Chapter 13: Friends Indeed

Summary:

They future is now, or is it the past is present? Who knows as the Six mysterious people are finally revealed.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Excerpt, Journal 6: June 3, 2018 – First big party of the summer. It's good to see everyone again. A lot has changed in 6 years but it still feels like the Gravity Falls we knew. (the writing trails off a bit) I just wish everyone was here to enjoy it. (A small water damaged spot can be seen in the paper.) Well I'm not going to let this get me down. If my brother says we're going to have fun then we will.

"Everyone," Sherman started. "I want you to meet the authors of the journals." He paused and took a deep breath. "Yourselves."

The air stilled as the machine finished powering down. The light that once brightened to room from the diodes and cables were now dim. Fiddleford reached behind him and flipped the light switch brightening the room once again. Even though this sudden change in brightness should be what was causing the group to rub their eyes it was actually the fact that they were having trouble believing what they were seeing. Standing in the middle of the room Sherman Pines was motioning to six figures, five adults and a teen. Indeed as Sherman had just said the five adults looked egregiously similar to what some would think they would grow up into.

To the far left was a man wearing a nicer baby blue vest with white shirt underneath. His white hair slicked back allowing them to see his left eye hidden by an eye patch with a weird symbol on it. He was fondling the broach on his necktie that had a pentagram on it with his left hand.

To his right was a woman holding the hand of man to her right. Her Sweater tattered and worn but well taken care of. Her other hand was covering her mouth as if to hold back a cry, of joy or sorrow none could tell. On her ears she wore earrings with shooting stars dangling just short of an inch from her lobes.

The one whose hand she held, the person who had opened the portal stood staring at the group, small smile starting to crack on his mouth. Wearing a lab coat with a plain orange shirt beneath he stood there holding his recently removed dew rag in his hand. The dew rag, that just moments before, had hidden a birthmark on his forehead.

Next was a taller woman her short Red hair spiked up. She wore flannel in the colors of green and brown. She was palming an ornate axe that she had attached to her belt. The stare she gave the others sent chills down their spines as she stood ready to jump at any moment.

Beside her and back a few steps was a woman wearing nicer clothing, her short blond hair done in a bob. A necklace hung from her neck with a llama effigy on the end of it. She stood in-between the group and the youngest of their group one gloved arm reaching out to intervene between them and the younger girl.

The youngest. The girl had to be roughly Dipper and Mabel's age. She wore a tattered shirt, the one with the question mark you could get at the mystery shack, that was far too big for her. She swung her arms from side to side with a big smile on her face as if nothing was going on.

It was now apparent to everyone, they were dealing with something that they had never dealt with before. Moments went on in silence as neither group was sure of what to make of the others. Finally, breaking the standoff, the elder version of Dipper took a few steps forward and began to speak.

"Hello everyone." The crack of a smile on his face now broke into a full grin. "It's wonderful…" He stopped, a tear forming in his eye. He wiped it clear. "It's wonderful to finally see all of you together again."

He took another step forward. As he did several thoughts ran through Fords head all at once. Snapping himself out of his shock he shouted. "Stop right there!" Reaching for his blaster and once again finding it missing he threw out his hand to stop the man from approaching.

The elder looking Dipper stopped, his smile going to a look of confusion. "I… what? Grunkle Ford?" He asked.

"Stop! Stay back!" The elder Dipper took a step back in compliance. "Do you know what you're doing? Your very presences could rip apart this dimension. If any of you get anywhere near your counterparts we will all die!"

Everyone in the room looked with worry at each other, all save for the older Dipper who breathed a sigh of relief. He started walking forward again, against Fords wishes.

"Grunkle Ford, it won't happen like that." He walked straight to his other self, taking a knee and placing his hand on Dipper's shoulder. "Hey Dipper. It's been a long time."

The look of shock flashed Ford's face as Dipper just stared at his older self. "But how? In the other dimension Fiddleford…"

"Found that if two of the same people meet in the same spot they will both disappear and cause the dimension to collapse. That's why when he found out you weren't his Ford he sent you away as fast as possible." Standing and looking at Ford he continued. "But that theory was wrong. Matter does annihilate itself if it meets but only if it is the exact same matter at the exact same moment."

Standing back up and walking back to his comrades he turned and continued. "But were different. We're neither the same moment nor the same matter as you are. I can prove it." He turned around and went to a bag on the ground. Pulling out an old dilapidated copy of journal 3 he returned and handed it to Ford.

"But how? My journals were all destroyed during Weirdpocolypse!" Ford looked shocked.

"We called it Weirdmageddon." He looked down as he turned the journal to the page where Ford had written about that dimension.

"Weirdmageddon? That was one of the ideas floating in my head but…"

"We're not the same as you are. Though minor our experiences are different in subtle but huge ways. In my world the journals returned after we sealed Bill."

At this point Mabel had heard enough. Throwing up her arms she began shouting. "Okay, WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE!"

Mabel grabbing everyone's attention the older Dipper looked around the room to gauge everyone's state of being. Seeing the fatigue on his companions he sighed as he turned to the Mabel. "I'm sorry Mabel. I would love to give you the full story but to be honest it's been a long night and everyone's tired."

"But!' Mabel started before giving a big yawn. "Oh, alright, I guess I'm a bit tired. But you have to promise me that you'll tell me everything tomorrow Dipper."

The older Dipper chuckled. "Well I can't say I can tell you everything but I'll tell you what I can. Oh and Mabel…"

"Yeah?"

"Call me Mason. I haven't used that nickname in a long time." He got real close to her and whispered, "Plus I think your brother's got dibs on the cool nickname. " He winked at her.

"Okay!" She replied giving him a wink back.

Ford started to protest the abrupt ending of the meeting but Sherman hand on his shoulder told drew his attention. "Ford, let it be for one night. I'll stay here and help them settle in and in the morning I know Mason will tell you everything. " He paused as Ford looked unsure if he wanted to speak. "Please, they just went through something big like this and they're tired. Let them get a good night's rest for once."

Ford glanced over at the other older versions and realized that they indeed were showing fatigue. Sighing he relented and patted Sherman's hand on his shoulder. As the group got their things Wendy offered to take Candy, Pacifica, and Gideon home on her way. Dipper, Mabel, Ford, and Stan took his car back.

As they drove back Dipper and Mabel quickly nodded off in the back seat. Ford on the other hand could only stare at the road as they drove on. Half way there Ford shifted in his seat.

"Why did you stop me back there? Did you know what was going to happen?" He asked his brother.

"Nope, never in my wildest dreams would I have expected to see the kids grown up." He laughed softly as to not wake the kids.

"Then why did you do it? I told you this could have destroyed everything. Why trust Sherman over me?"

Stan thought for a moment before he gave his reply. "I don't know, maybe it's because I feel like I've been in his shoes. I had to hold a secret for 30 years to save my family. Maybe I felt Sherman was doing the same. Kindred spirits I guess."

They drove in silence as Ford mulled the thought.

"Thank you Stanley."

"For what?"

"For doing what I never could. Now… and back then too."

"Hey, that's what brothers are for."

The drive the next day was bristling with energy. Dipper and Mabel sat in the back of the car as Stan drove back to the manor. The two younger twins were chatting about what possible things they could learn from their older selves.

"I bet I made an amazing series of Ghost Hunting videos!" Dipper speculated.

"Oh yea? I bet I'm a world renowned fashion designer!" Mabel retorted.

"You? World renowned? I doubt it!"

"Oh yea I bet you're just a nerd who still lives with Mom and Dad!"

"No way! I'm way smarter than you. I bet he's going to tell me I get into a really cool college!"

"Yea, like community college, as a janitor!"

"Mabel stop!"

Ford looked over his shoulder to see the twins grappling in the back seat. "Stop that you two or we'll have to take you back to the shack." Oh god, Ford thought, I sound like my mother.

Thankfully that did get the twins to stop. Well stop physically, he could still hear them mumbling things to each other but at least they weren't loud enough to understand. He sighed as the car hit a bump. Last night felt like a dream to him still. He honestly wished it was a dream.

He hoped that when they pulled up to the manor that it was empty. He hoped that when he walked into the ballroom again it was just that, a ballroom. He could easily convince everyone at that point that they had just experienced a group hallucination due to stress and fatigue. He wanted everything to go back to normal.

Pulling up to the gates of the manor they drove in. Parking just outside the main entrance everyone exited the car.

"Dipper, did you hear back from Wendy about everyone else?" Stan asked as they made their way to the steps.

"Yea, I called her this morning. She says that her dad had to borrow her truck to she couldn't make it herself."

"Oh, uh, okay." Stan turned to Mabel. "What about Candy and Gideon."

"They said they were going to take a day to think on it before coming up. Something about making sure they know what they are doing before they start asking questions." She turned to Dipper. "What about your girlfriend?"

"Mabel she's not…" He stopped and relented. "I called her house but her mom says she and her dad are talking today about her future so she can't make it either."

"Oof" Both Mabel and Stan replied.

"Yea, she still doesn't know if she's going to get sent off to boarding school next week or not but she told me before we left that she's going to try to fight it." Dipper sulked at the final part. He really wanted Pacifica to stay but he knew there was only so much she could do against her father.

"I'm sorry Bro-Bro. I know it's hard to have your first relations ship be like this." She hugged him tight and he gave a little smile.

"Well at least she's not a bunch of gnomes in a coat." Dipper cracked. Mabel broke the hug and gave him the "oh no you didn't" look. Stepping back she punched his shoulder. "Oww"

"Serves you right. Anyway are we going to go in?" Mabel asked excitedly of the two older twins.

Ford sighed and turned to the doors. "I suppose we are. Here we stand at the breach of the unknown, willingly staring into the void."

"Is that some sort of spell or something?" Stan asked

"It's poetry Stanley. You wrote a bunch of it for your play."

"Right… I wrote it."

Ford groaned as he reached for the door knocker.

THUD

THUD

THUD

They waited but thirty seconds before a friendly face greeted them. Fiddleford opened the doorway with a big smile on his face.

"Well toot my horn and call me a sheep herder. You made it!" Everyone was a little surprised at the euphemism Fiddleford gave considering his mannerisms last night were of one completely sane and unlike the hillbilly he was for those many years. "Well, don't just stand there. Come on, he's waiting in the garden!"

Fiddleford turned on his heel and started to walk in. The other followed, trepid at what thing Mason made in the garden. To their pleasant surprise it was just a normal garden. Actually it was well maintained too. Sitting under a gazebo Mason, no longer wearing his lab coat but wearing his dew rag again, was eating steak and eggs with Sherman.

"I tell you Grandpa Sherman, probably the biggest thing I missed was your cooking."

Sherman laughed. "Ha ha ha. Don't mention it. I'm not even the best cook, you should have seen my wife's cooking! Now that was something special."

Noticing the five newcomers Mason, mouth full of food motioned them over. Swallowing as they approached he wiped his mouth and stood up.

"Excellent you made it. Here have a seat." He swept his hands at the other chairs in the gazebo. The four walked over to take their seats. "Can I get you anything to eat? Grandpa Sherman made a big batch of steak and eggs. It's too much for all of us so you're welcome to some."

Ford waved it off as he took his seat. "No thank you. I ate before we came."

Mason looked at Stan who shook his head. He shrugged. "How about you two?"

Dipper and Mabel had just let go from giving their Grandpa a hug. "You made breakfast? Can I have some?" Mabel asked.

"Of course. How about you Dipper?" Sherman smiled.

"Maybe just a little. I ate too… but I can always have some of your cooking."

Sherman blushed. "Aw, keep that up guys and you're going to give this old man a big head." Sherman started back into the house. "Just wait there and I'll bring some plates out."

Sherman and Fiddleford both went back into the house. Content they were gone Mason's smile faded. Taking his seat again he folded his hands and looked to Ford.

"So I guess you want to know what is going on." The look Ford gave him told him he was right. "Okay then. Like I said last night there are certain things I can't tell you right now." He saw Stan try to say something but cut him off. "Trust me, it's not me just trying to keep a few secrets from you guys. I really want to tell you but to be honest if I did it may change the outcome of the things I have planned."

"Planned?" Dipper asked.

"Yea. Nothing I've done so far has been without a lot of forethought. Everything from enlisting Grandpa Sherman to giving you the journal was decided long before you came to Gravity Falls the first time. "

"Does that mean you gave that cryptid hunter the journal page on purpose?" Mabel asked.

Mason's looked away for a moment, mumbling something under his breath. "Okay, most things were planned out. That was an unfortunate but happy accident. Thankfully that page was basically irrelevant to your search and…" He patted a stack of pages beside him. "These are the rest of the pages of the journal. I had to take a few out to make sure you didn't get into trouble before… well before I was ready to help you but it looks like you took care of that well enough on your own."

Reaching beneath the table he produced journal 4. Flipping it to the page to the one Dipper added he pulled out his companion page. Between the two Dipper had managed to locate all of the sites save one that Mason had listed, however Mason's noted several of the sites destroyed, including the one they had saved from Preston Northwest.

"Actually I've got to hand it to you two, you did way better than I was anticipating on saving this one. When we found it originally the site had been destroyed by what looked like explosives. So, how did the two of you stop it?" Mason looked at Dipper and Mabel.

Mabel shrugged. "I don't know I wasn't there. It was all Dipper and Pacifica I think? At least that's what she said."

"Wait, Pacifica?" Mason blinked. "As in the daughter of the man who blew up the site?"

"Well Grunkle Ford helped too!" Dipper tried to redirect. Ford chuckled at the fact that he was being used as a scapegoat.

Mason leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Well I'll be a… Fascinating. This world really is so different from the one we came from."

"How so? What was so different from your second summer here?" Stan asked. "Did you just pall around with Ford and I all summer?"

"Ford and me, Stanley." Ford interjected.

"Seriously, shut it with that. Don't end the world again because of your grammar problems." Stan shot back.

Mason broke out in a hearty laugh. "Ah you guys, this is what I missed." Calming down he looked as they stared at him. He sighed. "Well you see…" He thought about it. "Mabel and I didn't get to come back here for six years after the first summer in our timeline."

"WHAT!" Mabel shouted, jumping up from her chair and nearly on the table. "Why not? You mean I didn't see Candy or Grenda for six whole years!"

"Well… you see there were some… complications in our time that prevented it. It just didn't happen until after high school."

"What would have stopped us from coming back?" Dipper asked.

"I, I can't say. Look, I told you there were some things I couldn't tell you until I made sure they didn't happen the same way in my time and that's one of them. I'm sorry." He looked saddened by the fact that he couldn't be more open with them.

A few moments passed before Ford spoke up.

"Will you tell me what your overall goal is here? Why did you bring them here?"

"That much I can tell you." He grasped his chest for resolve. "The world where I come from, let's just say something happened and we couldn't live there anymore."

"It was climate change wasn't it? See Ford I told you that they hype was real!" Stan slapped his brother's arm with the back of his hand. "And you told me it wasn't real!"

"No Stanley, you told me it wasn't real. Also, it's called global warming. Climate change is just something the media made up to lessen the impact of the term." Ford replied as he shot his brother an annoyed look.

"Well that wasn't how I remembered it."

Chuckling again Mason waited until they were done before continuing.

"Well no, it wasn't global warming, though that may have been a better fate. No, what we faced was much worse. While I can't go into the details yet what I can say is this. I swear on my family and friends that I will do everything it takes to prevent what happened to us from happening again."

Awed at his dedication the others could simply nod in agreement.

"But why bring them back?" Ford asked.

"Them? Oh you mean the rest of… yes. So when we first found a way to go back to this place we realized that it would only support one person, that's it. However I couldn't just abandon everyone. So I spent the free time I had devising a way to bring the rest of them back. The portal was that solution, a temporary rift in space time that would allow them to come back and be safe. They are my family, my friends, and I will do anything I can to make sure they're safe."

The Pines family took a moment to look at each other as the door opened. Coming out was Sherman with a pair of plates full of steak and eggs. Not far behind him carrying his own plate was the older Gideon. Setting down next to Mason he took his first bite of food.

"Oh my stars this is the best thing I've had in nearly a decade!" His eye shined with excitement. "Mr. Pines you have truly outdone yourself with this truly delectable meal!"

Sherman laughed as he placed Mabel and Dippers plates in front of them. "Think nothing of it. You guys deserve a break from… whatever you were eating out there."

Taking a taste of their own Dipper and Mabel would conclude that the amount of salt use in the eggs was a little bit too much and the steak was chewy. It was still good but it wasn't the best thing they ever had, let alone the best thing they'd had this summer.

"I take it everyone is getting up?" Mason asked Gideon as he woofed down his plate.

"Go easy on that, there more where that came from." Sherman warned him just in time to see him start to choke. Quickly grabbing a glass of water and chugging he cleared the blockage and nodded.

"Right, thank you." He waited for the food to go down. "Abby's up. Pacifica's giving her a bath right now. I think Wendy and Mabel are still sleeping though."

"You got her to give Abby a bath? How could you convince her? I couldn't get her to give the time of day when I was with you guys." Mason sounded surprised.

"A lot has changed in the time you were gone. Pacifica's been acting more like Abby's mother in your absence considering Mabel…" He stopped and looked at the Mabel sitting across the table from him. "Well Mabel has been Mabel."

"Right." Mason replied, not letting it get to him.

As Mason took another bite of his food just around the bend everyone picked up on someone shouting something. Turning to see what the commotion was the younger girl came running around the bend wearing her long mystery shack shirt, wet hair flowing behind her as she ran giggling.

"ABBY GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW! YOU ARE NOT DRY AND I HAVE NOT DONE YOUR HAIR YET!" Another shout was heard from just behind the bend.

A moment later the older Pacifica wearing a white Northwest robe rushed around the corner after the girl. Taking a few steps before seeing everyone looking at her on the gazebo she turned a grade of red that had no equivalent to the human eye. Quickly retreated around the corner she poked her head out again.

"Abby, come here this instant!" She tried in vain to curb the younger girl who was now in the gazebo just a few feet away from Mason and Gideon.

"Mason, Mason! Look at this!" She held up a rubber duck in one hand. "What is it?! I don't know!"

Gideon broke out into laughter as Mason retreated into his hands. "Oh Abby!" He groaned.

"What?" She cocked her head to the side as she looked at him.

Gideon cleared a tear from his eye. "Abby, we told you already, we have guests. You can't go running around like that when people are here."

"Like what?" She asked as she spun around. "This is the only dress I own. Should I be naked or something?"

"NO!" Mason and Gideon replied in unison.

"Okay!" Abby smiled and started swinging her hands back and forth. She turned and saw the other people at the table. "Oh, who are you guys!"

Quickly running over to Dipper and Mabel she jumped in excitement. The twins got up from their seats so greet her. She looked about their age, maybe just a little bit taller than Mabel was now.

"Hi, I Dipper."

"I'm Mabel. Nice to meetcha!" Mabel held out her hand all cool like.

Abby stopped jumping. "You're Mabel too! Hey Mason, did you know her name is Mabel too?" She waved over at Mason who sighed.

"Yes, I did. Now will you please go back to Pacifica to get your hair done?"

Looking past she saw Pacifica trying to wave her over from behind the corner. Smiling she waved goodbye and ran back to her caretaker.

"Oh boy, I don't know what were going to do with her now." Mason said rubbing his forehead. "She's always been the most energetic one of us, even when the worst was going on. Now were not running for our lives I don't know she's going to expend all that energy."

"Who is she?" Stan asked.

"She's… a long story. Let's just say she's the relative of a friend who couldn't come with us. Honestly I don't know where she keeps all that energy stored up. Anyway, I was kind of hoping that she would be able to live a more normal life once everyone came through the portal but now I'm not so sure."

"Why not?" Ford asked.

"Phase four." Gideon replied.

"Phase four?" the four of them asked in unison.

Mason nodded. "Bringing everyone here was phase three of my plan. At this point we've done very well but I want to make sure nothing goes wrong in the future. I want to make sure our future doesn't happen here and for that we begin moving on to the next step. Actually Grunkle Ford, that was why I called you here. I would like you to come on with us full time to help. Fiddleford said that you were the best person for the job and knowing you I believe him."

"What would you have me do?"

"Basically I would have you dive a little deeper into what we're doing so that we can more smoothly prepare for the final phase. I'd give you all more detail but it would probably go over everyone else's head."

"It certainly went over mine." Gideon laughed.

Ford thought about it for a moment. "If I do this, will you tell me everything you know and how you learned how to come back to this point in time."

"Of course."

"Then I'll do it."

"Excellent. Now that just leaves figuring out what to do with Abby. Pacifica can't look after her all the time since she'll be working with us."

"Why not have her stay with the kids?" Sherman spoke up. "She's about their age and I've got a spare cot I can let Soos borrow so she can sleep in their room."

Mason and Gideon looked worried at each other.

"Eh, I don't know. There are certain… things, about Abby that might not work if she stays with the Dipper and Mabel."

"Aww why not? I like her!" Mabel jumped in.

"Yea, it's like you said. She should have a normal life so if she hangs out with us then maybe she can have fun for the summer." Dipper added.

Again they looked worriedly at each other.

"Hey, I'll be there most days to supervise them. Don't worry, I'm a great guardian!" Stan added smiling as he took Dipper and Mabel under his arms. Both twins made a "uhh" sound and looked away from him. "What?"

"Nothing." Dipper said.

Mason leaned back and looked up at the sky.

"It's been a long time since she's seen a normal sky. Maybe having a normal life is good for her. Looking back at them and slapping his legs he smiled. "Okay, what the heck, let's give it a shot. If anything happens though she'll need to come back here, do we have a deal?"

Sherman, Stan, Mabel, and Dipper nodded in agreement.

"Well I guess we put her in your care for the summer then. Ford, once we're done with breakfast we'll head inside and I'll give you the tour."

"So," Stan asked as he drove down the road. "Where to first? Sherman said he would swing by later with the cot and some things for Abby but I figure you guys want to show her around town first."

"How about we get her a suit and head out to the lake?" Mabel suggested.

"Yea, or we could take her bowling!" Dipper added.

"What do you think Ms. Abby? What would you like to do?" Stan asked, looking at the three in the rear view mirror.

"Umm. The lake sounds nice. I haven't seen one of those in a while!"

After swinging by the mall and picking up a few new bathing suits for the kids they drove out to the lake. Changing in the bathrooms Dipper and Stan applied additional sunscreen as they waited for Mabel and Abby. They didn't wait long as Abby waltzed out of the bathroom wearing a green one piece suit. She turned and called for Mabel to follow.

"Come on Mabel! Hurry up!" She shouted back into the bathroom.

"I, I don't think I want to wear this anymore." They heard her shout from inside. The boys gave each other confused glances.

"What? You loved that at the store. What's the matter with it now?" Abby shouted back.

Stan and Dipper had been in the men's section when the two of them had picked out their bathing suits so they hadn't seen what the girls had grabbed.

"It can't be that bad. It's not like Mabel to pick out anything but a girly suit." He whispered to Stan. Stan shrugged.

"Hurry up or I'm going in there and dragging you out!" Abby shouted in again. After a moment she was finally fed up she rushed back in the bathroom.

"No, stop! What are you doing?" They heard Mabel shout.

Moments later Abby dragged Mabel out of the bathroom. She was wrapped in her big beach towel and blushing hard.

"Come on, show them! You look good in that!" Abby said as she grabbed the towel and yanked.

All Mabel could manage was an "eep" as the towel flew off her body revealing a suit so against what the boys thought she would have bought. Mabel was wearing a two piece red bathing suit with a blue cover up skirt. Both boys' jaws dropped as Mabel turned redder at her sudden reveal.

"Mabel, you picked that?" Dipper asked, flabbergasted at what his sister was wearing.

"I… Yes" was all she managed as she buried her head in her hands.

"Wow, uh. This is… yeah." Stan muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Abby looked at the two expectantly. "Doesn't she look good in it?"

Dipper looked her over again and smiled. "Yea, she does. It shows how you're really growing up sis. I'm glad you got that one and not another unicorn one."

"You mean it?" Mabel asked, letting her hands drop enough to see.

Dipper nodded. "Yea. You're definitely the alpha twin here. I mean I'm just wearing some old trunks that they had. You, you went bold!"

"See! I told you they would like it. You wowed everyone in that!"

Calming down Mabel allowed her hands to fall to her side. "Okay, keep it together Mabel." She muttered. "Who's ready for a swim!"

The other three cheered and they ran to the pier. Not stopping when Tate McGucket called out for them to stop running. Reaching the end the four of them took turns jumping to the lake and doing cannon balls.

After a few hours of fun in the water they put out their towels on the shore. Sprawling out to soak up the sun and dry off they talked.

"So what was it like, living in the other world?" Mabel asked.

"I don't know. What's it like living here?" Abby replied. Mabel shrugged. "It's just the place you live in. I mean, we were always on the move, and there was always the risk of running into something bad but we were family, kinda."

"So what happened to your parents?" Dipper asked as he turned over. "Why didn't they come with you?"

Abby thought for a moment, he head scrunching as if she was remembering hard. "I, I don't really remember them. I have a blurry image in my head but that's it. It's like the memory of them is just… gone."

Both twins fell silent realizing they may have pushed a sore issue.

"We're sorry." Mabel apologized. "We didn't mean to…"

"It's okay. I really just don't remember them so it's not like its painful or anything. Plus Mason and the rest are my family now so I'm not alone."

Neither twin could say anymore. Not because they had no words but because Stan's stomach rumbled loud enough for some birds to take flight.

"Welp that's about all I can take of this today. How about we get some…" He looked over to his watch. "Four thirty? I guess we're getting dinner then."

Stan stood and started gathering his things. The other three followed suit and a quick bathroom trip to change later they were on their way to Greasy's Diner. The meal wasn't any special for the Pines, they had eaten there before. For Abby however it was her first taste of normal – or at least what they would have guessed was normal – food in a while.

They were very sure to make her avoid the coffee pancakes as they didn't want her to recharge to full energy this late at night so she got normal pancakes. Those, she ate with glee and an unhealthy helping of syrup.

Once that was done Stan contacted Sherman who told him he dropped off the cot at the shack. Figuring it is time to take her there, and nothing else get her a change of clothes as she was still wearing the tattered shirt, Stan had them pile in and he drove to the shack.

Arriving a while later at the shack the twins took her into the gift shop where Soos was closing up the shop.

"Oh hey dudes!"

"Hey Soos" the twins called out.

Abby started to wander around the store as Soos watched.

"Is she the one that Mr. Pines was telling me would be staying here?"

"Yea, she's going to stay with me and Dipper until some stuff gets done at her new home." Mabel said. She wasn't lying but then again, that wasn't quite right either.

Soos rounded the counter and approached Abby. She turned and looked up at the massive man before her.

"Wow, you're big."

Soos laughed as he jiggled his belly. "Yea, I get that a lot."

"Soos? Did you finish the drawer yet? I need to put in the final numbers." Melody asked as she walked in from the hallway. "Plus Abeulita wants to know if you are going to read to her tonight, I guess. I still don't know why she has you do that."

"Soos?" Abby whispered. She winced in pain for a moment, holding her head..

"Sorry Melody, I was almost done with it when our new house guest came in and…" Soos turned back to where Abby had been standing a moment ago. She was missing. "Huh? I wonder where she went."

Dipper and Mabel looked over and realized that they didn't see her leave. Hearing the door shut behind them they ran outside. Not seeing her they called for her, finding nothing.

Stan was walking up to them as they yelled for her.

"Why did Abby run past me like that?" Stan asked.

"I don't know. Soos was introducing himself and Abby just ran off." Dipper replied.

"To where? She doesn't know this town so where would she go. It's not like she could figure out her way back to the mansion from here."

Mabel's eyes widened as she had an epiphany. "Dipper, I think I know where she might have gone."

She looked at her brother who thought on it a second. "You think they exist?"

"If they were then they might be now."

"What are the two of you talking about?" Stan asked, confused.

"We'll be right back Grunkle Stan!" Dipper said as he and Mabel ran off into the woods.

It took some finding but sure enough the tunnels they had seen in the future were in Gravity Falls. Hopping down into them they were much smaller and less dug out than the ones they saw in the future but still they could manage the distance.

"You think the gnomes dug these?" Dipper asked.

"I don't know but I'm not going to be the one to find out." She replied.

Dipper chuckled as he walked. "You could always ask Queen Jeff."

"Bleh, no thank you. I'm an so done with gnomes."

Coming upon a large antechamber they hit the jackpot. Abby was sitting by a small crystal which provided illumination. Her head was buried in her knees as she sat.

"Abby?" Mabel called out. Abby's head flipped up and for a second she looked like she was about to run before they stepped into the gentle glow of the crystal and she calmed down.

"I'm sorry guys. You guys tried to give me a normal day and I blew it." She lightly sobbed.

"What happened back there? You left before we even noticed." Dipper asked as he sat beside her.

"I, I don't know. My head just started hurting all of a sudden and I felt like I needed to run." She wiped a few tears from her eyes. "This was the only place I knew that I could go that was safe." She looked around the cave. "This was our home for years. I just feel… comfortable here."

Mabel hugged Abby as she sat next to her. "You don't have to worry, we're both here for you. Gravity Falls may be a weird place but you'll be safe with us."

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Besides," Dipper added. "There's way more summer to go so you still have your chance for a normal day, at least as far as Gravity Falls in concerned."

Abby smiled a little. "Okay. Let's give it a shot."

Dipper and Mabel stood and offered her a hand each. She took their hands and stood up.

"Let's go back to the shack." Dipper said.

Mabel nodded and smiled at Abby.

Returning to the Mystery Shack Abby hesitated before entering.

"Do you think he'll be mad?"

"Who Soos? No way, Soos is the nicest guy around."

"Yeah, Dipper's right. There's no way Soos would be angry about something like that."

"Okay, if you say so."

Walking in to the shop Soos, now out of uniform stood tapping his foot.

"There you are. Come here." He said in a stern tone. Abby slowly walked up but couldn't look him in the eye. "How dare you? Seriously dude, how dare you?" He asked sounding angrier. She began to wince at the thought of what he might do. "How dare you run around in that old Mystery Shack shirt."

"Wait, what?" Mabel asked confused.

"Yea dude. I can tell that one has seen a lot but you've taken care of it super well." His angry tone gone, replaced by a jovial tone. "Cause of that I wanted to give you this."

He handed Abby a folded up shirt. She looked up and took it, letting it unfurl. It was another mystery shack shirt, several sizes too large.

"Sorry man, one size fits all. But the way you're wearing the other shirt this might make a good dress if Mabel would do some modifications for you." He winked at Mabel who brightened up with a smile.

"You mean you're not mad at me?" Abby asked cautiously.

Soos laughed. "Me mad? At what? You haven't done anything wrong. Dude, this place is yours, if you feel you need to step out for a bit go ahead but remember this." He kneeled and put his hand on her shoulder. "If you ever need a safe space this is one for you too."

With that Abby could no longer hold her tears back. She began crying as the twins walked up and hugged her, they were joined by Soos in a big group hug.

"Welcome home dudes!"

Excerpt, Journal 6: June 2, 2018 – Aw dudes, Dipper letting everyone write in his new journal. I gotta think of something cool to say. Oh, I know! We're throwing them a big party to celebrate them coming up for the first time in six years! I went hog wild on this one and got everyone in town to show up. Man, they are going to love it. Umm, umm. Soos out!

Notes:

So it begins again. The second half of the season is plotted out and ready to be written. I actually had more than 13 ideas for episodes planned but I cut a few just to make this concise like a real season (yes, I know GF was 20 and most are 26 not 25 but bear with me, I have a plan).

Coincidentally having read Lost Legends literally yesterday I panicked as some of the stories in there are very similar to things that happen here and in the future. I had to remind myself later that this is technically an AU (Yes, Left of Center is my own personally created AU. I know, weird way to reveal it as this is technically a crossover now.). Thankfully whats has happened isn't that hard to recover from (I might go back and edit the way Priscilla and Preston "met" from episode 11 later.).

Also, if you noticed, I've replaced the opening and closing monologues with journal excerpts (mostly from 6 but others will show up too). This will help to tell the story of what happened in Mason's world and why they had to leave it.

Anyway please enjoy and as always comments are welcome and appreciated.