Counterpart
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Gideon Gleeful was an only child. It was what he was and what he always would be.
Except…
"When were you going to tell me?"
Bud and his wife stared at their son as he ranted and raved with a little paper they'd thought safely hidden away up in the attic, in his hands.
"Were you ever going to?"
"Now, now, son," Bud tried, only to be silenced as Gideon let out an almost inhuman scream.
"Why didn't you tell me I had a twin?!"
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Finding the journal was the best thing that could have happened to him. It had secrets written in its worn pages, unimaginable secrets – one in particular, led Gideon straight to the amulet. It made him … powerful. A force to be reckoned with.
And then, he put things into production. It was his father's idea, actually, to make his newfound talents into something profitable but all the same, it was Gideon who was bringing the bacon home now. Not his father. Not his mother. Li'l Gideon was the source of their wealth and neither of them could say anything to the contrary.
No one would fool him now.
Gideon watched as his business grew. He and his family – his father had appointed himself as his son's agent – travelled some as it did. Never too far, because you wanted the people to come to you and not the other way around. But just enough, to spread the word. It was smart of his father to think of that, but Gideon could be smarter. He just needed to learn.
And learn, he did.
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Gideon stared up at one Stanford Pines.
The boy's left eye twitched.
This con was the mysterious, reclusive scientist of Gravity Falls? Really? This old fool?
What a joke.
But quickly, Gideon transformed his disappointment into a sickeningly sweet smile. None of it mattered; all that did was that the old man in front of him was competition to the gullible crowd of people they both profited from. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Nice to meet ya!" Gideon all but chirped as he extended his little hand towards the old sham. Not a second later, Pines stormed away, muttering unsavory things that probably weren't meant to be heard.
Oh well.
The only thing that mattered was finding the first journal, anyway.
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Gideon always did come back to Gravity Falls. It was inevitable; the journal was practically tied to the town and since it was labeled as the second, he had to find the first. The journal spoke about so many things that could be done if only one had the knowledge and the will to carry the necessary deeds out. Even incomplete – or maybe because it was incomplete – he couldn't get his mind off learning the rest of what must have been written down. Only then could he be complete.
But finding the second journal had only been a fluke. Discovering the first one … he might just have to tear up the entire town to get it. Could he really do it?
Gideon slipped his hand into his pocket, feeling the weathered edges of the birth certificate folded up inside.
…Yes. Yes, he rather thought he could.
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Gideon forced himself not to stare at the brunette in the crowd. She, however, stared back at him unabashed with an open wonder that he was not unfamiliar with.
For the first time he could remember, his heart beat fast and hard in a way almost reminiscent of fear. But different. A good kind of different.
It was a shame she didn't stay longer after the performance. A lot of other people did, though: his loyal fans, his family, first-timers who just couldn't leave without a picture or a word with him. There was just no escaping them – not without outing himself, anyway.
Powers were always a fascinating thing until they were dangerous.
Besides, Gravity Falls was a small town. He'd find her again for sure.
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Mabel Pines.
Mabel Pines.
Pines.
So, she was related to the old man. Who would've guessed? They were so … opposite. But no one could choose who they were related to.
Gideon could attest to that.
But Mabel Pines was a delight to be around. She and Gideon were just so … similar in spirit. From the moment she coughed out little rhinestones onto his jacket collar, he knew she was a different kind of girl. More importantly she was his different kind of girl. And sure, he didn't miss the slight reluctance she had whenever accepting his invitations to their dates, but he was sure that, deep down, she liked things just as much as he did. And with every moment that they spent together, he was more and more convinced that they shared a bond. A connection. Maybe it was just the idle fantasies of his youth, but Gideon could almost taste it. For the first time he could remember, he felt–
Complete.
And then he heard the reluctance in her voice again.
"I don't know…" she said, one hand rising to rub the other arm's elbow before finally agreeing again.
Anxiety rose within him.
What was holding her back?
It was only a few weeks after their first date that everything became so much clearer.
Dipper.
He was the one keeping Gideon and Mabel apart. It was his fault.
"She was my marshmallow!" Gideon yelled, knowing how childish the words sounded, how laughable. But there wasn't anything laughable, was there, when you were holding someone high up in the air with magic? "You took her away from me!"
Dipper could never understand Gideon's love for Mabel.
Dipper could never understand what it was like to not have your twin.
The warehouse's doors burst open just as the pair of scissors hovered a few inches away from Mabel's brother. At the entrance stood Mabel, out of breath and furious. From her mouth, he heard the words no man or woman ever wanted to hear:
"Gideon! We need to talk."
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It didn't really hit him until later that evening that he could have died, if not for Mabel. And to be honest, he wasn't sure how to feel about that.
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She would have been named Gladys.
Gideon unfolded the worn certificate tenderly, one of the only things he'd bothered bringing from home. He remembered the day he found it with a frightening clarity, the opening of a wound that refused to heal.
Did losing your twin mean that you no longer were one?
He wondered about that, sometimes, when the lights were off and the rest of the world slept. Gideon would stare at his ceiling, haunted by thoughts he knew he shouldn't have at his age yet. But he'd always been a strange one, always been just one bit too smart.
Even his parents had been somewhat unnerved by him, even before Gideon found the amulet. No one had understood him. No one had tried. Could Mabel have? He wasn't sure. But he saw her with her brother, so how different they and yet… They were inseparable.
It made his chest hurt a little sometimes, whenever he bothered thinking about it.
He thought about his father, who wanted more than what a car salesman in a small town person could have, and his mother, who never really seemed there half the time – and less so after an unfortunate accident. It had been something suggested in the second journal, an experiment.
Gideon had been more careful with the things written inside it since then.
He shifted on the mattress. The bed was cold and wide and far too long. It had seemed grand in the store but right now, something smaller might have suited him better.
Almost lovingly, Gideon traced the letters on the certificate. Every might-have and what-if ran through his mind, as it always did on nights like this but eventually, he put it away. It was going to be a busy day tomorrow – he was finally going to get the Pines property and finally, finally find that first journal. And when he got it … well, then, he could solve all his problems.
And there was nothing he wouldn't do for that.
Goodnight, Gladys.
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In the end, he failed.
Miserably.
In everything.
Despite the failures, schemes were made, plots were planned and acted upon. Even in jail, Mabel occupied a disturbingly large amount of Gideon's thoughts.
…Not that any of the psychiatrists ever said so to his face but he'd been manipulating people long enough to be able to follow a thought process.
He wasn't crazy.
He wasn't obsessed.
But he wasn't going to move on, either. How could he? He never felt more whole than when he was with Mabel. That wasn't something most people just got over.
So he watched and he waited.
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On what would have been an otherwise unmentionable evening, Bill finally came through. And since then, he and his 'friends' – if that was what they really were – spent the time causing chaos and destruction wherever he and his went. It was oddly fascinating to see such a quiet town turn into such an apocalyptic setting. Most of the townsfolk were petrified and formed into a giant throne for the crazy triangle.
Gideon's orders were simple: keep Dipper Pines and his cohorts away from Mabel's dream bubble.
As if Bill even needed to tell him that.
Everything he ever wanted, just at the tip of his fingers. He just needed Dipper to keep from sullying this perfect victory.
"But is this what Mabel would have wanted?"
He glared at the Pines boy, wishing that his words weren't reaching through Gideon's triumph.
"If there's anything I've learned over the summer, it's that you can't force someone to love you."
Regret.
Sadness.
Dipper was speaking from experience. That, or he was a very good liar although from what Gideon had seen, that couldn't be it. Not right now, at least.
"But you can try to be someone worthy of loving," Dipper finished, looking hopefully, meaningfully at Gideon.
Please let me save my sister.
The plea hung in the air.
Gideon couldn't move. Because that … that was what he'd been trying to do, all this time, wasn't it? Trying to get back something that was already gone. Desperate, grasping, greedy. And that was why Mabel wouldn't – couldn't – love him, not as he was right now. This was why. Not because of Dipper but because of … himself.
Gladys was gone.
…But Mabel wasn't.
Would Gideon really steal her away from Dipper? Would he really try to force Mabel to love him? Could he? Was it right?
Gideon turned around to quickly pull an old news page from his hair. It the article about him and Mabel. He looked carefully at the two pictures, really letting him see them. He was smiling in both of the included photos. But Mabel–
Wasn't.
He took in a deep breath, closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he looked over his shoulder at Dipper, fighting down the lump in his throat. "Would you … would you tell her what I did?"
Dipper blinked, wonder flickering on his face before grimness took over. He nodded once. "Of course."
Finally, Gideon turned around to fully face Mabel's brother. "I hope you're right about this… Guys, new plan!"
Heaven knew if they'd come back from this alive.
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His muscles burned and his sweat had long since soaked through the stiff costume. Still, he moved on and on and on without end.
Maybe it never would end.
Mabel…
Gladys…
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They'd won.
Weirdmaggedon was over.
Not that that was an easy thing – in fact, Bill almost won because of the stubbornness of those infernal Pines twins.
Really, that family!
But everything was over now, and Gravity Falls was implementing a Never Mind All That policy for the recent events. It was relieving and … frustrating. Could they really pretend that those things never happened? How? It was unreasonable but they were going to try and maybe that was all that mattered.
So.
Normality.
Now, that was something he hadn't truly appreciated before Weirdmaggedon.
For a week or so, Gideon and his father and mother were quiet. And unusually nice to each other. Gideon never let his voice rise, his mother tried cooking for a change and his father actually didn't seem to resent having to work as a car salesman anymore. They'd all missed normality and it showed.
One late night, Gideon, who was not quite asleep yet, heard his door creak open. Not daring to even open his eyes a crack, he heard two pairs of footsteps on the carpet, coming to a stop at his bed. And then, before he knew what was happening, it became hard to breathe.
Gideon's eyes flew open, panicking, before he realized – he was being hugged. Tightly, almost suffocating, but it was only a hug.
He recognized his mother's hair in his face as she held him. His shoulder grew wet with her tears as she silently wept on top of him. And his father … he sat at the edge of the bed, holding his family close. Strong and silent but there. Always there.
How could Gideon have not seen that before? But here, in their arms, feeling the sobs wracking their chests, he truly understood.
Never had he been alone.
And for the first time since he'd discovered the birth certificate, he cried.
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Gideon wasn't supposed to be an only child. But it was what he was and what he always would be. And somehow, he was learning to be okay with that.
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Author's Note: I guess this was sort of an odd AU. Still, I hope you enjoyed it! Please feel free to leave a review of your thoughts on this fanfic.
Thank you so much for reading 'Counterpart'!