I do not own 'Gravity Falls'

Aftermath

Three days, that was all it took. Three days for Stan to take care of the legals issues. Identifying the bodies, and planning the funeral. As a man who has faked his death enough times, he knew what he was doing.

Then came the next, and possibly biggest, problem. The twins. They would be taken into legal custody unless a family member could act as guardian for them. Stan gave them the choice, go off and live with another family member or stay in Gravity Falls with him and Ford. They chose the Stans. Minus the essential things, everything back home would be liquidated. The money would go to the twins, even Stan wasn't greedy enough to take that money. There had been a small hiccup, seeing as he had such a strange and shady past, but now that he was the town hero they seemed to overlook it.

Stan would be retaking control of the Shack for the time being, Soos had no problem with it. The big man was promoted to manager and would still inherit the Shack should Stan pass on.

Soos' grandmother had fully moved in and refused to leave, no matter how much Stan protested. She reminded him of how she took them in when they needed them most. That shut Stan up immediately. The sweet old lady had let him and the kids stay in her house when the Shack had been stolen by Gideon. He couldn't very well kick her out, then he would...owe her. Now they had more guest in the place, as Soos stayed with his grandmother.

The turnout for the funeral was small, as to be expected. No one from outside the town could come to Gravity Falls on such short notice for a funeral, and no one in town actually knew anything about the adults except for their twin children. Many people had given their sympathies to the twins.

The Stans and Dipper were dressed in suites while Mabel was dressed in a black skirt and solid black sweater, no add on or attention grabbers for the girl.

"D-Do you think mom and dad are in Heaven?" Mabel asked.

Dipper hesitated, along with Ford, they were sure that there was an afterlife, they just weren't sure about Heaven and Hell. At least not in the traditional sense. They had faced a God of Love and an inter-dimensional being who was older than their universe, who knew what was real? But they couldn't very well tell that to the grieving girl.

"Mom and dad were good people Mabel." Dipper stated. "I know they made it to Paradise."

"It's my fault." Mabel stated. "I made that wish on the shooting star, I-I-" And she broke down again.

Dipper held his sister again, letting her cry on his shoulder. He said everything he could think of to comfort her, but they brought her nothing of

"C-C-Can you bring them b-back?" She asked desperately.

Dipper gave pause to this. He didn't have the Journal anymore, but he had memorized it down to the last stain and wrinkle. He probably could bring them back. All he had to do was find their souls and raise their bodies, they could posses their former vessel and-

Dipper stopped his train of though when a firm, but sympathetic hand placed itself on his shoulder. He looked up to see Ford giving him a sad, almost pleading look.

"You don't want to do that." He stated. "Let them rest."

Once the service was over, Mabel went to their room, wanting to be alone. The Stans made themselves scarce, deciding to give the younger twins some space to properly grieve.

Instead of going to his sister, Dipper stayed outside, behind the shack. He couldn't go to Mabel, he felt too guilty. Not having done enough to save their mom and dad. He paced back and forth as the emotions and memory played in his mind, growing more frustrating with every thought. Finally, it reached its peak and he couldn't help but lash out.

Dipper punched the tree as hard as he could. In his anger, he doubted he would have felt anything, that the wood would shatter. Instead, he only pulled his hand pack in pain. He barely managed to muffle his cry of pain. Should have saw that coming. Dipper thought as he tried to rub the pain away.

Looking at his sore hand, he saw that he slightly tore the skin, superficial, otherwise he was fine. Looking at the drop of blood on the tree, he punched it again, same spot but different hand. Pain shot through his hands, he felt as if his fingers cracked. He punched it again with his other hand, the sensation just as painful as the the first. He continued hitting the tree.

He continued punching for...he didn't know how long, but it had been awhile. He was only made aware of the time by his Grunkle making a coughing sound behind him.

"Punching your feelings away." Stan stated. "That's pretty manly."

"It should have been me." Dipper stated without looking at him.

"Dipper, look I-"

"I was there." Dipper stated, his voice barely a whisper.

"What?"

"I don't know how." Dipper stated. "I don't know why. But I was there when mom and dad were killed. It wasn't an accident, it wasn't some random beast attack! That thing knew who I was and it killed my mom and dad!"

"Dipper..."

"The worst part was that I did nothing!" Dipper shouted, full of self loathing. "I sat there as it happened and then, when it turned it's attention to me, I ran! I ran deep into the woods, and it chased me!"

"Kid, you can't be expected to take on every crazy thing in the woods." Stan stated.

"I fought an army of Gnomes." Dipper stated. "I ran with the Manotaurs, defeated the Multi-Bear in open combat. I've single-handily kidnapped a Gremloblin and exorcised ghosts. I've fought the God of Love and a Dream demon. Jumped off of a cliff to fight a giant robot piloted by a fake child psychic. I've dealt with psychopaths and monsters, but this...thing! I see it and I freeze up! Let it kill my mom and dad! Then...then run like a coward."

"You're a kid."

"My sister is in their thinking it's her fault when it's mine and I'm too much of a coward to tell her." Dipper raised his hands, showing his bloody knuckles. The sight of it on the thirteen year old child almost made him look away. "Punching this thing doesn't make me feel better, it hurts. A lot." Dipper stated. "And somehow, I think that is almost as good."

Dipper turned from and began punching the scraps again. Just as hard as when he started.

Stan looked at the child. He had never been one for comfort, but he was trying his best here, unfortunately nothing he could think of was helpful.

Dipper noticed as his Grunkle left him through the corner of his eye, but ignored him on his return. Stan threw something that hit Dipper in the head, when the teen spun around, he saw that it was a pair of boxing gloves.

"Well, if you're going to be punching...let me show you how to do it properly." Stan stated as he re-positioned Dipper. "You need to put your body into it and..."

Once Dipper was finished on his lessons of punching by Stan, he was sure that his hands were plotting to revolt against him. Each throb a warning of more pain to come. He made a silent note to think Stan for the gloves, he could only imagine how worse of he'd be without them.

As he entered the attic, he saw a sight that scared him more than even the beast that had killed his parents. Mabel was sitting on her bed, facing away from him with gun pointed to her head.

Acting on instinct, Dipper half jumped, half flew at Mabel. He completely slammed into her, knocking them both over and the weapon out of Mabel's hand.

It wasn't an actual gun, it was the memory eraser. It had been poorly reconstructed, held together by tape and glue. It was still shattered junk. The relief he felt was indescribable. It quickly turned to anger as he spun to snap at Mabel.

"Just what were you-" His emotions died down once he got a good look at his sister. "Mabel?"

She sat there, pale and still. Not his loving sister who shined on par with her sugar rush.

"It hurts Dipper." She hiccuped. "I don't want it to hurt anymore." Her eyes began to puff up as she leaned into his chest. "I want my mommy and daddy back!"

He let her cry on him, each of her sobs broke his heart a little more.

It should have been me. He thought as she wailed.

He didn't know how long she cried, but gradually it slowed and eventually stopped. Now she just laid in his arms.

"You were the favorite you know." Mabel stated off-offhandedly.

"What!?" Dipper recoiled at the declaration.

"You were the smart one, going do something important like make some nerdy machine to help the world." Mabel stated. "I was just the-"

"You were the one who was a ray of sunshine." Dipper stated firmly. "I was just the weird one who couldn't make any friends."

"You made friends here." Mabel stated. "And your weirdness is normal."

"Just like your quirks." Dipper assured as he pinched her cheeks.

After a few minutes, Mabel had finally fallen asleep and Dipper hoped that she'd find some peace in her dreams. Unfortunately, he was wide awake and more distressed than ever.

Dipper became vaguely aware of a pulling in the back of his head, just like that night. And a crazy idea began forming.

He was vaguely aware of Mabel once telling him that Grunkle Stan admitted to having ten guns around the house. And if he knew the old shyster as well as he did, the man would have them were he could get to them easily. Most likely in case of an unhappy customer, or a would be crook. Or one of his old debts from the shady past he often mentions.

As gently as he could, he laid his sister down on the bed. Seeing that she was sound asleep, he made his way to the Shack and began rummaging.

Come on Stan! Dipper thought in frustration as he continued searching. I thought it was only money your hid this well! Don't act responsible now of all-FOUND IT! He exclaimed, nearly jumping for joy!

Dipper wasn't much for guns, but he knew what he had in his hand. A revolver. It was a simple silver casing with a long barrel and wooden handle, it was heavy in his hand. Opening it, he counted six shots.

Turning, he jumped at the sight of his Grunkle Stan staring at him.

"You know, this is the kind thing I'm sure a responsible parent wouldn't want you doing." Stan stated as he looked down at the kid with a frown.

"Good thing you're a Grunkle." Dipper stated as he walked passed the man into he night woods.

He had the gun, the knowledge of the Journal 3 and little to lose. He was going to find out what had been calling him. And, if he could, kill the beast that killed his parents.

Review

Sorry for the late update, this chapter wasn't what I had hoped for, but I plan to do better next having so few response makes me think it's not all that good. Is it? I have over ten followers, hoping for ten reviews. Please!

Who would like a Dipper Bill Apprentice fic? Weirdness and confusion assured.

PLEASE CHECK OUT MY TEENWOLF FIC! IT CENTERS THE DREAD DOCTORS AND THE CHIMERAS. You won't even need to watch the show to follow.