A/N I wasn't going to do this. I wasn't going to expand this story until I was more caught up on my other ones but darn it! This episode-gah! It's driven my muse crazy and I want to know what happens next so bad! The only way to pass the time waiting for the next episode and to see where the genius Alex plans to take the show is to come up with my own version. So, here it is.
EDIT 7/30/2015 to include the identity swap between the Stans.
Enjoy!
Doubt
Dipper's expression is one filled with so much emotion that Mabel can't figure out exactly what's going on in his head, which is weird for her because as his twin, she could read him like a book most of the time. But with such a huge overload of well…everything, it's no wonder he looks equal parts angry, confused and awestruck with a million more emotions in between.
The room goes a little topsy-turvy for a moment and she reaches for Dipper's arm again, this time to steady herself but he takes a step forward and she misses, barely able to regain her balance.
Stan takes a few steps towards his long lost brother, his eyes a clear picture into his soul. He looks like he's almost in tears and she could only imagine what he's going through. His brother, the Author—Another Grunkle?—takes a step towards him, and she smiles in anticipation imagining they must be so happy to see each other again after so long!
"Stan," the Author murmurs, "Is that you?"
"It's me," Stan chokes out, "you're…you're back. I can't believe it." He holds out his hand and his brother takes it and they pull each other into a warm embrace. But to everyone's surprise the Author suddenly pulls away, reaches his hand back and delivers a fierce right hook into Stan's jaw.
"What have you done?" he demands as Stan puts a hand to his split lip.
"I probably deserved that," Stan nods, taking the punch in stride.
The Author takes Stan's shirt collar into his fists, pulling him so they're face to face as he lifts him off the ground, "Damn right you do! Do you have any idea the mess you caused? You fool! You idiot! You…"
Grunkle Stan doesn't even try to defend himself instead he calmly replies, "You would've done the same thing if you were in my shoes, and you know it."
"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Dipper exclaims.
"Who are they?" the Author demands, tilting his chin towards Dipper and Mabel and Soos who's back on his feet, clearly torn between coming to Stan's aid or staying where he is.
"They're Shermy's grandkids, Dipper and Mabel, the big guy is Soos, my handyman."
"Wait, I'm a great uncle?" he releases Stan who straightens his shirt as the Author steps towards them in shock eyeing them suspiciously for a moment before apparently deciding they're related.
"Kids, meet my twin brother, your Grunkle Stanford,," Stan introduces, gesturing towards him.
"Wait," Dipper exclaims in complete surprise, "I thought you were...if you're not Stanford, then who are you?"
"I'm still your Grunkle Stan, but my name's actually Stanley..."
"You stole my identity?" the Author, the real Stanford Pines accuses. "Why would you do that?"
"I kinda had to," Stan replies sheepishly, addressing everyone in the room apologetically, "It's a long story."
"Wait, your parents named you dudes, Stanford and Stanley?" Soos exclaims, attempting to ease the tension in the room, "Talk about confusing!"
Mabel grins, if she could find her voice she might've made a similar comment, something about Stan 1 and Stan 2 but she feels strange, almost like she's outside of herself. Like if she doesn't concentrate on staying on her feet, she'd simply fade away.
"Well, he always went by the name Ford," Stan explains, "made it a little less confusing."
"You…you wrote the journals," Dipper murmurs in awe, "all this time…the author was my great-uncle, my other great-uncle? I thought…I thought..."
The newspaper article…she realizes as it clicks in place, So Grunkle Stan did fake his death to pretend to be his brother…but why? Well, he must've had a good reason, While the revelation about Grunkle Stan's true identity only raised more questions, she's still king of relieved, He's still our Grunkle, even if he did take on his brother's name… she beams at the thought happy to know that's one thing that wasn't a big lie.
Ford barely pays Dipper any attention as he turns back towards Grunkle Stan and hisses accusingly, "You told him about the journals?"
"Kid found out on his own," Stan replies.
"I have so many questions…journal #3 has been like, my bible since I found it!" Dipper stammers, "you have no idea how long I…"
"Then you are a fool for putting so much stock into something that is mostly meaningless drivel written long ago by a young, ignorant and paranoid man," Ford scoffs dismissively, "and the rest… was either a lie or should have never been seen by children or anyone for that matter." He gestures vaguely at the broken portal, "Case in point..."
"But…that's not true. It's saved our lives many times... it…" Dipper gapes, raw hurt clear in his eyes.
Ignoring him completely, Ford's eyes scan the room and all the destruction the portal caused, "You shouldn't have done this Stanley. You knew better than to rebuild this, you know how dangerous turning this on was!"
"I got you back, didn't I?" Stan asks, his voice shaking, "Isn't that worth anything?"
"Not if it means killing us all!" Ford snaps, "Because that's exactly what you've done!"
Mabel's taken aback, the small seed of doubt about her decision taking root in her mind. Not true! We're still here! The portal thingie didn't tear the world apart! She thinks, and she wants to say it out loud but remains silent. I didn't choose wrong. I couldn't have…
"You're wrong, Ford," Grunkle Stan shakes his head, "might've caused a little bit of damage, but in case you didn't notice, the clock reached zero and the world didn't end."
"Oh don't you get it? Did you think it would be instantaneous? All you did was kick-start the beginning of the end!"
"Wh-what?" Mabel chokes out.
"I wanted to save my brother!" Stan snaps, "I did what I had to do to save you, don't you get it?"
"I told you to never let that clock reach zero, no matter what!"
"It was the only way! Besides, you did it!"
"Yeah and look where it got me? I had to throw myself in just to keep the world from literally falling apart!"
"Well, you're back now and the world is still in one piece. You're welcome."
"Yeah, I got through. Along with who knows what else?" Ford asks, "You've put everyone in danger with your recklessness…you knew better. I told you not to save me!"
"And yet here you are," Stan mutters, "And I have no regrets."
"You will. You will regret letting that portal open," Ford warns.
"Don't blame Grunkle Stan," Mabel says finally, her stomach rolling with nausea, "I'm the one who let it reach zero. I could have shut it off, but I didn't."
Ford straightens up and marches towards her furiously and Mabel flinches, expecting him to throw a punch in her direction but he doesn't, he closes his fist and stands over her menacingly, "You did what?"
Soos jumps in between them shoving Ford back a step as Dipper moves in beside Soos and snaps, "Hey! Leave her alone! We tried to stop it, OK? She just let her heart get in the way of her head!"
"Stupid girl gets it from you I bet," Ford hisses at Stan.
"You can hate me all you want Stanford," Stan says, moving between him and the twins protectively giving him a forceful shove, "but leave these kids out of it. They're good kids, smart, strong, resourceful. You'd probably be real proud of them if you could just get rid of that stick that's clearly jammed up your rear end!"
"You just don't understand, do you?" Ford asks, disappointed. "Look Stanley, I appreciate you trying to save me, but I wasn't the one who needed saving. I jumped in to save you. To save everyone. Don't you see? And now you doomed us all."
"And you knew it, didn't you?" Dipper asks quietly, turning to Grunkle Stan.
"I knew...I knew there were risks," he nods, swallowing hard, "but…"
Ford sighs, grabbing the journals among the debris the portal caused, "Once again I'm left fixing your mistakes, aren't I Stanley? Only this time I don't think they can be fixed." He storms out of the room without another word, leaving everyone else to watch in shock.
"I…I made the wrong choice, didn't I?" Mabel murmurs quietly, swaying as the room tilts. I feel so…strange. She grabs Dipper's shoulder for balance but he pulls away quickly.
"Yeah, you did," Dipper coldly replies, twirling to face Stan, "And you…what the heck man? You knew this machine could end the world, and maybe it still will! You lied to us, and now…"
"Dipper, he did it to save his brother…could you blame him?" Mabel asks. You'd do the same for me.
"Yeah and at what cost?" Dipper retorts, "He willingly put us in danger…and all for that…that jerk. I…I fantasized about meeting the Author for so long and thought he'd be…I didn't expect him to… Gah! I don't know what to believe anymore!"
"I'm sorry," Stan tells him, "Ford... he… he's changed. I don't know what he's been through, and I didn't know what to expect but I never expected him to turn on you kids like that…I had it comin' it but…I'm sorry. I never meant for this to…"
"Too little too late Stanford, no wait, that's not even your name because you lied about that too, Stanley," Dipper seethes, wiping a tear from his eye. He turns around starts to walk away, not even bothering to give anyone a second glance.
"Dipper…" Mabel calls after him, "Dipper wait!"
"Just… leave me alone Mabel," he sighs, heading for the elevator.
"Uh-uh, no way!" she runs after him, "We still don't know everything, we can work this out! We just have to listen to what Grunkle…"
"Sure, take his side," Dipper huffs, "after all that he's done."
"I'm not taking anyone's side!"
"That's why you shut the machine down? Oh wait, you didn't. You decided to trust the man who has been lying to us all summer! And now we're all screwed!"
"We don't know that for sure," Mabel says hopefully, "Maybe Ford is wrong, maybe the worst is over."
"Or maybe it's only just beginning and the worst is yet to come!"
And I made it happen…Mabel's vision blurs as tears fill her eyes, "If that's the case then we can fix this if we work together!"
Dipper opened the elevator door and turned to face her, "Go away Mabel. Just leave me alone, I need time to think."
Time. That was a luxury I didn't exactly have. You didn't see the look in his eyes…and now we know what that machine's purpose was to him. You'd do the same for me, I know you would.
"Dipper…I'm sorry."
"I know," he sighs, softening a bit though the anger and hurt is still there, loud and clear, "I know you meant well but…everything I've ever believed in this summer has turned out to be a lie. Grunkle Stan, the journals….and who knows what else happened when that portal opened? And I've given up so much for you, but when it mattered most? You chose to listen to Stan rather than me. We should've shut it off."
Maybe but…"I'm still not sure if that's true! Dipper, we don't have all the facts, there's still so much that we don't know and…"
"Please," he frowns, "just go away. I want to be alone for a while," He pushes her away from the elevator and slams the door shut and it lifts him up to the higher levels.
Even though he didn't push her very hard, Mabel gasps and staggers back doubling over as a wave of pain hits her suddenly and flashes of white cross her vision. Her body still aches relentlessly and still tingles from the raw energy that radiated from the portal, but this is new and different and it knocks her down to her knees. She doubles over, her body shaking but there's no one there to notice. Stan and Soos are still in the room with the portal, and Dipper turned away and left without having a clue of what he did. She's cold and hot at the same time, a thin layer of cold sweat leaves her trembling and she takes long deep breaths until it subsides enough to get back on her feet.
What's wrong with me?
She staggers back into the portal room where Soos is arguing with Stan, tears in his eyes.
"I've been working for you for ten years! I looked up to you Mr. Pines! I saw you as a father figure, how could you keep something like this from me? You couldn't even bother to tell me your real name!" Soos cries. "I've been a hundred percent loyal to you, always on call for you, always willing to do whatever you asked no question, and you couldn't be bothered to trust me?"
"I'm sorry Soos, I had to. It was to protect you," Stan replies quietly, "the less you knew, the better. What I was doing, it was dangerous and I knew sooner or later the feds would come after me, I didn't want to incriminate you too."
"Makes me wonder what else you've been hiding."
"You saw what went down, you know that my intentions were good. I knew there was a risk, but I had to take it, I had to. And it all turned out OK. Nothing else came through, Ford was just being…I don't know, he's changed so much…" Stan looks uncertain and raw.
Do we know that for sure? What if something did get through while we were unconscious...?
"I'm sorry Mr. Pines, you may have meant well, but I… I used to idolize you and now I don't think I even know you, not anymore," behind his unusual anger, Soos looks devastated, "It pains me to do this but…I quit."
"I understand," Stan nods, though it's clear that it hurt him to hear it as much as it hurt Soos to say it.
"Soos….you can't!" Mabel gasps.
"Sorry Hambone," Soos smiles at her gently, "but after what happened, I just don't think I can stay."
"And I'm not going to stop you," Stan's voice is empty and sad, "You deserve better than me Soos. Before you go, I need you to do one last thing for me, and…it's a big one."
Soos rolls his eyes, "Are you for real? Did you not just hear that I…"
"I need you to take care of Dipper and Mabel for me," Stan cuts him off, "that means taking them home to their parents in Piedmont. I know it's a lot to ask because it's so far away but it's not safe for them here. This is my mess and I'm the one who has to fix it. They shouldn't have to deal with what's ahead."
"But Grunkle Stan, we're a part of this whether you like it or not," Mabel protests, "I was the one who chose to let this happen, I could have stopped it and I didn't. There's so much I don't understand, like why you'd take your brother's name, but I still trust you. But I don't know if I made the right choice or not when I didn't shut the machine off. But it's done and we're alive and if your brother is right then… then… the only way we can…" her voice fades and she stops with a groan.
Something inside doesn't feel right. She can't figure it out, it's not pain but it hurts, but it's not like the ache that's settled in her bones, it's not like the pins and needles of numbness in her nerve endings, it's not the shakiness and dizziness that's throwing her off balance or the nausea. It's all those things and yet also none of those things. It's different. It's like she's no longer fully connected to her own body, she feels hollow and detached like she has to focus on holding on before she floats away forever, leaving behind an empty shell.
"Mabel, are you OK?" Stan asks, taking a step towards her.
"You're looking kinda pale there dude," Soos adds with concern.
She nods, swallowing hard, "Yeah. I might've…I don't know…when the portal opened…felt like…" Like I was being torn apart from the inside out, but surely I'm not the only one. She shakes her head—Focus!—and says confidently, "If we're to stop whatever might be coming, the only way we can do it is if we work together. We're all in this together."
"I like your attitude kiddo, but not this time. This is my mess," Stan says with a weak smile, "I'll explain everything to you one day soon, very soon, I promise. But we really do have to get moving. I managed to lure the feds away from here, but that'll last only so long. Soos, will you do this one last thing for me? Please?"
"I promise I'll get these kids home safely. But I'm not going to do it for you, I'm doing it for them."
"As long as they're safe, that's all that matters."
"But what about you? Aren't you coming?" Mabel asks, saddened when Stan shakes his head, "But then what will you do? The Agents they…"
"That's why we all have to leave now. I'm a wanted man, I have to go into hiding for a while, find my brother and try and figure out how to fix this, but I can't until I know you and Dipper are safe," Stan combs a lock of hair out of her face with his fingers before resting his hand on her shoulder, his eyes misty with unshed tears, "Get your brother and pack as much as you can in the next couple of minutes and then you need to go. Now. Be safe and don't look back."
"I don't know if I can!" she cries—You're making it sound like this is good-bye forever—"Grunkle Stan…"
"Mabel honey, it's going to be OK. I promise that I will fix this, and one day soon I will explain everything to you, all of you, but right now…just please!"
She throws her arms around her Grunkle, "You be safe too," she sniffs, crying into his shoulder.
"I will," he replies, kissing the top of her head, "And Mabel? Thank you for believing in me."
"Just don't…don't let us down again, OK?" she asks meekly, unable to look him in the eye nor hide the uncertainty in her voice.
"I...I won't."
A/N As much as I don't want to see a rift form between everyone, I think it's an inevitable outcome after what happened.
Anyway, thanks for reading, please let me know what you think! Good or bad. I'd love to hear any thoughts or theories or criticisms you may have.
