Chapter Seven: Return to the Family

"Dipper! I got in contact with Mom!" Mabel said urgently.

"What-what about Dad?" Dipper asked anxiously.
"He-he got crushed by some debris. He's… He's not dead, but he's being taken to the intensive care unit." Mabel breathed. Wendy put a hand on her shoulder as Mabel fell onto the couch, tears filling her eyes. Dipper sat down next to her, holding her hand.

"Mabel… We'll head back to California. We'll help take care of Dad. Whatever happens, we'll be there for them." Dipper said.

"How? Mom says that the roads are wrecked! Dad is gonna die and we can't even get there to see him before he does!" Mabel cried, hugging Dipper tightly. Dipper clenched his hands. He knew she was right. They had plenty of earthquakes in California. But it had been a while since they'd had one this major. They'd had a 7.1 earthquake in 2019 and a 7.2 in 2010.

But never an 8.8. Not in their lifetime anyway. And now their father was badly hurt. He'd been hit by falling debris. Dipper was trying to stay calm for Mabel's sake. But he was freaking out as well inside.

"Dude… Just sit down. We'll take care of things." Wendy said, limping upstairs. Her leg was still hurting, but she knew she couldn't just sit around. Dipper and Mabel needed her.

"Wendy! You just hacked your leg open! Sit down and rest." Dipper said.

Wendy chuckled, hiding a grimace of pain.

"Nah, I'm okay. It's just an axe. This isn't the first time I've hurt myself." Wendy said.

"Kids, all of you. Sit down and relax. Let the adults handle this." Ford said, going down to his basement and typing in some commands to his computer. He was hacking into the satellites so that he could track the Pines' location. They were at the hospital. He hacked into Mrs. Pines' phone.

His face showed up on the screen.
"Amanda. I don't know if you know me. But I'm Stanford Pines." Ford said.

"Oh… H-hi… Yes, I-I do know you. Not well, but I think-think we've met." Amanda breathed anxiously.

"I don't know what I can do, but I'll be sending the kids back as quickly as possible. I have some methods that will get them there and can get them back to Gravity Falls when they're able to come back." Ford said kindly.

"Wait! I'll get some of the hot spring water! It will help him heal faster! I think I can find my way to the hot spring! If I rush, I can get there and back with a few vials." Dipper said. Ford hesitated.

"It's… Not a bad idea. But we don't know the side effects of that water. So far, you've only healed much faster. I won't tell you what to do. You have to make your own decisions and your parents need to as well. You can give them the option and let them make their own choice. But overall, there could still be dangers of the water that we haven't yet seen." Ford said.

Dipper nodded. He wanted to save his father. But he had to look at the bigger picture too. No. He had to give them the option at least. He ran out of the Shack. There was definitely some rough terrain in the woods. Mabel and Pacifica ran after him. They wanted to help how they could, carrying vials with them. They followed Dipper through the now rough terrain of the forest. Trees had fallen, some terrain had changed. But Dipper had a great memory and he brought them in pretty good time to the spring. Mabel dipped the vials into the hot spring, feeling a strange tingling sensation washing through her body.

Pacifica dipped vials into the hot spring as well, feeling the same strange sensation. They both ignored it and continued filling vials. Most of them would be going to Ford so that he could study them. They packed them into sleeves on a bag and hurried back to the Shack.

-0-

"Ah, good. You're back. I have the teleportation machine ready. It should transport you to within half a mile of the location that you want. Do be careful. The city is in ruins and even with your accelerated healing, you could still get hurt. Mabel, I don't know if your healing is accelerated. Just touching the water might not be enough. How much of your arm did you stick in?"
"I stuck in both of my arms up to above the elbow." Mabel said. She'd liked the tingling sensation.

"Okay, well, we'll see. Won't we?" Ford asked.

"I think I can transport all of you if you all want to go. Wendy, I called your family and made sure they were all okay. They're fine. The house is pretty wrecked. It hasn't fallen down. Just in disarray. Everything is everywhere." Ford said.

"I'll go with Dipper and Mabel. I'm here for you, dudes." Wendy said. Dipper smiled at her as he gave Ford ten vials of the water.

"Ah! Good. I'll start studying it as best I can. There might not be anything in here that I can study. Science has its limitations when studying the supernatural. But I'll see what I can do. When you want to come back, take these phones. You'll only be able to take yourselves, the clothes on your backs and maybe a bag of stuff. So be careful what you take with you." Ford said as he started setting up the machine.

"Okay… Let's see… Good, good… We're ready." Ford said after about ten minutes. The foursome took the return remotes and put them in their pockets, stepping onto the platform and holding hands as they felt themselves being deconstructed. It was a strangely uncomfortable sensation. Not painful, just uncomfortable.

-0-

They sighed as they looked around. The city had been ruined. The streets were torn up, buildings had collapsed. It was hard to even tell where they were. It was obvious they were in Piedmont. But where exactly in Piedmont they were, they would have to look around. The street sign closest to them had been torn out of the street and seemed to have been buried under rubble.

"Excuse me! Where exactly are we?" Mabel asked, seeing an emergency worker digging through rubble to find a person, who they heard screaming inside.

Wendy and Dipper ran over and started grabbing rubble as well. They didn't have the machines to pick up big pieces, but they could pick up smaller pieces.

"Stop, guys. I appreciate the help. But you need to get somewhere safe. What are you looking for?" The emergency worker asked.

"Piedmont General." Dipper said.

"Ah, well… That's four blocks that way, two blocks to the right and then three blocks that way."

The emergency worker took out a piece of paper and drew a simple map, drawing a line to where they needed to go.

"Get there quickly and be careful. There are still buildings coming down. The aftershocks have ended, but many buildings are still unstable and I don't want you getting hurt. Piedmont General miraculously wasn't severely damaged." She said.

"Thank you." Dipper said, taking Pacifica, Wendy and Mabel with him and practically running to the hospital. Only Wendy could keep up with him at his normal running pace. So they both had to slow down.

"C-come… Come on, guys! We're not Olympic athletes!" Pacifica gasped as she tried to keep up with them even at their slowed pace.

"Sorry. We'll slow down a bit. But we're really close." Dipper said, looking at the map and seeing that they were right around the corner.

They finally got to the hospital and went in.
"We're here to see Matthew and Amanda Pines." Dipper said.

"Okay. What is your relationship to them?" The nurse asked.
"We're their children. We just got into town." Dipper said.

"Okay. Well, come with me. Matthew is… Not in good condition. He got out of surgery. But he's still touch and go. Amanda has some cuts and burns and bruises. But she'll be okay." The nurse said.

"Okay." Dipper said, following them and taking the rest to Matthew's room first.

"Dad!" Dipper said, seeing his father wrapped up in bandages and casts and slings. He was really badly injured.

"Dad. Can you talk?" Mabel asked gently. He couldn't move his head. His neck had a brace around it. But he let out a noise of assent.

"I can talk. Overall, I'm doing okay." He said weakly.

"Dad, I discovered a spring… Well… A hot spring that may be able to help you. If you drink it, it will cause you to heal faster. I think it will. The rest of us have taken a swim in it or put our arms in it and we're healing much faster." Dipper said. He took out a pocket knife and showed it to his dad.
"Wait… Let me do it." Mabel said. She wanted to see if it worked as well for her, having only put her arms in it.

"No, no. I don't want any of my children to hurt themselves, even to show off something amazing." Matthew said. You're saying that water will give me regeneration? Will it cause me to live forever like Wolverine?" Matthew asked. Dipper laughed. Wolverine actually didn't live forever. He started aging after his regeneration burned out due to decades of Adamantium poisoning. But he was almost 200 years old when he died. But he was probably going to be retconned again. He was the most popular member of the X-Men.

"Well, Dipper and I don't have Wolverine levels of regeneration. But I hacked my leg open with my axe recently, and look at it now." Wendy said, standing up on one leg and showing how it was healing.

"Very nice. Who is this young lady? She's stunning." Matthew said.
"Oh, this is Wendy. She-she and I are dating now." Dipper said shyly.
"And the blonde woman? Is she Mabel's girlfriend?" Matthew asked.

"Oh, n-no, Sir. I'm Dipper's girlfriend too…" Pacifica said nervously. Obviously he was okay with his daughter being bisexual. But would he be okay with his son being polyam?"

"Oh. Wow. I'm impressed, Dipper. Just make sure you treat both of them like they deserve to be treated." Matthew said.

"And what's your name?"
"Pacifica Northwest, Sir. You probably haven't heard anything good about me or my family."

"Mason did mention that you and he and Mabel had a bit of a rivalry early in their first summer in Gravity Falls. But that you became friends. And Wendy. You must be Wendy Corduroy. We've heard all about you. Mason, you told us she was beautiful. But you never told me just how stunning both of these girls are." Matthew said. Pacifica blushed slightly.
"He-he said I was beautiful?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah. I'm surprised he ended up with both of you, but I knew he had feelings for both of you. Anyway, I don't need the water. I'm touched that you went to such lengths to help me get better. But you've all bathed in the water. Before we determine the long term effects of drinking the water, I'd be more careful about it than just to gulp it down." Matthew said.
"But what if you die!" Mabel protested. Matthew chuckled.

"Well, I'm still touch and go right now. I had some bad damage to my head.

"But I'm feeling a lot better now that I've seen youuuuu…" Matthew said, trailing off, suddenly starting to tremble violently. Dipper gasped. Their father was having a seizure. The brain damage. Dipper pressed the call button. Moments later, a nurse walked in.

"How can…"
"Dad's having a seizure!" Dipper said urgently, clutching Wendy's and Pacifica's hands tightly.

"Okay. Go on out, we'll take care of him." The nurse said, calling in a doctor as well.

Dipper went out and sat in the waiting room with Wendy, Pacifica, Mabel and their mom.

"It will be okay, Dipper. Thank you for coming. You didn't have to. I'm sure you were busy in Gravity Falls." Amanda said kindly.

"No, of course we had to come back. Mom, we came back to give Dad this." Dipper said, showing Amanda a vial of water.

"What is it?" Amanda asked curiously.

"It's water that seems to have regenerative features. I fell and scraped up my arms, legs and hands and now look. It's pretty much all healed." Dipper said.

"And I hacked open my leg with an axe and now look. It's scarring over, but it's almost all gone." Wendy said, showing off her leg. Amanda nodded.
"And you're sure it's the water that caused that to happen?" Amanda asked.

"There's nothing else we did in common that would account for both of us having enhanced healing."

Wendy nodded.

"Did you drink it? Bathe in it?" Amanda asked.
"Bathed in it. It was a hot spring." Dipper said.

"I see. And you're sure that drinking it will have the same effect as bathing in it?" Amanda asked. Dipper shrugged. Of course they didn't know. It might require that people actually submerge themselves in it.

"I see." Amanda said.

"And you were trying to convince Matthew to drink it for the purposes of helping him heal faster." Amanda said. Dipper nodded.

"Well, I'll drink it." She said, taking a vial and gulping it down. She didn't know if it would work, but she would keep the kids apprised of any changes she noticed. As she drank it, it tasted almost electric. It was a strange tingling sensation going down her throat.

The water tasted incredible. Minutes later, a doctor came out.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Pines. My name is Doctor Alex." The man said.

"Your husband isn't doing well. He had a severe seizure. We're doing our best to take care of him. But we're not sure if, when or how well he'll recover. We'll definitely keep you apprised of his condition. There are few places right now that people can stay. The city has been severely damaged as I'm sure you know.

"But if you give us the best number that we can reach you, we'll keep in contact with you and tell you if you need to come back." Alex said kindly. Amanda nodded, sniffling, trying to hide her tears. Dipper went with her.

"I'm sure that we can find a place for you to stay in Gravity Falls." Dipper said, gripping her hand tightly. Dipper called Ford on his phone to make sure that it would be safe to bring a guest on the teleportation.

"Hmmm… Well… I've never done it before, but make sure that you're holding onto the guest tightly and that you don't let go at any point." Ford said. He was willing to let Dipper try it. But he was concerned that it might not work. Dipper gripped her hand even tighter while Wendy took her other hand just to be safe. They all pressed the return button.