No Place Like Home
Mabel had a mission.
She had decided that for being such an awesome and kick-butt supergirl, her friend Dani was a little TOO Plain Jane. She wore the same clothes, like, Every. Single. Day. Kinda like Dipper (though unlike a certain twin brother Mabel could name, at least SHE had the decency to wash them). Which was tragic, really, because Dani was SUPER cute and had really pretty blue eyes and hair and everything else, and she could probably rock almost anything she wanted to wear!
That was why Mabel came up with the idea to surprise her friend with a Flash Makeover- Wardrobe Addition. She would start off small to lessen the chances of Dani saying no or getting upset, so most of the clothes she brought with her today were a little more tomboy-friendly. Shorts, pants, sweaters and shirts that would look good on Dani, but wouldn't make her feel uncomfortable. Eventually though, she planned on getting Dani comfortable enough to start wearing skirts and dresses. She was SURE Dani would look great wearing girly clothes for a change!
The idea of dressing up her friend made Mabel giggle to herself before she remembered that she was trying to be stealthy. Hastily clasping her hands over her mouth, Mabel ducked behind a wall to hide from her friend, who thankfully didn't seem to hear the sound. Dani was just a shy bit on the paranoid side. Less than Dipper was, but she was still pretty wary of her surroundings. Of course, she actually had a pretty good reason to be, since she was secretly a superhero.
Oh sure, Dani denied it when Mabel called her that and insisted that just having powers did not make someone a superhero, but the brunette knew better. Dani was brave and tough, and had a lot of good in her that she apparently didn't see herself. As much as the blue-eyed girl shied away from the title of 'hero,' Dani never once hesitated to jump into harm's way to save another, even if it ended up getting her hurt or putting her at risk of having her secret exposed. All that seemed pretty darn superhero-y to Mabel.
Mabel was the only person in Gravity Falls who knew Dani's secret, too. Even her nerdy, mystery-loving brother had no idea the supergirl he was trying to track down was the sassy tomboy Mabel had been spending time with. And after Mabel had discovered Dani's little secret, a lot more about her friend started making sense. Like the way Dani seemed so reluctant to get involved with others (She couldn't get close to people without risking their lives! There were probably evil villains out there looking to hurt Dani if they ever found out her secret identity! Of course, Mabel'd be fine, because she was awesome with or without powers, but still no average shmuck off the streets would be able to survive) or how she got confused and didn't know much about some of the normal things Mabel thought everyone knew, like daisy chains or catching fireflies or children's rhymes and pop songs (heroes probably didn't have the time to waste with stuff like that, though Mabel still found it a little tragic that Dani appeared to have had a very dull and funless childhood).
And even though she liked pranks and had an absolutely wicked sense of humor, something about Dani seemed way mature for her age. And not Dipper's kind of 'I-Want-To-Be-A-Responsible-Adult' mature either, but something deeper that even Mabel couldn't quite put her finger on. Once she found out Dani was actually a superhero, she figured it must have had something to do with saving people or something. And the longer Mabel hung out with Dani, the more she noticed. Like how even though Dani was the one who kept most people at arm's length and even though she pretended she didn't care that Mabel was her only friend in Gravity Falls, Dani was almost desperately lonely. After Mabel's fantastic friend-making skills had managed to break through to her, Dani became incredibly attached to Mabel. Almost dependent on her, actually. But even though she didn't seem to especially dislike Candy and Grenda, Dani definitely didn't make an effort to connect with either of Mabel's other BFFs, or anybody else for that matter. Which was a little disheartening, because Mabel wanted Dani to have way more friends than just her.
Which was why she was so invested in trying to get Dani and Dipper to get along.
She knew that other people thought that she was one crayon short of a set for thinking that Dipper and Dani could be friends (especially the two in question), but she was absolutely sure that she was on to something. Yes, Dipper was paranoid and suspicious and Dani, who actually had legitimate reasons for hiding her secrets, felt wary and mistrustful of him and yes, Dani had a habit of using pranks and taunting people as a way to drive them off so they didn't figure out that she wasn't entirely human, but once the two got passed all of that Mabel was sure that they would realize that they had a lot in common.
Both Dani and Dipper were smart, even though it was in very different ways. Dipper's genius-level technical intelligence and inherit curiosity would pair nicely with Dani's sharp wit and coolheaded street smarts (and of course, Mabel herself would provide the creativity and people-smarts that both of them lacked). Both were intensely loyal, even if it took a while to earn their loyalty, and would go to the ends of the earth to protect the people they cared about. And neither one really fit in with other kids their age, and so they both had trouble making lasting friendships with kids other than Mabel. Mabel was sure Dani and Dipper would realize they could get along, if they'd just stop fighting for two minutes and talk like normal human beings (And, well, whatever Dani really was).
That, however, was a mission for another day. One that would likely be ten times the challenge of the one she was taking on today.
Army crawling along the sidewalk, Mabel ignored the funny looks people shot her as they walked around her, too intent on her target. Dani, for her part, remained oblivious to the scene her friend was making and took a discreet left turn into a dark alley. Mabel frowned a little as she followed, hoping that Dani wasn't going to be taking any shortcuts through walls or something. That would make tailing her pretty hard, and as Mabel didn't know where Dani was staying it would be harder still to add to her friend's limited wardrobe.
Ducking into the alley as well, Mabel feared she had indeed lost her friend's trail when a solid brick wall rose up formidably in front of her. She was about to leave to scramble around and try and catch Dani on the other side when a rustling sound caught her attention, turning her focus to a stack of cardboard boxes with a tarp draped over it deep in the shadows of the alleyway. At first, Mabel figured it was a stray animal and made a mental note to come back with some food after she helped Dani, but then she noticed a familiar backpack leaned up against one of the boxes and drew up short. Puzzled at the sight of Dani's trusty blue bag among the trash, Mabel crept forward, eyes going wide when she found her friend kneeling alongside it, rustling through a small pile of things underneath the protection of the tarp.
"Dani?" Mabel said incredulously, hardly believing the sight before her. Like a startled cat, the tomboy jumped straight into the air in fright before turning and clambering to her feet in one quick motion, wide blue eyes settling on Mabel with a frightened expression.
"Mabel?" Dani said, looking surprised at the sight of her brunette friend. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just about to ask you the same thing." Mabel frowned, forgetting all about the clothes she was carrying in her bag at the sight before her.
"Oh, well I think I lost something in the trash. Just figured I'd look for it, since it's pretty important to me." Dani answered quickly. Mabel's frown deepened. She'd been around Dani long enough to know when her friend was lying, even if the blue-eyed girl was one of the better liars she knew. Looking around, Mabel felt ice run through her veins as she processed what she was seeing. The tattered blanket spread out above some old newspapers over the cement… the small pile of non-perishable provisions and bottled waters kept neatly in one corner, the one Dani had been going through before Mabel had interrupted her, next to some of the things Mabel had given Dani as gifts over the weeks of their friendship and various other knickknacks….
The truth hit Mabel like a ton of bricks, making the brunette draw in a sharp breath as her eyes widened in horror.
"Dani…." She said, her voice barely more than a whisper in disbelief. "Are you staying here?"
"What? No! Of course not!" Dani said a little too quickly, not meeting Mabel's eyes. "I just lost something, like I said." She was trying to act casual, but Mabel could tell that Dani was afraid. Even more afraid then she'd been when Mabel had found out the truth about her powers. Mabel, for her part, was having a much harder time accepting this then the fact that Dani wasn't completely human.
"You're homeless?" Mabel asked incredulously, voice getting higher in disbelief. Dani flinched at the word 'homeless' as though Mabel had slapped her, but the female Pine twin was still reeling too much to notice.
She knew Dani was different, of course, but always figured that was because of her powers and the superhero thing. She thought that Dani was an ordinary little girl beyond that, with a home and a family and everything.
"I'm not homeless!" Dani insisted, looking anxious. "I just like to hang out here! Really!"
Oh, god. Her family. Now that Mabel thought about it, Dani never talked about her family before. Not once. How had she never noticed that before? Why didn't she ask or say anything about it? Was she really that terrible of a friend?
"I mean, it's a cool secret hiding place, right? Like a secret headquarters or something. All superheroes have those."
Was it because of her powers? Did someone hurt her family to try and get to her? Did her family reject her because she was different? Was that the real reason she was so scared of other people finding out about all the amazing things she could do?
"Besides, what's so wrong about staying on your own, anyways? I mean, think about it; no bed time, no chores, no sharing space with anyone…"
And she was so young, too. The same age as Mabel. Mabel couldn't imagine living on the streets even if she tried. And she shouldn't have to. No one should live like that. Especially not one of her friends.
"Mabel? Are you listening to me?" Dani asked anxiously. Mabel didn't say anything in response, instead grabbing Dani's hand (holding firmly in case her friend tried to use her powers to slip away) and hauling her towards the Mystery Shack.
She had to fix this. Dani was NOT going to be living among the trash.
Not if she could help it.