Hello people! As always, thank you for the lovely reviews and your reading. Also, in this chapter, I'm sorry but there will be a fair amount of character sadness. Drama bombs ahoy!

As always, I don't own Gravity Falls. Thanks for coming and please, leave reviews!

"Please, Oh god,"

"I can't find him! I can't find my baby!"

"Where could he have gone?"

"Oh god oh god oh god oh please no please please please…"

Dipper held the flashlight in his tight, sweaty grasp as he clambered over logs and the flotsam and jetsam of the forest floor. He could hear the agonised breathing and praying of Wendy behind him as they made their way through the trees, along with the breathing and occasional remarks from their party member, Mabel. Twigs snapped like tiny bones beneath their footfalls, the sound of the cracks echoing off the pine trees that surrounded them like towering totem poles. They carried on their search with fervour, Dipper's flashlight beam piercing through the thick shadows as Wendy called for her child as they continued.

It had been three days. Three days since Dipper had awoken through the fog of alcohol to that frantic phone call and threw on clothes, grabbed a slumbering Mabel and raced over to find a panicking Wendy with the two local police officers, Durland and Blubs. The blundering cops were found to be interrogating the distraught mother, but in such a way that the questions were getting more and more ridiculous (Blubs soon learnt "Did you try giving him food he doesn't like," wasn't one of the smartest questions he had ever asked someone). Since that day, Dipper, Mabel, Wendy, her family and several other volunteers had clubbed together. Some joined later in the day, others at night. But the three who worked longest and had almost moved in with each other as the days rolled on, was Wendy and the twins. They had sat with a map and a pen, marking off areas that had been thoroughly searched. They had posted bills all over town with Charlie's face on them.

They also avoided talking about the worst case scenario.

Dipper squinted through the dark. The canopy of the pines had become so thick, daylight refused to break through except in small chinks that sliced through the branches. Privately, he thanked the powers that be that he had thought to pack a map and compass with him. He had always been the prepared type, ever since childhood. Dipper turned to face the two women behind him, shining the torch to illuminate their forms from the canopy shadows.

"Dipper, turn that thing off," Mabel blinked, turning away from the dazzling beam. "Do you know where we are?"

"It'll be cool, Mabel," Wendy smiled wanly, with a slight tremor in her voice. "Dad brought me here a few years ago when I went lumber jacking with him when I was a teen,"

"That's good," Dipper breathed, laughing a little despite himself. "Because I have NO idea where we are right now,"

"Hey, you're safe with me," Wendy's cheeks pulled into a small, thin smile. "I know these woods pretty well,"

Dipper's fingers instinctively touched the spine of the book that he had tucked safely away in the lining of his jacket. It had been a long time since "3" had been used like this; call it a hunch, but this whole disappearance just didn't sit right with him. But to see Wendy smile for the first time since the party; Dipper couldn't help but be slightly relieved. It was good to see that smile, no matter how thin and sad it was.

"Guys…" A wavering voice interrupted Dipper's thoughts. He turned to face his twin, her brow furrowed in concentration, her deep brown eyes narrowed. "Did you hear that?"

A hush fell over the three companions as they strained their ears. In amongst the ambience of trees, birds and small animals foraging in the undergrowth, another sound was carried to them. It rippled through the air to reach the three pairs of strained ears.

The echo of an anguished toddler's grizzling.

"Charlie!" Wendy gasped, her eyes snapping open in recognition. "Charlie! I'm coming! Mom's comin', kiddo!" With an almost inhuman battlecry, she bounded off through the undergrowth with almost inhuman agility. The twins glanced at each other in confusion, and with a joint "WAIT!" they scrambled desperately after her.

The whimpers and cries continued as they sped toward the source, ducking beneath branches and dodging trees, tripping over tree roots and scrabbled down a mossy bank in their rush. Dipper's heart thudded in his chest as he ran, his breath laboured and ragged, dragging behind his sister's sleeve to help her keep up.

When, just as suddenly as she had started running, Wendy stopped. The twins skidded to a halt as they beheld at the sight before them in a mixture of relief and pure bafflement. In a small clearing, the trees had parted slightly to allow a little daylight to break through the seemingly solid foliage. Amongst the ferns and undergrowth, grizzling and hiccupping, stood a small figure.

A shock of ginger curls offset the slightly elfin face, and two hands that wiped away tears from two freckled cheeks. The feet shuffled unevenly as he looked about him in uncertainty, the denim dungarees that he was wearing slightly mudded up and ripped. Wendy gasped as she launched herself at him and scooped him up, crying and sliding to the floor as she held the tiny figure as though she would never let go again. Gulping, the young woman eventually took her head out from her son's neck, and inspected him.

"He's fine," Wendy gulped, tears of relief rolling unchecked down her cheeks. "He's fine… he's fine," She scrambled to her feet, the child fast in her tight embrace. She stepped forward and, beaming brightly, strode past the twins as they stared after her.

Mabel was the first to say it, of course.

"She… she didn't even thank us…"

The front door of 13 Conifer Way opened with a jingle of keys and the clack of a lock. The golden light of the sunset illuminated the figures that fell through the front door, and rather unceremoniously plummeted with a twin "THUD" to the carpeted flooring.

"My everything is aching," The male twin groaned incoherently into the carpet, not even bothering to look up from his perpendicular state. His nostrils inhaled the smell of dust and sweetness as he breathed inward.

"Can we swap legs, please?" His sister grumbled alongside him, her body spread-eagled on the floor facing the ceiling. "I don't want mine anymore,"

Their moans synchronised as they voiced their exhaustion to the heavens. For three days they had run around forests and the town on very little rest, their food little more than hastily made sandwiches. Then there was the escapade of running through the forest like lunatics, and the long trek back…

Dipper groaned further, the pile of the carpet tickling his nose, causing him to twitch. Wendy had stayed completely silent the whole journey back. His logical mind reasoned that the shock had simply gotten to her, but he would have at least expected a goodbye at least, when they returned to town. Instead, she had left them without a word, returning to her home with a slam of her door, leaving her companions blinking in bewilderment and a small degree of hurt.

It was just weird. A low moan escaped his throat as he hauled his body onto his side like a beached whale might. His sister's exhausted eyes fluttered as she sighed.

"At least everyone's safe," She whispered hoarsely. Dipper nodded in agreement as he rested his head against his arm, staring across the room in a dream-like state.

It was then he saw it. A flash of red blinking in second-long intervals, illuminating the wall around it. Dipper grumbled as he rolled onto his back.

"Mabel," He moved an arm across his eyes. "You've got a message,"

He heard his sister grouse under her breath as she hauled herself up and crawled across the room on all fours. She pressed the playback button with a tired "clack", and fell back onto her bottom as she listened.

"Hi Hi Hi! You've reached the answer phone of Mabel Pines! Leave a message at the beep, and have a really nice day!"

Beeeeep.

"Hey, Mabel, it's just me," Dipper looked up as a male voice burst forth from the speakerphone, and guessing from Mabel's face, it wasn't belonging to one of her students.

"It's just me. Uuuuh, I tried calling you today and uh, well, yesterday too. But I noticed that you haven't been in, and I can't get away, so I'm really sorry I've got to do it this way. Uhm, I'm really really sorry, but I'm afraid… how do I say this… It's not working out, Mabel. I've been doing a lot of thinking and I just don't think we're right for each other. I'm sorry, but it's for the best. I don't have anything at yours, but if you find anything, just let me know. Okay then, I guess I'll see you around sometime. Bye, Mabel,"

The young woman's jaw hung open in shock, her brown eyes glassy and wide with horror, her arms limp by her sides. Her lip trembled as she felt her brother's warm hands wrap themselves around her shoulders, and allowed her whole body to fall limp.

"You don't have to fight it, Mabes," Dipper's voice whispered softly in her ear as he felt her wool-clad shoulders shake violently beneath his fingers. "You're allowed to cry,"

And with that, Mabel buried her face into his chest, and began to whimper. The whimpers became long whines, and evolved into fast-paced sobs, until she was sobbing frantically into her brother's shoulder.

"It's been a long day," Dipper thought bitterly to himself as he rocked his howling, hurt sister. "It's been a long, long day,"