A/N Hey thank you so much to the four of you who reviewed! (And to all you wonderful peeps who favorited and followed this!)
shootingstar34: Thanks for the review and for the reviews you left for "Mabel's Choice". Means a lot. I'm really excited about writing Dipper's side of the story, especially since it will be quite a different journey than Mabel's as you already know. (wink) Glad you're enjoying both stories!
xJellybeannS2: Thanks I'm glad you like this so far!
gravityfalls22: So happy to see you're following this one, and I'm even more glad that I managed to break your heart twice by making you relive these scenes all over again! Will Bill be paying Dipper a visit? You'll just have to wait and see! I'd absolutely LOVE to hear your ideas and suggestions you have, even though I have this mapped out already, it's still fun to hear any predictions and whatnot you or anyone might have. So there's something else you wanted to mention in your last review but didn't? Now I'm getting all curiousy inside! Ideally I'll have these done by the time the next eppy airs but I'm not sure if that will be possible. I might be able to complete "Mabel's Choice" by then but I'm doubtful about this one. It's kind of daunting but I'll do my best.
Effervescent Dreamer: Thanks for the review. I hope that moment, when it comes will live up to your expectations. I'm kind of morbidly excited to get back to that part, though part of it comes from me wanting to get to something new as the first three chapters to this are so similar to the first four chapters of "Mabel's Choice". I'm glad you seem to be enjoying this so far!
To everyone who is following both stories, thank you! I hope that despite the fact you've seen these scenes before, I hope the change in POV has brought something new to the table. And again, to those who are only reading this one, that's OK, it's not necessary to read both for each to make sense. (Though I hope you do decide to read "Mabel's Choice" at some point) .
Edit 7/29/2015 Changed to include identity switch between the Stans.
Well, enough babbling, enjoy!
Structurally Damaged
Dipper's anger had led him to the room he and Mabel shared. The journey up there was surprisingly a challenge as the Mystery Shack sustained some serious damage. But he's too angry to dwell on it, instead the cracked walls, the slanted floors, uneven stairways and giant mess of stuff all over the place only served to add fuel to the fire. He paces back and forth in their room, angry and hurt as he thinks about all that had happened.
Ever since he was little, Dipper's always been the type of person who tended to keep people at arm's length. Trust had to be earned, rarely was it freely given unless it was Mabel. He could trust her with anything. Or so I thought…
When they first arrived in Gravity Falls, for the first few days Dipper closed himself off to everyone but his sister. He didn't know what to make of Grunkle Stan, a man he saw as weird, eccentric and a little overwhelming to be around. Soos was just a handyman who was clearly loyal to his boss, did his job and went home, and Wendy was the cute girl at the counter he could only talk to when it was important because he wasn't sure how to talk to girls anymore. The first few days it was just him and Mabel versus the world—well, them versus the strange town they'd been exiled to for the summer.
But then he found the journal and everything changed.
He had already suspected that something weird was going on in Gravity Falls, things seemed a little off, and he swore he saw some creepy things in the woods he could not explain. But whenever he tried to bring it up, he'd get laughed at in his face. Well, Stan would laugh at him. Mabel would just roll her eyes as she continued her bizarre quest for an epic summer romance and they were the only two people he told. But the Journal…the Journal taught him that it was all true, the paranormal was real and he wasn't crazy. Somewhere out there was someone who knew what was going on, who he could relate to, who would probably take him seriously for once, despite being a twelve year old kid.
It was because of the journal that Dipper started to open up to Soos. When he rightly believed Mabel was in danger, wrongly assuming her new boyfriend was a zombie, Soos believed him. He didn't dismiss him as a dumb kid with an overactive imagination. That meant a lot. And a week later when Wendy witnessed him do the humiliating Lamby-Lamby dance to appease some vengeful ghosts, and then kept it a secret, making him look good in front of her friends, he knew he could trust her as well. If he didn't let his silly crush on her get in the way, she probably would've joined their circle a lot sooner.
Stan was another story. Always laughing at him for believing in the paranormal, always giving him the tough jobs, never taking him seriously…sure he liked Stan and could get along with him, but Dipper had always been a little guarded around him. That is until he went into Grunkle Stan's mind along with Mabel and Soos. There he learned that Stan really did care about him and that was what led him to consider letting him in on his big secret.
Telling Stan about the Journal was a big deal for him. A huge step that he did not take lightly. He almost changed his mind but Mabel had given him a nudge, a big encouraging smile on her face. How did Stan react? He laughed in his face, again. And then he took the Journal away. It was a crushing blow for him, and the only thing that kept him from losing it was Mabel, reminding him that he didn't need it to be a hero. But it made Dipper look at Stan a little differently, even after he returned it and especially after confessing he knew the supernatural existed.
And that whole time, during that whole exchange where he laughed in my face, made me feel like the biggest idiot on the planet, he KNEW about it the whole time! I get his motives for keeping his knowledge of the paranormal a secret, but once I showed him that Journal, he should've just told me!
Dipper stops his pacing to sit on his bed, the frame is busted so it rests a little crooked but he doesn't care. He glances to the cork board he had been using to sort through the codes and ciphers and mysteries the Journal had opened his eyes to. The biggest mystery of all was the Author. Throughout the summer Dipper had begun to put the mysterious Author on a pedestal, idolizing the enigmatic stranger as someone who would be a mentor to him, who would see what he had accomplished all summer and be proud.
Lies, he thinks, all lies. The biggest mystery of the summer has been solved at last and look how that turned out. We should be swapping stories, solving mysteries and just plain getting to know each other for the simple reason that he's our great-uncle! But instead he's a jerk, he treated me like an idiot for believing in the journal that he wrote, he threatened Mabel for essentially rescuing him from who knows where! And Mabel….how could she? How could she choose to trust Stan over me?
He picks the board up from where it had fallen off the wall and as he looks over the board, at all the clues that turned out to be false leads, at the codes he has yet to crack, at the names and pictures of all the people who he thought were good candidates for being the Author, all he can think about is how much of a fool he had been.
He stiffens when he hears the door open.
"Dipper?"
Realizing that he's starting to cry he carelessly swipes the moisture building up in his eyes. Go away Mabel, he thinks, staring at his conspiracy board, his biggest obsession all summer, anger and betrayal boiling inside.
"Dipper, are you OK?" she asks softly, full of concern. She doesn't quite sound like herself, her voice is sad and weak, lacking the confidence and silliness she usually has.
What do you think? Of course I'm not OK, Mabel! Don't you get it? "It was all a lie," he mutters bitterly, his voice shaking, "all of it. None of it was real."
"You know that's not true," Mabel says, "unless all those weird things we've encountered this summer was only a sign that we're both delusional."
"That's not what I mean," Dipper snaps in irritation, twisting around to face her, "and you know it." He turns his back on her again, "Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?"
He can't see her, but he hears her shuffle around suddenly, "Yeah well, we've got to pack up our stuff. Stan says we have to go before the Agents get back."
"I'm not going anywhere with him," Dipper hisses.
"He's not coming," Mabel states quietly, "Soos is taking us home—back to Piedmont."
His breath hitches at the news. It all suddenly seems real to him that it's over. No more journals, no more mysteries and weirdness, no more Gravity Falls, soon they'll be back at their normal boring lives at home, forever changed. A few weeks ago, when Gideon stole the Shack, the thought of going home was a bad thing, but now?
"Good," Dipper mutters, climbing to his feet and haphazardly stuffing his backpack with random clothes, "because I'm done here."
He senses Mabel watching him as he packs, and he's waiting for her to say something stupid to ease the tension but she's unusually quiet. He's kind of glad because while he usually appreciates her random humour, right now he's not in the mood. She slowly starts to pack some of her own things, and if he wasn't so angry he might've asked if she was really OK because she does look pale, and he briefly catches a wince of pain cross her face as she snakes an arm around her middle while reaching for a sweater. He's mildly concerned, but the way he sees it, she only brought it on herself by trusting Stan. He figures she's probably overwhelmed by all that had happened, probably feeling guilty for her choice.
See where your blind faith in people has gotten you? Why can't you just use your head for once? Why couldn't you just trust me? When have I ever given you a reason not to? Stanf on the other hand…
He sighs and stops packing, deciding he's got everything he needs. A few clothes, some of the cool things he's collected over the summer, things he couldn't replace. He looks around the room, at the cracks in the walls that hadn't been there before, and then he looks back at his conspiracy board. With the Journal now in Ford's hands, it's all he has left of the biggest part of his summer. So many sleepless nights wasted trying to solve all these mysterious that all could've been answered if Grunkle St—if Stanley just told him!
"I'm so sorry Dipper, I…" Mabel says, breaking the silence.
Shut up, Mabel, I don't want to hear it right now!
He releases a garbled cry and without thinking he drops his stuff and grabs that stupid board, tearing off pictures and sketches, newspaper clippings and codes and smashes it against his desk. He catches Mabel flinch out of the corner of his eye, she's crying but it hardly registers as he continues to destroy his passion project, his obsession all summer.
"It was all a lie!" he hisses, throwing it on the floor and kicking at the pieces, "All of it! Everything I ever cared about this summer was a lie! How could I have been so stupid?!"
"Dipper…" Mabel sobs, "Dipper please…"
He yanks his hat off his head and looks at it a moment, letting the betrayal fester within him as he recalls the day he got it. He and Mabel just got back from fighting an army of gnomes, he lost his lucky green hat with the star, and then Stan said they could each take one item from the gift shop. Stan had been pretty casual about it, but it had been obvious that it was a big deal for Stan to give anyone anything for free. He chose the blue and white pine tree hat, and while he too tried not to make it a big deal, it was the first time they really connected as Great Uncle and Nephew. It meant a lot to Dipper and he wore it every day, so much it had kind of become part of his identity.
How could I have been such a fool to ever trust him? He thinks bitterly, throwing the hat on the floor with a garbled sob before he grabs his bag and storms out, not bothering to give his sister a second glance.
He makes his way downstairs and startles slightly when he sees Soos at the base of the stairs looking a little panicked, "Dude, where's Mabel?"
"Upstairs packing," he shrugs apathetically. Then it registers that Soos is panicked. "Why?"
"We have to go, now," Soos tells him, "It's not safe here."
"The agents aren't after us, Soos," Dipper says, "relax, it's OK."
"I'm not…I'm not talking about the Agents, dude," Soos motions to the damaged walls. He's practically shaking from worry.
"Soos, man are you OK?" he asks.
Soos shakes his head, "No. No I'm not. I can't…I can't believe this is happening and we have to get out of here before…"
"Before what?"
"Mabel hurry!" Soos calls up the stairs, "We have to go!"
"Is Waddles down there with you?" Dipper can hear her call back, sounding shaky and frantic. He and Soos both look around the disaster area that had once been the living room seeing no sign of the pig.
"No, but I'm sure he's fine Hambone. Now come on, we have to leave…it's not safe in here!"
"I can't leave without Waddles!" she cries.
"Mabel! Please!"
There's a pause and it sounds like she's heading downstairs but then she seems to stop, they faintly hear a moan, and Dipper can't help but worry, because if Soos thinks they should hurry, maybe they should hurry. He figures his sister is too overwhelmed to be thinking clearly or move as fast as she should so he exchanges glances with Soos and says, "I'll go get her."
"No, head outside, I'll get her…" Soos says but Dipper ignores him and heads back up the uneven and broken stairs.
"Mabel hurry up!" he hisses as he climbs, swallowing back his concern, because he knows it's just guilt that's got her acting all quiet and strange, and it's just the stress of her guilt that has her looking so pale. She's leaning against the wall, looking like she's about to throw up when he sees her but otherwise she looks fine and he feels stupid for worrying when he's supposed to be mad. "We don't have time to pack every stupid thing you have!"
Her expression shift from looking a little nauseated to looking like she's fighting back tears. She opens her mouth as though to say something but then she stops, wraps her arms around herself and brushes past him. When they get downstairs Soos looks relieved and ushers them outside through the gift shop.
Dipper's taken aback when he looks outside for the first time since they used Mabel's grappling hook to get inside. Everything is a mess and it's blatantly clear that the damage the Portal caused extended far beyond the Mystery Shack.
"Woah," he exclaims, marvelling at the sight of the trees, some broken in half, missing branches or even torn completely from their roots and had fallen. The totem pole is lying in the grass, uprooted from its base, and Soos's truck looks completely totalled, looking like it had been lifted to a great height and carelessly dropped, and considering the weird gravity anomalies down in the bunker, that's probably exactly what happened.
How are we going to get home with Soos's truck like this? How far does this damage even go? Is the rest of the town OK? Did Stan know he'd cause this much damage? Of course he did. He even said he knew there were risks.
"I guess the anti-gravity affected more than the portal room and the Shack," Mabel murmurs, looking behind her at the Shack, gaping in shock.
"You think?" Dipper snaps miserably, "And Gru—Stanley knew...he knew that this would happen…are you happy now Mabel?"
Mabel seems to stumble backwards, looking like she's overtaken with dizziness and Dipper has to fight to resist his instinctive need to make sure she's OK. She's fine, he tells himself.
"Dipper please…" she whispers meekly, "don't. Don't pin this on me."
"This wouldn't have happened if you shut the machine off," he accuses her.
"Dipper I…I did what I thought was right!" she protests, her eyes wide and glistening, a clear window to her soul and he can't look her in the eyes, because he's too angry and if he allows himself to acknowledge the pain in her eyes he'd lose the fight and he's not ready to forfeit, not when there's still so much he has to say and be angry about.
"Trusting a con man? A liar and a thief? Over reason, over everything? Trusting him instead of me?" he hisses, "That sound right to you?"
"You didn't see it, did you? The look in his eyes…no matter what the outcome, he did it for his brother," Mabel sobs, "Do you think Grunkle Stan wanted this to happen?"
"Dudes, maybe now's not the best time to be fighting like this?" Soos chuckles nervously, gently leading them away from the severely damaged Mystery Shack, "We've got bigger things to worry about right now. Like how are we going to get out of here with my truck looking like this?"
"Can you fix it?" Dipper asks he follows Soos to the truck, leaving Mabel behind to wallow in self-pity. Let her think about her actions and hopefully learn that there's a time and place to put blind faith in someone, and when the whole world is at stake, maybe she should listen to her head next time.
"Yeah but it would take time we don't have, and I'll probably have to replace some parts…" Soos shakes his head, uncertain.
"Then what do we do now?"
Soos doesn't get to answer because the Mystery Shack suddenly creaks and groans, catching their attention. He turns to look and his eyes widen in shock as he looks at the Shack from the outside for the first time since the Portal. "It looks…it looks worse than I thought from out here!" he exclaims, realizing the whole thing is on a slant, looking like it had been torn right off its foundation and dropped carelessly back in place, the roof doesn't even look like its fully attached either. No wonder Soos was in such a hurry to get us out of there…
Grunkle Stan…he's still inside… he thinks, frozen in place as he looks at the damaged structure, barely registering the fact that Mabel is heading towards it, looking like she's on a mission.
Soos runs after her and catches her, wrapping his arms around her pulling her back, "Woah, you can't go back in there Hambone, it's too dangerous!"
"But Grunkle Stan's still in there!" she gasps, pain etched in her pale face as she tries to fight back, "We can't leave him behind! We have to—"
Then it happens. No, no, no… this can't be happening… It starts with a loud crack, and then another and then another and the building groans and moans and begins to tilt until finally the Mystery Shack collapses into a heap of dust, wood, and tacky overpriced souvenirs.
"GRUNKLE STAN!" Mabel shrieks in horror, struggling with all she has to break free from Soos's grip.
Dipper feels dizzy from shock and he takes a few steps forward, the whole thing seems unreal as he watches the dust begin to settle. Mabel is in hysterics, Soos is trying to calm her down, and the place that had been their home the last two months…gone in the blink of an eye. And Stanford is still inside.
No, no, no…he thinks, unable to comprehend what just happened. He can hear Soos try and comfort Mabel, trying to reassure her that Stan is fine because he's safe in the bunker underground, but it doesn't seem to help.
"But what if he's trapped? What if he can't get out? What if he's not under there anymore and…" she gasps in realization, "Waddles! Waddles was in there too! I have to make sure they're OK!"
When she mentions Waddles, it pushes him forward. He might be angry with his sister, but it doesn't mean he wants her to have to lose her pig. Deep down he knows how overwhelming it must be for her, to have the world on her shoulders and to know she made the wrong choice. It's no wonder she's so pale and out of sorts, it had to be a huge burden on her shoulders. It does little to lessen his anger, at least right now, but it doesn't mean he's completely heartless. He's kind of indifferent to Waddles for the most part, but for Mabel's sake, he hopes the pig is OK. Same with Stanley, because the thought of him perishing in the collapse is equally unacceptable.
"It's still not safe Mabel—Dipper! Dipper you need to stay back!" Soos releases Mabel with one hand to reach for Dipper who slowly steps towards the remains of the Shack in shock, one foot at a time.
"Grunkle Stan?" Dipper calls, shaking off Soos who grabs his shoulder. Don't be dead, don't be dead…I'm supposed to be mad at you and you can't be dead. If you die I will never forgive you. Please don't be dead… He steps closer until he's at the edge of the rubble that was once the Gift Shop and bends over to pick up part of the sign that once rested above the door, ignoring Soos's call for him to get away from the unsafe rubble.
"Dipper do you see anything?" Mabel asks weakly, resigned to stay away from the remains of the Shack.
"I…I don't know…" he stammers, seeing an opening in the rubble, his heart sinking when he sees the vending machine is blocking the entrance to the secret bunker, and he's not sure it can be easily moved without disrupting the precarious balance of the remains and causing more damage, "I can get inside though and take a look, there's room to move around…sorta…"
"Don't you dare!" Soos exclaims, "I'll look, but you dudes need to stay out here. Please!"
Dipper turns to face them, a little frantic, "I can see the vending machine, there's no way he can get through there."
"He's trapped!" Mabel cries, "If he's still down there then…"
"He'll be fine," Soos promises, though he looks doubtful, "I bet he's stocked up on tons of supplies and is probably in a better position than we are dudes. I bet he can live down there for a long time until we can get him out."
"And Waddles?" Mabel squeaks, wrapping her arms around herself almost protectively as she falls to her knees in despair.
Dipper has to fight to resist the urge to go to her and comfort her because he can't stand to see her upset, but he can't ignore the fact that she's partially to blame for all this either. He knows she never wanted this to happen, but she had no reason to think everything would be OK when she chose to trust Stanley, not with all the evidence they had gathered against him. She should've known better.
What am I supposed to do? What do I say?
"For all we know he's not in there at all, maybe he got out and wandered off," Dipper offers weakly as Soos joins him at the edge of the rubble. "I'm sure he's fine. They're both…they're both fine."
Oh I hope I'm right…
Mabel nods, choking back a sob. She turns away from them, looking completely lost and torn and white as a ghost.
Are you happy now?
"It's my fault," she whispers weakly, her whole body trembling.
Damn right it is, Dipper can't help but think in agreement as he fights the urge to comfort her and ignores the nagging voice in the back of his mind telling him he should be worried. She's fine…she's fine….Stanley and Waddles are OK…she's just overwhelmed with guilt…that's all…she's fine. She's just trying to make me crack and sympathize with her when it's her fault, when she's the one who betrayed me by taking Stanley's side! I know she never wanted this to happen, but she should've known better!
Suddenly she doubles over with a sob and gags painfully. On her hands and knees, she clutches at the grass and dirt and begins to vomit.
She's OK...it's just...stress is all. She's fine, he thinks, while that nagging voice in the back of his mind goes, Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.
A/N Thanks for reading! I really hope that I made Dipper seem real and justified with his anger without making him look like a complete jerk considering I can sympathize with the others too. Getting into angry!Dipper's head after already writing Mabel's side of the story was quite a challenge because I love both character so much and I hate to see them fight and this is a side of Dipper that I have a hard time exploring. Bottom line, I hope he's still in character (that goes for the other too).
Remember folks, a kiss on the hand might be quite continental, but reviews are a girl's best friend! I'd love to hear what you think, good or bad, thoughts and theories etc. Have a great day!