A/N Thanks for the wonderful reviews guys! My muse is very happy which seems to make me type faster. Hmmm...

xJellybeanns2 and shootingstar34: Ah yes, the feels, the feels! That means I'm doing my job right so I'm happy that I hit ya right in them there feels! Thanks for the reviews guys! I'm so glad you're enjoying this.

gravityfalls22: I have to say I liked that part too. In "Mabel's Choice" I tried to make it clear that despite his anger he's still concerned (like when he calls him Grunkle after renouncing him as such) but I'm not sure it came through very well so I was glad to show it from his POV so we can see that he's furious but it doesn't mean he wants anything bad to happen to Stan either. And the reason he's acting so sour as you put it, it's because he's so angry and conflicted, that he's not thinking rationally and he's acting out because knowing and understanding why Stan did what he did doesn't change how betrayed he feels by his actions. And as you said, he knows Stan cares about him, so Dipper is struggling to reconcile the fact that despite this he went ahead and built something so dangerous anyway. I'm glad I've managed to redeem his rather jerky behaviour by showing his POV. And I'm not saying nothing about Bill. You're just gonna have to wait and see. :-P

Effervescent Dreamer: Aw, thanks for the wonderful compliment. I love all these characters so much, so even when they're in the wrong, I still want to be able to sympathize with them and their POV so I'm glad that manages to show in my writing. Well, this chapter coming up, since it's the one you're waiting for I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Edit 7/29/2015 to include identity switch between the Stans.

Well folks, here it is, the next chapter!

All Fall Down

Dipper and Soos are both rooted in place when Mabel stops heaving, choking back a sob as she covers her mess with dirt and snakes her arm around her middle as she unsteadily pushes herself to her feet. She looks so lost and pathetic that Dipper stares a moment, trying to gauge if she's going to be OK. He's genuinely unsure and so he swallows back his anger for a moment and rushes to her side when she tilts precariously, looking like she might fall.

"Mabel, are you OK?" he asks grasping her by the arm to help steady her. She nods quickly, though her pale face and red watery eyes tell another story and she has a look on her face that says she's not sure if she's done yet throwing up yet. "You sure? You look really pale, what's wrong?"

She swallows a couple of times, flashing him an obviously fake grin, "I think I overdid it with the popsicles this morning. I'm OK, just…so much going on, y'know? I think the stress of it all…it's getting to me."

Just as I thought, he thinks, kind of relieved that that's all it is. In the back of his mind he'd been worried there might be something seriously wrong, so he's glad that it was just paranoia talking. "Did puking help?" he asks, recalling a time where he had made himself physically sick with anxiety, and felt a little better after clearing out his system a bit.

"I think so?"

"You don't sound like you're sure."

"I'm fine, I…I'm just regretting not having any solid food today besides sugar," she replies shakily, and he's still not entirely convinced even though it seems logical. It wouldn't be the first time she made herself sick from too much sugar and probably won't be the last. But considering all they had been through, and with Stan and Waddles missing and the Mystery Shack gone, and the fact that she let it happen, whether she intended it to happen or not, it's not surprising that she'd be stressed to the point of making herself sick.

Well, it's your own fault you feel like crap, he thinks, his anger and disappointment at his sister creeping in now that he's convinced that she's OK. He starts to turn away and join Soos by the remains of the Gift Shop, but she stops him.

"I think I'm still a little off balance from when gravity was going all weird," she adds quickly with a small, nervous laugh, "but then again who isn't?"

Dipper's stomach lurches at the thought that there might be more to it, "What do you mean?" he asks curiously. It was a strange sensation, being weightless in that room, but it didn't take him long to recover once the dust settled and everything returned to normal.

"You know, the energy from the portal, the messed up gravity…you felt it too right?"

"I guess," he shrugs, though his heart is racing because the energy in the room did feel a little off, but it wasn't anything crazy. If anything it was getting tossed around that hurt the most, but she didn't get thrown across the room like he and the others did. On the other hand, he wasn't right next to the Portal like she was... "I'll probably have some colorful bruises tomorrow but…I'm still not sure what you're talking about."

"OK, so just me then?"

"Mabel you're being weird," he frowns—Come on sis, stop being so vague! Should I be worried? Because I'm starting to get worried and how am I supposed to be worried about you when I'm still so angry?—"You didn't hurt yourself or hit your head or something down there did you?"

"Not sure," she shrugs tiredly, "but I'm fine, really. I think throwing up helped."

Dipper sighs, both relieved and annoyed even though she's clearly trying to deflect his concerns. But it can't be that bad, so if she says she's fine he's not going to argue. You only brought this on yourself, he thinks, rolling his eyes, freely allowing himself to resume being angry with her, still struggling to fathom how she could choose to trust Stan over him when the world was at stake.

Stan lied to them and betrayed them by keeping it all a secret, even after learning that Dipper had Journal #3 and was looking for the Author, and he activated the Portal knowing that he'd be risking the world. It said so right there in the Journals, and looking at the damage all around them, it's possible that the world isn't out of danger yet. And by taking Stan's side, despite knowing all this, Mabel crossed a line. Big time.

When have I ever given you reason not to trust me? Dipper thinks as he heads back towards the fallen Mystery Shack to join Soos who had crawled through an opening of the rubble in hopes of maybe rescuing Stanley from the bunker.

When Dipper reaches the opening Soos climbs out tossing him a bottle of water. "Here, give her this. Rescued it from the vending machine…or what's left of it."

Dipper sighs, almost petulantly and brings it to her. She still seems a little unsteady so maybe it's better if she stays put and takes it easy for a minute.

"Thanks," Mabel murmurs softly as she takes it from him. She opens the bottle with trembling fingers and rinses her mouth before asking with a small quivering voice, "Any sign of Waddles or Stan?"

Soos looks a little distraught as he shakes his head, "The opening to the basement is completely caved in. Until we clear some of the rubble, he's stuck down there."

"Assuming he's still down there and he's not hurt or worse," she sniffs.

No, he's down there and he's fine. He has to be! Dipper thinks, refusing to accept any other possibility as he looks around again at the damage to the forest, to the Mystery Shack and the anger within him festers and boils closer and closer to the surface. Dipper clenches his fists, trying to keep it under control but he's practically shaking. The more and more he thinks about it, the harder it is for him to contain his fury. He knew this would happen…he knew it and he did it anyway. And he has to be OK or I'll never forgive him!

"And I'm sorry Hambone," Soos says, genuinely regretful, "I can't see any sign of Waddles anywhere."

Mabel closes her eyes and nods, hugging herself as she stifles a sob, "Maybe he got outside…he's probably fine, right?"

"Yeah, of course he is!" Soos replies, flashing a smile that rings false and she returns the smile, but it's small and empty and Dipper can see her heart is breaking as she bows her head in silence.

Oh Mabel, he thinks, so conflicted because he's still so mad at her but he can't stand to see her upset, and she looks terrible and has clearly accepted that Waddles is most likely gone. She might've been foolish for listening to her heart instead of her head, but it's not fair that Waddles had to be a casualty of all this chaos, it's not fair that she'd have to lose her beloved pet that she loved so much. Oh I hope that stupid pig turns up alive and well somehow…

This is all Stan's fault….he thinks furiously, because none of this would've happened if it weren't for him. If he just told them… And all this time…he knew the risks and he kept everything from us, if he told us…at the very least we could've done something to prevent all this! I thought he cared about us, but he couldn't even bother to warn us about this thing that could've easily killed us all! He had to have known something like this would happen!

"But Mr. Pines…" Soos sighs, shaking his head sadly, "he's a sitting duck down there. I don't have the means to dig him out, and I need to get you dudes home. I'm worried the Government agents will get to him before we do."

"So what if they do?" Dipper mutters. He realizes that Stan was only trying to get his brother back, but was it worth the risk? Was it worth risking the whole world? The Mystery Shack is destroyed, the forest is destroyed and who knows how far the destruction even goes? And what of Ford's warning that opening the Portal was only the beginning of the end? Who knows what else might've come through the Portal while they were all unconscious?

"Dipper!" Mabel exclaims, "How can you say that?"

"Because he deserves it?" Dipper shrugs, surprising himself with his callousness, but the more he dwells on what Stan did and how easily all this devastation all around them could've been prevented, the harder it is for him to care. "He's a criminal, look at the damage he caused! They had every right to go after him in the first place!"

"But he's our Grunkle!"

"No, he's your Grunkle, Stan may be related by blood, but he's not my family!" Dipper snaps.

"And you think he'll be able to do anything to redeem himself or fix his mistakes behind bars?" Mabel asks, tears falling down her cheeks. "If Ford was right, how is he going to even try and stop whatever might be coming if he's rotting in prison? He lied to us, yeah, and he endangered us and put so much on the line, but it was to save his brother!"

"And look how great that turned out! Ford's a jerk, he threatened you, he treated me like dirt and made it clear that it was a mistake for Stan to bring him back!"

"But Grunkle Stan didn't know that!"

"Ugh, after everything that's happened I can't believe you're still taking his side!" Dipper groans, gesturing grandly to the fallen Mystery Shack and the torn up forest. Why couldn't you have listened to me? I'm your twin! I've never given you a reason not to trust me!

"I'm not taking sides!"

"Yes you are! You should have hit the damn button Mabel, none of this would've happened!"

Mabel stumbles dizzily back a few steps, swaying where she stands as she wraps her arms around herself and chokes back a sob. For a moment no one says anything but then Mabel looks him in the eyes, tears leaving wet trails down her pale cheeks as she finally asks, "What if it was me, Dipper?"

"Huh?"

She takes a step forward, "What if I was the one lost; trapped who knows where? Tell me honestly that you wouldn't risk everything to get me back!"

No fair, no fair! How could you ask me that?

He goes quiet, unable to answer. He doesn't even want to imagine what that scenario would be like. No matter how angry he is with her, she's his other half and he can't bear the thought of losing her.

"Tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing for me!" she demands, her eyes wide and pleading as she takes another step forward, hugging herself tighter.

Don't you realize how unfair that question is? There's no way I can answer that without sounding like a hypocrite or a jerk! She's right, she's so, so right, but nonetheless he can't help but still feel so hurt and betrayed because if Stan just told him everything, if Mabel just turned off the machine, if Ford wasn't so nasty, if they just trusted him maybe things would've been different. But looking around at everything Stan's actions had caused, there's no justifying risking the world and yet she's still right! And it's not fair!

"It's not the same," he says finally, cringing because he knows exactly how weak of a response it is. But she's made her point, loud and clear and there's nothing else he can say to that.

"You think so, huh?" Mabel asks, raising a skeptical brow before she turns around and starts to walk away from him.

Dipper glances at Soos who looks away awkwardly, clearly not wanting to get involved. Not that he can blame him.

A heavy silence presses down on them and Dipper kicks at the ground from where he stands as Mabel keeps walking. In the distance he can hear sirens and he can't help but wonder worriedly just how far the damage went.

OK, so Stan wanted to save his brother, I can see that, OK? I get it. But at what cost? Besides… "No matter what Stan's intentions were, you didn't know that!" Dipper calls after her angrily and she stops in her tracks, "All you knew is that you could have destroyed the universe! You knew that, you knew Stan was a lying, thieving con artist with a Doomsday device and yet you still chose to trust him instead of me!"

"That's not true!" Mabel snaps, twirling around to face him though she stays rooted in place, "Well, maybe part of it is but it was never a choice between you or Stan, OK?" Dipper can't help but scoff bitterly at that but she ignores him and continues, "If that were the case it would be you, always you! But I had to trust Grunkle Stan, I had to! He was desperate and I couldn't believe, I still can't believe he would do anything to bring us harm on purpose, not without a good reason!"

She hugs herself tighter, a wince of pain crossing her face.

He notices it, but he's too upset to care, "Yeah but if he just told us…if you just shut the machine off then…"

"There's still so much we don't know about that machine, about any of this and I had seconds to decide," she retorts, cutting him off before he can say anything else, practically demanding his attention, "I listened to my heart and maybe it was wrong, but in that moment I knew that Grunkle Stan had never been more honest than when he was asking me to trust him! For all we knew we had it all wrong and pressing the button would've been what destroyed us all!

"The weight of the entire universe was on my shoulders and I only had seconds to decide, don't you get it? And I had no way of knowing what the right answer was and I had to listen to my instincts, I had to because...because…" she stops, her body lurches forward as though she's on the verge of throwing up again, but then she seems to collect herself and swallows a few times before continuing, "Man, Dipper…do you have any idea of how hard it was? Maybe it seemed easy to you but…"

She stops abruptly as her eyes go wide and she suddenly turns away and gags, doubling over and breaking into violent heaves.

Dipper winces in sympathy, having to look away. He resists his instinctive urge to help her through this vomiting spell, because not only is he still so angry, but with both their emotions running so high, he's not even sure if she'd want it. When she walked away, distancing herself from them with such purpose, she made it clear she needed her space.

When she's done heaving she gives a shrill growl of frustration, wiping her mouth with her hand as she slowly turns around to meet Dipper's gaze. Her eyes are red from crying, her face pale save a slight flush to her cheeks. She looks completely distraught and it breaks his heart to see her like that, the fact she brought it on herself doesn't matter. With her clearly feeling like crap, he pushes his anger aside, willing to resume their fight when she's feeling better and they've both had a chance to calm down and think more clearly and there isn't so much happening at once. But before he can call a temporary truce, her gaze shifts to look past them and her eyes widen with recognition and relief.

"Grunkle Stan!" she gasps in surprise, swaying unsteadily, stumbling to keep her balance.

Dipper and Soos both turn around to follow her line of sight and he stiffens with uncertainty when he sees Stan heading in their direction, looking a little dishevelled but completely fine. Dipper's not sure if he should be relieved or infuriated by this fact because he had been so worried about him, and so angry. I was so scared you were seriously hurt or dead, at the very least trapped and this whole time you were fine? Dipper's glad he's OK, but at the same time…How dare you scare us like that?

Stan heads towards them looking relieved to see they're OK, his eyes frustratingly sincere in his relief. But then he looks to the remains of the fallen Mystery Shack and his shoulders sag, his steps heavy as he moves towards the remains of what had been his home, heartbreak clearly etched in his face.

"How…?" Dipper asks, somewhat thrown by the expression on his face because Stan looks completely shocked to see his home now a pile of rubble and memories. But he had to have known something like that would happen. He even admitted that he knew there were risks.

"Emergency escape hatch in the woods," he explains quietly, "it only opens from the inside."

Of course there is!

"What are you guys still doing here?" Stan asks.

"Can't go very far until I fix my truck or find another means of transportation that isn't destroyed," Soos says, shaking his head. Dipper's kind of surprised to see that even Soos looks angry with him, though to a lesser extent. More hurt than anything, though also clearly relieved.

Stan looks around at the damage in awe, his eyes full with regret as he approaches the remains of the Shack with disbelief, his shoulders drooping with defeat, "I can't believe it's gone. My….my home, my life…"

But you said you knew the risks, you should've known this would happen? Didn't you?

"Did you know this would happen?" Dipper demands, sounding harsher than he intended, "You owe us an explanation, now Stanley! Tell us everything!"

"As I said to Mabel, I'll tell you everything you need to know and soon," Stan replies, holding his hands up placatingly, "but first things first I have to get you kids away from here."

"Why, we're not the ones wanted by the government agents!" Dipper retorts, exasperated and confused, "You are!"

"It's not just that Dipper…please!" Stan begs, "I can't do anything else until I know you kids are safe and the only way that can happen is to get you out of Gravity Falls before…"

"Before what?"

"Before something bad happens to you!" Stan snaps, his eyes glistening with sorrow and desperation, "If something got through the Portal, if Ford's right about me kick-starting the apocalypse…this is my problem to fix and I don't want you kids getting hurt!"

Really? Maybe you should've thought of that before you built that thing and activated it! Because I think you're a little late for that!

"Soos," Stan turns to his handyman, and Dipper uses that distraction to wipe the tears forming in his eyes, "I need you to get these kids and yourself to safety, can you fix your truck?"

"I don't have the time or resources to…"

"What about my car?"

"Look around you!" Dipper hisses furiously, "Do you think your car would be in any better shape than Soos's truck?"

Stan pinches the bridge of his nose, "Look kid, I screwed up. Maybe I shouldn't have lied to you but…"

"Guys!" Mabel cuts in, her voice sounding incredibly weak, like it took a lot of effort to raise her voice loud enough for it to reach them. He turns towards the sound, his heart pounding. She's swaying where she stands, her arms still wrapped protectively around herself, her body hunched over in pain, "Please stop…fighting…" she begs shakily, "s-something's…wrong…"

What little colour she had left in her face seems to melt away as her eyes flutter and roll back. Suddenly she gags, dark red liquid bubbling from her mouth, dribbling down her chin before she jerks forward and more stuff erupts violently from her mouth.

Oh man, oh man…is that…is that blood?

His eyes widen in shock and terror, and for a moment he's frozen in place, unable to move, "Mabel?"

No, no, nononono!

"H-help…m-me…" she chokes out weakly, releasing a strangled cry of agony as her eyes flutter closed and her body sways precariously, her face twisted with pain.

"MABEL!" he cries, launching himself towards her. No, no, nonono!

She slowly blinks her eyes open and then closed again as her knees buckle and she's falling. Her skin taking on a ghastly pale grey colour as she falls and he pushes himself harder to reach her and catch her but he's not fast enough. She drops to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut, landing with a hard thud, her head bouncing once on the ground before her body goes completely still as he slides in next to her.

"Mabel, hey…hey…" he mutters franticly as he reaches her, patting her ashen cheeks alarmed by how cold and clammy she feels. She's heavy and completely limp as he pulls her away from the pool of blood she had thrown up and he pulls her onto his lap, "No…no…Mabel c'mon stay with me…stay with me…" he shakes her gently but nothing seems to rouse her and he presses trembling fingers to her neck, searching desperately for a pulse.

This can't be happening…

"MABEL!"

A/N So sorry for the evil cliffie of evil. For those of you also following "Mabel's Choice" this is where we leave familiar ground and head off in a whole new direction. (I also hope to get chapter 12 up soon, hopefully by tomorrow.)

Please let me know what you guys think! I would absolutely LOVE to hear from you guys so if you're reading this please give me a quick shout. Are you reading both stories or just this one, do you have any thoughts or theories or even suggestions and criticisms? It would mean a lot to me if you'd share and it feeds the muse.