Saturday at the Shack

SUMMARY: While Stan and Ford go out for the day for some brotherly bonding Dipper and Mabel run the Mystery Shack; Dipper's past once again haunts him; Ford show great concern for his nephew.

MAIN CHARACTERS: Stanford and Dipper Pines

SECONDARY CHARACTERS: Stanley and Mabel Pines

"Kids! Get down here, we got to tell ya something!"

The younger twins heard their Grunkle Stan's loud voice and the two crawled out of their beds lazily. It was too early on a Saturday morning for this…

"What do you think he wants?" Mabel yawns as she stretches.

Dipper follows suit. "I have no idea, Mabel, but we're gonna find out."

They both go down the stairs, their respective animals following behind them closely. Both Dipper and Mabel then enter the kitchen to see that their two great uncles were wearing life jackets, Stan wearing a thick black jacket and a maroon beanie on his head with his silver hair poking out, and Ford wearing a thick blue trench coat instead of his tan one.

"Whoa, what's with the getup guys?" Dipper asks when he and his twin entered the kitchen.

"Stanley and I are going out on his fishing boat for some brotherly bonding," Ford states as he puts a blank journal into his coat along with a few pens.

"But… it's cold outside…" Mabel informs. "It's almost November…"

Both Stan and Ford then takes off their coats to reveal the thick, warm hand-knitted sweaters made by Mabel. Each sweater had their symbol on it, both a deep maroon.

"We're good," they both said in unison.

Mabel laughs as Dipper looked around confusedly. "But… but what about the Shack? Grunkle Stan, it's Saturday, you never leave the shop on Saturday!" Dipper exclaims.

Stan gives a shrug. "Look, kid, I would've called Soos but he runs his shop on the weekends."

Dipper lifts his head confidently, "What if I ran the shop for the day? Or better yet…" He then puts an arm across Mabel's shoulders. "We can run the shop for the day."

Both Stan and Ford made identical grimaces.

"Dipper," Ford began, his voice sounding uneasy. "The last time you helped with the shop… it didn't end well."

Dipper gives his grunkle a hard stare. "I can do it," the teenaged brunette insists. "I've seen Grunkle Stan do it so many times, and it's only for the day!"

Ford looked as though he wanted to persuade the decision more when Stan says, "Alright, Dipper, you win. Go suit up."

The boy's brown eyes lit up. "Yes!" he shouts happily as he runs out of the kitchen while adjusting his glasses.

"I'm gonna dress up!" Mabel then announces happily as she runs after her brother.

Ford then puts a hand on Stan's shoulder. "Stanley, are you sure about this?" he asks worriedly. "What if something-?"

"Stanford, let the kid do it," Stan insists. "He's showing that he wants to put that behind him, he is showing that he wants to get over this. Let him."

Ford furrowed his brows worriedly, but he then nods slowly.

After about fifteen minutes the young twins were back in the kitchen. Dipper was wearing his suit that looked identical to Stan's, a cyan colored ribbon for the loose bow tie instead of a maroon. His usually messy brown hair was brushed a bit, it looking more fluffy than normal, looking similar to Ford's hair. He didn't wear his pine tree hat on his head, but he seemed content without it.

Mabel had shown up in a dress that went to her knees. The dress was made by her as it was designed to look like a feminine version of Stan's suit. Instead of wearing a bow tie she had a headband that had a dark pink ribbon tied into a bow that rested on the right side of her head. To complete the look she wore brown ballet flats with solid black leggings and had a short, black sweater jacket that rested on her shoulders.

"Step right up to the Mystery Shack!" they both greeted in gruff voices, trying to imitate Stan.

Ford laughs, thinking that it was nearly spot on. Stan on the other hand was not so happy.

"Mabel… can't you… I don't know, wear something else?" Stan stammers uncomfortably.

"Why?" she asks simply.

All he did was gesture to her.

"What?"

Dipper busts out laughing, "He's saying that you look like a woman now and you're accenting it."

"EXACTLY!" Stan shouts in agreement. "You're a young lady that should be wearing four layers of sweaters!"

"GRUNKLE STAN!"

"STANLEY!"

Stan stood there, glancing between Mabel and Ford. "What…?" he asks weakly.

"Mabel is a responsible young lady, she is fine." Ford states. "Her attire is appropriate for her age. She's fine."

Stand folds his arms and grumbles to himself.

Ford then looks at the clock as it was about to strike at ten in the morning. "Oh, we better get going, Stan." He informs his twin as he picks up a small bag and sets it on the table. He began rearranging what was in it, which included extra pens and a couple of blank journals and a pistol with a few magazines of ammunition for it. He didn't know what they would be running into.

Stan looks at the clock as well, him giving a frown. "Alright, I'm coming, Sixer," he says with a wave of his hand. "I want Mabel on register and Dipper running the main floor, got it?" he tells his grandniece and nephew. He sees the young twins nod. "Okay, good. We will be back by closing time, so about… six."

"You got it, Grunkle Stan!" both Dipper and Mabel cheered happily.

Stan grabbed his own small bag, although it looked more like a piece of cloth with string tied around the top terribly. He made sure he had his own pistol, is brass knuckles, and a few of his pain pills. His knees were killing him lately due to the cooler weather, so he had to make sure he was in tip-top shape.

"If you need anything, please call Soos or even Wendy," Ford insists, worry creeping back into his voice. "Don't hesitate or-!"

"We got it, Great Uncle Ford!" Dipper presses as he was practically pushing the old man out the door. "Stop worrying!"

Stan then gives Dipper a pat on the back as Ford stepped out of the Shack. "Good luck, kiddo, you'll be fine." The old man gives a wink as he leaves as well, shutting the door behind him.

Mabel glances at her brother, concern crossing her features. "Bro-bro, you sure you're up for this?" she asks him gently.

Dipper adjusts his loose bow tie confidently. "Definitely."

Mabel was on register as helped a few customers with getting a few souvenirs that Dipper convinced them to buy.

Man, he really learned from Grunkle Stan… he is practically a better salesman…

Dipper was out on the main floor, telling the fake stories that Stan had made up for his attractions. He told them with a straight face and spoke so well, like he was actually there, that people were buying merchandise on the spot and asking questions. Dipper seemed to be enjoying it, thinking that maybe one day he himself could run the Shack or make up something of his own.

"Dipper, we're out of ones and I can't leave the register!" Mabel calls out as she gave a customer their change.

"Got it, sis!" Dipper calls back as he made his way to the register. He took a twenty out form the register and headed to the door that read "Employees Only", which lead to the main part of the house. Dipper walks by Stan's room and goes to the small room next to it that was his office, which was actually bigger than his bedroom.

As Dipper walked in the room, he felt an odd chill in the air. He shivers involuntarily as he went to the safe that help the money for the register, him putting in the code and it opening flawlessly. He gets the change and as he stood up he felt a sharp pain in his head.

"Ow… what the hell…!?" Dipper groans in pain as he put a free hand to his head.

The room felt as if it gotten colder as he heard a soft cackle.

Pine tree…

Dipper glances around frantically, trying to find the source of the sound. He begins breathing heavily, his head aching worse. Dipper then starts to leave the office, him passing by a mirror. For a second as he passed the mirror, his reflection seemed to change to the image that he was forced to play as.

The teenager gasps loudly as he whips back to the mirror, seeing that his reflections was normal. Beads of sweat appear on his forehead and he glances his brown eyes around in paranoia. He closes his eyes and takes deep breaths, something his therapist suggested, telling himself that it wasn't real.

He opens his eyes to see his reflection staring right back him with glowing yellow eyes and a smile twisted with insanity. Scarlet blood splattered his face, a few dropping staining the insane smile.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Dipper screams as he punched the mirror, it shattering. Glass sliced his hand and blood drips from the lacerations, him hissing in pain. He falls to his knees, holding his injured hand to his chest, staining the suit red. "Just get out of my head… just get out…" he repeated over and over, tears stinging his eyes.

The door to the office creaks open and he hears a gasp of shock. He looks up to see Mabel rushing to him, looking at his hand.

"Oh my God, Dipper!" the young woman shrieks. "What did you do!?" She then looks around to see anything he could've hurt himself with. Mabel then notices the mirror, it shattered with some specks of his blood on the edge of the glass. "Why did you do that…?"

"My reflection… it wasn't me…" Dipper pants, tears falling down his cheeks. "It wasn't me… or was it me and I'm not me?" He shakes his head. "I don't even know anymore, Mabel…"

Mabel hugs her brother close, not caring if blood got on her dress. "You are you, Dip… you'll always be my nerdy twin brother," she assures him, tightening her arms around him with each word.

Dipper gives a mock of a laugh. "Really? Not the mass murderer of how many people, including my girlfriend's parents? Or the sadistic bastard that arranged corpses as if they were dolls? Or… or the demon that nearly destroyed the world!?"

"THAT WASN'T YOU, MASON!" Mabel screams in his face, her face red as her brown eyes filled with tears. Dipper stares back with equal brown eyes, him blinking a few times. Mabel pants for a moment before taking a deep breath. "It wasn't you… you would never do that… you were forced to because you were trying to protect your family… to protect me." She felt the tears fall, her beginning to sob. "Please… please stop thinking like this… I thought you were getting better…"

Dipper sadly cries out, "I thought I was too… I thought I was until I hear his voice again… or see something…! I want to get better, I just don't think it's going to happen…!"

Mabel hugs him tighter. "Please… please don't give up… please…" she sobs, her body shaking.

Finally, Dipper raises his arms, ignoring the fact that his hand was healed and no longer bleeding, and hugs Mabel back. He felt her body tremble and he felt terrible that he was the one responsible for it. "I'm sorry…" he whispers to her. "I won't give up… I'll get better, I will get better…"

"Kids! We're back!"

Ford and Stan entered the Shack at the main front entrance. They looked at the clock as it was a few minutes past six. There was silence greeting them, which a feeling of dread hitting the pit of Ford's stomach.

"Mabel?" he calls out as he sets his bag down, Stan following suit. "Dipper?"

"Kids?" Stan calls out as well, worry filling him.

The two rush through the house, heading straight to the gift shop part of the house. They rushed through the door with both thinking the worst. What they saw was Dipper escorting the last of the customers out, them having a few bags of merchandise. Mabel was counting the register, ready to close. Waddles and Orion were pattering about on the wooden floors, them having some kind of tiny brooms attached to their paws/trotters to help sweep up dust.

Both the older twins had brown eyes wide with shock, they didn't notice the door swinging back from them busting in. The door hits both square on their noses, both groaning and cursing as their hands went to their face.

"Of all the things we inherited from Dad, we just had to get his nose!" Stan grumbled loudly.

"Yeah, I know!" Ford agrees, the old scientist sounding nasally from having his hands on his nose.

Both Dipper and Mabel then finally notice their grunkles. "Hey guys!" they greeted.

Stan rubs his nose, it still throbbing. "So, uh, how'd it go today?" he asks casually.

"There was a small issue," Dipper admits, him looking almost ashamed. "But, Mabel halped me through it…" He then turns his head to his sister and gives a smile. "Oh, and Grunkle Stan, I owe you a new mirror for your office."

Stan looks at his great nephew with a terrified expression. "Why…?" he asks slowly.

"I… I sort of broke it…"

"How…?"

"I punched it…"

"Oh…"

Stan puts a hand on Dipper's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, kid, okay?" he said to him. "As long as you're okay I don't care about the mirror."

Dipper gives a sad smile. "Okay, Grunkle Stan." He then walks away, finishing up closing the store, him picking up Orion and giving his cat a belly rub.

"Still think that leaving him to run the Shack was a good idea?" Ford asks Stan softly, him eyeing Dipper's actions. He noticed that Dipper was wearing a different dress shirt and suit jacket then from that morning. Ford then glances at Mabel seeing that she was wearing purple leggings and her dark pink sweater with her traditional shooting star on it instead of her dress from earlier.

Stan gives a firm nod. "He had an episode and Mabel helped him, now he's acting better," he assures Ford. "It was good for him."

"He punched a mirror, Stanley." Ford states, concern lacing his tone.

"I've punched a few myself, Stanford…" Stan admits sadly, giving Ford a small, yet sad smile. "Trust me… first few years out on my own I broke every mirror I saw… what I saw wasn't me… it was you."

Ford listens to his brother's words carefully. Not only what did Stan say was depressing as all hell, but something else he had said was making the gears in his head turn. "Then what did Dipper see?" he wonders aloud.

"Heh…?" Stan grunts.

"Dipper!" Ford calls to his grandnephew, him starting to walk to the boy as Stan frantically tried, and failed, to grab Ford's coat to prevent his movement. "I need to speak with you for a few minutes in my lab."

"Uh… sure, Grunkle Ford…" Dipper replies nervously, putting down Orion.

The two then entered the secret door that was disguised as a vending machine and headed down the steps to the elevator that lead to the basement. They stood in the elevator, both hearing the humming of the machinery. Once the elevator stopped at the very bottom, they stepped off as Dipper followed Ford the main control room where Ford had all his computers and experiments.

"So… what did you wanna talk to me about…?" Dipper asks nervously.

Ford sits down at his desk chair, him gesturing a six0fingered hand for Dipper to take a seat in the folding chair that was brought down. Dipper obliges, him tapping foot nervously.

"Did you see… something odd in the mirror, Dipper?" Ford questions.

Dipper looked taken back, but nonetheless nodded.

"What did you see…?"

"I saw… me… but not me…" Dipper began. "Like… it was the Puppet me… the glowing yellow eyes… the sadistic smile… the blood… oh God the blood…"

Ford the leaves his chair to approach his nephew and pulls him into an assuring hug. "I know what you mean… I've caught that about myself too a few times in the past…" he admits. "But Mabel helped you through it… and that's important."

Dipper shrugs. "I guess…" he sighs. "But… I just want to get better…"

"And you will!" Ford assures his great nephew. "It takes time… and trust me, you have come a long way."

"Really?" Dipper smiles.

"Yes, really."

"And Grunkle Ford," Dipper says. "You've come a long way too."

I wouldn't count on that… the thought zipped through Ford's mind.

"Hey, tell Mabel and me what you and Grunkle Stan did today at dinner!" Dipper jumps from his chair, it clanging to the floor as it fell.

Ford gives a large smile. "Oh, do we have a story to tell you two!"

The two head back upstairs, the elevator humming. Although Ford looked excited to tell his grandniece and nephew what strange things he saw that day, in the back of his mind buzzed a great concern for Dipper.

The same thought echoed in the back of Ford's mind… What is Bill's motive?

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry about the late update! So much has been going on... "Layla's Lament" is actually a lot harder to write than this one... and I get get started on the final chapter of this story until "Layla's Lament" is completed.

Thanks for reading as always!

~Skye Hendersen~