Day 194:
Pacifica sat on the couch, looking at her bank statements. They had everything they needed now. They didn't need the rest of the money she'd gotten off her parents. They'd talked before about donating it to a domestic abuse shelter, but that felt kind of...cheap. She wanted to do something more.
She thought back to when she ran away from her parents. She had nothing put the clothes on her back and what she could fit into a backpack. No blankets. No books. No jewelry. No make-up. No hygenic items. No electronics. Just a couple of outfits, personal paperwork, and he I.D.'s.
Fortunately for her she had the Pines family to help her.
She'd had Dipper.
He had showered her in gifts of clothing, jewelry, nice things. He taught her how to live in the real world. He'd taken care of her; him and his family.
Others weren't so lucky. She knew they weren't.
There wasn't always a Pines family to be someone's safe place to fall when they ran. Many of them ended up trapped in shelters or on the streets. Some of them with their children. She placed a hand on her bulging belly. She couldn't imagine running away now while she was pregnant, especially if she had nowhere to go.
Her back started aching so she lied down, staring across the room. She knew what she wanted to do, but she wasn't sure how. She couldn't very well open a shop that said "hey, are you running from an abusive situation, come here and pick up anything you may have had to leave behind!" That would only draw the abusers to come there looking for their victims. Abusers would do anything to get their victims back under their thumbs, she knew that better than anyone.
If she had somewhere hidden that she could still be sure would be controll-
She quickly shot back up or, well, as quickly as she could with a belly so big she could no longer see her toes. She picked up her phone and dialed.
"Soos Ramirez," a voice answered.
"Hey, Soos, it's Pacifica."
"Hey dude! Sup?"
"I have kind of a weird question for you."
"Shoot."
"Is Ford's underground study and lab still underneath the Mystery Shack?"
"Well, no longer a lad or study. Everything's been cleared out and they've been sitting empty for years."
"But the rooms are still there?"
"Sure. Why you ask, dude?"
"Well, I have an idea…"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Alright, so the old lab will be the clothing room," Ford explained as he and Dipper went over the floor plan.
"And the old boiler room will be the hygiene product room," Dipper continued.
"And the study will be for everything else," Ford finished. "This could work!"
"So, what's the plan exactly?" Mabel asked as she sat on the old desk, as Pacifica carefull lowered herself into a dusty old chair, hoping it didn't lean back too far. If it did she would never get back out of it.
"They'd come to the Mystery Shack for 'fun,'" Pacifica explained, "And then, when no one is looking, Soos, or Melody, or Abuelita, or one of us if we're here, will take them down here and they can shop for anythign they need. We'll just put it in the same bags used in the gift shop, so no one knows they came here from a shelter."
"A secret safety shop, ME LIKEY!" Mabel cheered.
Dipper leaned down and kissed Pacifica briefly on the lips. "I'm proud of you, Princess. This is incredible."
"So, when are we going to fill this place up with stuff for domestic abuse victims?" Mabel asked.
"Hopefully by Christmas," Pacifica said as she struggled to stand up. Dipper helped her up as she grumbled in annoyance. This baby could not get here soon enough! "Only way we've got to figure out now is how to keep funding it since we'll be using most of what's left of my parents money to start it…"
"Eh, I'll donate some of my profits to it," Mabel shrugged.
"You will?" Pacifica gasped.
"I will too," Soos said.
"Wow, thanks guys," Pacifica smiled ear to ear.
"Sure, I mean, this is really important and will help people," Mabel said. "I'd be glad to help."
Pacifica just smiled. She wasn't sure what else to say.
"Now let's go shopping!" Mabel cheered as she raced back up the stairs.