"Are you ok?!"

"Now I am… I would have been a goner if it weren't for you!"

"Don't you know it's dangerous to wander in the woods on your own?!"

"Then what are you doing on your own?"

"I'm never alone… And if you plan on coming back through this way, you shouldn't ever be either."

"Who are you?"

"I was hoping… could I be a friend?"

Paz only had a vague recollection of the dream that just passed through her head. The faces, place, and words were already starting to fade from her mind as she stared up at the ceiling...

Wait, it was a ceiling! As nice as a skylight to see the stars at night as it was, it was amazing to see that the hole in the roof was now patched up. Glancing to her right, the stack of snacks and goodies placed in this room were gone. Turns out that you could in fact get brownies to work for brownies!

Their first order of business had been to make the Mystery Shack both livable and functional. Unfortunately, every contractor, plumber, or any worker in home improvement in general suddenly became immensely busy once they heard what the location was. Maybe they were just superstitious about the old shack. Or maybe they didn't want to get on Stan Pines' bad side. But that just meant they needed to get creative.

If the human population of Gravity Falls couldn't help them, then perhaps the more unusual one could. The journal listed a multitude of different creatures that resided in Gravity Falls, as well as their weaknesses, uses and how to bind or form a contract with them. The methods ranged to luring in lepricorns with a bowl of marshmallow cereal to putting a fae in your debt enough to grant you magical favors.

They weren't going to start with anything too fancy though. The brownies were a much shyer cousin of gnomes and elves. The Journal explained how they'd do basic housework and tasks, and were probably the real ones behind that whole "shoemaker elves" story, matching the brownies' MO closer. However, you couldn't exactly use them as a team of maids. The Journal underlined that a few times along with the words "So much for a supernatural cleaning service". The food left for them wasn't to be called payment, but instead gifts. You didn't order them around, they did as much or as little as they pleased. And if they got peeved for any reason or felt like they were being mistreated, they would leave on the spot. Paz wasn't sure if they were just sticklers for etiquette, or actually had a good sense of self-respect.

Honestly, Gideon and Paz weren't sure how much to expect when they found the page in the Journal. It honestly had started as a "Just cleaning this house is going to take forever" and instead wanting to hide away and examine the Journal more. But while Paz wasn't expected to do any of the work, Bud wouldn't exactly "let Gideon come out to play" until the Mystery Shack was in working order. So Paz could either pitch in, or see if the Journal perhaps had more than just descriptions of monsters that went bump in the night.

There weren't exactly any cleaning spells, but the brownies seemed harmless enough. Paz and Gideon had wanted to try out meeting some of the less threatening creatures in Gravity Falls, so maybe this was a good start. Sure, even the gnomes turned out to be more troublesome than they looked, but at least the brownies didn't breathe fire or cause earthquakes when they yawned. Getting more information from the gnomes, they confirmed that the brownies probably would help them out. The gnomes called the little guys suck ups, but for a box of cookies, they were willing to put in a good word and pass along to their supernatural cousins that they were "welcome over at the Mystery Shack for the night".

An invitation would get them over the barrier, but it was falling asleep that night that was rough. It would only work if the brownies weren't seen or interfered with. Gideon was already having a hard enough time accepting that monsters lived within the woods of Gravity Falls, let alone inviting them into your own home. Paz didn't think it would be an issue. Looking at the entry in the Journal, it occurred to her that she may have had a team of brownies living in her home a year or two ago. The snacks had begun to disappear the same time she was convinced her dad had really started to clean up around the place. The moment she went on a diet and stopped bringing sweets into the house, the cleaning suddenly stopped. She just assumed her dad got cranky about the lack of snacks in the house and went on strike. Now little men breaking into her house and cleaning for candy was oddly enough the more sensible option.

The night Gideon and Paz had prepared a plethora of snacks. From the sugariest of snack cakes bought at the supermarket to home baked brownies (That Gideon swore would offend them, but Paz insisted that they'd love the joke). It would be the first of many nights that Paz stayed over at the Mystery Shack. Even if the point was not to interfere with them, it set Gideon's mind at ease to have backup ready. Although when it came down to it, Paz was the one that had trouble sleeping with the sounds of rustling and laughter coming from down the stairs. Why did she decide the spooky attic was the best place to set up her sleeping bag?! That was probably the real reason behind the weird dreams!

Still the spooky attic was looking a lot less spooky when Paz awoke. Most of the dust was cleared, and the entire place looked pristine. The holes in the floor and ceiling were repaired, and the entire place actually looked livable. Paz was quick to shake Gideon awake beside her. The Monster-mon bedsheets were loosely fit over the hastily made bed, torn off by a restless night's sleep.

"Wake up! It's a Summer-mas miracle!" Paz cheered

Gideon rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the drowsiness. "Summer… mas?" He asked confused.

"Well, it's not July yet, but still! You don't even have to get out of bed to see it!" Paz exclaimed pointing at the ceiling. "They came through alright!"

Gideon scratched his head confused. He thought they were just getting a cleaning service. "Magical little men are roofers as well?"

Paz rolled her eyes. "Makes about as much sense as them being coblers. Come on- let's look at the rest of the house!" She cheered. She'd slept in her jacket and clothes from the previous day just in case it turned out they did have to bust some brownies in the middle of the night.

As they explored each room, they found it cleaned out, all the knick-knacks neatly dusted and stacked into neat manageable piles, the walls were repainted with their original color- minus all the mad scribbles- with even creaky floorboards replaced. There wasn't even a crumb left of any of the deserts.

"Not exactly flashy magic, but it's a start!" Paz exclaimed as she turned on a faucet in the kitchen. Yup- even the running water was coming out a lot more smoothly. And without the brown bits too!

Gideon shook his head. "Are you kidding?! The fact that it was done all quiet-like and all in one night makes it even more magical! This isn't the sort of thing they have to pull out all the stops for to do in one go- this is the kind a thing that happens regularly around these parts! Santa's got nothing on these little guys!"

Even the trash can that had once been filled to the brim with all the various snack cake boxes and brownie mixes had been emptied out. "We gotta make them another round. They deserve a heck of a lot more of a thank you than snacks, but if that's what they want, we'll make them feel welcome." Gideon decided.

Paz gave him a light smile and agreed, nodding her head. Maybe it was that all the magic and wonder of Gravity Falls was a novel experience for him, but it was nice to see that child-like wonder as opposed to the screaming terror. And maybe that's what the brownies wanted- Not some quick and easy payment system, but genuine gratitude for their work.

When Bud awoke, he initially assumed that the kids must have been working all night to get the Shack in ship shape like this. He didn't understand why they spent the previous day whipping up a round of sweets like they were preparing for some kind of party. He didn't want Paz inviting any of her friends over yet when the house was in such a state, but it seemed more like she rounded up volunteers for some kind of midnight beautification session.

"My word! You two must have been up all night!" Bud commented as he entered the kitchen.

Gideon shook his head. "No, pa! It was the brownies! They came in the night, cleaned everything up, and patched up the whole house!" Gideon cheered. He wasn't sure how much his dad would believe him. As much as they both believed in the magic of the Pines Bros circus, seeing it happen as a normal everyday occurrence was a completely different thing.

Bud gave a chuckle, chocking it all up to the kids' active imagination. "If you say so." He said simply, not wanting to crush the kids' dreams. If they wanted to chock their hard work up to woodland creatures, that was up to them.

Yet strangely enough, all the things he planned to do today- from hiring contractors for the roof to getting someone in to adjust the pluming- seemed to have been solved already.

"Uh… what kind of friends did you two invite over?" Bud wondered skeptically as he opened the decades old refrigerator to see that even that was now in working order.

Paz rolled her eyes playfully. "Magical brownies. Don't you have those back in your home town?" Paz teased, acting like it was the most natural thing in the world. Frankly, she didn't realize this much was under the brownies realm of capability either.

Bud shook his head, not sure how much the kids were joking anymore, or what was truly in the realm of possibility. "Well… not exactly." He mumbled trying to make sense of all of this. He just needed to get his mind on something he could understand. Getting his hands busy

"I should get to work on making this place a suitable attraction… Plenty of stuff around here to use along with all the Pines Bros memorabilia I brought with me. And I gotta get to hiring folks to help me run the place… seems like everyone in town wasn't willing to work on anything around here yesterday. Unless you two managed to get around that too?" Bud asked raising an eyebrow toward the kids.

"No, don't think so." Gideon admitted.

"But we can get right on that!" Paz decided. "There's got to be someone in town willing to work cheaply and the Pines wouldn't think of deterring!"

Already Bud thought they'd done more than enough. He thought getting the place cleaned up would take up to a week. Probably would have taken another month for all the other odd jobs like the roof. At this rate, he'd be able to open up by the time the week was out! Why stop when they were on a roll?

Bud scratched the back of his head. "Well… I am going to need at least 3 employees… A cashier, a handyman, and someone for general odd jobs."

Paz nodded determined. "Great! You've already got one right here!" Paz decided. She probably could use a summer job for a little bit of extra income anyways. "Just leave it to us Mr. Gleeful!"

Riding the bus into town, Paz looked over all the forms and work schedules that Mr. Gleeful had handed them. Everything they'd need to quickly interview people and pass their credentials onto Bud who'd make the final decisions.

"Wow, your dad really thought all this out… he already had all the advertisements prepared and everything."

Gideon nodded eagerly. "Summer is the prime tourist season! We wanted to be up and running before July hit. Maybe even sooner now!"

However, that was much easier said than done. Anyone they asked to put a job flyer up for immediately refused. The newspaper even refused to publish their help wanted ad. They started asking around on street corners, and store owners shooed them away for 'loitering'.

Paz glared at a girl scout happily selling cookies in front of a grocery store her and Gideon just got kicked out of. Stupid hypocrisy!

"How much influence does Stanford Pines even have?!" Paz yelled exasperated after an afternoon of no leads.

"Don't know- Snickerdoodle?" Gideon asked offering Paz a bite of the trap he couldn't help caving into.

Paz angrily stuffed her hand into the box and started munching on a cookie. But even sugar couldn't help her out of this funk now.

"We just gotta think outside the box… Think maybe we can hire the gnomes?" Gideon offered.

Paz shrugged, sitting down on the curb. "I don't know… maybe? Kind of worried they'd turn to the Pines and just let them in for whatever plans they have. Maybe if we start getting their trust and making sure they aren't going to weasel on over to the Pines Twins, but for now we need to at least find someone that isn't completely scared of the Pines."

Gideon adjusted the brim of his hat. "I'm sure there's someone in this town that's not under their thumb!"

"Sweet hat kid!" A woman coming out of the store noted pushing a cart full of a bunch of microwave foods, ramen and snacks. "Pines Bros classic- Nice."

Gideon was completely caught off guard by the brunet's complement. As much trouble as Stan's influence was causing them, he couldn't help geeking out about some good old fashion Pines Bros Circus stuff.

"Yup! Just a minute of the classic stuff is worth more than a hundred of the best shows of the modern stuff!" Gideon agreed.

This earned a chuckle out of the newcomer. "I totally get you. It's really hard to find people's shaky family home videos of the stuff, but man is it worth it."

"I know! Their work is the best! They really know how to make you believe in the impossible alright!" Gideon agreed

Paz was ready to groan at hearing them praise the Pines, even if it was their past work. But she then realized that this could be the answer to their problems.

"How would you like to work at an attraction highlighting the spirit of all the original Pines Bros Circus stuff?" Paz was quick to pitch.

The woman let out another chuckle. "Oh man, that would be awesome!" She looked down at the two kids that were suddenly grinning ear to ear. "Wait, you're serious? I was just looking for a summer job! That would be perfect!"

Paz immediately produced an information form from her jacket for the woman to fill out with a pen.

"Wow, instant job interview!" The woman said as she began to fill out the form. "I'm Melody! Oh- it's cool if this is just a summer job, right?"

While Gideon was hoping that their business would last longer than just a few months, hopefully once they got the ball rolling they'd be able to find more people willing to work for them. "Yeah, I suppose that's fine."

It then occurred to Paz why she seemed completely fine with working with them. "Oh! You're from out of town, aren't you?" Paz realized. Of course Mr. Pines wouldn't have thought to call or had any influence over someone that just moved in.

Melody nodded. "Yeah, spending a few months with my grandparents. They'll be thrilled to find out I found a job so quickly!" She explained handing the filled out form back to Paz.

"Uh, might not want to tell them just yet." Gideon insisted, not sure if her grandparents might try and dissuade her from taking the job. Gideon then handed her a sheet with all the callback information and information about the Mystery Shack.

"Ah, yeah! Got to make sure I beat out my competition first!" Melody realized. Wouldn't want to tell her family she got a job when she didn't know for sure yet. "The Mystery Shack, huh? Sounds cool! Can't wait to be part of the Mystery Team! Well, I've got frozens, so I'll call you back later." Melody called out as she began to wheel her cart over to her car, waving back to them as she walked.

"YES!" Paz and Gideon cheered at the same time as they gave each other a high five.

"Wait- Mystery Team?" Gideon question. "Is that a thing?"

Paz shrugged. "Want to make it a thing?"

Gideon scratched his head. "Do we really need a name?"

Paz nodded eagerly "Most definitely! Like Gravi-team Falls! Or Mystery Explorers! The Shack Squad! OH OH OH! We could be the Mystery Tweens!"

"Uh… Mystery Team is suddenly sounding a lot better…"

"MYSTERY TWEENS!" Paz insisted with a big grin on her face.

Even if they didn't get everything they needed together today, the Mystery Shack was almost ready for business, they had a friendly face on their team and they were already off to a great start. This summer was going to be one they wouldn't forget.

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This chapter was a bit difficult to write with all the little things I needed to include. But Gobblewonker should be up next, and hopefully the flow should get back to normal! Please leave your comments on your thoughts so far! It helps get me excited to write when I see what other people think!