feel better soon."

"Mmm," he can see her shrug under the covers. He sighs, gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and heads downstairs, hoping that Mabel's depressed and guilt-ridden state is just a result of being exhausted and sore and emotional after a bad day. Hopefully a good night's sleep will help lift her mood. But if that doesn't help, they're going to have to have a little talk.

But first he needs to talk to Ford.

A/N Thanks for reading! Reviews are always welcome and are about as crucial as food and water to my hungry muse. I should be getting the conclusion uploaded in a few days, once I work out a few kinks first. Hopefully updates to my other stories are coming soon. (Fingers crossed)