Dipper's Lapse

SUMMARY: Dipper and Grunkle Stan decide to run the Shack together for the day, but when the past creeps on Dipper everything goes to hell.

MAIN CHARACTERS: Dipper and Mabel Pines, and Stanford and Stanley Pines

Dipper fixes the tie he was given by Grunkle Stan, a cyan colored ribbon, and he straightens out his suit that looked identical to the suit the Stan wore, only thing that was missing was the fez, but Dipper preferred his pine tree hat, however, he wasn't allowed to wear it for the day.

There was a knock on the door and when Dipper said to come in Grunkle Stan entered. "Ah, look at ya!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Us two running the Shack for the day while Ford and Mabel go pixie hunting, this is gonna be great!"

"Yeah… great…" Dipper replies with none of the enthusiasm his grunkle had. He glances at the mirror and adjusts his glasses. His stomach felt like it was in knots and he felt like he was going to throw up his light breakfast. He could already feel the sweat beading on his forehead, all he wanted to do was lay down and not deal with this. The few times he wore a suit he felt nauseous, just like now. It reminded him of something…

Stan claps a hand to Dipper's shoulder, interrupting his thoughts. "It'll all be fine, you'll be a natural taking those poor suckers' money." He laughed loudly. "Let's go see Ford and your sister off." He then walked out of the room, Dipper following close behind.

There was a soft voice heard from downstairs, Mable's, "We are the Alpha Twins with our Sweater Swag!"

Ford's voice replied with a question, his voice filled with confusion at the term, "What's 'swag'?"

"It means we are awesome, Grunkle Ford." Mabel tells him, him making an "ah" sound in understanding.

"Well you two may have your 'Sweater Swag'," Grunkle Stan bellows from the top of the stairs, Dipper next to him, the two looking down at Mabel and Ford. The Alpha twins glance up. "But we Pines men look damn well good in suits!" he then adjusts his tie, giving a big smile. Dipper just stayed in his solemn position next to Stan, his face a little pale.

Mabel looks at her twin brother with a worried glance. "Hey, Sir Dipping Sauce… you okay?" she asks him gently.

Dipper snaps out of his trance. "Huh?" he barely whispered.

"Dipper, are you okay?" Ford was the one who asked, raising a gray eyebrow. It looked like the boy was going to be sick.

Dipper then goes back to his normal upbeat attitude. "What? Oh, yeah, Grunkle Ford, I'm perfectly fine!" he gives smile, a real smile. He claps his hands together in excitement. It was like he didn't remember that he was feeling sick… "You two have fun, we're gonna have a blast here practically stealing money from people!" Dipper then adjusts his own tie, similar to Stan. "Catch a pixie for me, sis!" he then waved at Mabel. His smile seemed so pure…

Mabel returns the wave, although not as excitedly. "Yeah… I'll catch you one, Dip'n Dot." She softly says as she and Ford gathered their gear and walked out the door.

The two remaining Pines then go to the gift shop part of the house, Stan flipping the sign to open. He made sure to give Wendy the day off and told Soos to not come in to look after maintenance. Stan had figured that he Dipper should hang out a little more, as they both were the younger twin in their respective sets, and he honestly felt bad that he had made fun of him so much when the kid was younger.

"Alright, first rule with being a conman," Stan began, clapping his hands together and rubbing them slightly evilly, "do not let them know you're a conman… well, outright. You have to sweeten your words, as in if they don't want to buy something you suggest it to them to buy it, but say it a certain way that makes them think they made the decision to buy it."

Dipper does a firm nod. "Got it, Grunkle Stan." He then gives a little salute.

"It's fall right now, so there isn't as much business as the summer, so we should be a little slower so you can get the hang of it." Stan then states, going behind the counter and counting the till of the register to make sure money was in it.

Dipper gives a thumbs up and stands by the counter, waiting for anyone to stop by. It's true what Grunkle Stan said about the fall being a slower season for tourists, but since the picture of the people of the wheel was sent out to schools and colleges across the world, people were taking time out of their lives to visit Gravity Falls where they all resided to meet the heroes. They've had people from Germany, Egypt, and even form Japan come and visit and even buy some of Stan's dumb tourist trap souvenirs.

After an hour or so of pacing around the shop, much to Stan's annoyance at the kid, the door chimes open, a young woman with a small child wondering in. She had pale blonde hair, and was wearing a knitted hat, the child wearing a hat as well. The looked around and happened to glance at Dipper.

"Welcome to the Mystery Shack!" Dipper greets enthusiastically. "We put the 'fun' in 'no refunds'!" He had a bright smile on his face, him even giving a wave to the little boy.

The boy points at his forehead, seeing the Big Dipper showing through Dipper's brown hair. "He has somethin' funny on his head…" the kid said, his voice squeaky sounding, his mother also giving a look.

Dipper jumps back slightly in surprise, him a little confused. "Yeah… it's the Big Dipper, like the star constellation…"

The woman then takes a step up to him, her hazel eyes not leaving his birthmark. "You… look like the boy… that killed those people in Greenland…" she barely whispered. She then looks him up and down, seeing that he was wearing a suit, her gripping a hand around the small child's arm that had come with her. "You got the same mark…"

"Uh… are you sure you're not mistaking me for someone else?" Dipper asked, a baffled chuckle escaping him. "I've never been to Greenland in my life, lady." He then realized what he said was dumb. What were the odds of someone else have the same birthmark on their forehead in the same size?

"My family and friends were killed there… you were laughing as you watched their blood spill." The lady practically growled. "I was trying to get firewood with my son here and when we came back you were slaughtering them like they were cattle…! Even children!"

Dipper takes another step back, him hitting one of the displays. The display crashed to the ground, causing Stan to rush back into the room. "I-I-I really d-don't know w-w-w-what you're talking about, m-m-ma'am." Dipper stuttered, his stomach feeling like it was convulsing within itself. His heart raced in his chest, and he was hyperventilating. "I-I-I would n-n-never-"

"I would never forget that laugh… like a shrill cackle… like the devil himself!" the woman screamed, causing Dipper to flinch once again. The young man had his hands held up in a surrender position. His body was trembling.

"P-p-please stop screaming at m-m-m-me…!" Dipper begged, his voice wavering. "I d-d-don't know what you're t-t-t-talking about!"

The lady then stormed by the door, her small child in tow. "I wanted to show my boy here the heroes of the world… instead he gets to meet a murderer." She glared at Dipper with such hatred that it brought tears to his eyes, he had no idea what he did so wrong to get her so upset…

"Okay lady, just leave, can't ya see you're giving the kid a psychological meltdown?!" Stan the roars from his doorway, him striding over to her. "The kid didn't do it, an evil demon did! Don't associate my nephew with that monster!" He then opens the door, the small bell chiming. "Don't let the door hit ya on the way out!"

The woman drags her son out and they leave, Stan slamming the door behind her, rattling the room. Dipper then slumps to the ground, his knees propped up and his head going between his legs. Tears were blinding his eyes, and his head ached terribly. He kept hearing a loud, shrill laugh echoing in his head.

Isn't this fun, Pine Tree!?

Whose voice was that?

Then red flashed his vision. He looked at his hands and saw nothing but dark, sticky, red blood. He screams loudly, his body full on convulsing. Stan rushed to his side, a panicked expression on his face. He had no idea how to help his nephew, so he just sat next to him and awkwardly cradled him. Dipper continued screaming, tears flooding down his face and sobbing how it was his fault and that people were dead.

The door that led to the main of the house swing open, Mabel rushing in with Ford right behind her. "Dipper!" she screams, her arms out and as soon as she was by her brother's side they wrapped around him tightly, although he was still being held by Stan. "Dipper, what's wrong!?"

Ford then approaches Stan, him whispering lowly in an angry hiss, "What the hell happened, Stanley?!"

Stan then glares at his brother. "Some lady came in… and she happened to recognize Dipper when he… he…" his voice started out furious, but it then trailed off.

Before Ford could even reply the sound of Dipper retching made them both turn their heads to him. Dipper was throwing up over Mabel's shoulder, stomach bile covering the back of her sweater. She didn't care as she rubbed his back to try to comfort him, Dipper gasping for air between his retches.

"You're gonna be okay, Dip Dop…" she murmured to him softly, being as gentle sounding as she could without showing in her voice that she was terrified for him.

"M-my head hurts…" Dipper managed to gasp. "There are… flashes… it's so real…"

Ford gets up from his sitting position and walks over to the vending machine that was a secret door to the basement. He punches in a code and the door swings open. Ford disappears for a few minutes and when he returned he had a needle and syringe. He tapped the syringe to remove bubble so there was no air.

"The hell you gonna do?" Stan exclaimed. "Drug the poor kid?"

Ford replies calmly, "This is a powerful anesthesia, I use this for myself when I can't sleep. They use this stuff for complex surgeries, it knocks you out for a solid eight hours." He then takes a step toward Dipper and kneels down to be at his and Mabel's crouched level.

Stan glares at Ford. "Drug yourself? Really? And you can't eat anything before either… so you haven't been eating well either!" Ford shrugs. "And… where the hell did you get it!? Ford's eyes widen and dart around. "You stole it, didn't you, Stanford." Stan said it more like a statement rather than a question.

"That's not important right now, Stanley!" Ford snaps angrily. "Right now we got to make sure Dipper is okay." He then looks at his great nephew's face, his heart breaking when he saw it.

Dipper had streams of tears running down his face, dripping from his chin. Out of the corner of his mouth was remnants his retching. His face was white as a sheet, his brown eyes round and wide, constantly darting around as if he was making sure something wasn't around. His birthmark was shown through his matted, sweaty brown hair, and once in a while Dipper would hit it, as if it could get rid of his flashes or the actual birthmark.

"Dipper, I need you to hold still for a moment…" Ford tells him gently, his voice soothing. "I'm going to put you to sleep for a few hours, okay…? It'll help…"

"I DON'T WANT THE NIGHTMARES!" Dipper then screeches, him bolting up and backing away from his family. His back hits another one of Stan's displays, him getting startled and he glances at it. While he was distracted Ford then tackles him to the ground, causing Mabel to gasp behind him. Ford pins Dipper to the ground.

"Stanley, I need you to hold him while I inject him with the drug!" Ford screams, actually struggling to hold Dipper down. The kid had gotten stronger over the course of two years, but now that he was hysterical he was using every bit of energy to try to get his uncle off of him. Stan then comes over, the two slowly switching places so that Dipper didn't have to wiggle room to escape. Ford then takes the needle and injects it into Dipper's neck, finding a good vein.

Dipper's breathing slows, as his eyes slowly flutter shut. The young man's struggling stopped and his body relaxed. There were soft snores coming from him. Both Stan and Ford stayed on the floor next to him for a moment, trying to calm their pounding hearts.

"We need to get him help…" Stan finally says after a few minutes of silence, looking at Mabel absently as she was next to her brother with his head in her lap. "These are becoming worse… those lapses."

Ford groans. "He doesn't need a psychologist, or a therapist, or any of that shit! He needs his family, Stan, and we are going to help him together!" Ford was becoming frustrated at the subject, it wasn't the first time his twin suggested it… for the both of them.

"Ford, I don't think you understand…" Stan's voice sounded hoarse, as if he was trying to hold back his emotion. "You two are suffering… it's true that no one will ever understand what you two had went through with Bill, but you two need help, like some kind of medicine or something-"

"I don't need it!" Ford shouts, his face turning red.

Stan didn't flinch at his twin's sudden rage. "Then think about Dipper." He says simply. "He's a fifteen-year-old kid, he is a little less than half your age when you started dealing with Bill and the portal stuff. This… this isn't healthy for him." Tears then start flooding to the corner of his eyes, threatening to spill. "I'm… I'm afraid I'm going to wake up to his dead body on his bed with a gun in his hand… I'm afraid that Mabel would hurt herself if that happened… and I'm afraid that I'll lose you to your sanity and hurt yourself too…

"Please, Stanford," Stan's voice sounded desperate, tears now falling. "I'm begging you… please consider getting help for you and Dipper…"

It was Ford's turn to have the floodgate of tears open up. He never thought of that, he never thought of Stan's fears of losing his family again. Ford also never thought that Stan would think that he would kill himself… although it wouldn't have been the first time he had tried.

"Yeah, Stanley, I'll… I'll consider it." Ford tells him. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you felt that way…" he sounded sincere. Stan just clasps a hand on Ford's shoulder, not saying a word.

After a few minutes the older twins carried Dipper to his and Mabel's room, her trotting behind. They set him in his bed and Stan shrugged off Dipper's suit jacket while Ford took off the boy's shoes. Mabel then puts the blankets on him then goes sit on her bed on the other side of the room, her beginning to knit once again.

The whole time Dipper slept, his dreams were hazy. He couldn't tell what was a memory, a dream, or a nightmare. Everything blurred together… but one thing was constant. A golden colored triangle with one eye, a black top hat and bow tie, and a shrill cackle that Dipper couldn't imitate even if he wanted to.

When he woke up in the early hours of the morning, he had no recollection on how he got into his bed. He noticed his jacket and shoes were off, the cyan ribbon that was once a tie crumpled on the floor. Dipper glances over to his sister, seeing her sleeping form rise and fall with her steady breathing, her knitting tools scattered around her.

Dipper had a terrible feeling something had happened, but he couldn't remember. He was supposed to work with Stan in the gift shop for the day… but…

He shakes his head, trying to clear any cobwebs of his memory. Nothing came up. Dipper looks through some of his books, maybe reading will help clear his head, and he finds a journal. Confusion and uneasiness crept on him. The journal was a solid black with a green pine tree on it, it looked very similar to how Ford had made his journals…

Dipper opens it and he gasps in dismay. Everything in the journal he had written about his reoccurring nightmares. Many nightmares were similar or the same, about Mabel dying in the hands of Bill when they were caught. He didn't remember it though… but as he read his entries his heart filled with dread.

What the hell happened to me?

A/N: Uh oh... Dipper's starting to realize that something truly terrible happened to him... and we know how he is with mysteries.

Thanks for reading as always!

~Skye Hendersen~