Greetings! Firstly I'd like to welcome back anyone who is revisiting this story because of the revisions being made. I have not significantly changed the story of this work, rather, after spending a lot of time on this sight publishing this fanfiction, writing it and its sequel, and making a number of collaborative friendships on this site, that my overall skill as a writer has improved a great deal since the beginning, and this is simply touching up my original work to bring it up to code stylistically and perhaps patch a few holes and deepen some characters with extra scenes. For those of you who left a review or added this story to your favorites, I hope its appeal still holds true for you as it did when you first read it.

As for anyone new discovering this story after the update, welcome! As a fan of Gravity Falls, I was always surprised this wasn't a more popular idea for fanworks, an alternative ending where Dipper sticks to his dreams and becomes Grunkle Ford's apprentice. This idea is very near and dear to me, and has served as the springboard for a larger body of writing than I had expected when I started this, so I hope that for anyone else who has always wished for more fanwork of this scenario, my story will meet you expectations.

"Italicized quotations indicate a character is thinking this."

I hope you all enjoy the read, and I welcome any feedback you have for me about it.

A bus was driving through the early summer forests of the state of Oregon, passing by an endless body of trees bearing the full bloom of the recently ended spring at speeds that caused the whole menagerie of plant life to blend together into a green blur. The inside of the bus was sparsely populated, but if the metaphorical weight that sits on a person's shoulders could be made physical, the motor vehicle would be weighed down more than if it was packed to the gills with passengers. The girl who would be responsible for this weighing down sat in a back seat, fluffy auburn hair reaching down to her neck and clad in a homemade orange sweater with blue waves patterned onto it. The girl looked out at the passing landscape with a distant expression, her lips forming an uncharacteristic flat expression around her now free from braces teeth.

Despite having only ridden this bus ride once before in her life and having slept through most of it the last time, Mabel Pines considered it the most important, life changing bus ride she'd taken in her life. For the second trip however, she sat wide awake the entire time, mind to alight with hopes and worries that this trip down that same road might steal the title away from the previous journey, and change her life for the better this time.

Because Mabel Pines was almost 16 years old now, and was finally returning to the town of Gravity Falls. The town that her twin brother Dipper Pines, who had been regularly described as inseparable from her during their mutual youth, had never returned from.

Mabel began to mentally review the chain of events that had led her twin brother away from her, starting with vague recollections of their adventures into town before coming into focus with the discovery of Great Uncle Stanley's secret project: a portal machine used to rescue his own twin brother, Stanford Pines. Mabel had reviewed these memories dozens of times since getting on this bus and most likely hundreds of times since separating from Dipper, but her roll through the film got faster and more desperate as reunion got closer, looking for some kind of insight on what during the upcoming meeting.

Inside her mind, Mabel was back inside the bubble, a dreamlike playground the mind-warping Bill Cipher had imprisoned her in. Dipper had dragged himself through a wasteland to try and get her back, and when he finally succeeded, the two stood at the edge of the exit, having an emotional discourse as the imaginary world melted around them.

"I had told him... I had told him I'd be fine if he wanted to stay in Gravity Falls and be Grunkle Ford's apprentice." Mabel thought to herself, thinking back to the exact moment while a trace of bitter tears seeped into the side of her eyes. "That was supposed to be the moment, the wonderful moment that squashes all doubt and established that we are the most important thing to each other!"

Instead however, Dipper had gone quiet for a moment, and instead of the denouement of his briefly chosen lifestyle that Mabel had expected, had wanted from him, her brother simply came up and hugged her. "Everything about that hug... it was wrong. It didn't have that endearing air of awkwardness our hugs were supposed to have. Dipper felt so light and relaxed when he hugged me, despite holding on for way deeper and longer than we normally do."

When Dipper had pulled away, he had some tears of his own to match the ones his sister had developed as soon as she didn't get the hug she's expected. Mabel felt her heart shatter against the floor and her brother gave her a direct look in the eyes and told her "Thank you. I know this won't be easy, for either of us, but this is the best way forward for both of us. I've never felt so excited for my future than I have in this moment! Life here in Gravity Falls... it's everything I've ever wanted!"

"But what about what I want!? How can he be smiling like that!? He's abandoning me!" Mabel had asked in her head, but instead of saying that, simply gave her brother a sad smile. "Well, don't get too ahead of yourself bro, we still have an army of demons to defeat and a Grunkle to rescue before any of that can happen!" She had said, in a playfully dismissive tone. Dipper had laughed along with her, and the two of them stepped out of the bubble together. "That bubble, for as much as it was a trick by Bill, was one of the last places where I felt happy."

"Even though I'd told Dipper I was okay with whatever he wanted to do... that wasn't true. The whole time I wanted to scream, wanted to beg him to change his mind or drag him back into the bubble so we could talk this over until he realized how wrong he was." Mabel thought to herself while remembering the trip over the ruined remains of the town to the shielded Mystery Shack. The memories were distorted by deliberate attempts at suppression, but the brunette could easily still experience the sick feeling in her stomach Bill's hellscape had inflicted on her, even if the physical memories were dim. "But I knew I couldn't argue, because all of it, all the ruin and destruction that I had been sleeping through, it was all my fault."

Although she hadn't know it who it was until it was too late, the mysterious time agent Blendin Blandin had visited her as the puppet of Bill Cipher and offered her a pact, similar to Dipper's deal for a laptop password: a seemingly innocuous theft for a much grander goal: A minor object "borrowed" from Great Uncle Ford's laboratory in exchange for a time looped summer, an endless string of good times for Mabel to come to terms with her fate. "All I wanted was a little more time..." Mabel in the present day thought back wistfully.

"...But it was all for nothing." She could remember thinking to herself as she crossed the wasteland, traveling behind Dipper as he led the way to the Mystery Shack. "The rift, Bill, Mableland... even if we win through this, I still lost my brother..." The flurry and chaos of preparing for the final battle pushed these thoughts out of Mabel's head for the time being and let her focus, but it was always there, gnawing at her.

The battle that eventually ensued was a bit of a daze, but they eventually pulled through, somehow. Mabel was nervous and on edge during the entire conflict, but since they were going to fight for their lives against the legions of hell, no one thought it unusual. In reality, Mabel was nervous because the truth was burning inside her like a hot coal. After all, nobody present knew how Bill Cipher had come to the world. No one knew the role she had played in his arrival.

"And no one's going to know." Mabel had thought to herself, as she thought to herself many nervous times since. "If Bill tries to tell everyone, I'll just call him a liar. Nobody would believe that monster anymore, not as he's actively destroying the world." She planned in her head. "That'll stay my little secret, and when all this mess is over me and Dipper will talk, and he'll come around and realize he doesn't want to separate any more then I do."

To Mabel's amazement though, the truth bomb never dropped. Rather then the tried and true psychological warfare tactics Bill had used to perfection during his time as a disembodied psychic essence, the fully corporeal demon, perhaps drunk with the power of his new physical form, attacked and battled largely through physical means, and was eventually killed by a a basic con launched by the older two Pines Twins.

As she watched Grunkle Stan lose his mind to ensure Bill's death, Mabel quietly breathed a sigh of relief amidst the emotional anguish of it all. Her secret was safe, buried among the dead. "And hey, Grunkle Stan got his memory back right after, so everybody wins!" Mabel of the present day thought to herself.

Then, they did what came naturally to a bunch of people who just looked death in the eye and spat in it before merrily skipping away: They threw a party! The birthday twins were the talk of the town, even though not everyone Mabel had expected had shown up. They got plenty of good gifts and an even better series of thanks, apologies and congratulations from all over town for what they'd done. Mabel was happy to have some friendly words after the recent experiences, but Dipper would continually redirect credit for their victory to Grunkles Stan and Ford, clearly unused to such praise and positive attention.

Towards the end of the party, Mabel was off talking to Pacifica Northwest, both to thank her for the gift the former rival had given her and demand a minigolf rematch if the twins ever returned to the town. "So, you guys will really be gone when this party is over?" She asked, actually a little downcast.

"That's how it's gonna be, yeah." Mabel replied nonchalantly. At the back of her mind, she remembered her statement to Dipper in the bubble and his response, but she had spent the entire party hoping, no, knowing he'd change his mind when it was all over. "It's time to go home and grow up, I suppose."

"I just... wish I'd gotten to know you two earlier." Pacifica said with regret. "Maybe we could have hung out more, gone and... done something I guess..." She was quiet for a moment, then looked up at Mabel. "Take good care of Dipper, okay?"

"You know I always do girl!" Mabel replied back playfully, swishing the cup of soda she had in her hand. Before she could speak anymore, the topic of conversation walked over to them.

"Mabel, hey, there you are!" Dipper called as he approached. "Oh, Pacifica, hi!" He added, then looked at her kind of uncomfortably. "Hey, uh, don't take this the wrong way, but can me and Mabel talk alone for a minute? It's, you know... twin stuff?"

Pacifica nodded understandingly and walked away to refill her own drink. "So, having fun bro?" Mabel asked right away. In response, Dipper got a bit of nervous look on his face despite his currently brimming smile.

"I mean, I don't normally like parties or having so many people around, but today feels good. I mean, really, really good." He explained, before getting more serious. "But, things are winding down, and since no one's left yet, I think it's time we, well, make the announcement."

"What are you talking about Dipper, what announcement?" Mabel asked, a confused little smile on her face belaying the sudden knot her stomach had twisted into. "He... He couldn't be..."

"That I'm staying in town to be Grunkle Ford's apprentice."

In a instant, Mabel felt like she'd been shot. The familiar barrier she'd built around her feelings of sadness and doubt regarding her twin, the shades she'd drawn closed on the reality of the situation, the walls of denial, all of them shattered at once, flooding her with negative emotions. The tears quickly entered her eyes as she made a few babbling noises before managing to finally put things into words. "But... but... Dipper... why?" "Why would you abandon me!?" she thought more clearly.

Dipper was sad to see his twin upset, nervously rubbing his arm, but had an edge of determination in his eyes. "Well, I still had some doubts even in the bubble, but I put them aside to focus on beating Bill. But this party, all the people here... it solidified things. It's not just about fulfilling my dream Mabel. The people in this town, I've made real friends in this town Mabel, more than any other time back home I feel like I belong here. This is a chance not just to fulfill my dreams, but to spread my wings and get to know a world that accepts me."

"What about me though, Dipper!? What about your sister!?" Mabel demanded, teary eyed and upset now. "Don't you feel accepted or whatever with me!?"

"We'll still be in touch, I'm not going to exit your life completely." Dipper said reassuringly, albeit with a nervous pang as he dodged Mabel's last question. "I'll visit for the holidays and we can communicate with email and phones."

"But... but what about growing up together? Facing life together? What about our twin bond!?" Mabel asked, growing less composed with every word.

"Mabel... we're growing up into very different people." Dipper replied, trying to hold a very steady tone despite the fact he was upset as well. "The events of this summer proved that. Going with you back to California won't change that. I have to take the opportunity that Grunkle Ford has given to me now, you understand? Every day I don't spend here, studying my dream, is lost forever. You're my twin sister Mabel, I'll always love you, but I can't say no to this opportunity, it's a chance to do things no one else in the world has ever done before, I can't just waste it!" He explained, before trying to put a hand on Mabel's shoulder, only for her to slap it away and run off.

Dipper watched her go, a frown on his face, but after a moment decided to let her have some time to figure out her feelings while he informed the crowd about his new vocation.

Sometime later, after all the guests had gone home, Mabel had emerged, her tears dried and a smile on her face. She'd found a quiet place to cry for a little bit as her thoughts stormed, before finally hitting on an idea that made her happy: Their parents. "Mom and dad aren't just going to let Dipper move away from home at the age of twelve, actually thirteen by the time we get back. Not to life with an incredibly shady relative we barely know anything about!"

Then however, she learned they weren't taking the bus. Both pairs of Pines Twins would be traveling back to California in Stan's car, to introduce the younger twin's parents to the real Stanford and Stanley. Mabel packed her things, certain she'd be staying back home, but was put off by how confidently Dipper only packed the minimum for a few nights at most back.

After promising Grunkle Stan he wouldn't chew on the seats, Mabel loaded Waddles into the car and spent most of the ride cuddling him, too internally torn to speak up.

The car ride back alternated between awkward and happy, as whenever the vehicle fell silent Mabel's downcast attitude pervaded the other three, so to keep the silence away Ford relentlessly quizzed the rest of the family about the Pines Parents he was traveling to meet. This in turn generated lively enthusiasm (that was only occasionally forced) and conversation from the rest of the family, with even Mabel joining in and rising in spirit. The longer she talked about them, the more she was sure her parents would shut this whole crazy thing down when they heard about it. However, even the conversations had their awkward points:

"So, uh, not to intentionally change the subject, but I just realized we need to make sure of something." Ford spoke up. "We're going to tell them the truth, right?"

Everyone became quiet, surprised and nervous about this. Truth be told, no one in the car had truly thought about what the conversation with the parents was going to consist of. The longer they thought about it though, the more uncertain they all got about it.

"Yeah, we'll tell them the truth! No more lies among the Pines family!" Stan yelled triumphantly from behind the wheel of the car, only to instantly grimace and visibly reconsider. "Well, okay, what if we tell them most of the truth, but we change a little detail here and there? But not so many that it stops being majority truth! Add the lies to the top of the steak, not cook the steak of a liar cow meat."

"What if... what if instead of the portal, we say you started impersonating me after I vanished into a South American jungle thirty years ago?" Ford suggested, and Stan instantly brightened up at the idea.

"Oh that works perfect!" He said happily, before smugly holding up his right index finger, letting go of the wheel in the process. "I actually know some Portuguese that will help make it more authentic, so listen up Poindexter, because this time I'm going to lecture you!"

While Stan launched into his explanation of thing, Ford turned his torso around to look at the kids in the back seats, giving them a concerned expression. "Now, you two know you need to not mention any of the supernatural things you saw this summer to anyone except me and Stanley, right?"

Dipper quickly nodded affirmatively, while Mabel looked more troubled. "But Grunkle Ford, won't that be lying?" She asked with a voice of exaggerated innocence.

"Nonesense, it would only be omission." Ford responded with complete sincerity.

"But, why can't I just tell them what happened?" She asked a little more prodding this time, while Dipper glanced sideways at his sister with a withering expression on his face.

"Because Mabel, it could result in you being unjustly institutionalized." Ford responded patiently. "People always respond poorly to those who have a greater scope of knowledge than they do. Many will refuse to believe any claims you make about the true nature of Gravity Falls and could come to the conclusion you are not of sound mind."

"And if you think that's the worst of it, think of what will happen to ME!" Stan cried out, interrupting his impromptu Portuguese lesson as realization flashed on his face. "I'll be the old, weird uncle who had his kid relatives live alone with him for an entire summer, and when they get back they refuse to talk about anything real that happened and go on about fantasies instead! Do you even know what they'll do to me if they come to that conclusion!?" Stan's voice had a tone to it that indicated he was partially hamming it up to add some humor to the discussion, but underneath that it was obvious he was genuinely frantic about the realization he'd just had. He glanced to his side and added "Ford, we gotta lie hard about all this."

Acknowledging his brother's concerns with a nod of the head, Stanford turned back to the kids and asked again. "Now, do you understand why it's important that you be very careful who you talk to about all this?" This time, he got two vigorous nods of confirmation. "Thank you, that's very reassuring." The old scientist responded, before turning his head back to face the road. "Now, Stanley, would you like to resume the lesson? I'm sure it will all be quite helpful for the upcoming conversation..."

Back in the present day, Mabel frowned to herself and bit her lip a little, whispering against her will "Hot Belgium Waffles was that a weird conversation." while she remembered the fateful talk with her and Dipper's parents.

"I'd always gotten along with my parents, for pretty much my whole childhood up to that point." Mabel thought to herself, examining past events much more closely this time while contemplating. "I understood the fact that they new what was best, and they always let me express myself anyways. But when they met the Grunkles, for the first time I think I really disliked what they said and did." Blinking to herself, the girl remarked "I guess my thirteenth birthday really did turn me into a sassy teenager."

It had been an awkward moment as the four of them all stood on the front porch of the Pines family California home, the doorbell having just been rung. It was a different sort of awkward than in the car though; That had been the awkward or everyone trying to avoid a difficult topic, while this was the awkward inherent in everyone mono-focused on a difficult topic coming straight at them with no way to dodge it.

The door swung open in swift order, revealing an eager to greet Mr. and Mrs. Pines standing under a "Welcome Home" banner with a few nearby balloons and party horns in their mouths, which they had clearly intended to blow to welcome everyone inside. Instead, the immediate case of double vision in front of them caused both jaws to fall slack and the rolled up party toys to fall to the floor.

Awkward silence reigned again over the Pines family until Grunkle Stan took the initiative, gingerly raising his right arm in greeting and asking "So... how have you guys been?"

The following events were a bit of whirlwind haze in Mabel's memory, as her parents were left sputtering, lost, confused and happy as they found out their beloved relative had a brother they knew nothing about until now. The memories had straightened out and become easier to remember by the time all six family members were squeezed into the dinning room table, and the Stan twins were explaining the more realistic version of their story.

"...and by then all I had to do was avoiding getting bit by any of the snakes in the plane's cargo hold and I was back in the United States." Ford was finishing his story. "From there, it was easy enough to get back to my old home. I was pleasantly surprised to find it in one piece actually, I hadn't expected to have any living family left but, well, there he was. My long lost twin brother. Living under my name." He blinked for a moment, then added "I apologize, but I never really figured either of my brothers would go on to have families. Stanley for, well, reasons, and Shermie because I figured, well, I figured the numbers wouldn't work out..."

"They didn't." Mr. Pines stated bluntly. "Things didn't work out between dad and mom."

"Mom, dad, how come we've never met Grandpa Shermy anyways?" Mabel asked from her position at the table, sunk in her chair with arms splayed out.

"We'll explain when you're older sweetie." Mrs. Pines replied swiftly, in a tone indicating she'd like Mabel to shush about this topic.

"But mom..."

"So let me make sure I have everything straight here." Mr. Pines spoke up, a little louder than he needed to. "You're actually Stanley, who I never knew existed..." He said while pointing at the uncle he knew. "...You're the real Stanford, who has been missing for thirty years and are also some kind of genius scientist?"

Ford seemed a little surprised by the visible confusion on Mr. Pines' face. "Wait, how did you not know I was an accomplished scientist? That was all your great grandfather every cared about from me!" With a borderline upset expression he turned sideways to Stanley. "I though you said you'd been impersonating me?"

"I made sure to stay as far away from the family as possible until mom and dad were dead." Stan explained. "Nobody else in the family had any idea I even existed, so I figured I'd just act natural rather than put on a genius act I probably couldn't maintain. Could you honestly see me successfully impersonating a genius!? I mean I'm good sure, but not that good!" He remarked, flinging his arms to the side in then process. Then, he quietly added "Although, I think I might have told Shermie and that awful lady of his that I had the extra fingers surgically removed the first time I met them while pretending to be you."

"Wait, hang on." Dipper asked, feeling the confusion at the table creep into him as well. With a steadily more cynical tone of voice, he asked "Mom, dad, what did you actually know anything about Grunkle Stan when you sent me and Mabel to live with him? Was this summer supposed to have been some kind of fun learning summer science camp with our reclusive genius relative? Because that is REALLY not how it went..."

Before he could continue, Grunkle Stan had put a hand over Dipper's mouth and was shooting his parents an extremely false, jaunty smile. "Woah, hold on kid! Let's handle things one at a time, we still need to get the basic relationships straight here, no need to go adding COMPLETELY FALSE allegations of child labor and police encounters to the confusion. None of which, to be clear, actually happened!"

Stan tried to make his smile bigger and began to sweat a little as he could feel Dipper and Ford glaring at him, but the parents were quick to dismiss the sudden deviation from the topic. "Dipper, whatever you're upset about, I'm sure you've exaggerated it. If you didn't have fun during this summer vacation I'm sure there's no one to blame for it but yourself." Mr. Pines spoke up sternly.

"Your father is right dear." Mrs. Pines chipped in with a sweet tone of voice. "True, we hadn't spent a ton of time with your Great Uncle Stanford... Stanley, sorry, but he's your FAMILY! He was there when the two of you were born! I'm sure he took the best possible care of you two while you were staying with him and that you two had a bunch of fun in Gravity Falls, and I won't hear a word to the contrary!"

Dipper just shrank into his chair with a resigned look on his face while Ford and Mabel shot him a brief look of concern and Stan visibly relaxed. Mabel in particular had an expression of concern on her face as she processed what her parents had just said. "But that's how they always talk to Dipper..." she thought to herself inside "...So why do I suddenly feel so weird about it?"

"So..." Mr. Pines spoke up, putting the conversation back on track and gesturing to Stanley. "...You've been lying to us for years about who you are."

"Well... yes, but really no, when you think about it!" Stan replied, getting into his jittery fast talk mood. "I never really pretended to be something I wasn't when I was around you and the kids, I just... pretended I was my twin brother when he wasn't around. If anything, you two should have asked me if I was actually Stanford's long lost twin brother impersonating him if you have problems with that kind of thing!" He said defensively, but after a moment, sunk into his chair with a sad expression.

"I'm... I'm sorry, I understand that you're mad and upset for all of that. But, it was the only way to get back into the family, you know? Dad had thrown me out, cut me off, and didn't even tell Shermy he had more than one brother." The sturdily built old man shrank into his chair and almost looked like a sad, lost teenager for a moment. "If I hadn't done it, I never would have gotten to know Dipper and Mabel, and they're... they're the most important things in the world to me, now."

The two parents in the room seemed enraptured and sympathetic towards Stanley's moment of emotional vulnerability, and to capitalize on it, Mabel nudged Ford with her elbow and whispered something in his ear. Moments later, Ford gave his twin an awkward, twelve fingered sibling hug, and both parents openly daw'd at the sight.

After a moment to compose themselves, Mrs. Pines spoke for both of them by saying "Well, we're still not happy about having been lied to this long, but we can accept why you did it."

"Whatever went down with great grandpa... I've decided I don't care." Mr. Pines added on while looking at the older twins. "Welcome back to the family you two... the REAL you two."

With all that said, the six proceeded to chat normally for a little bit. Ford of course had numerous questions to answer about himself, and the parents seemed genuinely taken by his scientific knowledge and standing, though he had to carefully word his responses to their questions about what exactly he was an expert of.

"I mainly conduct exploratory research, the first, tentative inquiries into newly discovered subjects. It can be anything from newly discovered species to potential new energy sources and even entire geographical regions looking to undergo development. Lots of field work, though I don't think I'll be taking anymore trips to the Amazon." He explained, chuckling a little at the end before getting a more serious tone of voice. "Actually, this is related to something I'd like to discuss seriously with you two. Since my return, I've decided to more permanently settle into the region of Gravity Falls, and make it the center of my resumed research projects. I'm going to need a hand with everything though, and..."

The air at the table changed in this exact moment. Dipper, who had been rather quiet the entire time, perked up and paid close attention to Ford with a warm, reverent look on his face while Mabel cast her eyes on her parents with apprehension. Stan meanwhile was rapidly looking back and forth between the two twins while Ford and both parents were highly invested in their conversation with each other.

"...and Dipper, in the short time I've known him, displays an incredibly strong passion and inclination for the sorts of sciences I specialize in. With your permission, I'd like him to become my apprentice and join me in my scientific inquiries into the land of Gravity Falls." Ford explained, letting the weight settle into the room in full. "Now," he added, "I understand that's quite a heavy request, but I have my original twelve PhD documents in the back of the car if you'd like to confirm them personally, and I believe with all confidence that Dipper, with the proper guidance, could achieve any combination of them and likely many more. This would provide him an extremely marketable set of skills and an insider footing and knowledge of numerous high tech industries, ranging from the industrial to the sociological to the biological."

Both parents were quiet for a moment as emotion welled up in everyone present: Hope for Dipper and apprehension in Mabel. Mr. Pines looked over at his son with a furrowed brow. "Dipper, have you been using that silly nickname of yours around your great uncles? Your mother and I tolerate it around the house but we've told you about..."

"It's not a problem. Mason has, of course, shared his actual name with us, but I have no problem indulging a little nickname." Ford cut in, taking something of a firm tone with Mr. Pines. Dipper, who had begun to shrink in his seat but perked up and seemed to regain confidence when his great uncle came to his defense. Stan just seemed moderately confused by this, but a subtle elbow from his brother was all the help he needed to get the idea that he should cover up his surprise at Dipper's real name.

"Ah, yes, okay." Mr. Pines stuttered a little before resuming the conversation. "You think that Dipper, uh, studying with you, will really allow him to find a high paying job in some sort of technology industry?" He asked.

"At minimum." Ford replied with certainty. "More than simply working in a laboratory for a company, I have no doubts that Dipper has the potential to make enormous accomplishments in numerous scientific fields. Patents, books, breakthrough new theories, he has the potential for all of it."

"I see." Mr. Pines remarked while he and his wife nodded their heads. "And what would the living arrangements be, exactly?"

"Back at my... I mean, Stanley's home. He'd be living in the exact same conditions as he had been all summer." Ford explained curtly.

"I see." Mr. Pines repeated, while standing up from the table. "Honey, I think we should talk this over in the other room, just for a moment." he asked, and got a nod from his wife in return. "Be right back!"

When the parents left the room the table fell silent, everyone either straining to overhear the conversation going on a few rooms over or wrestling with their emotions. Brief snippets could be heard through the walls.

"...Lots of potential apparently, but should we..."

"...Seems nice enough, but..."

"...our uncle, we can absolutely trust..."

"...have thought those creepy books of his would..."

"...summer was so nice..."

"...best way to get ahead in California..."

Finally, the two parents returned to the kitchen and sat down at the table. "Mabel sweetie?" Mrs. Pines asked right away, leaning her head towards her daughter with a sugary expression on her face. "How do you feel about all this? Are you okay with Dipper going away to study with your great uncle Ford?"

Mabel felt like her heart had stopped as the question passed over her, leaving her frozen in place in the chair as a pressure began to build in her chest. "Why am I tongue tied so suddenly!?" Mabel asked in her head while her throat quivered and couldn't deliver a response. "This is exactly how I wanted it to go! Every time I imagined this conversation in the car it ended in a situation like this, and Dipper stays with me! Why does it suddenly feel so weird to get exactly what I wanted!?"

Looking for answers, Mabel glanced around the table; Her parents were fully focused in her, giving her all the time in the world to compose an answer. Her brother was looking right at her, a hopeful and excited look on his face, clearly remembering what she'd said in the bubble. Her great uncles on the other hand seemed to be intently studying her parents, the two old men having looked confused the moment the parents laid the fate of Dipper's life at Mabel's feet. Finally, she managed to get the appropriate sounds out of her throat, the only idea she could articulate into words.

"I already told Dipper I'd be fine if he decides to stay with Grunkle Ford."

At that moment the air seemed to have shifted with the air of a decision made and the memories began to run together again, becoming less crystal clear. Mabel instantly felt like she wanted to clasp her hands over her mouth and take back what she had said, but the rest of the table had already erupted into further conversation, with some of the seated getting up and moving around. It wasn't as simple as her just giving her blessing and then Dipper leaving of course, specific arrangements had to be made, things had to be packed, legal matters that needed clearing, forms that would need to be filled out, money was discussed at one point, but it didn't matter to the girl. The ball was already rolling downhill and she knew she couldn't stop it.

The rest of the trip passed in a quick, teary blur. Dipper had swiftly packed his favorite things from back home, said his goodbyes, and was soon enough driving back to Oregon. "I didn't have the emotional strength left to say goodbye to him again." The Mabel of the present day recollected, remembering how she watched Dipper wave goodbye to her from the car, her looking out the upstairs window down at him, hoping he'd come back and change his mind the whole while. "Why did I even say that back then!? Sure it was true, but that wasn't how I actually felt!" Of course, before they'd parted again, Dipper has assured his sister that this was hardly going to be a complete separation, and that he'd be happy to see her next summer.

But next summer never came. Mabel began high school that year, and it turned out to be just as bad as Wendy had made it sound. Without the help she'd always gotten from Dipper, she floundered in class and ended up requiring summer school numerous times. "But this year I did it!" Mabel cheered to herself, trying to leave distressing thoughts eating the bus' dust. "I buckled down, studied hard, and carefully selected mostly Art related courses! C+ average baby!"

More problematic though were the new, and often intense mood swings Mabel had started to develop as she went it alone, being prone to flares of morose anger in the face of adversity. "That little homewrecker had it coming! She scared off my perfect guy, who happened to sound like Mermando to boot!" she suddenly thought to herself as a now familiar hot flame lit up in her chest. These bouts of temper would have gotten Mabel in trouble numerous times if it weren't for all the law-evading tricks Grunkle Stan had taught her during that fateful summer. "They'd even helped me out in the dating game, thanks Grunkle Stan." Mabel thought with a bit of cheer at a particular memory. "The combined might of a locked window, conservative parents and the apparent safeguards of God were no match for the 'Ol Jersey Window Cleaning! That was a fun night, I hope his parents never found out."

There had been boy dating during this time period, of course, as Mabel's boy craziness only got stronger as she went through puberty. The collection of faces had already begun fading together just like the rest of her memories of unpleasant high school, however, as none of them had really lasted. "Just like in Gravity Falls, none of my epic high school romances ever seem to work out. Everyone's a creep, or a jerkass, or just doesn't make me happy." Mabel thought to herself glumly, before getting a little smirk on her face while her cheeks glowed a dim pink. "Still, no matter what Dipper's been up to out here, I am 100% confident that Da Mab' has still got way more game than his nerdy butt will ever see."

Fading into better memories now, Mabel curled up a little and resolved to wait out the rest of the trip with a smile. "Piedmont's not so bad! Dipper doesn't know what he's missing!" Mabel thought to herself while the scenery flew past her. "Weather's always great, lots of friendly faces, the big city is just a train ride away, late night adventures with the girls, stimulating night life..." She recollected. While her patented Mabel charm didn't seem to have the same universal appeal in high school as it did at lower grades, the girl had still made herself a collection friends that were always down for her zany adventures. "Yeah, I've had plenty of fun in high school!" Mabel assured herself with growing confidence. "In fact, I bet Dipper is the one whose bored out of his mind up here! I bet he'll be begging to come back with me after a story or two about how awesome my high school experience has been so far!"

With the home troubles intentionally forgotten, the remainder of the trip passed in the blink of an eye, and soon enough, Mabel stepped off the bus. Breathing in that crisp forest air, she looked about for the expected welcome crowd, doing a little spin in place even before she located them. When the girl's eyes fell upon the group, they widened with surprise.

It was the group she'd expected, in all honesty: Wendy, Soos, Melody, Grenda, Candy, both Grunkles, and of course, at the front of the crowd, Dipper himself. But, just looking at her brother, Mabel could tell something was different. Wasn't enough to stop her from hugging him, of course.

Though the two moved to embrace at the same time, Mabel crossed the gap much quicker and nearly tackled the boy to the ground with the ensuing glomp. The two hugged without awkwardness, then separated after a good while. "I'm so happy to see you again Mabel!" Dipper broke out grinning, then stammered a bit. "I mean, objectively it hasn't been that long since we last saw each other, during Christmas, so I guess I mean see you here, back in the Falls..."

Mabel looked really hard at her brother. She had seen him in his older form of course, when he kept his promise to visit her during holidays, but there was something different this time. He was taller now, obviously, a little bit taller then her even though not by much. He was still entirely clean shaven ("Lab hazard" he had commented when she'd tried to tease him over still not having a mustache over Christmas dinner) but seemed a little bit more well toned and muscly. Though still nowhere near a hunk, he'd lost most of his baby fat and his arms were far less noodle-esque. But more then the physical changes she had observed during his visits to her, Mabel was perceiving that her brother was... lighter somehow. His face lacked many of the old stress lines that had marked it, he walked with more certainty to his step. Here, in Gravity Falls Mable realized, Dipper was comfortable, in his element.

Without her.

Forcing a smile to her face, Mabel cut off his stuttering. "Oh I gotcha ya big dork!" She said in a cheerful tone. "So I can tell you haven't changed, how about showing me what everyone else has been up to?"

What followed was a flurry of reintroduction, happy welcomes and promises to have longer, more in depth catching up at a later date. The sun was already setting and Grunkle Stan seemed eager to shoo everyone away so his darling niece could rest after her long trip.

The family drove through town to reach the Mystery Shack, driving slow to let Mabel take it all in. Though the town was much as she remembered it, there was a hollow air to many of the town she passed by. Looking closely at the buildings, it suddenly made sense: they'd been rebuilt to resemble the old buildings exactly, but had been done cheaply and presumably quickly, leaving an uncanny valley feeling to someone familiar with the originals.

"People in town just want to forget Bill ever happened." Dipper remarked grimly, picking up on his twin's thought process. "I can't really blame them for wanting to forget the terrible things that were done to them, but sometimes I worry they'll just restart the Society of the Blind Eye with how much people shove it down. It's why me and Grunkle Ford are doing research into the aftereffects of Bill's time in our dimension, to try and understand what risks we might still be facing."

"Dipper, don't bring your sister down with that kind of talk, alright? This is a happy reunion." Stan spoke up from the front of the car, then more warmly added "Don't worry pumpkin, the people here in town will never forget you! Everyone's really excited to see you again."

"We're here!" Ford announced as the car pulled into the shack. With the return of the older twins to the premise when the world voyage didn't pan out, Soos was originally afraid he'd have to leave behind his roll as Mister Mystery, but Stan had been determined to see his retirement stick. The old con man moved into his old room on the premise, Soos and Melody got an extremely cheap house in town with the proceeds of the tourist business, and Ford agreed to pay all of the utilities using his patent money, since his now active laboratory was a major electricity hog. In a move Stan never thought he'd be willing to do, he had to use his skill to negotiate a worse deal for himself, as Soos was entirely willing to put up the Pines family for no charge when they first announced their comeback.

"I've got to show you what we've been working on!" Dipper said excitedly as Stan fiddled with the locked door, the place having closed up early today. As the family walked through the old tourist trap, Mabel breathed in the dusty air, happy to note nothing had changed about the old house of oddities. Then, they approached the vending machine.

Mabel stood curtly, with breath held as the elevator descended to the lab below. The girl did not look upon her memories of this place fondly, and grew more reserved as the doors opened and it revealed the two scientists had been busy: The walls were lined with samples and charts, inventions that might be half completed or non-functional, and at some point a ping pong table with several chairs had been hauled down here and piled with Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons books and papers.

Finally, Mabel was escorted to the room that changed her life forever.

"You... you guys rebuilt the portal?" Mabel said, half surprised and half fearful, as the great machine once again dominated the underground cavern, currently inactive but with glowing lights and nearby computer terminals indicating it was very much operational.

"It's not a portal anymore." Dipper remarked while walking over to a computer and shaking the mouse to dispel the screensaver. "With Bill dead, we figured it was safe to resume our research into the multiverse, but for safety reasons we rebuilt the pieces into a viewer, instead of a portal." He indicated to a collection of data on the display Mabel couldn't make sense of. "With this viewer, we're able to survey alternate realities, analyze air composition, gravity levels, energy waves, and even the physical laws that differ from our own! It's so amazing out there Mabel, there's endless dimensions of alternate human knowledge and..."

"Okay, okay, I appreciate your attempt to help Mabel get to sleep after her long bus ride, but you're giving ME a headache with all this science mumbo jumbo." Grunkle Stan interrupted. Though his tone was deliberately a shade of over the top brusque, he did betray a small degree of unease at being down here. "Come on Mabel, I'll show you back to the attic room."

"Be right with you sis!" Dipper called after them as the two energetic twins stepped into the elevator.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Stan removed his glasses so he could rub the space between his eyes in confusion/frustration. "I can't believe they rebuilt that damn thing and are so proud of it, after everything that happened..." He suddenly looked over at Mabel, a little regretful but then with a forced smile. "But hey, you don't gotta worry about any of that nerd junk pumpkin! First thing tomorrow your favorite Grunkle's gonna take you anywhere in town you wanna go! Gotta lotta catching up to do with all your friends, eh?"

"Thanks Grunkle Stan." Mabel said with a smile, then got a little quieter. "So how's Dipper been these last couple of... years?" The last word tasted bitter on her tongue.

"He's been doing good." Stan spoke more curtly then usual, able to tell Mabel was in a delicate state and trying to scrounge up some uncharacteristic tact. "Spends his days running around the town and woods with poindexter, then works the nights away in the lab, always excited no matter how boring it all is."

"Does he have any friends?" Mabel asked.

"He kept up with the old crowd pretty well until Wendy got shipped off to that lumberjack camp, which by the way, she's still supposed to be at, so don't spread around that she came back to see you, and kinda stopped hanging out with anyone besides Soos." Stan replied, then perked up in remembrance. "Oh, and he hangs out with the Northwest girl pretty frequently, even convinced her to show up for basement game night on the weekends." he added while the two stepped out of the elevator.

Mabel was confused at this. Yes they'd parted on good terms, but it seemed an unusual step for both of them. "He's hanging out with Pacifica?"

"Yeah that's her name, and waited until she lost all her money to do it to." Stan snorted as he opened the door to Mabel's room for the summer. "But enough of all that, I'm sure Dipper will be more then happy to talk your ear off about all this tomorrow. Get to sleep early so you can stay awake during all that!"

Mabel let out a chuckle as Grunkle Stan closed the door behind him, leaving her to unpack and change for the night. It was already dark outside when she began, so by the time the contents of her suitcases had been roughly scattered about her half of the room she was ready to crawl in bed.

Right on cue, a knocking came at the door. "Come on in to sweater town!" Mabel called cheerfully, having been energized by the familiar sights and smells of the attic bedroom.

The door creaked open and Dipper, clad in plaid pajamas, stuck his head through the door. "Settling back in okay?"

"Like I never left dippen dots!" Mabel called back, rocking back and forth excitedly on her bed. "It'll be just like the first summer here! We'll stay up here all night, I can tell you all about our parents, how Waddles' is doing, my boyfriends, all the sweaters I've made since you left, how it feels to get pumped full of drugs when my cavities got filled, how I've been..."

"Actually Mabel, I'm just up here to wish you good night." Dipper cut in shyly. Mabel looked at him quizzically, prompting him to elaborate. "I, uh, don't actually sleep up here anymore. I've got my own room down in the basement near the laboratory. Having to trudge back and forth the length of this house every day was really tiring for the first few months here. Don't worry though, you can tell me all about everything tomorrow. Good night Mabel."

And with that, the light was turned off and Mabel was alone in her room. With notably less energy she crawled under the sheets, and shivered despite the heavy blanket sitting atop her.

For as long as they'd lived under the same roof, Dipper and Mabel had always shared a room together, and sharing space with her twin was something Mabel had looked forward to immensely upon her return. "Our shared living space is one of the reasons we're so closely bonded!" Mabel thought to herself, curling up into a ball under the blankets. "We lived our lives always exposed to each other, it's how we know each other so well!" Ruminating over her perspective, Mabel considered the what this meant. "Does this mean I don't know my own brother anymore... or does it mean he doesn't want me in his life?"

Ruminating upon such dreary night thoughts, Mabel eventually drifted to sleep.

A meaningless amount of time later, Mabel found herself floating through a dreamscape, a black void devoid of thought or imagination. It was a far cry from the vivid barrage of color her dreams once consisted of. Though she didn't know it, her twin had come down with a sharp dislike for dreaming at around the same time she had, and his mental realm was similarly bare and self-censored during his restful nights.

The slow, deliberate boredom of waiting in the dark to wake up slowly began to turn to tension though, as Mabel could have sworn a dream did fill this realm, just at the edge of her senses; sights on the corner of her eyes, a solid object passing so close to her that the displaced air triggers her nerve endings but without making contact, smells so thin in the air they activate only the most sensitive spot in her nose.

But the noise though, the noise entered at the edge of her hearing but only got louder. Mabel realized it was her own voice, full of cheer and multiplied by twelve, well before she could make out the words. Then, just when it seemed as though the noise would be discernible with even a micro-decibel more, it fell silent.

Mabel let out a sigh of relief, tense muscles relaxing.

CIPHER SITS INSIDE YOUR HEAD

CIPHER LIVES AMONG THE DEAD

CIPHER SEES YOU IN YOUR BED

AND EATS YOU WHEN YOU'RE SLEEPING

The sound was deafening her every sense, a simple nursery rhyme attacking her skin based nerve endings, her olfactory nerves. She tasted death on her tongue and could see nothing but endless horror through her eyes. She coiled into a ball even harder as the world around her melted into nightmares, her deepest fear and darkest secret attacking her from every sense.

After what was both an eternity and a fraction of a second, Mabel Pines woke up in her bed, still safe and secure in Gravity Falls. Soft light filtered through the room's new, non-triangular window. Her breath slowed from hyperventilation to a steady, normal rate, as she tried to bury what she'd experienced.

"Bill is dead", she repeated to herself with her thoughts, over and over. "And he can't hurt my family anymore!"

"Mabel! Breakfast!" Came a call from downstairs. "I made your favorite pancakes!"

A smile returned to her face, Mabel Pines resolved to bury her demons far away from where they could hurt her relationship with her brother, then set off down the stairs to set to work rebuilding it.

AUTHORS NOTE

Well, here we go again I suppose. I hope the touch ups and expansions here have made the story a better one, instead of just bogging things down and over-complicating them. I'm fully prepared for the fact that my take on the Pines Parents isn't going to be the most popular, but it's one I think would honestly explain a lot about why Dipper and Mabel are the way they are when we meet them at the beginning of the show. Love the idea? Hate the idea? Am I on to something with or am I just crazy? I'd appreciate hearing what you think no matter what it is. Hopefully I've boosted the quality of this chapter and can continue to do so in the future. Thank you for reading.