A/N:

Code answer: The crystal mystery deepens.

So we've now met Roxie. I know she's a really sarcastic bugger at the moment but she's had a bad day so it'll tone down a little in time. Thanks for the reviews, I love you guys for it XD So… read on!

Dipper really did feel sorry for the girl. It was highly unlikely that she was human, and that made him inclined to distrust her; but he could understand wanting the company of family. That's why he made his offer. He'd be getting answers and she'd be getting what she wanted too. It was a win-win. Roxie flinched in his palm as rain started to speckle the ground. They looked up and saw and a dark cloud was creeping in over the tree tops. The air had become heavy and damp. Dipper shifted uneasily, storms in Gravity Falls were never fun…

"It's too risky carrying you through the Shack just yet." Dipper explained as gently as he could, thinking of how Stan would most likely turn her into an attraction or something.

"So I hide in a pocket or…" Roxie waited for another option. In answer, Dipper removed his cap and indicated upwards. She folded her arms, "Heck no. I'm not suffocating under there."

At least it's dry, Dipper thought, "Come on, it'll be for, like, five minutes."

"I swear if you put me up there I'll – Hey!"

In a single swift movement, Dipper had picked her up by pinching the back of her top and lifted her upwards onto his head, lightly replacing the headgear lightly on top. He chuckled, "You'll do what?" Suddenly he grimaced, "Ow! Sharp nails, hair, sharp nails, hair!"

Inside, Roxie was starting to tug handfuls of curls in revenge as well as steadying herself. He started bobbling up and down as he began walking, giving the occasional twitch of his neck in discomfort. She refused to stop. How dare he manhandle her like that? First calling her an 'it' and now this? She wasn't some pet! Plus, he was clearly being over cautious. As far as she could hear, Dipper didn't run into anyone else in the shack. That is, until she felt him stop and felt a sudden heat building within him. She could hear a struggle to keep a steady breathing and allowed herself a smirk. She'd seen signs like this before, when someone was trying not to blush.

"Hi Wendy!"

On the outside, Dipper was rain-drenched and grinning goofily at the redhead behind the counter, momentarily forgetting his reluctant passenger. Wendy glanced up from her comic, "Oh hey, kid, how's it hanging?"

"Good, yeah, great, hehe… How's, uh, you, hanging?"

He heard a muffled voice scoff, "How's you hanging? Seriously?"

To shut her up he flicked his cap harshly and awaited Wendy's answer. She shrugged, "Meh, same old. Uh, you have a rat in your hat or something?"

Dipper noticed the movement where Roxie was getting irritated and trying to get him back for the flick by making the hat shift like it was moving of its own accord. He gave a nervous chuckle and smacked his hand down over the headgear, pinning Roxie in place flat against his hair.

"Something like that." He replied, shuffling backwards towards the stairs, kind of wishing that he hadn't stopped to talk but at the same time wanting to talk more.

Wendy had moved on to stabbing the buttons on her cell phone in frustration, "Ah come on, boo! Man, this storm's really jacking up the reception. Bet you five dollars the power goes out tonight."

He laughed nervously, "You're on…"

"You okay? You're acting more jumpy than usual." Wendy commented, already returning to her magazine.

"I can't breathe!" Roxie whispered into the boys' ear.

"Zip it." He muttered back.

"Huh?" Wendy asked.

"I said… uh, is it!"

"Is it what?"

"Uh, you said I was jumpy. And I replied 'is it', meaning the 'it' as myself meaning 'am I' and… I'll catch you later!" he rambled, turning tail and stepping rapidly up the stairs, leaving Wendy to shrug passively and return to her procrastination.

Wow it was really stuffy in here! All the blushing he was doing had risen to his scalp which was now uncomfortably humid. Roxie have an extra sharp pull on a handful of hair to get Dipper to hurry up. He was getting irritated and by the time he'd made it back into the attic bedroom, his fists were clenched and teeth gritted. Mabel was on the floor and searching under the beds for the tiny runaway. Her eyes lit up when her brother walked in, clothes darkened from the rain and droplets falling from his nose and chin.

"Did you find her?" she asked hopefully.

Dipper hunched his shoulders and glared upwards at his hat, "Yes I found her… Little she-demon…"

Finally, he came to a stop and a rush of air washed over Roxie as the cap was taken away. She tensed in discomfort as he wrapped his fingers gently around her to lift her away from him, she found herself once again placed on the desk in the attic bedroom. She resented the she-demon comment but she could get her own back from listening in on the exchange just moments ago.

Roxie got to her feet and arched an eyebrow at him, "Smooth, Dippy, real smooth…"

Dipper scowled at her, "Was there any need for that?"

She shrugged scornfully at him, "Was there any need for the surprise pick up attack?"

"Are you going to be this difficult all the time?"

"Are you going to be such a jerk?"

"Who's being a jerk?"

"You, that's why I asked, Dippy."

"Dipper."

"Whatever."

"What's with the sarcasm, seriously?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm having a bit of a bad day!" she threw her arms out to signify the situation.

The argument was paused by a cackling from across the room. They turned to see Mabel clutching her sides from laughter, "You two are better than cable!"

The bickering pair paused to look at one another and sighed. Roxie slumped her shoulders and felt guilty. Perhaps pulling in the reigns on her attitude was a good thing. After all, they had technically saved her, from what she didn't know but saved all the same; and they had given her a place to stay. Even if she didn't want to stay with them for long, it was still a helping hand towards getting home and that counted for something. She looked up at Dipper and gave an apologetic half shrug. Dipper acknowledged her and figured that there wasn't much sense on continuing the battle either. He secretly cursed his forgiving nature and blamed Mabel for it, the amount of times she guilt tripped him it had just become second nature. In return, he simply gave her a 'forget it' kind of glance.

"Can… Can we call my family now? Please?" Roxie asked quietly.

"Yeah, sure, uh, what's the number?" he asked. Roxie told him as he wrote it down and suddenly hesitated, "And how exactly do I explain this to them?"

She arched her brow, "Trust me, you won't have to mention it."

He gave her a sceptical look but went out into the hallway all the same where there was a phone on a stand. He dialled the number and waited patiently, not really expecting anyone to answer while keeping one ear on high alert on the conversation in the room. Mabel scooted over to the edge of her bed and leant over so that her elbows rested on the desk. A look of curiousness upon her, she didn't hesitate to voice the many questions building in her head. Roxie, reading the expression, braced herself.

"So do you guys have phones in the forest? Well the trees are pretty high so it'd be easier getting reception I guess." She glanced out of the triangle shaped window above the desk, the outside world blurred from the rain drumming against the glass, "I hope you get flooding insurance…"

"Mabel, right?" She wasn't sure of she was joking or not, "What exactly do you think I am?"

"That's me!" she grinned, "Well if I were to take a guess, I'd say you were a fairy or pixie, but you don't have wings." Her eyes widened, "But your backs hurt, maybe they got pulled off or something! Ouch! Can they grow back?"

Taken back by the unneeded sympathy, Roxie shook her head, "I've never had wings, don't worry. And it's just a couple of scratches." Yeah, scratches which were pricking horribly and felt like they were being made over and over again.

Mabel looked a little deflated at that, "So what used to be there?"

"Skin?"

"Hey I got skin there too! Maybe I'm part fairy!" she beamed, "Would that make Dipper an elf? Nah I'm pretty sure boys can be fairies too."

Roxie laughed, still unsure if the girl was kidding or not, but liking the humour all the same, "Well you got me. I'm actually one-hundred and thirty, I live in the Amazon rainforest but I'm here for my training because I've recently graduated top of the class in pixie Olympic training and next year I'm due to represent my tree in the high jump and fly."

There was a long pause before Mabel's clamped her hands o her cheeks in excitement, "Whoa… you're over a hundred? What kind of moisturiser do you use?"

Roxie gave a friendly smirk, "I'm joking."

Mabel suddenly burst into giggles, "If you say so; so that must mean you had an accident with those crystals. I was gonna make some earrings out of them but it wasn't really worth the risk… and these ones are better anyway." She pulled back her hair to reveal earring shaped liked bows.

"What are these crystals or gems or whatever they are? The closest thing to a crystal I've seen is the little diamond in my moms wedding ring and that's nothing to brag about."

"But if you never came across those then that just leaves only one other option." Dipper commented, re-entering the room and standing fully by his theory, fingers twitching to flick through the journal. He'd been listening in on this exchange while dialling the number multiple times; each time the line being dead from the storm. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if the lines actually were connected and she'd given a fake number to throw them off her scent. "I don't understand why you don't just come out with it."

"So just because I haven't seen a crystal that can supposedly shrink things I must be some form of those santa-men which are apparently gnomes?" Roxie felt frustration bubble inside her, "Things aren't that black and white, you know. And I don't have to explain myself to you."

Dipper continued to look quizzically at the tiny houseguest, "So what exactly did happen out there?"

Feeling that she still didn't have to explain herself to them; after all she'd be out and back home soon and wouldn't have to see them, she'd tried to be as blunt as possible while keeping to the truth. Frankly, she didn't care what they thought of her, it wasn't the first time she'd been treated like this. So, she told her story. And in Dipper's opinion, it was too short, but he couldn't very well force her to talk. Mabel on the other hand listened inventively like a child being told a fairytale in a library. Yes, she was enjoying this. It wasn't very often they came across a being from the forest that wasn't trying to kill them, so why not make the most of it?

"Like I said, I came here with my parents, brother and sister to visit some family, me and my siblings went to explore the forest and I wondered off. The gnome-things grabbed me and I hit my head trying to escape. Next thing I know I'm here making your wonderful acquaintance." She explained while shooting a glare at Dipper.

"So no crystals or anything?" Dipper arched an eyebrow sceptically, "You were this size the whole time?"

Feeling pressured, she folded her arms, "As far as I know."

"Return of Mabelzilla!" Mabel grinned, "Hey, do you think if any aliens came to Earth now then they'd be tiny? Or has it spread throughout the galaxy?"

Dipper was getting irritated, "This isn't making sense!"

"You get used to it." Roxie shrugged, but suddenly paused at the darkening sky, "Wait… So when are my parents coming?"

"They're not. Storms knocked out the phone lines so we'll have to wait till the morning." Dipper answered a little regretfully.

Perfect, Roxie thought dejectedly. Mabel clapped her hands together, "Alright, slumber party!"

Mabel stood by the window, crouched in preparation, "Three, two, one… Boom!" She waited, and nothing happened; snapping her fingers in frustration, she repeated the process, "Three, two, one… Explode!" Again, nothing, "Dang it!"

Roxie arched an eyebrow at Dipper from her makeshift bed on the desk which ended up being Dipper's cap, upside down and padded with Mabel's leftover sweater-making fabric for blankets, "What is she doing?"

Words muffled from the pillow that he'd forced over his face, he answered, "Trying to use her supposed psychic powers to guess when the lightning's gonna show. She does it every storm." Lifting the pillow slightly, he scowled at his twin, "Mabel, it's been a long day…"

"Come, on! One more go, I think I got it this time. Okay… Three, two, one… Illumination!" All of a sudden, the room was coated with the jagged flash of lightening, followed seconds later by a low rumble of thunder. Mabel punched the air with a grin, "Yes!"

"Great, now sleep…" Dipper mumbled, leaning across the desk to turn out the lamp.

He wasn't sure how long he waited, but until the breathing of his two roommates was steady and deep, he didn't move a muscle. Finally, Dipper ever so carefully pulled out the journal and flashlight that had been stored safely under his pillow. He'd lost count of the times he'd done this when the house had fallen silent. He pushed himself up so that he was leaning against the wall, knees bent under the sheets so that the book could rest against them without the use of his hands. That way he could use one hand to hold the flashlight and the other to turn pages. It was a good thing Mabel was a heavy sleeper, he wasn't sure about Roxie, but she'd had a pretty big day so he guessed that she wouldn't be disturbed.

He didn't really know what he was looking for; mostly he was looking at the pictures and symbols in hope that something would jump out at him. If he could find something that resembled the wounded stumps on Roxie's back, he might be closer to getting answers. After the touchy way she'd reacted lately he didn't really fancy getting on the bad side of her again. Despite her size, the girl had the anger capacity of a pro wrestler. She wasn't making any sense. So she hadn't come across the size altering gems and she had those marks; yet she claimed to come from a family of humans and was normal! Was she implying that she'd always been that size? But that meant she wasn't human, right? Why did she insist on being so vague; didn't she trust them? Suddenly, he paused, sinking down a fraction. Trust no one. That was the advice he was following. Blaming her for doing likewise seemed a little…

"Maybe I'm being a little hypocritical…" he muttered to himself.

"How so?"

"Agh!"

"Agh!"

As Dipper had muttered, a mass of mousy hair and curious eyes had peeked up from over the top of the book, taking him by surprise and as a reflex he jolted and flattened himself further against the wall. Roxie, who had been awoken by the dim light and flicker of turning pages had leapt onto his bed and scuttled up the mound in the bed sheets to the top of his knees where she could get a better view. His terrified reaction forced an instinct yell out of her and she too jumped back, almost topping down the blanket mountain but instead ending up on her back, head upside down and legs curved on his knees for support. At the noise, Mabel rolled over to face the wall, groaning in her sleep.

"Shut up, Aoshima, they'll see us…"

Dipper snapped the book shut as Roxie sat up straight, "You almost gave me a panic attack!" he whispered.

"Almost?" She shrugged, "I'm a light sleeper and you woke me up, and I wanted to see what you were up to."

He noticed that she was wincing and arching her back slightly, the sore marks stinging, "Hey, are you alright?"

It wasn't just his way of getting answers as to what they were, he was also truthfully concerned, "Yeah, I guess. Listen, this had been killing me, you mind taking a look and seeing what's wrong?"

Before he could answer, she'd stood up on his knees and turned her back on him, flipping her hair forward and hitching up the back of her T-shirt until the wounds were fully exposed, all the while keeping a firm grip on the front of the clothing to keep her dignity. Dipper felt his face flush at her confidence and a voice in his head was telling him to look away out of politeness. At his hesitation, Roxie turned her head and scoffed at his unease.

"Grow up, Dippy," she scoffed, "But this really hurts so can you hurry it up?"

"Oh, uh, sure!" he leant in slightly, seeing the moment as an opportunity to gain more of an insight as to what to look for in the journal. The bumps were very red, scabbed slightly as if from bleeding a while ago. "It doesn't look comfortable to say the least."

Roxie lowered the top and turned to face him again, moving to sit cross-legged over his kneecap, "Nice work, Sherlock."

"I didn't hurt it when I, you know, picked you up before, did I?"

"Nah, lucky for you." She warned, "Nothings dislocated or broken; do you think they're bug bites or something like that?"

So she didn't know either? Dipper felt a pang of disappointment, but didn't show it, "I honestly couldn't say."

"Helpful…"

"Sarcasm, again, really?"

"Look who's taking." she shot back, but felt a pang of guilt. After all, he had let her stay and he seemed to have dropped calling her an 'it' which was one thing, "Listen, I am… sorry about giving you guys a hard time. It's, uh, not been the most fun day…"

"You're telling me; forget about it." He shrugged, actually pretty pleased that he'd gotten a real apology out of her, "Hey if you'd met Grunkle Stan then you'd know that I'm used to snarky comments. Actually I think you two would get along great."

A smile tweaked her lips, "You know, Dippy, you're alright."

"From you I'll take that as a compliment." He stifled a yawn and tucked the book back under his pillow, "Truce?" he asked, going to stick out his hand for her to shake, but double-taking and holding out a pinkie finger instead.

Finding the gesture a little amusing, she took it, "Sure, truce."

Retracting his hand, he nodded at the desk, "Do you, uh, need a hand?"

She shook her head, "I'm good." When he gave her a sceptical arch of an eyebrow, she proved her point by turning her back on him and sliding down the blanket covering his legs, landing gracefully by his feet. Not wanting to move for fear of accidently hurting her, Dipper waited and watched as she walked up the mattress and made an expert leap back onto the desk. She bowed, "And that is how you do it."

"Show off." Dipper smirked in approval, waiting for her to settle inside the curve of the cap before switching off the flashlight, "G'Night."

"Night… Dippy." She replied, enjoying the muffled groan of irritation from her companion as she closed her eyes for her first night in the Mystery Shack; and for a split second, she figured that maybe these two weren't the worst people to be stuck with her now. But as much of the truth she'd stuck to so far, she couldn't tell much more of it. After all, she'd promised.

SLNVDZIW YLFMW LI GZPRMT Z WVGLFI?

A/N:

What has she promised not to tell and to who? What's this girls secret? Care to take a guess? What'd you all think? Shall I stop asking questions and write the next chapter? YES! XD