This story is more popular than all my other ones combined, so I figure I should update it more often. Sound fair?

Thanks again for all the reviews and such, guys. You're the best!

I was gonna jokingly say this chapter contains explicit Dipper/Robbie shipping, but I realized that, if readers are at all like me, they might see it and immediately leave before they realize it's not real. That would be bad. So no jokes.

[]

"Dipper, I gotta tell you something." Wendy's leaning against the side of the golf cart, staring intently at her cell phone.

I'm sitting on the front steps of the Shack, holding some tasteless off-brand energy drink or other. "Hm? What?"

"It's important, man. You gotta remember it."

Curious, I look over at her, noticing her frown. "What is it?"

She suddenly drops the phone to the ground, letting her head swing back and collide with the cart's roof. "Never, EVER get a cell. Don't do it. Not worth it."

"Oh, yeah." I laugh. "Radiation'll melt my brain, right?"

She laughs, too, and the afternoon light suddenly seems a little bit brighter. "For sure. That, or all your TV shows."

A couple of birds swoop down, landing on the cart's flag. Their quiet chirping cancels out the midday silence. "Naw, man," Wendy sighs. "The phone's not really the problem. My friends are just crazy."

Interested, I set the can down on the steps. "Crazy how?" I ask carefully. I don't really know anything about her friends, but hey, it's another chance to talk to her.

She reaches down to retrieve the phone. "I dunno, they're just so... dramatic about everything." Brushing off the screen, she starts texting. "I mean, Tambry had some kinda fight with Lee, so they're both complaining about how awful the other one is, and Thompson doesn't wanna pick sides, and no one has any idea why Nate won't answer his phone..."

"Wow." I grimace. "See, this is why I don't hang out with teenagers."

She frowns again, looking up at me. Not full-on mad, just irritated. "Come on, man. These guys're my friends."

Bad joke. I take off my hat and flip it around in my hands, feeling awkward. "Sorry. I didn't mean to... you know, like, insult them, or anything." Great, now I'm stammering. Classy.

"Hm." She glances back down, then sighs and puts the phone in her pocket. One of the birds flies away. "I wish it wasn't so complicated all the time."

I move to a higher step, stretching my legs out more. "Well, why don't you let them deal with it?"

A gust of wind blasts through the trees, creating a sound that interrupts me. "Sorry?"

I clear my throat. "Maybe you don't have to fix it or anything. Y'know, it doesn't really sound like your problem."

Her eyes dart back up. Eyebrows lowered, mouth slightly open... somehow, the look of surprise on her face hurts more than when she looked annoyed. "Not my... of course it's my problem! I gotta make this right, Dip." She's not smiling when she calls me by my nickname.

"Well..." Nervous, I break eye contact and look down. I idly start picking at a loose thread on my vest. "It's not like you did anything wrong, though."

Her voice is a little softer. "Yeah, but that doesn't matter." She kicks the ground in front of her, raising a small cloud of dust. "Besides, I don't need a reason to help them out. I just... feel like if I can, then I should, y'know?"

I'm about to apologize again when she smiles. "Also, I dunno if you've noticed, but my friends are kind of idiots. They can use someone keeping them in line."

As I'm laughing, she plants her hands on the roof of the cart and swings herself in.

I quickly get to my feet. "Hey, Wendy?"

She pauses, about to start up the engine. "Yeah?"

"Just, um... sorry."

With a small grin, she waves me off. "No biggie, man."

[]

I've never seen the sun rise before. I mean, I've looked at 'a sunrise', but I've never watched the whole thing happen, beginning to end. It's pretty amazing, really.

I just wish I was watching it for a different reason.

We're sitting at a small table in Robbie's cramped kitchen, eating a brightly colored, sugary cereal that makes my tongue sting. The dawn light is completely illuminating the room; the actual sunbeams are landing across from me, on Robbie's face. Or rather, the hood that's covering his face.

He hasn't said anything, but I'd guess that, like me, he wasn't able to sleep for more than a few hours.

I twist the spoon around in the bowl, mind wandering. What to actually do? No way would I stay here all day. The thought of looking for clues on my own had crossed my mind, but... where would I start?

"Hey, kid." His voice sounds scratched, as if he's been yelling.

I don't look up. "Yeah."

He's gently tapping his fingers on the table's surface. "You sometimes- well, you and your sister used to investigate stuff, right?"

Used to. I don't notice how hard I'm squeezing the spoon until I let go. "Used to?" I ask quietly.

As if he didn't hear me, he continues. "Maybe we could, y'know... try to find out something about why they disappeared."

"No way." He pulls the hood down, shocked. With a start, I realize that I said exactly what I was thinking. Right away, even. It just... slipped out.

His mouth is moving, his eyebrows, too, but all he can manage is, "...Why not?"

Part of me is wondering the same thing. Why not? A certain conversation with Wendy is playing itself out in my mind.

But the rest of me is exhausted and angry. The rest of me is suddenly remembering the times he laughed at me, mocked me, nearly attacked me. The way he would treat me in front of Wendy. So I stand up, put my hands on the table, and look him in the eye.

"I don't need your help," I say forcefully. "We wouldn't work well together, so it's better if I do this alone."

Any doubt is erased when, in a split second, his expression changes from total surprise to that awful sneer. "Fine." He pushes his chair back. "Later, kid."

Pulling the hood back up, he shuffles to the front door. I carry the bowl across the room, still fuming.

A thought hits me. Robbie wasn't offering help... he was asking for mine.

Doesn't matter. I shake my head, leaving the dishes in the sink.

Robbie reaches to push open the door, then steps back when Durland walks in.

"Dad, I'm gonna go..." he stops when he sees his father's expression. "What's wrong?"

The policeman looks from him to me, mouth set in a tight line. "We got another call," he says slowly.

No. This can't be good; my throat is closing up again, and I have to fight to keep the panic down. "Who-" I barely whisper, before realizing I can't finish.

Robbie glances at me, then back to his father. "What happened."

Durland takes a deep breath. "Gideon Gleeful's parents are missing."