Hey folks! Sorry for the mega-slew of stories this week. It's the end of the semester, writing helps me relax, and so ergo, all these within the last two weeks. This story is a result of a couple PM's and reviews. A couple asked for her, so you got...well, what I hope is at least a good try on my part. Enjoy! - SGA
Baby steps.
That's the gentle way Pacifica preferred to sum up life for the past several years. Overturning the reputation that her family had built up for a century and a half was anything but easy work. However, she comforted herself with the thought that that every little effort on her part brought her that much closer to cleaning up the Northwest name.
Things had really begun to pick up after she inherited the family fortune. Now even though the Northwests of old were still remembered as a bunch of liars and cheats, Pacifica's name was becoming increasingly mentioned with high regard in the west coast's philanthropic circles. Gone were the days were Northwest Manor was a place where the elite could hobnob at massive annual mega-parties. Charity galas and similar events were held all throughout the year, where well-meaning individuals and foundations with deep pockets could connect with nonprofits always in need of more support.
She had been organizing the annual bash for the local summer camps when things hit a snag. A maid came flying out of the east wing, pale as a sheet and screaming her head head off about two ghostly horrors before she fled the mansion as fast as her legs could carry her. With the party a mere day away, Pacifica needed a fast fix, and thankfully she knew just the family for the job. So it was only an hour after putting in an emergency call did the young woman hear a familiar voice bubbling at the front door.
"We're heeeeee-rrrrre!"
Reinforcements had arrived. Relief rushed though her as as she hustled across the cavernous room to let them in. She cracked open the mighty door with a grunt, and two near-identical faces peered in. The young woman threw her arms around the lanky goateed twin.
"Thank you guys so much for coming!"
"Don't mention it." Dipper gasped around the unexpectedly tight squeeze. "Sorry we didn't get here earlier-"
"Yeah, that was all my bad. I had to finish feeding these little sweetie-pies here!" Mabel followed on in wheeling a double-stroller. Finn and Gladys Pines doubles peered up curiously through their mother's deep brown eyes. She grinned from ear-to-ear as she knelt down and started cooing excitedly to them. "Who's that? Who's that lady there? It's your Auntie Pacifica! Ooohhh, yes it is! Yes it is!"
"You brought the kids?" Pacifica remarked curiously. She tried to shut the door when a ropey arm blocked it.
"Hold on, one more comin' through." Wendy announced herself. As she made her way inside, the skinny blonde's face fell a little. Pacifica gave Wendy a curt, wordless nod before turning her attention back to the twins.
Dipper was making no attempt to hide the fact that he didn't want the little ones there. His exasperated frown quickly brought a smile back to his friend's face. Some things never changed. The sweet young man who had been anxiously protective of his happy-go-lucky sister as long as anyone could remember was now doing the exact same for his baby niece and nephew (and then some, by the looks of it).
"Oh, relax, they were fine all the other times!" Mabel chirped. Her chest puffed with pride as she glanced to Pacifica. "Tonight's going to be their fifth assisted investigation this summer!"
One could practically hear Dipper's stomach clench unhappily. Unfortunately there didn't seem to be any denying his sister. So he merely let out a sigh before he got the ball rolling. "Okay, so you said that whatever's lurking around, it's in the...west wing?"
"East." She corrected. The barely-used one. She was only one person. Her quarters were now near the front of the mansion, where the bulk of the acitivty went on.
"Alright, so let's do this in two teams of two." He spoke with the authority of a man who had done this more times than he could count. "We can cover more ground. One up on the first floor, one on the second."
"Okay, so maybe you and I could take the upstairs, and…." Pacifica quickly noticed that her suggestion made him physically balk.
"It's okay, Uncle Worryfart can come with me." Mabel laughed.
"Wait so who am I-"
"Don't worry, dude. We got the top floor. You guys get ground floor." Wendy stepped in and volunteered. She was quite familiar with how wound up her husband could get about these things. Mabel quickly pulled out two beaten walkie-talkies from her sweater pocket.
"Okay, give us a ring if you need backup! Today's codeword is…" She took a moment to think it over, then brightened up as she decided, "Bananapants!"
"Seriously?" Her brother asked. He unhappily recalled their last brush with the paranormal just a few days before. He had gotten a lot of odd looks from those ghouls when he had been forced to scream "Sloth butts" into a walkie-talkie.
"Yeah! Nothing like a little pinch of funny to lighten up a crazy hunt!" She declared with a grin.
"I'm cool with it." Wendy of course was all too eager to playfully ruffle her husband.
"Okay, fine." He acceded.
"Do I have to-" Pacifica tried to interject, but it was too late. The crack team was all set to go.
"Don't worry, we got this!" Mabel pat her shoulder. "Okay, one two three GO TEAM PINE-CIFICA!"
Before Pacifica could lodge another gentle protest, she had been swept up in the investigation. Suddenly she found herself plodding alongside Wendy, who kept her jade-green eyes sharply peeled as she scanned a hallway that seemed to stretch as far as one could see.
Pacifica was definitely less than pleased with the roster of her two-woman team. She kept a disappointed silence while she let the redhead take the lead. Things had never been chummy between them, to say the least. Their vastly different backgrounds ensured that they barely crossed paths until the twins came along, and their first encounters weren't pleasant.
It still stung a little to recall just how poorly she used to treat Mabel; the twins were one of the few people she could count on reliably. What hurt a little more were the memories of whenever a certain redheaded cashier got wind of whenever the little bubbly brunette had been picked on. The big sister instinct was strong in Wendy, and retribution usually came pretty swiftly. Even though she had patched things with the twins ages ago, she had never done the same with Wendy. And now she found herself stewing in her usual discomfort that tended to bubble up when they together. Plus a little unpleasant extra.
Wendy felt like something was definitely off, even for them. It was more than their usual awkwardness hanging thickly in the air. There was a definite tension. However, she tried to keep things at their usual level of clumsy civility. After all, despite their history, Pacifica was still a good friend of her husband and sister-in-law, and she needed help.
"Hey..." She detected their first clue. A long curtain that had definitely been clawed. Wendy beelined over and got a good long look. "Yikes. Any idea this could be?"
"I already told Dipper, no." In a flash she went from needlessly snappy to apologetic. She averted her eyes. "Sorry, just….stressed. You know, the dinner's tomorrow, and…."
For one who could expertly schmooze at the highest levels of society, she was definitely having an obvious amount of trouble talking tonight. Thankfully she was saved by an incoming call on the walkie-talkie.
"Mystery Twins to Lumberjack Queen! Mystery Twins to Lumberjack Queen!" Mabel chirped.
"Lumberjack Queen, checking in." Wendy laughed at her sister-in-law. "Nothing yet. Anything downstairs?"
"Nope, still looking! Tell Pacifica not to worry, we'll find these thingys soon! Over!"
"Let us know if need help." The redhead glanced to her partner. "Mabel says-"
"I heard." Again, the involuntary snappiness, with a definite hint of resentment. This time she got a justified glare from Wendy.
"Dude, you going to be like this all night?" She asked.
"Sorry." The apology came out a little less sincere then Pacifica wanted. She jumped back to her previous excuse. "It's just...the dinner tomorrow."
"Yeah, I heard." Wendy replied tit for tat. As she scanned the area she fiddled in annoyance with her wedding band. "Calm down. Not like I can take a marriage back."
A shocked sputter erupted from the skinny blonde standing beside her. That hadn't been quite as deep under her breath as she planned. In moments the two were oddly matching as Pacifica's burning cheeks matched her long crimson locks.
"I…." The next sound that she forced out of her mouth went nowhere. Of all the people who had been able to pick up on it….the realization quickly became too uncomfortable to handle.
Wendy meanwhile was feeling anything but proud of herself. That had been low. The mood had gotten so painfully awkward that it was literally hurting both woman. She hurriedly softened her tone. "Oh man. Look, I-"
"It's nothing. Let's just find the….the…." Pacifica's eyes darted about frantically. She needed an escape, fast. The hall split up ahead. "You take right, I'll take left. It meets back up again by the library."
"Hey, wait!" Wendy's cry fell on deaf eyes. The deathly embarrassed young woman was off like a shot.
She knew she was supposed to be searching, but for the moment she was only aware of the cloud of self-loathing that now hung thickly over her. Silently she cursed the come-and-go crush that had returned with such a fierce vengeance since that fateful wedding. Still pitifully longing for something she now officially couldn't have.
She felt like the most spoiled brat in the world.
Pacifica almost nearly walked by the curious blue-white creature. It was sniffling around one of the Ming vases, hunting for food like a stray dog. She froze to a halt with a panicked gasp, sending the six foot-thing up on its two legs with a start. Long, jagged arms dangled limply at its sides as it eyed her warily through, pupil-less balls of snow white. She gazed back breathlessly at its noseless face. With her heart thudding against her ribcage, she began to back away ever so slowly.
Bad call. It abruptly dropped down onto all fours and bounded towards her with a growl.
She was intercepted just in time. Wendy tackled her to the thickly-carpeted floor just in time. The monster soared over and landed clumsily. It bound up and flashed long claw-fingers. Wendy whipped out her hatchet and gave it an expert twirl While it watched her blade, that gave her the distraction she needed to reach into one of the small bags on her belt. She hurled a small handful of sand and charged.
There was a chilly spray as she scored a direct hit to its side. Unfortunately it was like striking a pond surface in the dead of winter. The blow sent a painful reverberations through her body like a shock. Wendy dropped her axe as she practically rippled. Maddened with pain, the creature howled and swiped hard. The lanky woman found herself down and dazed on the ground. It pounced, and her legs flew up just in time. It spit and hissed as she fought to keep snapping teeth and slashing claws away.
Suddenly a pair of slender arms were wrapped tight around its neck. It let Wendy be and thrashed like mad in an attempt to buck Pacifica off. Fierce shivers raced through her body as she hung on grimly. It was like hugging the inside of a fridge. There was a burst of pain when it backed up against a wall and sandwiched her hard. A nearby suit of armor wobbled on its stand. Thinkingly quickly, she grabbed the helmet and smashed it down over its head. A muffled roar filled the hall.
"Move!" Wendy was back on her feet, hatchet at the ready. Pacifica didn't really let go so much as she fell off, just as the flat of the blade caught it on the side of their head. The metallic clang that followed rang loudly in their ears as their foe swayed drunkenly for a moment, then collapsed.
The two women both heaved like mad for breath.
"You okay?" Wendy asked.
"Yeah." She gasped. "Th-thanks."
"S-same." Wendy clapped her on the back. "Good work."
Pacifica needed a moment to actually realize what she just did. As she tried to wrap her head around the last action-packed minute, she asked, "What's-"
"Hey!" A frantic Dipper called in. "Ice elementals! Be on the lookout fo anr ice elemental-"
"It's cool. We just got ours." Wendy answered.
"You okay?" He barely gave her a chance to finish.
"Yeah. We'll be fine. Did you guys get yours?"
"Yeah! Not so tough, aren't you?" A jubilant background taunt from Mabel answered that question. Wendy followed up appropriately.
"See you in a couple minutes, okay?"
"Okay." Dipper was noticeably relieved. Pacifica milled about as she watched the redhead reach for the rope slung in her belt.
"Should I-"
"Nah, I got it." Soon she was unceremoniously dragging their hogtied catch down the hall. As they plodded along, Wendy gave her co-hunter a warm congratulations. "That was some serious guts you showed back there."
"It was nothing." Pacifica replied after an anxious pause. It was hard to tell where they stood now. "I was just...helping. You're the expert.."
The redhead flashed her a reassuring smile. "Don't freak too much about it. Look, if it helps….I'd probably be pretty upset if I watched my dream guys get snatched up."
"Thanks." Pacifica nodded appreciatively. "Sorry, I really should just...it's been a weird come and go thing for a while-"
"Dude, I'm not gonna rub your face in it. Look, I get it. These things just happen, and it sucks." Wendy brushed it off. "Just chill and remember, there's totally someone still out there for you. C'mon, you're a a crazy-good catch."
"I think I'm more of a crazy." Pacifica attempted a weak joke.
"Hey, if I let that hold me back, I'd still be single." Wendy shot back with a laugh. "Don't worry. You got the looks, you got a lot of-"
"Money?" Pacifica said dryly.
"I was gonna say heart. You're doing some real good work." The complement got a wan grin from the young philanthropist. Wendy then promptly followed it up with a crack. "But since you brought it up ….can you lend me fifty?"
Shared laughter echoed into the enormous front hall, along with the loud thuds as they dragged the creature down the stairs to where the twins were waiting. Their own catch lay tussed-up and unconscious on the floor, with a large crack between the eyes where a well-aimed grappling hook had struck true.
"You have any trouble?" Dipper hustled up and fussed.
"Nah, had some good back-up. You?"
"At first, yeah." He showed off a shredded shirt sleeve. "But then-"
"He didn't stand a chance in front of the cutest distractions ever!" Mabel proudly pointed to her gurgling infants. .
Her brother looked a little embarrassed as he backed her up with a nod. "I think they came in because of the AC. Doesn't look like there's any more."
That of course was music to Pacifica's ears. "I can't thank you guys enough."
"You can start by making sure tomorrow's party rocks!" Mabel eagerly reassured her.
It probably was going to be a success. She had to admit, she was getting quite good at these. This time tomorrow this very hallway was going to be chocked to the brim with milling crowds, with music, games, and probably more food than anyone was going to be able to handle. But until then, it was now going to be another evening of just her in this oversized mansion.
"So….are you done?" She asked. "Because….well, you can stay for maybe some drinks, or something."
"Yeah girl, course we can!" Mabel whooped without a moment's hesitation. Dipper meanwhile shot a wary glance to his wife. Usually the two mixed like oil and water. Suffice to say he was pleasantly surprised when Wendy grinned.
"I'm down."
"Me too." Her husband sighed in relief. "Just give us a couple minutes to dump these guys outside."
"And I can-" Pacifica found herself with the loaded stroller.
"Don't worry, you can handle my hun-buns for a bit." Mabel assured her before giving each baby a kiss on the forehead. "Be good for your auntie! We'll all be back in just a sec!"
The older Pines hauled their frozen trophies off towards the front door. Right before they vanished outside, Dipper could be heard remarking softly, "You two are getting along well tonight."
"Had a little girl talk." Wendy turned around and flashed a quick smile.
Alone with the little ones, Pacifica sat down on the stairs. Idly she pushed the stroller back and forth, which the squeaky babies seemed to enjoy. She wasn't sure if it was their happy chirps, or the fact that it felt like a small weight had been lifted off her chest. But either way, she was smiling uncontrollably.
It was probably going to be a little longer until that lingering disappointment finally called it quits. But hey, a new friend at least, and things were back on schedule for tomorrow. Progress was progress, right? She chuckled a soft reminder to herself as she tickled Gladys under her chubby little chin. .
"Baby steps…"