Disclaimer: I hoped you guys liked the last chapter. Sorry if this one isn't exciting yet. Haven't had much time to write lately.

RainbowCelin: Thanks!

Victoria1676: Because reasons! Bask in suspense!

Lunar Moon Butterfly: I didn't think you were ignoring me. I guessed that not many people would read this chapter, given that I posted it around a busy time of year.

"Speaking"

Thinking

Elaine's POV

"Um... Elaine?"

"Urgh... Dipper, it's too early for questions." I blearily looked up at his face, eyes squinted without my glasses. "What is it?" The younger teen was already in his clothes for the day, complete with hat, and was already writing away in the journal I had given him for his birthday.

"It's ten in the morning, actually. We figured you could use the extra sleep due to the bus ride." I appreciated his avoidance of the words 'night terror', but a little earlier of an alarm would have been nice. "And, well... you remember that monster that Ford had in the basement? The one you kept under control?"

"The cycloptopus? Yeah. Why do you ask?" I reached down to my shoes, and snatched up my glasses sitting beside them. Pushing them back onto my face, and I peered through the partially dirty frames at his... nervous face? "Dipper?" He glanced upwards, and I quickly followed his direction. Oh... huh. What do you know? A single yellow eye stared down at us, and the tentacles were wrapped around one of the beams of the ceiling. I could hear quiet breathing, seeing the narrow pupil zoom in on me. "Huh... with Weirdmageddon, I guess it got loose. Surprised to see it again." And not feasting on human flesh, was remained unsaid between us.

"Then how did it get back inside?" I shrugged, and crawled out of my warm blanket bundle. I stood directly underneath the spot the creature hung, and held out my arms. I hope that sixth sense, aura thing is still there. The green mass of monster octopus fell from overhead, and landed into my arms. The arms quickly began to travel up to my shoulder, and settled down once he was certain he wasn't going to fall off.

"Missed you too, you little... thing." I really need to give it a name. "Not sure exactly, to your question. We might want to ask Ford, or better yet, Soos. He probably has a good answer." I took a moment to look around the room, finally seeing that our other member of our trio wasn't around. "Where did Mabel go?"

"She ran off into the parlor. I'm not exactly sure why though. She seemed pretty excited though." Dipper tucked the journal into his vest, and got up off the bed. "I'll go down and check in on her. Want me to get a bowl of cereal for you when you come down?"

"Toast, if you could. Strawberry jam if we have it." He hurried on out of the room, leaving me and my intruder be. "Okay. I refuse to keep calling you by your species." I ran a finger over the top of its head, earning a small purr. "Hmm... ha ha. I got it. Mister Squiggles. You shall be my Mister Squiggles." The goofy nickname earned a giggle from me, and I gently pried the monster off of my shoulder. "Now, you rest here, while I get changed." It nestled into the bedding as I placed it down, and buried its face underneath two of the green tentacles.

Throwing open one of the drawers, I brought out a fresh change of clothes and threw them on before dashing to the bathroom to get ready. Brushing my hair into a high ponytail after brushing my teeth, I took a small pause to stare at my reflection. What I saw... was something that had stuck with me ever since the end of the summer.

My skin was still pale, and my red sleeves covered my scars. The old ones, and the new ones, were all hidden from my eyes. But what was visible were my eyes. Hazel eyes, that at first glimpse looked as happy and as cheerful as they normally did, but there... deep down... was an overwhelming sense of anguish and pain.

I did not wear as much of a mask as I did last year. All of my secrets, but one, had been shared. The one still kept to me, that was one only my therapist knew. And... Ford, somewhat. He knew. How much, I didn't know. He... he was obviously going to talk about it with me yesterday. He would corner me at some point. He'd get an answer eventually, and... "I'm not ready." I sighed, tightening the elastic before retreating back to the room. Tossing the brush at the foot of the bed, I grabbed my bag and held out an arm. "Let's go, Squiggles. And please, don't eat my hand."

At my response, Mister Squiggles woke from his short nap. Without the triangle's lasting energy around me, I wasn't sure if the small monster would be as comfortable around me as it was last summer. Thankfully, it appeared that I had nothing to worry about, as the creature returned to its resting spot on my shoulder. The contents of my bag remained the same as last year, with medical supplies, a notebook, and my journal. Everything I need in case I go running off in the woods again. "Good morning, Gravity Falls!" I stretched out the first word, springing off the steps, and sliding into the kitchen. Stan, Soos, and Dipper were the only ones present, which was a relief. "Soos, care to explain why this little guy's still around?"

Stan blinked at the creature accompanying me, and followed my gaze to the younger man. "Oh yeah. Little dude came back after you dudes left. It was all tuckered out from the apocalypse, and decided to remain here after Melody fixed the few injuries it had. As long as we feed him raw meat, we're fine." On that note, Soos got up out of his chair and moved to the fridge. I watched as he retrieved a strip of raw bacon, and tossed it in my direction. The monster jumped off my shoulder with enough momentum to push me back a step, and snapped its mouth around it. As it tore into the food, Soos returned to his seat. "Oh yeah, and Wendy is starting up her job again tomorrow."

"Nice. Hey, Dipper? Wanna go check on your sister?" He shrugged, and got up to join me. "Enjoy your little friend, Stan." I heard his grumbles as we left the room, clearly not pleased with the strange 'pet' now roaming the Shack. "So, I guess we're all living in the Mystery Shack together. Us, Stan, Ford, Soos, and Melody."

"Two more people shouldn't be that big of a problem. Five people was a struggle, but we handled it." Approaching the room where his twin was hiding, we found the girl sitting in the middle of the room with a plastic chair and cardboard box with a projector on it. A small remote sat beside it, and she was busy putting holes in an old white sheet. "What are you doing?"

"Oh! Guys!" Moving into the room, we stared at the odd mess around her. "I'm making videos!" Videos? Oh! Now I see it, sort of.

"The show back in my dimension, between seasons, had you and Dipper making these guides to life and the unexplained. Guessing that's why you also have a camera out." The same device from when she was taping Stan's humiliation song was on her left, right next to a spool of twine.

"Yep. I'm thinking of starting about color, and make a list of future episodes. Something simple to start off the summer with, you know?" Oh, I knew. In the rush of their arrival last year, we were thrown into the world of gnomes. Her idea had merit. Silly, childish fun, before anything serious happened. "You can use the camera too, Dipper."

"Really?" He pondered over the idea, and smiled. "There's actually a few creatures I wouldn't mind looking into. How long will you need the camera for?"

"I need to call the girls in for help, but I should be done by the afternoon. You and Elaine can have it back then." We nodded at the idea, and just as I went to turn to leave the room, I heard a knock on the house's door. "Who's that?"

"I don't know. Let's see if Stan will answer." Mabel got off the floor, and we stood by the door. Really, who could it be? It wasn't early, no, but I didn't think our friends would be other so soon. She looked up at me, and held up three fingers. "Three. Two. O-"

"Gideon!"

"And there it is," Dipper sighed. Mabel lowered her hand, having counted off the numbers from her fingers. "You think he's here looking for you?"

"I wouldn't doubt it," I added. "So, um... how's about we put that color video of yours on hold, and we all go out monster hunting before he finds us?"

"I like that plan," Mabel quickly responded, snatching the camera and holding it to her chest. "Out the gift shop?"

"Out the gift shop." Without another word, we darted as quietly as we could down the halls. We could hear the white haired boy's voice from the living room, and making sure we were as silent as we could be, dashed past the door and into the desired room. Hurry, hurry, hurry! I caught a glimpse of a confused Melody exiting her bedroom, but before she could ask why we were in such a rush, we had already made it outside.

"Let's get a fair distance into the woods first, and then we'll figure out what to do next." His pace slowly went down, and after a few minutes to make sure our old enemy wasn't following us, we came to a stop in a small clearing. Wait... I know this spot. It's the same place I found out the truth about Asger. He sat down on the log, and Mabel and I stood in front of him. It was the same place, alright. Same shrubs that Kat and I hid in, same log where he dived into his dark secret. "Okay, guys. Hide Behind. What do we know of it?"

"If memory serves me correctly, and it usually does, Ford and Fiddleford got scared out of their camping spot when they heard its howl," I recalled from the journal's pages. "Its body can bend to any shape, allowing it to hide easily without us being able to see it. Unfortunately, what good does any of that help us?"

I didn't want to admit it, but while nothing abnormal had happened yet... my anxiety was already starting to bother me. I was stressed, for obvious reasons. It was not that I wasn't used to exploring the forest. True, it was dangerous, but I had my alternate spot out there when I wanted to think. The view off of the hill that overlooked the lake below, with memories of sunshine bouncing off the crystal clear surface. It was not the gnomes that had me on edge, or any other monster. The thing that was making my heart beat loudly in my chest... was the statue.

Bill's statue.

It was nearby, but to the life of me, I could not recall where. I think back then, it was more of chance I stumbled across it. When I stepped away from the fire, I did it to clear my head. To think over stuff. Instead, after taking a familiar trail of mine, I came across the demon's petrified form a couple minutes off the beaten path. Of course, I was more than happy to be out there again, surrounded by nature. There was a ton more of it in Gravity Falls than around our house in Piedmont. But I just... what would I do, how would I react, when I found what remained of his physical form?

"Hey, Elaine? Are you okay?" I snapped out of my thoughts, turning back to Dipper. In my daze, Mabel had taken a seat beside him, and both were looking at me in concern. "You got really still for a moment."

Now, I still didn't like people pitying me. But after what happened last summer, that problem had shrunken a fair bit. With the state I returned to them as, it made sense that pity was a thing I'd receive. I had gotten better at being on the receiving end, but... still. Bathing suits are really out the window. Too many scars now, that I did not want anyone to see, and the... scar on my neck was one I really did not want the twins to see. Back to the pity; it was more of a tick now, if anything. "I'm... fine. Just thinking, that's all. What were you saying, Dipper?"

He was disappointed I wasn't going to diverge into my thoughts, but answered anyway. "You said earlier about doing a guide video, right? That might be a little hard, since a lot of research would have to go into that. Maybe we could just take the camera with us on minor monster hunts, and see if we get lucky."

"I like it." Speaking of video tapes... I wonder if the Stan Wrong Song is still on that. If so, then I had to get Mabel to show it to Ford. The author would love seeing his brother doing that. And, of course, I would love to see the amazing video of the countless takes and Stan losing his mind over it and ending in tears. "So... how, pray tell, are we going to find this Hide Behind anyway?"

3rd POV

Gideon had not changed that much since the last time Stan had seen him. The volume in his white hair had remained the same, ever so carefully styled. However, gone was the blue suit he always wore. Instead, the now eleven year old boy wore an oversized blue t-shirt and olive green cargo pants with black and white sneakers. "Hello, Stanf... ley," Gideon corrected himself. "Is your nephew and niece back for the summer yet?"

"Yes, but you just missed them." He saw them sneak out, and he didn't blame them. "Now scram, alright? Don't care if we're not at each other's throats anymore, but that doesn't mean I want you hanging around here."

"Now, Mr. Pines, is that any way to treat an old pal?" He knitted his fingers together, and Stan could see from a mile away that the smile was anything but genuine. What was his game? "Y'all know I've been tryin' to better myself, havin' seen the error in my ways, but it regrettably has been going... south." He had been trying, really, but not one child seemed to want to enjoy his company. Every time he approached one during free time at the school, they would make up an excuse or start off in the other direction. Why was that? Ghost-Eyes was great company once you got to know him, so why did none of those other children want him around? He had the right clothes, his language was correct; why wasn't it working!?

"Soos told me you had your prison buddies beat up a kid for teasing you," Stan deadpanned. "Now get, okay? Unless you have anything else planned here, get off the property."

That's it? He wasn't going to give up that easily. There must have been a way to get something out of Stanley. He didn't make the trip all the way out to the Mystery Shack for nothing. "Grrr..." Gideon growled under his breath, before an idea came to him. Well, this will surely get his attention. "Well then. Why not you give me advice then, Stan Pines?" Stan stiffened, and his head swiveled to lock eyes on him. Perfect. "Or does the local hero have nothing to say, and figures he's not up to the task?"

"Why I ought to... give me one good reason why I should kick you outta this house right now!" Stan pushed himself to his feet, readjusting his hat. Gideon, still maintaining his composure now that the pieces were falling into place, moved to the door he had just entered from. With a smirk, he gestured outside, right where a large black truck was waiting with Ghost-Eyes inside. The freed convict turned to look at them, and cracked his knuckles. The sound of popping joints was heard even from where Stan stood.

"Well, Stanley?" Terrified eyes didn't meet Gideon, but he had the man's complete and undivided focus and was by no means letting it go. "Aren't you gonna help wittle ol' me?"

(Time Skip)

Elaine's POV

"I... give... up!" I returned to the clearing, and dropped onto the grass on my back. "We spent four hours searching, and nothing!" Mabel dropped into a seated position next to me, and wiped at the sweat on her forehead. "Where's your brother?"

"I think he'll be back in a few minutes. I lost track of him." She leaned backwards, and joined me in staring up at the afternoon sky. Shadows were cast over our faces as the warm beams of sunlight peaked through the branches, clouds lazily drifting in the direction of the faint breeze we were unable to feel in the maze of trees. "Ellie?"

"Hmm? Yeah, Mabel?"

"Did you... miss this?" Miss what? She had to be a bit more specific. "Being here in Gravity Falls, and doing stuff with us?"

"We did stuff back in Piedmont, Mabel. But I know what you mean, about being back here. The fresh air, the friends, the... questionable adventures we're no doubt going to be thrown into." I sighed, and nestled further into the tall grass. "While I'm glad the start of our summer hasn't been too nuts, I can't help but feel... nervous, about what happens when the next monster, or supernatural object gets thrown at us. And besides that, I just... I... M-Mabel, do you really think I can move past what happened last summer?"

Mabel remained silent, eyes closed tightly as she thought over my question. "... no, I don't think you can, Ellie. I mean, yeah, maybe you can step out of the night terror phase, but nobody expects you to move on. Maybe in the future, but not right now." Her smaller hand went to grab for mine, and I immediately gripped it as if my friend was about to vanish from my side. "You'll be fine, and I'll get that goofy smile back in no time."

"Heh... thanks, Mabel." As quick as our touching moment came, it ended just as swiftly with the sound of footsteps approaching us from behind. Sitting up, we turned to Dipper who dashed back into our meeting spot. "Any luck on your end?"

The camera was in his hands, appearing to be running, and his breathing was a little ragged. Powering it down, he grinned excitedly at my question. "I believe I had narrowed down its hiding location. I kept circling around a part of the forest, and I've pinpointed an odd sound that no doubt must belong to the Hide Behind."

"Odd sound?" I got to my feet, and picked up my bag which sat by the log. "That could literally be a number of things, Dipper. Still, hearing a specific noise from one spot is intriguing. Let's go check it out." If I can recall... wasn't the creature an owl with a maraca? Well... it did exist, and Ford and Fiddleford encountered it, despite never actually seeing it. "Okay, Dipper. Let's go hunt down your monster and tape it. For science, and... stuff."

3rd POV

"USELESS! All of this stuff is useless!"

Stan rolled his eyes from his chair, watching the seething child pace in front of him steadily. This was predictable, really. As if he could give advice on childhood, when his own was far different. After all, at that kid's age, he was off getting into trouble that wasn't able to get him arrested. That I can recall, I suppose. "Yeah, yeah. You're not pleased. Now would you get out already? I gave advice, just like you wanted. Not my fault if none of it worked for you."

"You played me!" Gideon whirled around, pointing an accusing finger at him. A red, burnt finger. The previous owner of the Shack had told him to go steal a pie off a windowsill. It was still hot!

"Not really, but sure, if that's how you wanna look at it." He reclined his part of the couch, and reached over to the dinosaur table for the remote. The boy's face was red with anger, and his fists were clenched tight enough that his nails were close to piercing his skin. Why's he so bothered by this anyway? It's not like this is any different than last... year... Soos had said Gideon made no attempts in bringing up his business again, and that a fair amount of the town was shunning him. Comparing that to the initial treatment he was used to, prior to being thrown into prison, he was having trouble adjusting. Sort of... like himself, when he was first starting out on his own in the world. Ah, man. I'm gonna regret this. "Oh boy. Listen, Gideon. No kid's gonna like you off the bat. Okay, you gotta accept that. Forcing yourself to get their attention is also a bad idea. Trust me when I say that." All of those failed commercials... suppose that was what he got for being cheap. Too much bad attention, instead of good. "When I was your age, it was just me and Ford. Two kids against the world. Try and focus on a select group, maybe a half dozen or so. Be yourself, and for my sake and everyone else, go back to wearing that baby blue suit of yours. You're not from the nineties."

The anger flickered for a moment, and Stan patted the seat beside him. He hesitated, but moved to sit next him. This... feeling, of disappointment, was not that much different than when he realized the truth about his actions to Mabel. "I j... I'm too different, Stanley, y'all know that. What kinda kid would wanna be pals with me?"

"Hmm. Well, different ain't all that bad. You seen my family? My brother was roaming the multiverse, and my niece and nephew are friends with a girl from a different dimension." No, he was not going to say the truth about her dimension. While some members of the town knew the truth, if they were close to the Pines, only a very select few knew the entire truth. Like... the few government guys Fiddleford had gotten hold of. "You'll find some friend who'll look past... that." He gestured to Gideon as a whole, a snarky but evidently caring manner.

"... thanks, Stanley." A small, genuine smile met the older Pines, slowly lighting up Gideon's face. "You know, you're not all bad for a grumpy old man." Stan chuckled at the slight jab, and clicked the television back on.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't easy for me either. Oh no, not this movie again." The Duchess Approves... well, at least he had the remote no-

"Can we keep it on this channel?" Gideon had inched forward, legs dangling off the couch and eyes glued to the screen. "I haven't seen this film in a while." Best let Ghost-Eyes know I'll be stayin' a tad longer than expected.

Stan's brows flew up at the request, before shrugging. Hey, he suffered-sort of-through it before, but that was only because he couldn't find the remote. It wasn't all that bad... even though he tossed the set out the window. What was the harm of watching it again?

Elaine's POV

"Alright. After hours of searching, I've narrowed it down to his tree." Dipper lifted the camera up to point at his face, grinning. "Now, unlike the author and his assistant, I have devised a brilliant way to spot this creature." Mabel had somehow vanished once we got to the tiny new clearing, but I was more focused as to what Dipper was going on about. He didn't have time to go get supplies for a mirror suit, so what exactly did he have in store? "How about... several compact mirrors, scattered around the outline of the opening we're standing in to catch all possible angles?" I glanced around, catching sight of a faint glimpse of sunlight bouncing off a reflective surface.

"Clever, kid. Mabel hook you up?" He nodded, planting his hands on his hips and puffing his chest out.

"Yep. Nothing's going to sneak up on old Dipper-AAH!"

"BLIND SPOT!" Mabel jumped down from above us, tackling Dipper. The twin gave a startled cry, now pinned to the forest floor with his left arm uncomfortably bent under his back. All the while, I was hunched over laughing at the terrified look still on his face.

"I'm down! Dipper down!" Mabel continued to giggle, sliding off of him and pulling him to his feet. He shot her an annoyed glare, but was quick to scoop the camera back up when it fell from his arms. "Okay. This is it, guys. Get ready to finally see the Hide Behind!"

"Three... two... one..." I dashed around the tree, as the others went the opposite direction to catch it from all sides. Only... "yep, there's the maraca owl." The bird hooted cheerfully, shaking its instrument.

"Wow! Cool!" Mabel leaned in to get a closer look, while Dipper shut off the camera with a sigh.

"Elaine, how close were we, exactly?" I shrugged. Truthfully, it was hard to say. The end of the short did show the monster following him as he returned to the Mystery Shack, but there was a gap in between that moment, and this right there.

"Can't really tell you, sorry. Come on, Dippin' Dots. Grunkle Stan should have distracted Gideon long enough for us to return. Plus... I just realized we missed lunch and I am super hungry right now." My stomach chose that moment to agree with me, and the disappointed look flickered to amusement. I took the camera from him, and turned it back on. "Hide Behind still unseen, but we know it's still out there. Though, it does raise a question as to if we were close or-?"

A rattling sound broke through the air, but the owl we stood next to wasn't making any movements. Oh... crud. Turning off the camera, I slid it back into my bag before taking their hands. "So... time to go home?"

"Yes, Mabel. Now is definitely a nice time to go home-whatever you do, do not turn around. Keep walking backwards until we get far enough away. We can get the mirrors some other time." The first part was more of a startled shout, but the rest was in a rushed harsh whisper in fear of the creature listening in. I was really glad I took the time to really memorize the journal. I had to, if I wanted to write what I learned in my own book. The kids nodded nervously in understanding, and were quick to follow my instructions. It only took several minutes before we found one of the main trails, and the instant we knew it, we sprinted back to the house. "I was not expecting that!"

"You think it knew we were trying to find it?" Dipper asked.

"Probably!" I threw myself out of the treeline, and threw a nervous look behind me. No noise, no feeling of eyes on my back. Th-there wasn't any feeling of eyes in the first place, and it was more than likely my mind making me believe that. "I think we're good."

"It looks like it. I'll look over the recording later when I get the chance." He grinned, despite the sweat on his brow from the sudden shock of being followed. "This was actually pretty fun. Maybe we could look into other stuff."

"Well, there was the head monster in the lake, if I recall. And there's these geode monsters that Ford also encountered with Fiddleford. I wouldn't mind seeing those. Especially since the threat is far less." Dipper muttered the ideas under his breath, making a mental note to try and get those looked into in the future. I was more than happy to assist. True, the lake head was... probably not a safe one, but I didn't doubt for a minute I'd be going along. I swore last summer I'd protect them, and not let them get hurt. I... and now, I had to remind myself to do the same for me. No more secrets with omnipotent creatures, or hiding secrets that would destroy friendships. That one truth though... that remains mine, and mine alone. "That black truck... wasn't it here when we first left in the morning?"

"... he's still here." The three words left Mabel, and we didn't bother waiting as we ran into the building even faster than when we outran the Hide Behind. Melody gave us a look as we dashed through the gift shop, and as we threw open the door-what? "Huh?"

"It's still my life in a way!" Stan sobbed into his hands, the room's lights turned off and bathed in the blue glow of the TV set. Ghost-Eyes and Gideon sat on the couch, with the boy in the middle. Gideon's eyes flickered to us, holding a bowl of popcorn in his lap as his prison friend stuffed a handful into his mouth, not looking away from the screen.

"Is that... The Duchess Approves?" Dipper whispered to his sister, who only nodded mutely in response. Gideon handed the bowl to Ghost-Eyes, and ducked under Stan's line of view to move over to us. "Gideon."

"Dipper." He focused on Mabel, and I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Elaine." Wow, isn't that introduction full of tension.

"What are you doing here, Gideon?" Mabel asked, sounding more confused and curious than angry.

"I'm..." Gideon quickly turned away from us, staring at Stan for a moment in his weird sobbing state before returning to us. Is that... a genuine smile? The only time I ever saw that was when he was admitting his mission to be a good person before we left the town. "I'm hangin' out with a friend." Stan's his friend? Okay, did I hit my head or enter some weird parallel dimension?

Weird as it was... the kid did look happy. Accent still there, but... I couldn't detect any craziness there. Maybe the small amount that made Gideon him, but at the moment, all I saw was a white haired eleven year old, enjoying a movie with company. "Heh..." I stepped forward, and rested a hand on his shoulder. It was unexpected, for all three of them, as they all knew how vicious I was when he tried to kidnap Mabel in the robot. But... "good on you, kid. That's... really good of you." But why can't... everyone change so easily?

I hope this chapter will be enough until I get time to write again. I've just been under a lot of stress recently. If it took me this long to write this chapter, it may be a while for the next one too. Really, I promise things will get quicker next month.

And yeah, I figured Gideon wouldn't have had much luck redeeming himself since we last seen him. Stan, I figured, would've been a good choice in helping guide him on the right path... even if his methods are questionable.

Until next time!

Angel