HAT: Today's not a day to really be all that funny- at least after the news I got today. I'm just not in the mood. So- uh- review if you want- I don't care.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls nor its characters. I own the plot and OCs.

-A Few Weeks Earlier-

"Pep! Come help me restock the shelves," Wendy calls.

Pacifica looks up from her Gamegirl after pausing the game and looks at the small pile of boxes and decides that she can spare a few minutes- the video game universe would survive without her. "Okay."

She gets up and sets the Gamegirl on the counter as she walks over to Wendy as she grabs a box and goes towards the shelves. Pacifica opens one of the boxes and sees a large amount of bobble heads so she automatically drags the box toward the shelves that she knows the bobble heads go near the front. Normally she stays at the cash register with Wendy or stocks things in the back to avoid the glares of the people that come in from town, but since they hardly come out to the Mystery Shack, she sees no point in hiding in the place that she's living anymore.

As she stacks the bobble heads she hears the door open and keeps going like she doesn't feel uncomfortable not knowing who's behind her.

"Hey, isn't that Pacifica Northwest?" A young woman asks, not realizing that she isn't as good at whispering as she thinks that she is.

Apparently no one in their conversation can whisper properly because the next voice- the voice of a young man- replies, "Oh, she's not a Northwest anymore. Apparently she went as mad as Old Man McSuckit and got rid of her."

Pacifica grits her teeth at the insult toward the man that saved her life. She can handle insults towards herself- a good portion of the time- but she's never been good at controlling herself when someone talks bad about someone that she cares about- for example when she heard a servant talk bad about her dear grandfather she yelled at them and tried to hurt them as best as she could being the small four year old that she was. She had to get pulled off and disciplined by her grandfather.

"Maybe she's part of the new display," another male voice says.

"That's kinda mean," a younger male voice says.

"Who cares?" the first young man's voice says.

Just keep stacking bobble heads, don't listen to them, she thinks, but it gets her nowhere in not letting her temper boil.

"Well, she's right there, at least stop talking like she isn't," the younger males voice replies.

"Fine, then let's talk about McSuckit," The first young man's voice says.

"But-"

"I mean, who has a raccoon wife anyway?"

"You think he does it with the raccoon?"

"Ew, guys, that's disgusting," the girl squeals.

"Shut up!"

Pacifica stiffens at the realization that she said that out loud. She is use to most of her comments staying in her head and not making it out of her mouth when she's not in the junkyard or in the Shack after hours so this is a little new for her.

The group is looking at her now with the two young men looking at her in distaste, the girl looking at her in confusion, and the younger boy- about her age with shaggy black hair and hazel eyes- looks at her warily like there's something to be afraid of or something. She doesn't have anything to threaten anyone with anymore, but she knows that some still fear her because of the power she had because of her parents, but most took to making her life miserable.

"What'd you say?" The first young man- who has slicked back dirty blond hair and unnaturally bright blue eyes asks.

She clenches her hands and straightens up to try and not seem like she's terrified of these people- especially this one with the electric blue eyes. "I said shut up. You have no right to talk bad about people that you know nothing about."

The blue eyed teenager straightens up and glares at her. "Why do you care, Northwest?"

"I'm not a Northwest and McGucket is a good man who doesn't deserve your ridicule," she states as she glares back.

"You were singing a different tune about him before you went insane," he growls in an animalistic way.

"Stop," the girl begs.

"Dude, she's just a kid, leave her alone," the other young man- this one has black hair and green eyes and looks like the young boy so she can assume that they are brothers- says, his eyes wary now.

"No, if she wants to try and mess with the big dogs than let her." She stays quiet and watches their exchange with a bit of wariness herself- obviously this blue eyed young man has something about him that makes even his- if she had to guess- friends are a bit scared of him. He turns to her and smirks in a way that both makes her blood both boil and run cold at the same time. "So, Northwest, got a problem with me making fun of a man that sleeps with raccoons?"

She clenches her teeth. "Yeah, I do!"

"Hey! Is there a problem here?"

The group in front of her looks behind her and she turns to find Stanley standing there with his back straight and shoulders back and his cane held in a way that can quickly make it into a weapon in less than a split second. His brown eyes are hard and jaw is set in an angry way. It's intimidating to say the least and the fact that he's an adult that could call all of their parents was enough to make them back down.

"We're good," the black haired boy assures and then elbows the blond one. "Right, Dan?"

Dan nods. "We were just leaving."

They start walking out and the young boy stands there with his regretful emerald eyes on her as if to apologize for what his group had said.

"Travis, c'mon!" The black haired boy calls.

Travis turns and jogs out of the Shack without a word.

Pacifica doesn't realize that her muscles were tense until they finally relax when she's sure that they're gone. Her body trembles a little as the adrenaline that managed to get into her system gradually calms down as the seconds tick by.

"You alright there, Pep?" Stanley asks with concerned brown eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it was no big deal, really," she lies, her voice gaining almost a haughty tone to it.

He observes her for a few more seconds before ruffling her hair with a grin. "That's my girl! Tough as nails!"

She smiles a little at the blatant acceptance that he's shown towards her as a family member. It's relieving to have so much acceptance from her family in her life unlike before. The acceptance of others she could live without, but the people that's cared for her- in their own weird ways- are important to her. She wants to make them proud- even Stanford.

After several more boxes she's done restocking everything form bobble heads to "toys" for the children. She goes to play on her Gamgirl again when she notices the date on the calendar and frowns. It's not quite that time, but it's getting there despite her how she wishes that wouldn't be the case. She has to go out and get one thing- a crucial thing.

"Can I go to the store?"

"Why? What do they have there that I don't have here?" Stanley demands.

She points to the calendar hanging on a nearby wall. "What time is it going to be soon?"

He blushes in realization and digs into his pockets and hands over the money. "I thought you had all of that..."

"I do, but I have to buy the painkillers," she replies as she walks towards the door.

"Maybe you should have Soos take you?"

"I'll go visit McGucket and have him walk me back if it makes you feel any better."

She doesn't give him any time to reply and walks out of the Shack. She takes longer route because the route that she usually takes is the one that everyone takes whenever they're walking and she doesn't want to take a chance and run into the group that was in the Shack not too long ago.

Luckily for her she makes it to the store and buys her painkillers without much hassle from the rest of the townsfolk so she begins her walk to the junkyard with the bag at hand. As she walks she wonders what she's going to eat tonight. It could range from anything home cooked to some take-out but either way she'll be happy with what her guardians' pick.

"Hey, Northwest!"

Oh, no, she thinks as she stutters to a stop. She mentally scolds herself for even thinking about turning to see who it is when she knows that it's this Dan character that was at the Shack before. So without a second thought she breaks into a jog to warm herself up a little bit before she goes into a full on sprint. Now this teen is at least a good foot taller than her and has longer legs so that means that if he's faster, but if she manages to stay just a bit ahead of him she has a chance of putting distance between them when he gets tired which means no looking back.

That is not the case.

Before she even rounds the corner she comes up on he's right in front of her with a devilish grin on his face and an evil glint in his neon blue eyes. "Boo."

She jumps back and automatically her hand reaches into her pocket for pepper spray and the pocketknife that she usually carries with her when she walks around town- upon the Stans and McGucket's request- only to find that it isn't there.

Crap, she thinks as she tries to put some distance between the two of them. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" He asks in a mocking tone. "Oh, nothing much. I just want to continue our little conversation that we were having earlier."

"I don't want to talk to you."

"Oh, c'mon! I'm a great guy once you get to know me," he assures her in a way that is anything but reassuring.

"Just leave me alone!"

Dan smirks. "You're the one that wanted to play with the big dogs, kid, and your wish is my command."

He grabs her arm and yanks the bag out of her hand and pulls out the contents. "Painkillers? How convenient."

She tries to escape his iron grip as he drags her toward an alley, but only manages to give herself rub burn in her desperate attempts. "Let go of me!" She bites her bottom lip as if this will give her the strength to escape, but when she continues to fail she figures the best thing that she can do is yell for help. "Somebody help me!"

"No one's gonna help you," he sneers and tightens his grip n her arm painfully. "No one cares for you so no one's gonna stop me."

She trembles in front of him and knows that what he says is true. No one outside of her adoptive family gives two craps about what will happen to her- that she knows of at least- and so she knows that even if she gets someone's attention they'll either ignore it or try and get someone else that doesn't care about her to help. Either way she isn't getting any help unless someone actually has a good conscious regarding the former Northwest.

He twists her arm behind her back painfully and throws the painkillers onto the ground and then uses the newly freed hand to yank her hair and slam her into a wall with enough force to knock the air out of her lungs.

"P-please, stop," she begs as he pulls her head back to slam her into the wall again.

His eyes literally begin to glow and he gives an evil smile. "I don't think I will."

And then she's slammed into the wall and kneed in the back.

-Time Skip (I'm horrible for doing this to her)-

Pacifica Elise Pines had never been in so much pain before without having bones broken. He had beaten her until she was near unconsciousness and the sky was dark and after that he picked up and threw the painkillers to her with a sneer and left with unnatural speed. She fought as hard as she could the entire time and it left her in utter exhaustion. She doesn't know what he was, but she knows that he isn't human. No matter, the pain was all she could focus on. He had no mercy and had such an immense joy in his eyes whenever she cried out in pain. It was almost like her suffering fueled him.

She grabs the painkillers and pushes herself up with every ounce of strength she can muster and ends up backing up against the wall behind her with drops of her blood on it. Her legs tremble at the new weight, but she convinces herself that she's been through worse and that she is Pacifica and nothing can hold her down or hold her back. Too bad her body didn't agree with her mind because she stumbles through the abandon streets in the middle of the night going towards the closest place where she can get help and that's the junkyard.

Damn it, she thinks as she trips over her own two feet. She struggles to get up again, but her body can't handle anymore and begs for rest.

It feels like hours later before she hears voices.

"Pacifica!" That was McGucket.

"Pacifica, where are you?!" Stanford.

There's no call from Stanley which leaves her to think that he's moving around and looking for her- possibly frantically. She lifts her head so that her jaw is resting on the concrete and looks round for anything that will help her make them find her as her throat is horse from trying to get the attention of anyone. She finds a broken bottle and grabs it after a few seconds of trying to get her muscles to cooperate with her and finally slams the bottle on the concrete to make noise.

"Pacifica?" Stanley wasn't too far from her. She hears him walking towards the noise and then sees him a few seconds later with an alarmed look on his face. "Pacifica! What happened?"

She tilts her head with a groan and rests her cheeks on the ground. Stanley picks her up gently, but it still brings pain to her entire body. She involuntarily lets out a whimper and buries her face in his shoulder in false hope of escaping the pain.

Two others come towards them and there's complete silence for a moment or two.

"Damn it," Stanford growls at seeing the twelve-year-old in this state.

For once neither Stanley nor McGucket scold him for his language- which might be influencing hers. Stanley puts her in the back of the car when they reach it and has McGucket make sure that she's buckled in before they start driving with Stanford speeding a bit more than necessary.

"Where're we going?" Pacifica asks with a hoarse voice.

"To the hospital," Stanley answers.

She winces and shakes her head. "No, it's not that bad."

"P'cifica, yer hurt and need medic'l attention," McGucket tries to reason.

She gets looks from everyone in the car- briefly one from the driver through the rearview mirror- and she sits up despite her tired body's protest. "See? It's not that bad... Just tired."

"Why do you insist when you look like this? It's the best plan to make sure you're okay," Stanford insists.

"I hate hospitals," she states plainly without feeling the need to elaborate why. "Just... please, don't take me there."

Stanford shares a look with his twin before heaving a sigh and then turning around and driving towards the Shack again. McGucket nervously babbles in attempt to keep Pacifica's mind off the pain and every now and again when they hit an inevitable bump in the road asks if she's alright. She repeatedly assures him that she is fine, but she can still feel his worry. The tension in the car is almost tangible and it makes her uncomfortable, but it is still more preferable than having to go to the hospital.

As soon as they reach the Shack she's taken inside and Stanford takes her to the bathroom and has her sit on the toilet while he looks for the first-aid kit is.

"Alright, take off your shirt," he orders like it's as normal as telling her to hand him the remote.

"Excuse me?" She asks with a little distain slipping into her voice.

He sends a brief glare to her and then goes back to searching for the first-aid kit while speaking with an indifferent tone to his voice. "You didn't want to go to the hospital so I have to do it."

She pouts. "I don't wanna."

"It's either this or you go to the hospital and- to be honest- I don't care if you're buck ass naked, I just want to see your injuries to be sure we don't have to take you to the hospital."

Without another complaint- out loud- she takes off her shirt and adjusts her sports bra before hugging her shirt around her stomach uncomfortably. She didn't even like getting changed in front of women so to be in front of a man is some other level of uncomfortable for her. Oh, there were definitely complaints running through her mind- a few of them having choice words that would get her a mouthful of soap in a heartbeat if she said them aloud.

He finds the first-aid kit and opens it to check the contents and make sure that everything is in the box before he turns and looks at Pacifica with a deadpanned look. "Pacifica, if you don't move that damn shirt I'll cut your hair in your sleep."

Unlike his brother this man would probably go through with at least two-thirds of the threats he makes which is the sole reason why she sets the shirt in her lap and sits there with her hands in her lap. He observes her torso carefully and finds bruises formed and still forming, but what briefly takes his attention are the old scars on her body.

"Are you gonna get this over with or what?" She demands.

Stanford kneels in front of her and cleans any cuts on her- mostly on her arms that she used to guard herself- and then wraps them in bandages since there was only one bandaid. For several minutes while he takes care of her fairly minor injuries and checks for a concussion there is nothing but silence, but then he breaks it.

"I take it McGucket knows about the abuse," he states blatantly and factually. "Are you going to tell Stan?"

She scoffs. "Yeah, right. He'd probably react terribly."

"He has an idea of it," Standorf informs.

"Really? How?"

"Your first week when you constantly jumped at the sound of the bell. He almost took it out, but you needed to get over it."

He takes out the only bandaid and puts it on her cheek gently. "Try and be more careful, Pep. You had us worried."

"I'm sorry," she murmurs.

He sighs and stands up. "Put your shirt back on, you're done, but you've got a concussion so you're gonna have to stay awake- got it?"

"Got it," the blond murmurs as she pulls on her shirt.

The two walk out into the living room where Stanley pauses in his pacing.

"It was that boy from this afternoon, wasn't it?"

She remembers his eyes and smile an a chill goes down her spine. What if she told him it was Dan and he went to hurt any of them or her again? But what if you don't tell and he does it again anyway?

"Yes," she murmurs before telling them what had been odd about him from his glowing eyes- where as before they were just bright to the point they looked like contacts- to the incredible speed. She may have just started learning about the paranormal not to long ago, but this was not something that she ever covered. "What is he?"

Stanley frowns and shares a glance with the other two men. "I don't know."