A/N Thanks to all my wonderful readers and reviewers! You're all so awesome. Man this episode...my need to see what happens next has really fueled the muse! Hope I can keep up this momentum! Not much else to say, which is weird. I'm typically more long winded than this.

EDIT 7/30/2015 to include identity switch between the Stans.

Enjoy!

Unstable

"Are you sure you're OK Hambone?" Soos asks as he leads the way to the elevator.

"Yeah," Mabel nods, "it's just…so much happening at once. Kinda overwhelming, y'know?"

"Yeah," he replies softly, stepping into the elevator and turning to face Mabel who looks back towards the portal room where they left Stan behind. "Come on, we have to go dude."

"This doesn't feel right," Mabel muses sadly, "leaving him alone like this. I know he… I know he lied to us, but…he never meant to hurt us."

Soos sighs deeply, "I know. But Stan knows what he's doing, and he knows what he did."

Mabel wraps her arms around herself wincing as it triggers a flare of pain inside as she steps into the elevator. Her vision blurs and she leans heavily against the wall, resting her forehead on the cool surface and when the elevator moves, her stomach lurches and she has to swallow to keep from throwing up. She closes her eyes and all she can see is a vastness of stars in the centre of a swirling vortex of rainbows and light, beautiful and dangerous and terrifying. She can feel the acidity of the icy pops she binged on earlier that morning burn at her throat as her stomach churns and she gags, trying to keep it all down. She flinches when she feels Soos rest his hand on her shoulder, startled because for a moment she had forgotten where she was, for a moment she felt as though gravity was pulling her up, up and away.

"Mabel?"

She blinks open her eyes and sees that they reached the top and were no longer in the sublevels of the Mystery Shack, but what might've at one point been a normal basement and not a gateway of secrets.

"I'm OK," she blurts, not wanting him to have to ask again.

"You sure about that?"

She nods.

Soos shrugs, clearly not believing her but he doesn't argue. "If you say so, dude." He starts to climb the stairs that lead to the vending machine in the gift shop but when she doesn't follow he stops and turns to her, his eyes a question.

Mabel's not paying attention to the stairs, she follows with her eyes a huge crack along the cement wall. It's not just a crack, but it's like the entire wall shifted, the top half no longer lined up with the bottom half. Woah… "That's fixable, right?" she asks.

Soos frowns, "Assuming it's not the foundation, or a load bearing wall it should be fine."

"And if it is?" The Mystery Shack isn't doomed to collapse or anything, is it?

Soos doesn't answer, instead he clenches his jaw and starts heading up the stairs and Mabel follows close behind, glancing behind her in the hopes that maybe Grunkle Stan changed his mind and was going with them.

When they get to the top they see that the Gift Shop is a total disaster, like a tornado ripped through it. The structural damage is even more prominent now they're at ground level and Mabel feels tears well up, Did I do this by letting the machine stay on?

"We have to hurry, Hambone," Soos says grimly, "it's not safe to be in here. Dipper!" he calls, walking ahead towards the "Employee's Only" door that leads to the living room and foyer. "Dipper! We have to go!"

"What about Grunkle Stan?" she asks.

"He's fine," Soos shrugs.

No he's not. None of us are, but we can't leave him down there, we can't leave him behind!

"Come on," Soos says, taking her hand and pulling her towards him so she'd stay close, "we don't have time. We need to find Dipper and…"

Something shifts inside her when Soos pulls her forward and she gasps, doubling over and falling to her knees, still clutching Soos's hand, she releases a pained whimper as her vision goes white for a moment.

"Mabel!" Soos exclaims in surprise, crouching down beside her, "What happened, are you OK?"

For a moment she doesn't say anything, mostly because she can't say anything because it's all she can do to fight the strange sensation that she's both floating and falling at once, like gravity is trying to pull her in two different directions and she has to hold on tight lest she be torn into pieces. But when she finally dares to blink her eyes open she's almost surprised to see that she hasn't moved and is still crumpled on the Gift Shop floor. A foul, metallic taste fills her mouth and she swallows, finally giving Soos a shaky nod.

"I think I tripped," she explains, her voice quivering. What's wrong with me?

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she replies quietly, not wanting to make a fuss. There's just too much happening at once to worry about it, besides she couldn't be the only one feeling weird after the portal opened. It had sent such a strange energy to blast through the room—they all felt it. If they could handle it, she could handle it.

She can tell right away that Soos doesn't buy it and she sighs, "I'm OK Soos, as good as can be expected after everything. Maybe a little off balance, but hey, we were in like zero gravity for a minute there, so yeah. That was weird! I mean hey, am I right?" she chuckles, trying to be more like her old cheerful self, like the girl she was this morning, before Stan was arrested. But her voice sounds foreign in her own ears and she feels an odd sense of loss. But then again, in just the course of a few hours, they had all lost so much.

There's no going back from here. Everything has changed now and nothing will ever be the same. Mabel wipes a tear from her eye as the reality of it hits her.

The Mystery Shack makes a strange groaning noise and Soos frowns, shifting on his feet uncomfortably, "I think we should hurry," he cups his hand over his mouth and calls out, "Dipper! You in here?" he pushes his way through the 'Employee's Only' door into the living room where the find the floor is at a slight but visibly noticeable angle, the furniture is in disarray, the TV broken, the windows shattered.

"I'll get him," Mabel says, pushing her way ahead into the foyer and up the stairs into the attic. There's a large crack going up the wall, and some of the steps are broken so she has to move with care as she makes her way up, marvelling in shock and sadness at the sorry state of the Shack. Did I do this when I made my choice? Is this my fault? Did Grunkle Stan know the kind of damage the portal would cause? She pushes the door open to see the room is a mess and Dipper is sitting on his bed, the frame broken. His back is turned and he doesn't look at her when she enters, instead he's staring at something. "Dipper?"

Dipper swipes his hand over his eyes, sniffling and she can see that he's holding the cork board he keeps on the wall near his bed. His conspiracy board, with all the codes and cipher's he'd been working on solving, pictures and newspaper clippings and crude sketches, lists of names trying to narrow down the identity of the author of the journal.

"Dipper are you OK?"

"It was all a lie," he mutters, his voice shaking, "all of it. None of it was real."

"You know that's not true," Mabel says, "unless all those weird things we've encountered this summer was only a sign that we're both delusional."

"That's not what I mean," Dipper snaps, twisting around to face her, "and you know it." He turns his back on her again, "Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?"

Mabel starts gathering some of her things, "Yeah well, we've got to pack up our stuff. Stan says we have to go before the Agents get back."

"I'm not going anywhere with him," Dipper's voice quivers, raw with the sting of betrayal.

"He's not coming," Mabel states quietly, "Soos is taking us home—back to Piedmont."

"Good," Dipper mutters, climbing to his feet and haphazardly stuffing his backpack with random clothes, "because I'm done here." His movements are quick and jerky, his whole being betraying his anger as he carelessly packs and Mabel watches him sadly, wanting to say something—anything to ease the tension or put a smile on his face despite how upset he is, but the words that usually come so easily, so naturally escape her so she keeps silent.

She winces when she reaches for her own back pack, protectively clutching her middle as though it's the only way she'll be able to stay in one piece. The strange pain yet not-pain subsides quickly though and she starts gathering a few of her favorite sweaters. She stuffs a few of them into her bag but when she gets to a bright pink one she stops, turns it over to see it's the one with the shooting star. It was her all-time favorite one, the first one she made that didn't have any knitting mistakes. It had been too big for her when she completed it a year and a half ago, and still was a little big now but she liked it that way.

The design was what she wanted to make when she first took up the hobby and she was so proud of it. Of all the crazy sweaters she made since, this one was always so special to her. She couldn't pinpoint why except that it was her first major accomplishment, the first sweater she ever made by herself without mistakes and when she wore it she felt warm and safe and would often wear it when she knew she was going into a situation that made her uneasy, like her first day of school, or her first few days away from home in Gravity Falls. It was her secret impenetrable armor. But now she looks at it and the magic is gone. It's suddenly meaningless to her but she folds it with care nonetheless and puts it in her bag almost ceremoniously.

She sits on her bed, still feeling a little off balance and glances at Dipper. Even though she can see him clearly, it feels like she's watching him through thick fog. He's so upset, and she can't blame him. His whole world had been shattered in the course of one day. No matter what she chose, he would be upset, but the fact that she chose to trust Stan meant that she left Dipper feeling like he has no one he could count on.

I'm sorry, Dipper, she thinks, and she wants to say it out loud, her lips move but the words don't come out. I'm still on your side, always. I just…I had to follow my instincts and listen to my heart. Maybe I was wrong, I don't know but at least we know that Grunkle Stan's intentions were good, right? That's gotta count for something right?

Dipper stops packing and looks around the room, seemingly satisfied that he's packed everything he needs. It isn't like they have the time to be thorough, but it's enough. His eyes drift to the conspiracy board and his face goes blank for a moment and he stares at it again, and she could see the tension in his stance, like a pressure cooker about to explode.

"I'm so sorry Dipper, I…" she says finally.

But he ignores her like she's not even there and with a strange sort of battle cry he suddenly drops his bag and grabs the board, carelessly tearing off the clippings and codes and then smashes it against his desk. Mabel flinches and wipes a tear from her eye as she sits on her bed and watches him go at it. It was his passion project that bordered on obsession and it breaks her heart to watch him destroy it, knowing how big of a deal it was to him.

"It was all a lie!" he hisses, throwing it on the floor and kicking at the pieces, "All of it! Everything I ever cared about this summer was a lie! How could I have been so stupid?!"

"Dipper…" Mabel sobs, "Dipper please…"

Still ignoring her he takes off his hat and looks at it for a moment, his expression a roller coaster of emotion. Grunkle Stan gave him that hat in their first week there, after he saved Mabel from the gnomes and he wore it every day since—it had become almost a part of his identity. He releases a garbled sob from the base of his throat and throws the hat into the wreckage of the destroyed conspiracy board and storms out of the room with his backpack slung over his shoulder and doesn't look back.

Mabel lets her tears fall freely as she leans forward and reaches for the hat, grabbing it off the floor. With the same kind of ceremonial reverence she had with her shooting star sweater, she carefully puts the hat in her bag next to it and closes her backpack without packing much else besides her grappling hook. All her posters and glitter and art projects and supplies could stay behind, they don't seem to matter much to her anymore and could easily be replaced. The only extra thing she packs is some yarn and knitting needles so she'd have something to distract herself with on the long trip home. Besides, maybe she can make something awesome for Dipper as a way to hopefully cheer him up a little.

There's only one thing left to grab that matters. "Waddles?" she calls, "Here boy!" There's no sign of the pig though and she starts to get a little frantic. "Waddles?"

"Mabel hurry!" she hears Soos call from the bottom of the stairs, "We got to go!"

"Is Waddles down there with you?" she calls back.

"No, but I'm sure he's fine Hambone. Now come on, we have to leave…it's not safe in here!"

"I can't leave without Waddles!" she exclaims, It's bad enough leaving Grunkle Stan behind…and that still doesn't feel right.

"Mabel! Please!"

She's torn but she realizes Soos is right. Waddles would be fine, she had to believe it. Maybe Grunkle Stan could take care of him, or even Wendy since it looks like Stan wouldn't be able to while on the run. Oh Grunkle Stan…what are you going to do? Besides, realistically there's no way she could keep him back home, her parent's would never allow it. But I want to at least say goodbye!

She's so focused on finding Waddles that she doesn't notice the uneven floorboards, another sign of the damage the Mystery Shack sustained, and she stumbles. The sudden jarring motion makes her head spin and her aching body to retaliate with a surge of pain that for a moment steals her breath away. She leans heavily against the wall, closing her eyes and holding on for dear life, feeling the phantom tug of weightlessness pulling at her back and she's scared to let go because otherwise she might fade away.

Something's wrong…what's wrong with me?

She feels so hollow and detached, like two different forces within her want to tear her apart and it hurts and yet it doesn't and she feels heavy and yet weightless, and her nerves buzz with a strange and terrifying energy, much like she felt in the portal room when gravity tried to pull her away from everyone. And maybe she's still there, trapped with an impossible decision with consequences beyond her understanding.

Let go, let go…it's all right…just let go and everything will be all right…

She shakes her head at the barely audible whisper in the back of her mind and holds on tighter, so terrified that she'd fade away into nothing and she wants to call for help but she can't find her voice. She can't move, she can't breathe, she can't feel and yet it still hurts.

"Mabel! Hurry up!" it's Dipper's voice this time around calling her pulling her from the edge of oblivion and she can hear him heading back up the stairs despite Soos telling him not to in the background.

Her brother's voice brings her back into the moment and the strange sensation stops, leaving behind a deep ache that has her shaking. She swallows compulsively to keep from throwing up and moves forward, meeting him at the top of the stairs. "We don't have time for you to pack every stupid thing you have!"

She gets that he's mad at her for choosing to trust Stan, she gets it and can't blame him for it, but his words hit a nerve and she shoots him a look, her lip quivering. She opens her mouth to speak but once again the words don't come to her, instead she wraps her arms around herself protectively and brushes past him meeting Soos at the bottom of the stairs. Soos ushers her and Dipper ahead, leading them back through the gift shop and out the door with the intent to flee like Stan instructed before the Agents can return but they stop in their tracks when they step outside.

"Woah," Dipper exclaims, his hands curling into fists as he takes in the full extent of the damage the portal caused. Trees are broken in half or missing branches and some are even completely torn from their roots and fallen, the totem pole lies in the grass, uprooted from its base. The tires on Soos's truck are flat, the rims and hubcaps bent out of shape and it truly looks as though it had been lifted to a great height and dropped along with everything else on and around the property.

"I guess the anti-gravity affected more than the portal room and the Shack," Mabel murmurs, looking behind her at the Shack to see that it's completely out of alignment with its foundation, resting at an angle, the roof looks like it had been torn off completely and recklessly put back in place. No wonder Soos was so anxious about us getting out of there…it looks like…looks like…oh man it looks like it's going to fall any second now!

"You think?" Dipper chides, "And Gru—Stanley knew...he knew that this would happen…are you happy now Mabel?"

The world tilts suddenly and Mabel stumbles backwards to keep from falling, "Dipper please…" she whispers, her body trembling, "don't. Don't pin this on me." Even though I know I'm partially to blame...but...

"This wouldn't have happened if you shut the machine off," he continues.

"Dipper I…I did what I thought was right!"

"Trusting a con man? A liar and a thief? Over reason, over everything? Trusting him instead of me?" he hisses, "That sound right to you?"

"You didn't see it, did you? The look in his eyes…no matter what the outcome, he did it for his brother," Mabel sobs, "Do you think Grunkle Stan wanted this to happen?"

"Dudes, maybe now's not the best time to be fighting like this?" Soos chuckles nervously, gently ushering them further away from the Mystery Shack, "We've got bigger things to worry about right now. Like how are we going to get out of here with my truck looking like this?"

"Can you fix it?" Dipper asks as they make their way to the damaged truck while Mabel stays rooted in place, glancing back and forth between the Mystery Shack and Soos and Dipper.

Grunkle Stan…he's still inside.

"Yeah but it would take time we don't have, and I'll probably have to replace some parts…"

"Then what do we do now?"

There's a creak and a moan coming from the Shack that catches Soos and Dipper's attention. Dipper turns and looks at the Mystery Shack for the first time since they went outside his eyes widen in shock as he exclaims, "It looks…it looks worse than I thought from out here!"

Grunkle Stan…

Mabel starts towards the Mystery Shack, her gut telling her she has to hurry, it looks like a slight gust of wind would knock the whole thing over any minute now—I have to warn Grunkle Stan—but Soos wraps his arms around her and pulls her back, "Woah, you can't go back in there Hambone, it's too dangerous!"

"But Grunkle Stan's still in there!" she gasps, ignoring the wave of pain and energy that pulses through her as she tries to fight back, "We can't leave him behind! We have to—"

Then it happens. It starts with a loud crack, and then another and then another and the building groans and moans and begins to tilt until finally the Mystery Shack collapses into a heap of dust, wood, and memories.

"GRUNKLE STAN!"

A/N GAHHHH! This chapter was so hard to write on an emotional level! I really didn't want to do it, but after the shots of the gravity anomalies through the town and of the exterior of the Shack, I figure there had to be some major damage. It was like killing an important character, but at least she can be rebuilt? (Please don't hate me!)

Anyway, thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think, your thoughts and theories and whatever criticisms you may have, good or bad are more than welcome! I would love to hear from you!