This day just couldn't get any worse.

It started off well enough. It was a lazy off day, and Stan had decided to spend it with the kids. Ever since the…INCIDENT…Dipper and Mabel had been less than chipper and almost too cautious around him.

He couldn't blame them one bit. They had every reason to be cautious, considering…

But today was different. Mabel found some of his illegally-imported fireworks, and to lighten up the day, they had a fireworks party. He wanted to do something fun with the kids, to remind them that he was fine, still their Grunkle Stan. Their worries over him seemed to vanish as they exploded a few fireworks, then decided to hold a water balloon fight.

Normally, he'd be content to sit on the outside couch and watch them in order to spare his joints, but he instead joined in with the fun. His joints might crack more, but they didn't hurt like they normally would. He played double-agent to make the fight fair, and only stopped when they were thoroughly soaked and ran out of water balloons.

Mabel made an off-hand remark about how much fun they could have for the rest of the summer, and he fought to not let his expression drop as fast as his heart. Dear lord, the issues that were still unspoken, unknown. He gave the two a smile and excused himself to the side of the house, clenching a hand into his soaked shirt.

His breathing was ragged, his hands twitching. The now-familiar wrench in his gut that was giving him a warning of what might happen if he didn't rein in control, and rein it in NOW.

He couldn't do that to the kids. He couldn't let them see THAT again.

Stan let out a heavy sigh, feeling the wrench die down slightly. It was okay. He could do this. Just a few more hours to go…it all seemed to be going about too slowly.

Too-slowly turned to too-quickly in just a matter of an hour, when he was in FBI custody. He admittedly almost lost it when he was being pinned to the hood of a car, but he forced himself to stay calm. The kids were okay. They didn't know anything, and the FBI stooges weren't going to hurt them.

But he was running out of time, and the gravity anomalies were getting stronger.

He finally found his chance when a particularly strong anomaly put him in an advantage, with him being tied to some sort of anchor. While the FBI guys were distracted, he snapped the handcuff chain in two, shoved the chair into Agent Powers, pushed off from the wall, and used the other guys as stepping stones to the door.

As soon as the anomaly ended, he ran outside and shoved money to a taxi driver, instructing him to drive out of Gravity Falls as fast as he could, waiting for his moment before bolting for the Mystery Shack.

It only gave him a MINOR sense of satisfaction that he wasn't in as much pain as he would be if THAT never happened.

The Mystery Shack came into view, and he was relieved to see that it was cleared out. That relief vanished and was replaced with panic when he saw the vending machine door wide open. He bolted down, punched in the elevator code, and BARELY managed to keep his panic somewhat under control as the elevator descended. He was out before the doors fully opened, and he could hear voices in the portal room. He ran faster, skidding around the corner—

"DON'T TOUCH THAT BUTTON!" he shouted, without a second to spare just as Dipper was about to press it. He forced down that wrenching in his gut, slowly stepping into the room. "Dipper…just back away…" he said, holding up his hands placatingly, internally cursing when he could feel them twitching. "Please don't press that shut-down button, you've gotta trust me."

"And I should trust you WHY?!" Dipper demanded, not lowering his hand. "After you stole radioactive waste?! After you LIED to us all summer?! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE—DON'T COME CLOSER!"

Stan paused, stopping when he saw Dipper jerk back, his expression having gone from angry to fearful. What was wrong? He felt something on his chin and wiped at it, suddenly aware that he was salivating, and the wrenching in his gut feeling akin to a ravenous hunger. It hit him what he must look like, and what Dipper must be thinking. "No, Dipper, just let me explain—"

He was interrupted when his watch alerted him to another anomaly. "Brace yourselves—" he warned, just as the portal sparked violently and gravity began going haywire. Everyone was lifted and separated as they tried to find something to hang onto. Stan found a spot on the wall to cling to, looking around for everyone, his eyes landing on Mabel when she called out for Dipper.

"Mabel! Shut it down!" Dipper shouted at her. Stan's eyes widened when he saw her crawl along a power cord and scramble to the shut-down button.

"NO!" he shouted, pushing off from the wall. "Mabel! Mabel, wait, STOP—!" He yelped when Soos tackled him mid-air, the feeling in his gut surging. "SOOS, YOU IDIOT!" he snarled, clenching his hands into Soos' arm almost tightly enough to snap it. "LET ME GO!" He jerked Soos' arm away and threw him into the wall before turning back to Mabel. "MABEL!"

Dipper pushed off from the support beam of the room and crashed into him, hitting and pushing at him. "MABEL, PRESS THE BUTTON!" he shouted. "SHUT IT DOWN—" He was cut off when Stan shoved him away, but clung to Stan's leg to avoid getting flung to the other side of the room.

"YOU'VE GOTTA TRUST ME!" Stan cried, using every ounce of consciousness in his brain to avoid tearing Dipper off of him—or worse.

"Grunkle Stan…I…I don't even know if you're my Grunkle…" Mabel sniffled, hugging the lever tightly as she cried. "…I wanna believe you…but…"

The sight simultaneously made Stan want to tear apart what was making her cry, and calming that hunger inside him. "Mabel, listen to me, I know this looks bad, REALLY bad, but—" A surge from the portal cut him off and flung him and the other two males back. He barely managed to shift Dipper upward so the boy would crash back against him instead of head-first onto a pipe on the wall.

He clung to a pipe to keep himself from flinging around. "EVERYTHING I'VE WORKED FOR, EVERYTHING I CARE ABOUT, IS ALL FOR THIS FAMILY!" he shouted, keeping her from pressing the button.

Dipper pushed off from him as best he could. "Mabel, what if he's lying!?" he cried, trying to shift away from Stan. "This thing could destroy the universe, LISTEN TO YOUR HEAD!"

"Look at me, Mabel!" Stan pleaded in turn. "I know I'm practically a monster now, but do you REALLY think I'm a bad guy!?"

"HE'S LYING! SHUT IT DOWN NOW!"

"MABEL, PLEASE!"

The portal sparked and began glowing brighter. Mabel looked between the portal, Stan, and Dipper before clenching her eyes shut.

"Grunkle Stan…" she choked, her hand shaking for a moment before she let go. "…I trust you."

Dipper let out a short scream when he saw his twin coming closer to the void of that portal. "MABEL!" He kicked off from the wall, reaching out for her as a blinding flash shot out from the portal. "NO!"

Stan paid no heed to the light or the force of energy that practically exploded around him. He shoved off from the wall and reached out, his hands finding Mabel and pulling her to him tightly, shielding her from the quaking from the portal as it flickered and began powering down, gravity turning back on like a switch was flipped.

He reached out and barely managed to catch Dipper too before the boy hit the ground, holding them both tightly as the air settled and the portal flickered. Dipper struggled weakly, still shaken from the blast, while Mabel clung to him tightly. He paid little mind as a shape formed within the portal for a brief moment before someone stepped out.

Dipper winced when Stan's grip on him tightened, and looked up when he saw someone walk over some debris and up to one of the journals on the floor, pressing a hand to it before picking it up and tucking it away. "Who…is that…?" he stammered.

"…The author of the journals," Stan replied, his voice shaking. "…My brother."

The newcomer tugged a scarf and goggles down, and the twins were looking at a near-identical face to the Grunkle they were holding onto.

Next to them, Soos fainted.