Author's note: If you just discovered this story today, ignore this. But If you've been following this, you're probably wondering why this chapter looks very familiar. Well, the new chapter isn't this one, but instead Chapter 1- I've added a prologue. In addition to that, I've spruced up the begging to the first chapter (Unwelcome) with minor edits to chapters 2 and 3 (Now 3 and 4). You might want to take another look at the ending codes (Although the method to solve it is the same).

'Keep running. You're faster than them. You can outrun them easily.' Paz repeated to herself in her head. Hardly a strategic retreat, but she didn't have much of a choice. It was 2 vs 1. Well, maybe 2 and a half. She had no idea exactly what gnomes could do, but she rather not find out.

"Come back... Don't you know it's dangerous to wander in the woods on your own?" Dipper's voice echoed through the forest.

Paz had no idea if the rapid crunching of leaves meant they were catching up quickly behind her, of if that was just her own frantic footsteps. She just had to keep moving one in front of the other without crashing into any trees. She was used to running from danger- these prissy little Pines couldn't possibly keep up with her.

"What's there to be afraid of? I'm sure you'll be treated well. Like a Queen in fact. It has to be better than a junk yard of a home and a lunatic of a father looming over you." Mabel's voice taunted.

'Don't listen to them. Dad's condition is hardly a secret… but did they follow me home or something?! No, they're just trying to get in my head. Keep running'

But as much as she tried to block it out the voices didn't stop. "You're fighting a losing battle. Do you know how easy it would be to make sure you disappeared in these woods? We wouldn't even have to fake an animal attack. No one would even notice you were gone."

Dipper's voice pierced through her harshly. No… it had to be just a handful of cruel words. Her dad would… but depending on the day, he sometimes couldn't tell his family from a rabid raccoon. Her friends… there hadn't been much of anyone that she could call friend in a while. She'd had plenty of close friends. But they'd started to drift into the "acquaintance" category over the past year or two. Around the time she started investigating the Pines... Maybe it had just been her focus drifting elsewhere, but they seemed to be purposely distancing themselves from her. She was supposed to be famous for starting the party when she walked through the door. Now she hardly even got an invitation. Were the Pines somehow responsible for that as well? No, that had to be paranoia talking. They were trying to slow her down with empty words. Just keep running…

…Wait, where was she running to?

She darted off the second Mabel noticed her. She hadn't even thought for a second as to which direction to run. The footprints she followed here were nowhere to be seen. Just her own. And retracing her steps would be a big mistake. But the voices were getting closer. All she could do was keep running.

"Omph!" Paz exclaimed as she ran into something large and squishy and buried her head into something blue. Some kind of blob monster!? But the voice was friendlier than anything she'd heard today.

"Watch out there dude! Are you ok?" The large man asked as he stepped back a little and try and give Paz a hand.

Paz looked up at the man that she'd just crashed into. She recognized him instantly- Soos Ramirez. While the rest of the inhabitants of the Tent of Telepathy usually had elaborate or fancy wardrobes, he stuck with a simple ball cap, blue shirt and shorts. The symbol of the tent was on his shirt, but the star looked like it was drawn in fabric paint. It made the star look much less threatening and ominous than when it was displayed around the tent- more like a doodle in a notebook. Seeing as Paz had never seen it sold at the tent, he probably made it himself. Still, he worked for the Pines. Did that mean he'd go along with their scheme?

Soos look down at the girl out of breath and scratched his head. "You ok there, dude? You look like you've seen a 40 foot tall dinosaur or something! And as cool as that would be, it looks like it was the person-eating kind." He remarked with a hearty laugh.

Paz had never actually talked to Soos before, but even with just these few words and what she knew about him, it was hard to think he had a malicious bone in his body. With a sigh, she took his hand and he helped her off the ground.

"Thanks…" Paz admitted, still not sure if she was out of hot water just yet.

"Well, you're safe now! Hey, maybe you could help me find my friends! They must have gone exploring while I got caught up in a sweet tune on the radio… I know Dipper and Mabel do that wandering off stuff all the time, but I get worried, ya know? And it's kind of my job to protect them. You wouldn't have happened to have seen them, would you?" Soos explained with genuine concern in his eyes.

"Uh… I don't think you should be too worried about them." Paz admitted.

She wasn't sure if Soos was just really oblivious or was some kind of genius mastermind pulling this act to stall for time while the Pines got her right where they wanted. Sure enough, walking up calmly behind her was the very thing she feared.

"Soos? Whatever are you doing out here?" Mabel asked somewhat annoyed.

Paz turned around, wondering exactly what their plan was now. If Soos really wasn't aware of their intentions, would they still carry on with a witness? They hardly seemed out of breath. They were probably taking their sweet time chasing their prey down. The gnome was nowhere to be seen either. Probably not a good sign- he could either be watching from afar, or went to go get some more of his friends.

"Just looking for you dudes! It's dangerous to go walking around the woods without your Soos!" The eager man said as he walked up beside the twins to pull them in for a large hug. And while they both seemed rather indifferent about it, they didn't make a move to push him away.

Dipper rolled his eyes, accepting the hug reluctantly. "Yes, well we just wanted a bit of fresh air. Nothing to worry about." He insisted.

This wasn't the first time Soos had interrupted one of their dealings. Probably wouldn't be the last either. Sometimes Dipper wondered if their uncle paid him a bonus for walking in on them at the most inappropriate times.

Soos released the twins from his hug, easily buying the excuse. "Well, it all worked out, so it's cool! Maybe once Mr. Pines finishes up, we can all go out and grab something to eat!" Soos suggested with a huge smile on his face.

"And look! Even found an extra friend for you in here! The woods really do have everything you need to survive!" Soos said as he pat Paz on the shoulder.

Paz flinched, not sure what sounded less appetizing- being some kind of Gnome Queen or a brunch with the Pines.

The twins shot each other a glance, trying to figure out what to do. Shoo Soos off and continue where they left off, save their plans for another day or keep their prey within close reach? It wasn't as if there was anyone that would believe her if she decided to talk about what she saw. Their reputation was too pristine, and adding a gnome in the mix would just make Paz seem insane. There was no harm in letting her go for now. Even more fun to let her squirm and wait for her capture to come anyways.

Mabel was quick to come up with an excuse. "Actually Soos, we were looking forward to some quality bonding time with Stan. As much as we love to make new friends-"

"-I'm sure we could find a much better time to get better acquainted with Miss. Northwest." Dipper finished.

Paz shuttered. Did they really have to finish each other's sentences? Twin telepathy act or not, that was just creepy. Soos on the other hand seemed to be used to it. If anything, he enjoyed it. Once again he bought the act.

"Oh… sorry to hear that. But I understand dudes." Soos admitted disappointed. He turned to Paz and gave her a thumbs up. "Rain check, alright?"

But Paz was happy to get out of it as long as they could literally get out of these woods. "Uh… that's alright… I already had other plans anyways." Paz offered. Such as figuring out who those two people that Stan was talking to were. She couldn't tell who the man was, but the kid was someone she'd never seen around Gravity Falls. There were plenty of tourists that stopped by the Tent of Telepathy, but she doubted anyone dealing with the Pines at some run down old shack in the middle of the woods were just tourists.

"That's cool!" Soos exclaimed. It was then that he realized he hadn't introduced himself. He knew he'd seen the girl around the Tent of Telepathy occasionally. One of Dipper and Mabel's fans? He hadn't seen them interact, but they knew her name, right? Any friend of the Pines was a friend of his! Soos held out his hand to the young girl. "I'm a Soos! Nice to meet ya!"

Paz gave him a light smile, and shook his hand back. "Paz. Nice to meet you too." Even if he was working for the Pines, he did genuinely seem to be a good person. She wouldn't have minded hanging out with him. As long as he didn't bring his employers.

Dipper rolled his eyes once again disinterested. "Yes, yes. Let's just get back to the car. The heat is starting to annoy me." He complained

"Don't sweat it! Literally!" Soos chuckled as he took his ballcap off his head and plucked it on Dipper's chestnut locks. "Boom! Instant shade!"

Mabel chuckled as her brother attempted to not look completely frustrated with Soos. She'd already accepted the change in plans, but Soos seemed to be pressing all of her brother's buttons today. The blue ballcap managed to both completely clash with his outfit as well as give off a peculiar scent that Dipper could only guess was a mix of mountain dew and body odor. Dipper flicked the ball cap a few inches upward so at least the Big Dipper on his forehead was showing once again. He tried not to show any signs of frustration, knowing that Soos was only trying to help.

Paz couldn't help letting out a snicker, seeing how much Soos managed to get away with around the Pines. She'd seen them go off on "the help" when she sneaked back stage. And she'd seen how they sweet talked authority figures that were clearly annoying them. This was neither. Soos had called them his friends. Maybe they genuinely felt the same… or they figured that they couldn't find another person around Gravity Falls that spent that much time around them and not ask any questions about their activities.

Soos kept in the lead as he led them all out of the forest. At least he seemed to have a good sense of direction.

Soos was far enough ahead that Mabel whispered something in Paz's ear without him hearing. "Saved by the Soos for now… but if I were you, I'd start picking out a wedding dress. You're going to make a lot of little men very happy."

Paz shuttered at the thought, but she refused to let Mabel Pines get the best of her. "Not going to get rid of me that easy. And not before the town knows what you're really up to. I know what you're hiding." Paz shot back.

"Oh? You've figured out our entire plot then? We were going to announce it at the next town meeting, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Please, go on. I'm sure everyone would love to hear your feelings on the golden children of Gravity Falls." Mabel retorted.

Paz folded her arms annoyed that Mabel called her bluff. They wouldn't get away with this… whatever it was. Ok, maybe she hadn't figured out everything. Trying to trade her off to the gnomes seemed to only be the tip of the ice berg. And not even something she could prove. They seemed to want something with that old Shack if they were trying to convince the gnomes to sneak in. The old thing hardly looked like prime real estate property. So was there something of value hidden in there? Some kind of buried treasure? Whatever it was, at least she could try and find out what it was and make sure the Pines didn't get their hands on it.

When they got closer to the clearing where they began, Paz was starting to realize that perhaps this whole secret mafia exchange might not be so much of a secret from the volume Stanford Pines had gotten to. Or that he seemed to be getting anything out of the deal.

"Fine! Good luck opening up your rinky dink little tourist trap! Do you know what kind of influence I have around town? Good luck getting any locals to stop by! Heck, hope you and your kid know how to run this place and get it up to shape because you're sure not going to be able to hire any contractors or employees! I'll give you less than a month before you're begging me to take it off your hands!" Stan yelled at the two. And while Bud seemed baffled at the lack of compromise, it only seemed to make Gideon more determined than ever to stay.

"Dream on! You know, we wanted to be your business partners- guess we'll have to be competitors instead!" Gideon shouted at the old man. The normally meek and shy boy had a fire in his eyes that wouldn't be quenched- even by one of his heroes. No one messed with his family!

"You don't know what you're messing with." Stan grumbled under his breath before turning away. So much for an easy win. But he doubted they'd be able to stay long. No matter how stubborn they were, Gravity Falls was hardly on any maps. If any tourists came around here, it was to see his kids' show. No way would anyone notice a piece of junk little place like this. He wanted to turn it into some kind of Pines Bros. museum? Ha! Like anyone cared about that stuff anymore. They'd be out of business soon.

"Come on kids, we're leaving." He said making his way to the limo.

Soos rushed ahead to open the car door for Stan and the kids. "No problem Mr. Pines! To Greasy's for grub?" He asked.

Stan shook his head as he got himself settled. "Drop me off at home first. I got some calls to make. Eat an extra stack of flapjacks for me, won't ya?"

If Dipper was distraught, he tried not to show it. He climbed in after his great uncle. However, Mabel didn't seem to follow him. He leaned out of the car door to see what the hold up was.

"Mabel? Are you coming?" Dipper asked confused.

But Mabel was distracted by the young boy on the porch. "Such pretty white hair…" She mumbled to herself.

Dipper waved his hand in front of his sister's eyes. "Hello… Earth to Mabel!" But he recognized that look his sister had on her face. He could already see the stars in her eyes. "Come on… now's not the time to get too attached." Dipper insisted as he pulled his sister's arm into the car.

But even though Mabel went along with him, the wheels in her head were still turning. Soos shut the door behind the Pines family and quickly went to start the limo. As they pulled away, Mabel's gaze was still locked on the boy. But Gideon was too concerned about his father to even notice.

"Pops, we can't just let him walk all over us… even if he is Stanford Pines, this is your dream! You always wanted to open up your own place, put wonder in the hearts of children and inspire people! You're not going to let him stop you, right?" Gideon asked. He'd been the one to step in when Stanford was clearly trying to bully his father into giving up before they'd even started. And frankly, Bud was surprised that his son managed to stand up to the man in the first place. They both had a great respect for Stanford Pines… but after seeing this side of him? Bud still wasn't sure what to make of the whole encounter.

"It's not that simple, son. I mean… I wouldn't want to open any kind of museum glorifying the Pines Bros. Circus without his approval. And it does look like he's going to make it awfully difficult for us… maybe this just isn't the right location…" Bud tried to reason.

The two had been so concerned about what to do, that they hardly noticed the girl left behind when the Pines pulled away. Paz listened carefully and tried to gather as much as they could. Whatever Stan and the twins wanted from this place, they were trying to force these people out of it. And by the looks of it, they only just got here. They wanted to stay here, and she wanted to make sure the Pines didn't get what they wanted. Paz flipped some of the hair out of her face and readjusted her pony-tail as she approached the new owners of the old Shack.

"Hey, guys? I think I might be able to help you with your Pines problem. My name's Pacifica Northwest- Call me Paz. Welcome to Gravity Falls!"

Wkhlu hbhv vwdb vkxw ru fkrrvh wr eh eolqg

Pb vhfuhwv duh qrw phdqw iru wkhlu forvhg plqg

/ Φ \

Gsviv'h nliv gl gsrh dliow gszm gl lyhviev

Gsv lmv nvzmg gl ifov szh lgsvi mvvwh gl hviev