The Return to Gravity Falls

by EZB

Mabel and Dipper return to Gravity Falls three years after their life-altering summer vacation spent with their Grunkle Stan, to find that Gravity Falls never stops being, well, weird. As the twins encounter old friends and reconnect with the supernatural inhabitants of Gravity Falls, new dangers lurk just outside of the knowledge of Uncle Stanfords old journals.

15. Birds of a Feather: Part 2

How had he been so stupid? "Oh... oh man," Dipper muttered and turned away from the redhead by the counter. He slumped down, laying his back against the wooden island. "She likes me?" he asked aloud.

Wendy leaned over the edge, looking down at him. "Kind of obvious," Wendy told him briskly as her hair fell past the sides of her head. She then looked to her coworker, and added a cheerful, "Right Soos?"

"We are the children of the dum dum dumm, the youngest seekers dum-dum dum dumm dummm," Soos hummed as he swept the floors, enamored with the music on the radio behind him.

Wendy gave him a chance to register voice. After another verse to the music, she rolled her eyes and gave up. "At least it's something I can tolerate," Wendy grumbled as she leaned her elbow down onto the wooden island top.

Dipper had already fallen deep into his thoughts. Like a cascade of worries and doubts and fears, this news was more than just a little awkward in relation to their new friends, but it made Dipper worry about himself. Just how bad was he at detecting this sort of thing? He was used to hanging with Mabel, who when she found a crush would display her feelings with as much vigor as possible. How subtle could these hints be? Or was he just oblivious? Innocent? Was Jess really good at hiding these things, and could only the whiles of another female notice?

The brunt of his troubled thoughts aimed for himself, Dipper. He had this awful feeling as he realized, rather quickly, that Jess was too young for him. It made him almost sick as he then thought about his own romantic attachments. Even glancing to the redhead, who flipped a page of her magazine, seemed to incite a longing in his chest; pulling at muscle that he wanted left alone. She mustn't know. She had once, and Dipper knew it wouldn't go anywhere anyway. Mabel would definitely not be allowed to know – her ceaseless teasing would mutate Dipper into a frenzied monster of loathing. Soos would be fair about his feelings, admittedly, but he was horrible at keeping secrets. Then there was stan, who had, in the past, gotten divorced to some women once and clearly never made a comeback since.

All these people Dipper decided to keep away from his buried truth. He held it as close to his soul as he could. Horribly he had to ask; what if all this time, all these days as Dipper struggled to bury and swallow that heat that rose when he saw her, what if that all was actually on the surface? What if they were plain in sight and easy to recognize? What if these 'lovey-feelings' had already betrayed him? Well, self-burial and mummification wasn't out of the option.

"Dipper, you okay man?"

Wendy's voice rocketed his soul out of his body, his world. The grip of life tugged back his soul, and he spluttered and stood up to face her.

"Yeah, yeah!" Dipper poorly assured her, his voice slightly higher than previously, "I'm just... thinking, you know. What to do."

"Kind of funny, isn't it?" Wendy asked him, a pinch of the spice in her voice known as humor.

He knew exactly what she meant. The tables had been turned. Now he would play the older, apparently attractive, target and Jessandra would be the helpless young love. Wendy's comment was a joke, but there was something of a truth in it, that maybe Dipper could get help from. He had little to no experience of people liking him; something that the redhead he now faced did have. There was someone who did, and someone he was quite close with, one way or another.

Dipper tried his luck, and just went for the heart of the problem. "Wendy, you know what to do about this sort of thing, right?" Dipper asked slowly at first, "You know, dealing with someone younger than you... liking you," Dipper's heart felt like it might have exploded. That was about as close to telling her, again, how he felt. At least this time it wasn't over what he thought was her dead body in a flooded underground laboratory.

"I guess you could say that," Wendy winked playfully at him. This was all sorts of weird to Dipper now. Maybe if he hadn't still liked her, it could be funny. She was still older than him and he still liked her, and this all felt… wrong. Not Bill Cipher levels of wrong, just every-day awkward wrong.

He begged her, "Can you give me a pointer? You know, something that I'll need so I don't end up hurting her?" Dipper tried, his arms hopelessly waving around. "I don't want to crush her, you know? But... she's... too young for me," Dipper admitted, a deep rooted and self-hating pain exploding in his mind. He felt like such a freaking hypocrite.

One of Dipper's best friends, and crush, pondered his request. She then glanced to the doors leading outside. Maybe she was checking to make sure Jess wasn't in earshot. Maybe it was to clear her thoughts, or maybe it was just to remember what it was like dealing with twelve-year-old Dipper. Finally, she hummed quietly, rocking her head in thought.

After a (to Dipper) painful thought, she let out a huff. "It's hard to say, dude," Wendy shrugged, "I'm not ditching you, but you're going to need to find this out on your own. But," Wendy added as Dipper groaned, "I can say this: play it easy. Being judgmental never helped anyone."

Dipper was wounded. "I'm not-"

"I know, Dipper, I know," Wendy assured him, "But you got to understand man; this sort of thing, crushes, they're risky. You're playing around with people's feelings and stuff. Those are the easiest things in the world to get hurt."

Tell me about it, Dipper grumbled in his thoughts. He said to her, "So then, should I just let her know?"

She shook her head. "Not unless you want to end your friendship," Wendy laid it out to him. "Honestly man," she said in a tired voice, "This is a waiting game. She'll probably tell you how she feels before long, and then it's up to you to be as understanding about it as possible."

"Right, understanding," Dipper nodded shallowly. Oh, he definitely understood.

"C'mon man, confidence," she told him, reaching over to put a hand on his shoulder, "Trust me on this. It didn't kill you when I explained myself, did it? You survived, so can she. I mean, it helps when everyone is smart about, it too," she added, "Like, we both knew it wasn't really going to work."

Lead poured into Dipper's heart. He stared into her eyes, locked like he'd never see them the same again. His throat was suddenly dry. He wanted to say something, maybe an assurance, or a denial, or heck just stare into her eyes a bit longer. Her words stung him and made his lungs sting like hot ash in the air. He had been cut deeper than he would have expected to. He nodded slowly, lowering his eyes and stepped away.

Entirely defeated, Dipper mumbled, "Yeah, maybe you're right," and turned towards the outer door.

Wendy was not blind. She watched him leave, and asked quietly, "Dipper?"

He wasn't sure if answering was better than silence. Dipper knew that he couldn't bear to turn around to see her. Pushing the front door open like a zombie, all he really wanted to do was punch himself in the head as many times until he got it. He needed to learn the lesson so he would stop feeling this awful each time life punched him in the gut with it.

It really wasn't going to work.

God, that was almost the worst thing he heard all summer, next to the news that Grunkle Stan had died. The icing on top; it was supposed to be reassuring. Of course, Wendy meant well by it, but how could he just take that information in and not feel like a metal clamp was crushing his heart. There was an ache in his chest he had felt before, whenever he, three years ago, had watched another man try to make a move on her. Perhaps most damming of all was that this pain she had inadvertently caused him changed nothing. He still had that sickly, gooey feeling lodged inside. The image of Wendy, real or mental, brought flutters and pain tied together.

Dipper finally looked up, instead of watching his feet. There was his car to the side of the building. The side door was open; probably from when Mabel climbed out. He sighed and walked over, closing the door with a slam. Maybe a tad harder than he intended to. It didn't matter – he needed a vent. Then, as he peered into front seats, he realized that there was something he could do to take his mind off of all this romantic crud.

There was still a mystery to get to. Town hall awaited.

He wanted Mabel to tag along, but she was probably too busy flirting with pretty-boy Jace to be interested with helping him now. Boys usually did come first before Dipper, after all, as far as he could remember. With a loud huff, he walked around the car, wrenched open the door, and climbed inside.

"Stupid... bumper stickers," he grumbled, and twisted the keys in the ignition. He backed the car out of the lot, and headed towards the road into town.

---

"And here is the great, scary, and awe-inspiring Sascrotch!" Mabel declared, waving her hands to the stuffed doll of a big-foot creature in underpants. "Its mysteries are as hidden and closely kept as its tighty-whities."

Jace burst out laughing alongside Mabel. "That's fantastic," Jace told her. He then pointed away, towards a glass box. Sitting inside was a replica of Larry King, but only the head. He pushed his face against the glass and asked, "What's this one?"

Mabel was less enthused about the exhibit. "Oh, that's just cursed wax-figure Larry King's head," Mabel waved a hand to it, bored with it's existence, "We caught it trying to hop after a rat. See how his ear is missing? Rat stole it."

"It was... hopping after a rat?" Jace asked, leaning into the window to get a better look. "But you said it's made out of wax."

"I also said cursed wax," she reminded him, "There were a bunch of these guys once, but then they tried to kill us, so Dipper and I decapitated him."

"Oh," Jace nodded, looking to Mabel with understanding, "Sounds perfectly understandable. Does it still hop around?"

"Only when the moon is waxing and at night. Don't worry," Mabel told him, "He's tried to escape, but when you get a headache from slamming your face into glass over and over, you just sort of give up and accept your fate."

"That almost sounds depressing," Jace said, giving the head a second, saddened look.

"Uh, tried to kill us? Besides, we let him out once in a while to chase rodents and stuff."

"Right. Nevermind!" Jace apologetically smiled. Mabel couldn't help but giggle at his cute face. The man just flooded the room with pleasant vibes and good juju. So easy to get along with and nice to look at, Mabel wondered if she could get him to lower the hoodie. She thought the feathers were beautiful, and wished he would just show them off, only a little.

"So," Jace began again, after a few moments of silence following their laughs, where Mabel just stared at him, "Be honest with me here: are most of the things in this place really paranormal and stuff?"

"Honestly?" Mabel leaned away, wondering if she should tease him more. She relented that thought. "Nah," she told him, "Most of them are just touristy things for summer visitors."

"Well, it's getting pretty close to that time, isn't it?" Jace asked, "What's with the lack of tours? Other than your own masterful one."

"Well, Grunkle Stan is renovating. The Mystery Shack shall soon become the Mystery Manor," Mabel explained, "and besides, a lot of schools haven't let out yet. Like, next week is when I think my old elementary school lets out. High school just gets lucky. If you can call it that."

"High school," Jace murmured, like he was perplexed with the title.

"You... know what that is, right?" Mabel asked him.

"Of course I do!" he moved away from the glass box, better to face her, "It's the third level in standard American public schooling. After that it's college, and then-"

Mabel snorted. "Okay, okay, you don't need to get all encyclopedia-ey on me," Mabel shoved his shoulder as he approached a construct of corn on the cob, but in the shape of a unicorn. "Almost sounded like Dipper for a second there," she teased him.

"Sorry," he told her, "Jess and I are homeschooled, so we are kind of used to having to go into detail when someone asks questions like that. Just in case we get caught or something... have to sound normal."

"You do sound normal," Mabel promised him, a hand on his shoulder as he looked at the glued together, corn based, art project turned tourist sight.

"I- that's not what I mean," he turned from the silly unicorn, brushing down his hoodie and revealing those amazing feathers from his back and behind the ears. He told her, "Can't exactly pluck them out each time I want to blend in."

"Your feathers? Don't do that," Mabel asked of him, "They're wonderful."

"And hard to hide," he added. "Running around in a hoodie in summer is hard enough. I'm sweating all the time," he drearily explained, "But try stealing one when you've been shot down by-" he was cut off as Mabel gasped. Jace squinted and put a hand to his eyes.

"You were shot down?" Mabel asked him like she was about to cry. She eyed his injured arm. Jace side-stepped her, clutching his wounded arm grimly. Mabel, quiet as a mouse, asked him, "Jace, come on man, trust me."

Unable to look into her big, brown eyes, Jace solemnly said, "I'm... really not supposed to."

"But I trust you!" she reminded him strongly, "You wouldn't hurt me! We're friends! Friends trust friends."

He riposted, "Friends who just met still have boundaries."

"But we're good friends."

"Mabel-"

Mabel frowned. Dipper had been right, dang it all. There was more going on here than just a stupid little hunter chasing some harpies around town. Why couldn't she just be lucky enough to have fate deliver this great guy to her feet like a basket full of joy? He was also good sounding, and heck, even good smelling! He was, in too many aspects, what she wanted. Would life never just provide her a man to love in her entirety without their being some edgy catch?

"Jace," Mabel held her ground, firm, but gentle as she glared at him, "Please. Tell me what is really going on?"

Jace was agitated, but not upset. "Please, can you drop it?" Jace begged her. His eyes shimmered. It must pain him to have to constantly shut her out, or anyone else he had ever known not savvy with whatever secrets he held.

Mabel was not in that kind of pitying mood though. "Will you tell me anything? Even what kind of secret it is?" Mabel demanded. Her patience was thinning. Pretty as he was, there wasn't much he could do except tell her this secret if he wanted to please her.

He gave an inch in this conversation. "The really dangerous and life-changing kind," Jace quickly told her, "Not something I want to drop onto anyone's day."

With confidence, Mabel reassured him, "We deal with that kind of stuff all the time. Heck, back when Dipper and I came up here for the first time, and when we discovered Grunkle Stan was working on a giant portal to-"

"Wait, what!?" Jace gasped, leaning back.

Mabel smiled confidently. "See? Trust. Me."

"But... I-"

"Jace, I lied to my brother for you and your sister," she told him, and his shoulder slumped, "I'm keeping a secret from him because you asked me to. I'm lying to my freaking brother, dude! He loves this sort of thing, and I'm keeping one away from him as it walks right past his eyes. So fess up before I get tired of lying to him!"

Jace lifted his gaze from the ground. There it was again, those puppy-dog sad eyes. God, she wanted to sooth him out, tell him she didn't mean it, and pet his feathers gently to calm him. There was something angering about how much she had been willing to tell them anything they wanted, and still found this much resistance. She was a fast friend-maker, and she understood people move at different paces, but she felt locked out from this guy she liked. With an angry snort, she turned away, and started marching out. He could come to tell her later if he wanted.

"Wait."

Mabel halted and turned. Jace was reaching inside his sweater, and began to lift his injured arm out of its sleeve. She watched as he again removed his entire thick hoodie, and held it aside. In a white undershirt, he stood before her. Not hiding his injured arm with his sweater like last time, he turned his shoulder towards her, and she saw it. A bandage had been tightly wrapped above his elbow, a faint red mark along its side. No bruise, but a cut or slice along his arm.

"We met him yesterday," Jace explained, slumping down to the floor as painlessly as he could. Mabel walked over and he continued, "We were lost. We'd never been to Oregon or Washington before, and we were just following a trail. Then we met him; Mister Folbrow. The Hunter. He just grazed me."

"You knew him?" Mabel asked, sitting in front of him.

He shook his head. "We trusted him. He seemed like the best source of information and was, overall, pretty friendly. That was until we told him what we were looking for. Then he went mad. He demanded we take him with us, and let him... use it."

"Use it?" Mabel repeated.

"What my sister and I are following," Jace added, "It's dangerous. A creature of myth and legend, dating so far back in time I don't even think the English language was invented when these things flew around in the skies still."

"This thing also flies?" Mabel inquired, "Why is it dangerous?"

"Well, it kind of has a tendency to destroy things by accident. It's just its nature. But what makes it really scary is what it makes people do."

"And that is?" Mabel asked, looking tenderly to her feathered friend, who was busy picking at the bandages on his arm.

He simply told her, "They go mad."

"Oh. Yeah, that seems pretty dangerous enough," Mabel admitted, "Dipper and me don't like when stuff does that. Why does it do it, exactly? Can you tell it to chill or whatever?"

"Mabel, it doesn't need to do anything. All that happens is people find out it's real, and that it's ashes can... create miracles, and people go crazy looking for it," Jace fearfully explained, "Look at Folbrow – he almost shot you guys to keep you away from us!"

"And that's why you won't trust me," Mabel said as she nodded to herself, coming to understand his fear, "Because you think I'll go crazy and try shooting you too."

There was at least a few instances of second thought behind Jace's eyes. "I, uh, it sounds stupid for you, but-"

"Then trust me!" Mabel begged, scooting closer, "Jace, c'mon pal! Look at me!" she reached inside her pocket and withdrew a roll of her stickers. He stared at them as she pulled on off, put it on her face, and then followed suit with his own cheek, where a sticker proudly read "Such a fly-guy" with an eagle wearing sunglasses. He chuckled at hers, which read "Cat-astrophically purrfect" where a well-groomed silver and grey cat wore a tux. She cheerfully said, "Boop. See? Your friend."

Jace smiled his fullest. Hesitation and uncertainty danced like fire in his eyes. Yet Mabel saw it; he beheld a realization about her. Even if she was a goofy, airheaded, silly teenager, she would be there for him. She really did trust him. That clearly meant something to him.

"Okay," Jace said as he nodded, and began to stand up. Mabel followed him and he added, "But let's get my sister and your brother in on this too, okay?"

She beamed. "I like it even more now," Mabel said, "Just like I like you."

Jace snorted. "Hah, you're funny," Jace smiled, and rubbed the top of her head, "Just as always."

"Huh? That wasn't a-" Mabel stammered, but Jace was grinning and walking past her.

Mabel mentally shouted a curse from the inside of her brain. That had to have been almost perfect! She made a breakthrough with concealing of secrets, and she had been certain he was going to lean in romantically as well. How did he miss that? Was he too intent on the revealing of his secret to her and her brother? Dang it! Mabel followed Jace's progress back through the shows and into the gift shop, where Wendy stared out the door, looking concerned.

"Excuse me," Jace asked, catching Soos's attention, "Hey. Have you seen Dipper or my sister around?"

"Sure dude," Soos nodded, "your little sister was getting something from Dipper's car I think."

"Thanks," Jace nodded and headed for the door, leaving Mabel to try Soos for herself.

"Soos, you seen Dipper?" Mabel walked over to the handyman, who had lowered the music, the radio having changed from his newest favorite band.

"Uh yeah, he and Wendy were talking a few minutes ago I think," Soos turned to his co-worker, "Yo, Wendy! Dawg, you seen Dipper?"

"Huh?" she blinked and looked back to them, "Uh... yeah, he went outside."

"Well, he could be anywhere now," Mabel exaggerated hopelessly. Footsteps heralded the return of Jace, who seemed panicked. Mabel was quick to ask him, "What's wrong?"

"Dipper's car is gone," he announced.

Soos nodded. "That explains what the sound was outside," Soos nodded, "Guess he headed out for something."

Jace rounded on Soos. "But did you see my sister leave the car?" Jace demanded of Soos.

A little taken aback at Jace's intensity, Soos leaned back and said, "Uh... no. No I did not."

Jace growled and said, "They really could be anywhere now," he placed his hands on his eyes, "Great. Just when bro wants to say something important, little sis has to go running off with a random stranger – err, friend," Jace added, spotting a warning glance from Mabel, "Sorry, still in protective mode."

Mabel nodded. "I understand: Alpha twin here. Follow me," Mabel told him, walking towards the door. As he kept pace, she explained, "We're going to go talk to them together."

"But we don't know where they went," Jace worried as he followed, keeping up with Mabel as they exited the shop.

Mabel smirked and looked over her shoulder to Jace. "Actually," she told him, "If he took his car, I know exactly where he went today. You like bikes?" Mabel suddenly asked him.

"Love them," Jace grinned. Mabel's beaming smile grew even wide, and she lifted a hand to point to her pink, shining bike. "Oh my god. That color is amazing."

"You... you really think so?" Mabel inquired, "not too girly or anything like that?"

"What's wrong with girly?" Jace retorted, and eagerly approached the bike.

Mabel hopped on first, and handed him a pair of her sunglasses. As she slipped on her own safety helmet, she revved the engine with a kick, and spun the bike to the driveway. "Hold on!" Mabel told him once, and off they went.

---

Dipper had the luxery of a quiet ride so far. Without Mabel talking about this or that, he could let his thoughts settle. Granted, he did miss the company, but having a ride to play ear to Mabel's strange dreams involving dancing pigs or llamas with scarves doing criminal acts was a tiring one. This time, he could just dwell on rationality and be at ease.

Maybe he could let his mind rest for once.

"Hi Dipper!" an overly-chipper voice suddenly tweeted out from the back.

Dipper screamed, accidentally grabbing the wheel in his jump in his seat. The car swerved off his side of the road, and Dipper swerved again, just barely missing an oncoming truck. The truck driver swore and yelled back at Dipper, who breathed heavily. He had not been the only one screaming when he saw the oncoming truck.

"What the-" Dipper, still driving, spun his head as far as he could, and found a shaken Jessandra, hiding in the leg space in the seats behind him. "Jessandra!?"

"Hah... Hi."

"What the heck- why are you- how did you-"

"I dropped this," she admitted, holding up a small necklace with a decorated charm hanging from a link. "You kinda closed the door on me. When you came in, I... uh... didn't want to get in your way, but then you started the car, and I wasn't sure if you still wanted me to say anything, so I just-"

"You've been in my car the entire time," Dipper stated aloud, "And were hiding in the backseat without a seatbelt on?"

Jess paused in her scramble to sit upright. "Oh... sorry?" she asked, biting her lip, and looking very much in trouble.

Dipper sighed, the sheer startled panic subsiding. At least it would explain why the door was open. His frown grew and morphed into a strained smile. He had to give her credit- she was sneaky.

"Well, you can come up here I guess," Dipper told her, squirming in his seat to regain a comfortable position.

"Are... are you sure?" she asked him, putting a hand on the shoulder of the passenger seat.

"Go for it, dude," Dipper told her, reclining the seat slightly to give her some leverage. "Just climb in."

Jess checked with him once more, but Dipper was too busy watching the road to catch her eye. She grinned as she lifted her foot over the back of the passenger seat and landed her butt right in the middle. She adjusted, squeaking against the worn leather cushion. Sliding a seatbelt into the slot, she looked back to him.

'I'm really sorry," she restated, "I just didn't want to annoy you."

"It's nothing," Dipper assured her, "You just freaked me out."

"And for the record, I think my brother is dumb," she told him firmly, "Your car is awesome, and it doesn't need bumper stickers."

Dipper laughed, shaking his head. So, she had heard that little bit, he supposed. He gave her a glance. She was staring at him, a small smile on her face and played with a bang of hair next to her face.

"You could take off the hoodie if you'd like," Dipper told her as he started to enter town, woods becoming homes and residential spaces.

"I'm okay," she told him, "Your air conditioner is nice."

"Really?" he asked again, "I know how hair feels when you got a hat on it for hours. It's gotta feel trapped under there. You sure you don't want to take it off?"

She shifted her gaze away from him, and stared out the window. Some of the hopeful light was shaken away. Dipper was certain something was odd about it. Wearing a hoodie still? Even in the car going somewhere?

Jess, in a perfectly level tone said, "Nah, I'm good. Thanks though."

Dipper nodded and looked ahead.

So, she liked him. Just using the sidelines of his vision, he could occasionally catch her peeking over to him, and then releasing a big sigh. Maybe she did want to say something important. Maybe she was just like Dipper had been towards Wendy: trapped in her mind. Perhaps that was what she stared at him for; weighing the outcomes of saying something truly wonderful and pure, compared to the sheer terror of a potential answer. If that were the case, he didn't blame her. It was hard even now, when he was fifteen, to tell anyone about feelings like that, let alone back when he was twelve.

After a minute, he decided to cut away the silence. "Hey, Jess," he asked her, "How old are you? Your brother and you didn't say."

"I'm thirteen," she informed him simply, "And he's sixteen. How old are, uh, you, Dipper?"

"Fifteen," Dipper told her easily, and grinned with a plan, glancing to her again, "Bet you can't guess Mabel's age."

"Uh... aren't you twins?" she asked. "So... fifteen?"

"And here I thought I could make you look silly for a second," Dipper groaned sarcastically, "Smart as you look, aren't you?" Dipper said as he turned a corner with the car. Deep pink flashed across her face and she sunk into her seat. Okay, if there had been doubt before, it was gone now. Dipper was certain that she was entirely smitten.

Jess tried talking, which came out as an awkward squawk. Dipper refrained a laugh, and she tried again, "So, uh, where are we going to anyway? I guess I'm just in for the ride," she admitted with a nervous chuckle, "But I'm kind of curious. Where are we off to?"

"Town Hall," he told her, "I have something I need to look up."

"Oh? Like what?" she asked excitedly.

"I can't tell you."

"Huh? Why not?"

"It's an official mystery twin secret," Dipper told her with a grin, baiting a new trap once again, "So I can't tell you."

Her eyes widened, and she faced him fully. "Aww, c'mon Dipper," she whined, leaning on the armrest between them, "Just a hint? Something?"

"Hmm... I don't know," Dipper shook his head, "It's sort of a code not to go spilling secrets behind a twin's back."

Jess surprised Dipper with her reaction. Certainly, she seemed disappointed, but stricken, or even hurt? It was like she had just realized something horrible she had done, and it only fueled Dipper's suspicion. He wouldn't mention her look though. He had to play this smart.

"So, I'll tell you what though," he told her. Though he watched the road carefully, he could see her turn to look at him in her reflection on the windshield. He proposed, simply, "We can do a trade."

She asked, "A secret trade?"

"Mmhmm. One secret for another."

"But you just said-"

"Giving one secret away without consent is one thing, Jess," Dipper told her with expertise as he drove down the main road, "But a trade means both parties get something."

In some minor agony, Jess moaned. "I can't," Jess huffed and crossed her arms tightly, looking away.

Dipper sighed, keeping his eyes on the road. He was close to getting an answer out of her. He just needed a clue: something small to tip him off. He was sure he could piece together what was going on, if only he could sniff out something.

He conjectured: she wore a hoodie all day. That meant she could avoid light, and could mask her face easily. He leaned that could imply her as a vampire; hiding within the woods. Dipper and Mabel had, in their past, dealt with vampires in Gravity Falls, so he knew they were around. Then he remembered that he clearly saw sun hit their faces at least once since he met them.

Dipper thought: they're not dirty, but they've been traveling. How did one remain clean while traveling by foot? Hiking was not a clean thing to do; bushes scratched, mud splashed, and tripping into the dirt and rain all contributed to a mess on the persons fingernails or hair. The fact that they were clean meant only one of two possible things: they were not traveling at all, or they hadn't traveled by foot. Dipper was certain he would have noticed more people of his age around here in the two separate visit he and Mabel had made.

If they hadn't hiked through the woods, they would need a vehicle. Why wouldn't they have just retreated to their car or whatever? It would have been easy enough, Dipper reasoned. Run into a car or bus or truck and floor the gas to get away from that crazy hunter guy. Jace was old enough to drive a car- maybe not entirely legally, like Dipper, but he could pass for a local. Then again, Dipper never remembered seeing a wallet from either of them, or a key ring.

What was more was his injured arm. Jace had his arm injured. Something about that seemed odd- it would hurt to drive, but he didn't need both arms to get away. Why was the arm the thing that held the siblings back?

Unless they didn't have a car. If they didn't have a car, and weren't hiking by foot… had they arrived in an altogether different way? Dipper had met, in times past, time-travelers. Was he sharing the car with a time-traveler? Maybe Jess wasn't a time traveler, but a teleporter or some kind?

These kinds of moments of conjecture made Dipper pleased. He could still think and imagine well enough. Soon, from where he was going, he would at least get one type of answer; for an altogether different mystery of the blue cylinders. Maybe he could squeeze a hint from her yet, before they arrived at town hall.

Jess suddenly asked, "So what are those blue glowy things in your room?"

Uh... Oh. Oh! Wait, she saw those?! Dipper fumed in his head, his entire carefully and clearly thought-out plan being shot down by a single sentence. He couldn't show it, any revealing of distress would tip her off; he knew she was clever.

Thinking about what seemed feasible, Dipper lied to her, "They're experiments Mabel and I have been working on: glow-sticks that are light-absorbent so that you can reuse them."

"Oh. That's all they are?" she asked again, "Mabel didn't like it when I saw them."

Keeping it together as best he could, he said, "Nah, she wouldn't." His internal face was freaking out, but he played it as cool as he could. Not was the time to emulate Wendy. He added as he kept his straight face, "She's the one who had the idea. See, she loves a wild party, so what better to invent for our parties only than re-useable glow-sticks? We're trying to keep it under wraps."

Dipper couldn't tell if she bought it. She eyed him, and slowly said, "... Uh huh. Are you sure-"

"One second," Dipper told her, as he saw a car parking spot nearby town hall, and drove right for it. Once he had parked, and turned off the engine, he sighed. Exciting as it was to mentally joust this curious thirteen-year-old, Dipper needed to focus on the mysterious blue cylinders. He decided to put a pause on their own back and forth, and so he told her, "Jess, I think we both know what's going on."

She stammered, "Uh – uh – uh – I don't know what you're talking about," holding the neck of her sweater to hide her cheeks.

Dipper waved a hand through the air, "Not that," Dipper said, unwilling to roll out the conversation about her feelings. He clarified, "Our hidden secrets. C'mon, let's be honest for a second here," he said. She blinked, and sat back up, unbuckling her seatbelt for comfort. With her full, undivided attention, he calmly told her, "We're both hiding things from one another, but then expect to get an answer from the other person?"

She looked to him, a little stunned. She did nod slowly, willing to listen, even if she was on guard the whole time.

Dipper explained, "So, let's make a promise now, okay? Until one or the other is willing to be honest about something, we keep these secrets to ourselves. No more prodding for answers if we can't come into the light about it. Because trust me," Dipper shook his head as he looked to her, "You don't have a cover story half as clever as you think you do."

From a pair of pink cheeks, her face went red. "What!? But it's, uh, true?" she tried, her slightly scratchy voice bleeding shame.

"Like I said, no more guessing for secrets until we are willing to spill," and Dipper asked her, "Deal?" as he extended his hand to her. Jess took it with a slow shake, discouraged by his proposal. He opened his own door, and said, "Okay then. You want to come in with me? There isn't too much to do in there, but it probably sure beats sitting in a car without air conditioning with a hoodie on. In the early summer heat."

She eyed the car around her, and the day past the windows. "Yeah, I'll tag along," she told him.

The two exited the car and headed for the marble building before them. Old school, old fashioned, and certainly D.C. inspired, the Gravity Falls town hall reminded Dipper of what the Goblins had built for their own governmental building. A stone columns, in need of a wash, proudly stood on the tops of the stairs that lead into the large building. It was four stories tall, and seemed only half as busy as the local mall.

Dipper grinned. The library may not have all the answers, but this place probably did.

They climbed the stairs and passed Sherriff Blubs, who was carrying a large pile of tambourines to his car. Jess noticed the sight of mass of instruments, and mouthed a silent, "What the..." Passing a few other business looking types, they entered the main lobby. It was a place of grandeur left to atrophy. Stone plaques along the walls were dusty and unclean, and the lightbulbs were dubious at best.

The main desk before them, managed by a sleeping woman with sunglasses on, had piles of papers collected long its rim. Upon closer inspection of the horrible collection of paperwork were a myriad of incomplete tasks the town needed done. Everything from fixing broken street lights to properly assigning street names to re-allocating state police funds; the papers were piling up and unfinished. The two approached the woman. Sadly enough, this place was in such a state that Dipper wouldn't be surprised if the gap in the week was just due to a power outage that they never went back to fix.

"Excuse me," Dipper called to the woman. She didn't stir from her leant back pose, her mouth open with a faint trail of drool coming from her lips. She may have been thirty, a skinnier woman with long dark hair. Dipper cleared his throat. "Excuse me," Dipper tried again, louder. Still nothing.

With an agitated frown, Jess kicked the desk loudly. The woman gasped and shot up with a snort. "Hey!" Jessandra shouted.

The once sleeping woman suddenly whirled about. "Boss, I was just resting my eyes!" the woman claimed, adjusting herself and cleaning her face as she looked around.

Dipper smirked and looked to Jess. "Nice," Dipper said quietly, offering Jess a fist to bump subtly, which she took gladly.

The stunned desk-clerk seemed confused, but settled. "Huh? Wha-" the woman had looked all around her, and finally spotted the two before her. "Oh. New hire?" she asked the pair.

"Excuse me?" Dipper blinked.

She lazily explained, "Interns. You here for the new work? You can start by organizing all of this, and then taking it up to floor three to mister-"

Dipper squinted his eyes as he stared at her. "We're not interns," he interrupted her, "Does it even look like she can work here?" Dipper asked, nodding to Jess, who shrugged.

The woman, crestfallen, let out a long, defeated sigh. "Oh, dang it. Well, what do you want?" the woman asked, looking around her desk for something, and found it; placing her nametag on her shirt, which read 'Mrs. E. Janice'.

"Well, Misses Janice," Dipper started, "I was hoping I could get the town records for population monitoring in the past three years. People moving in, moving out, birth records, all that cool stuff."

"Uh... you want demographic charts?" she asked him, an eyebrow raising past her sunglasses, "Aren't you in high school? What're doing with demographics?"

"Summer school project. I start them early," Dipper told her easily, as it was a modified truth. Aside from these past two weeks, he had fully intended to get all his summer assignments done as soon as he was home. Of course, running off to send farewells to Grunkle Stan had changed a thing or two. He would always push educational assignments back for his family needs.

The woman nodded, perhaps believing him with incredulity. "Huh. Well, okay then. I'll need a day to check this and print out a copy for you," she told him briskly, pulling her office chair to a paper-buried computer, and typed away, opening something before her eyes.

Jess leaned closer to Dipper, and quietly asked him, "What do you really need this stuff for?"

He lowered himself closer to her. "What did we promise?"

"This is part of your secret?" she asked him, and he nodded. "Oh..." a struggle began to brew in her mind, easily visible to Dipper. Frustrated pouted lips were chewed. Something inside her snapped, and she hissed before quietly spitting out, "Oh fine! Jace and I are not gypsies, not for real. We're, actually, uh, looking for something."

It finally worked. He finally got something. Sure, it was something he had half known, but that lead to new questions. Dipper eyed her, fighting back his proud smile. "Oh yeah? A specific something?" he asked.

Jess nodded. "Yes. Now your turn – what're you looking for?" she asked him.

He turned back towards the desk, thinking about how best to word his next bit of information. He was, honestly, a little disappointed at how little her information had revealed to him. She hadn't said much about her purpose, as looking for 'something' was too vague to create new lines of thoughts. Still, she had continued with the promise.

"A specific time and gap in town data a little less than three years ago," Dipper told her, "Anything that can tell me if anything weird is going on in this town – like if someone specific moved into this town."

Her eyes widened as she drank in Dipper's words. "Oh... why?" She asked him. Dipper smiled and gave her a knowing look. She nodded as he looked to her expectantly, and Jess said, "Right, okay- only if I tell."

The desk clerk spoke up, catching their attention. "If you give me a number," E. Janice said as she looked from the computer, adjusting her sunglasses with a sniff, "I'll contact you when we have it. You said this is for school, right?"

"Yes," Dipper nodded, "My cell phone will work, won't it?"

She nodded curtly and he bent forward. As Dipper told her the number, he could feel a tug on his vest. Looking to Jess, he noticed her eyes shone with a new worry. She had turned around, staring out the door.

"Dipper," she said quieter than before, "I think we're being watched."

Dipper nodded, and said, "There are security cameras, yeah," as he pointed to the corners of the large room.

"No, outside," she pointed.

His vision followed her gaze. He could make out his car sitting by the street, alone save for Sherriff Blubs passing by, balancing his collection of instruments. Yet there was a feeling, a vibe of something. Dipper was not even sure what it was that made him feel on edge. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with the outside world, as far as he could tell. Even so, he knew his instincts to be a powerful ally; ones he should trust.

"Okay, let's get going," Dipper said quietly to Jess. As she nodded, Dipper looked back to the attendant behind the desk, "We're going to be going now. Thank you for the time."

"Good luck on your project," she replied without a trace of enthusiasm as they left her.

The two headed out the doors. That feeling persisted, even worsened. Something made the hairs on his neck stand tall. He started looking around, doing his best to seem calm and collected. Somewhere nearby, someone was watching him and Jess.

He tugged on Jess's shoulder and nodded towards the Sherriff. The squat man was carefully stacking away his new collection into the trunk of his patrol car. Deputy Durland was assisting, making sure the metallic cymbals didn't hit one another for a quiet ride. Dipper started walking with Jess closer to them. Whoever was giving them the creeps would have to be bold to attack while they were next to cops.

"Freeze!"

The voice stunned Dipper and Jess. They stared at the cops, but the Sherriff and Deputy just looked back, having also heard the voice. The two teens slowly turned, and emerging from behind one of the columns was a large man with camouflage: the hunter. He was armed again, and directed that same double-barreled shotgun right at Jess. Dipper took a step between the two.

The hunter, in broad daylight, carried a desperate greed in the glint of his eye. "Get away from her," the man growled, "She's mine."

Dipper demanded, "What do you want with her?"

Deputy Durland strutted over to the scene. "Hey, what's goin' on here?" Deputy Durland casually demanded, his hand resting by the gun holster on his belt, "Is there a problem-"

The feral look in the hunter's eyes twitched. Dipper ducked and grabbed Jess before it happened. Lucky for Durland, the hunter fired a warning shot just above his head, tossing his hat into the sky. "She's mine to lead me, you hear?! It ain't for you, boy!" the man screamed as Dipper and Jess ran behind the police vehicle. Deputy Durland flung himself to the ground, hands over his head as he whimpered.

Sherriff Blurbs, holding a pile of at least seven tamborines, whipped his head around. "Durland! Help me put these down, buddy; I can't get my gun out without dropping these!"

The hunter laughed, raised his own shotgun, and shot at trunk of the police car. The force behind the shot jolted the trunk downwards. It smashed into Blurbs pile of tamborines, half of which crumbled, the other half spilled away with ruckus and rattled way. Blurbs held a pair of hands to his head, and screamed, "No! Our hip-ness!"

Dipper decided it had been stupid to assume the cops would do anything. He looked to Jess and shouted, "Run!" as they both turned and took off running down the road.

They needed to get off the street as soon as possible. The hunter was in pursuit, loading in another pair of shells into his weapon. A crowd had started to gather around the panicked officers they left behind, which only briefly held up the hunter. Dipper's car was coming up, but it would take too long to enter. They needed to move, and taking the time to get into a car would be just enough time for his car to be shot.

"This way!" Dipper ducked behind an alley, pulling Jess with him. She gasped as she left the ground with his tug and landed next to him, continuing their run.

"Where are we going?" Jess demanded as they headed towards a wooden fence. Dipper winced as he realized where he had ended up: the same alley where he had first cornered the Warlock, only to be pinned on the wall next to him. There was a fence blocking the way out, but Dipper was not deterred.

"Over the fence!" Dipper shouted, getting just a tad bit ahead of her. He spun back and lowered his hands to form a cup. Jess took the initiative perfectly. She leapt onto his hands and then propelled into the air. Dipper gasped: she flipped mid-air. Graceful did not cover it as she landed perfectly on the other side. "Nice!" he congratulated her, climbing after her quickly, but lacking most of her mobile graces. As he dropped behind the fence, he spotted the hunter round the corner. The man pointed his gun right for them. Without a warning, Dipper dived and tackled Jess to the ground.

A cluster of buckshot blasted through the wooden panels, soaring past the grounded teens.

As Dipper started to scramble back to his feet, Jess groaned, "Ow, Dipper," but she was quickly silence as he pulled her up and got her on her feet.

"Move!" he urged her.

She nodded and the two took off into the woods. This would be their best bet for keeping him out of direct line of sight with his shotgun. At least to a certain degree. That said, there were worse things in the woods than madmen with guns. Depending on where Dipper led this chase, they could run into things that could not be negotiated with, nor beaten by fast hands and spin-kicks.

The heat of the chase started to get to Dipper's patience. He eyed Jess as they leapt over a fallen tree, and said very pointedly, "Just chasing you for because you stole something, huh?"

"W-what?" she gasped, checking behind her.

"You said he wanted something back from you, didn't you?" Dipper reminded her as they passed through a cluster of thick bushes, feeling the scrape and prod of branches and thin leaves. "He just said you were going to lead him to something."

"I- uh- he- he thinks we buried it?"

"Oh come on! You're not even trying!"

"Yes I am! I mean - uh - no! It's the truth?"

Dipper let out a bark of a laugh. "Really!? You stole and buried something so important he was going to shot at cops, and shoot through me to get to you?" Dipper barked at her, feeling the dirt beneath him kick into the air.

Jess turned to him, doing her best to stay level. "You said we weren't going to talk any more about that stuff!" Jess shouted back, more startled that Dipper was raising his tone with her.

Dipper scoffed. "Well I made that promise under the premise we wouldn't be running for our lives!"

"So?!"

"So it's a contextual promise!" He shouted to the trees.

BOOM.

Behind them, the splitting of bark announcing the near miss from the shotgun. The hunter was managing to keep up.

"So you're still not going to say what this is all about?" Dipper asked her, "so if he shoots me, I die without knowing what it was I was involved in?"

If the chase for life and limb wasn't stressing her out, that certainly did. Her face clenched up as she squeezed her eyes. Dipper felt a surge of regret, but had no spare air in his lungs to apologize. She seemed to, however. "I made a promise, Dipper!" Jess shouted, "I made it to my family. I can't talk about it!"

Dipper growled as he ducked under a branch. They needed help. Grunkle Stan could probably take this hunter guy out, if Dipper was shouting all the way to bring out a gun. The Mystery Manor was, unfortunately to him and Jess, in the opposite direction and an hour jog. Maybe with the pace they were going it could be reached in thirty minutes. Dipper considered calling for backup. Mabel didn't have a phone, and even if she did, what instructions to get to him could Dipper provide? Turn right at the nearest redwood?

He then remembered the last time he came to Mabel's aid in the woods. There was someone else who lived in the mountains: someone else. He was big and protective of his friend, Dipper Pines. He certainly wouldn't be stopped by some measly man with a gun.

"Multi-bear," Dipper mumbled.

Jess looked to Dipper, "Multi-what?"

He smirked. "I know of someone who can get this guy off our tracks. It's that way," he pointed over her heard towards mountains and cliffs in the far distance to her left, "So turn whenever!"

Jess nodded and they both started an arcing turn through the trees, keeping their pace steady as they wove around the thick trunks of surrounding nature.

"So, you still don't trust me, huh?" Dipper glanced to her as they darted through trees, passing between one another.

Jess whined, "I never said that! I'm sorry, Dipper! It's just that-"

Dipper growled loud enough to cut her off. Dang it. She was smart, capable, and he wanted trust between the two of them already. This broke the twin code of secret-sharing, but he needed her on the same page. He wanted this cold-war of information withholding over with! If he had to extend the olive branch first, so be it. He just hoped it was enough for her to understand and cooperate with him without any hesitation.

"When Mabel and I came up to Gravity Falls this year," Dipper told her through his heavy breaths, "We found those glowing rod things that are sitting in my bedroom. They conduct energy and electricity and can disperse it to the other nearby same-kind-of batteries. We weren't sure what to think of it until we accidentally zapped a girl in town, and she turned out to be a super-robot."

Jess stalled in her run, clearly stunned with this sudden reveal. "Aa super robot?" Jess asked, her eyes wide. Dipper ran back to her, and pulled her along. Just in time too, as far behind them, the hunter was jogging into view. They turned away, and lost line of sight. Jess asked, "Like, she was powerful and stuff?"

"No, just super-advanced. Like an android or something from a movie. We only had two when we found her; the third came from her."

"Wow."

"Before we could get a chance to really figure out what was going on, she vanished for a night. When we found her again, she lost her memory of meeting us. I need to figure out what's going on before I go back home," Dipper finalized, "I don't just let up on something like this!"

A light had returned to her eyes. Despite the danger, she grinned at him and laughed. "I can tell!" Jess told him, her cheeks flushed with a rose like complexion. Dipper let himself grin a little bit. He knew that look she was giving him – the same one he had given to Wendy many times when he was younger. When he had been her age.

"By that crevice!" Dipper pointed by his side, where a rain-carved, dried up river within the forest opened a downward slope for them to run in. Dipper was certain it would lead to the mountain where his strange, mutant friend resided. Dipper had been through this area before. He was certain a cave from which werewolves resided was nearby. "As long as we get through this place fast enough, we should be safe. Come on!"

They started their running, rocks and pebbles tossed up behind them as they headed down the clay and dirt constructed natural path.

Then Jess suddenly pronounced. "Jace and I are protectors of a phoenix!" This almost caused Dipper to trip over his feet. "You okay?" she asked him as he awkwardly caught himself and rebalanced.

"Yeah! A phoenix?" he repeated as he looked behind him. "You... you're looking for the one that came by yesterday!"

She gasped and pointed at him. "I knew it! I thought it was weird your roof caught fire but nothing else did," Jess told him. Dipper nodded with a snort. She really was clever. She explained, "My family line has always watched that bird in Canada - where it gets too cold for it to grow any larger, and so it can't die and release its ashes. It grows with excess heat!"

Dipper groaned as it all clicked. "The phoenix's ashes and feathers; that's what the hunter wants, isn't it?" Dipper asked, "Because it has properties of powerful life-granting properties."

She nodded, and added, "Not just life- it can cure ailments, break curses; you name it-"

BOOM.

The two ducked as buckshot flew past them, narrowly grazing Dipper's vest. He was unharmed, but Dipper looked back. The hunter had spotted them in the dry river.

"But how do you possibly know how to follow it? And you said you were from Canada? How did you even get here so fast!?" Dipper demanded as they turned a bend in the small canyon. He then slid to a stop, looking ahead. "Oh... oh no," he dared to say.

Boulders and rocks had fallen onto this dirt path before them. The pile was high enough for them to crane their heads upwards. A mudslide must have caused this at some point.

"Crud!" Dipper swore, and turned to Jess, "Jump up!" he told her indicating to the seven-foot wall next to him.

"I'm not leaving you!" she shouted back, her eyes widening in fear, "He'll kill you!"

"I'm not going to die today," Dipper told her with a wink, "Go!" he said, and without giving her a choice, he grabbed her arms and with surprising ease, tossed her above himself and onto the edge. Looking back to the approaching danger, he began to holler. "Hey! Hey, over here!" he stomped his feet and clapped his hands, making as much noise as he could.

From above, Jess stared down at him in disbelief. "Dipper?"

"Shh," Dipper turned to her, "Hide for now. Help me up when I say so," Dipper whispered to her. She nodded, and slid down, behind the rocks. Dipper then turned back to the way they had come. "Hey! I give up, come over here!"

With a rushed stop, the hunter slid into view past the turn. The man was covered in sweat and was red in the face. He eyed Dipper with a tired fury. His gun rested in the pocket of his arm, but not directed at Dipper yet. The teenager swallowed. He was brave, and maybe reckless, but he wasn't dumb: he had no where to hide if the hunter wanted to shoot him.

The hunter snarled. "Where is she, boy?"

"Oh you know, she just flew away into the air," Dipper said very loudly, hoping his voice would echo loudly around. "Gone forever."

The man's eyes bulged. "She... dang it!" the hunter swore loudly, kicking a large rock to his side with his boot. "Dang it boy! You let her go!?"

Dipper blinked. "I... yeah," he said slowly. Dipper had intended his flying comment as a joke, but the hunter took it seriously. What was with that? She didn't have wings. Even if she did, he would have noticed- entire wings popping out of her shoulders would have been hard to hide. Dipper leaned into the misunderstanding, and added, "You know... just 'whoosh' and she's gone," he then looked around to the hills around him, and decided it was better to explain the situation now. "Look sir," Dipper said, his voice no longer loud and echoing, "I need to let you know: we're in danger now."

"Ha!" the hunter barked at Dipper, patting his shotgun, "Maybe you're in danger, buster. I, myself? I'm feeling pretty safe. Now here's how this is gonna work: you come with me, we get her brother, and we get her back, and you don't get shot up. Sounds good for you?"

Dipper shook his head, and explained, "Sir, I made loud noises for a reason-"

"I said," the man adjusted his gun, pointing it at Dipper's feet, "You're coming with me."

"Okay, I will. But you need to understand, there's were-"

BOOM.

The sound echoed upwards towards the trees and closer by dark mountains.

A large section of dirt had been blown away by the teenagers feet. Dipper stumbled back, gasping and holding his almost lost foot with a hand. His heart was in his throat, pounding furiously. Sweat was forming by his forehead. Brave or not, Dipper wasn't looking forward to a trip to his maker today.

The hunter let the sound of the echoing shotgun blast fade. He leered at Dipper. "Let's try this one... more... time," the hunter sneered as he aimed the shotgun right at Dipper's head, "You're coming with-"

A dark call rumbled through the air. Both men paused in their struggle of wills, looking to the sky for an answer. It was a howl.

Then there was another howl. And another howl. More terrible howls with intent both deadly and vicious filled the air with a primeval feeling. The hunter stepped back slightly, lowering his gun from its steady aim at the teenager. "Wolves?" he asked aloud, "Why're they howling like that now?"

Dipper, now shaking because of what was coming, told him, "Because those aren't coming from wolves."

His plan hadn't been stupid; it had been dangerous and reckless. Above them, emerging from the trees, were fur covered beasts. They were running towards them on their four legs. These things had broad shoulders and had sharp, canid eyes, tall ears, and long snouts. They snarled and gnashed at the air as they charged towards the crevice. True, genuine, scary, blood-hungry werewolves were prowling for them.

It was time for plan: get the hell out of here. "Jess!" Dipper shouted. Jess reached out and over the rocks, grabbing his hands. As Dipper was pulled up and out of the dry river ravine, the Hunter spun around. The man took off, shouting for his life as a trail of angry wolves dived into the dry river and chased after him. Dipper and Jess stepped back, hoping they wouldn't draw attention.

Sadly for them, they were not ignored.

Several larger werewolves leapt right over the large crevice, facing the two. Just like that, a new chase begin. Taking her lead, Dipper turned and fled with Jessica as soon as he saw them leap over the gap. Unlike the hunter, these werewolves would not be reasoned with. They were entirely feral, and no longer could transform back to a human state. There was nothing they could do now but run.

Choosing to distract himself from possible evisceration, Dipper asked Jess, "What did he mean when he thought you could fly away?" as they ran along the side of the dry river bed.

Jess, her voice a little more high-pitched than before, stammered, "He's... he's crazy!" She glanced behind her, the beasts gaining on them. "I don't know what he's talking about!"

"Jess-"

"I'll tell you when we get away! I swear!"

Dipper nodded as they continued their escape. Nothing slowed down the darkly predators as they lunged over logs, ducked under thick branches, over bushes and past thorny plants. Dipper saw the mountain that homed the Multi-bear looming closer. He had never seen it from this angle, but it wouldn't matter. As soon as they started climbing the side, as he had done a week ago, they would have an ally even the strongest werewolves behind them could not stop. Dipper turned Jess and himself away from the river, directed towards the mountain.

Then, directly ahead of them by about a hundred feet, the forest floor ended. They had come across a cliff.

"Damn!" Dipper shouted as he saw the huge drop. This was not only something they could not leap over, but as they got closer and closer, it simply seemed to grow deeper and deeper. Another unexplored Gravity Falls natural wonder. He could tell now how high they had climbed upwards; the roads were small from their angle.

"Dipper," Jess called next to him as they continued to run forward, "I'm sorry I held back from you. Do you trust me?"

He looked to her, his brown eyes meeting her blue. "Yes," he declared. As he said this, her face focused.

"Okay," she said in something of a simple declaration. She, still running, tore off her hoodie and threw it behind her. Dipper turned back to see the hoodie get tangled into a werewolf's out-stretched arms. The beast tore through it like paper, but still stumbled and tripped, skidding against the forest floor. Before Dipper could realize what she was about to do, she shouted "Then trust me!" and grasped his hand.

Dipper's eyes widened as he turned and looked forward. He was so focused on the inevitable doom of falling to one's death that he barely noticed Jess there at all. There wasn't a clever stunt, or acrobatic feat: they were just going to leap off the ledge and pray. She had asked for trust, and so between her and the certain disembowelment that was behind him, Dipper chose to trust. Dipper screamed as he and the younger girl leapt into the air.

She was no longer next to him. Dipper saw the world slow, and, staring below him, wondered how long it would take for him to hit the bottom. Maybe a few seconds. It wouldn't hurt, at least. Falling that fast would surely lead to an instant death.

Then there was a tug as something wrapped itself around his shoulders, tightly tucking itself under his arms. He realized the wind that whipped past his ears softened, and the earth wasn't rushing to meet him so eagerly. He felt… suspended?

"Come on!" Jessandra's voice begged, straining and groaning.

Dipper slowly looked up. His eyes slowly widened as he saw her. "Jess... your ears-"

Her ears had very long brown and gold feathers protruding from its top and sides, tracing down to back of her neck. Her arms were held aloft to the sides, and her entire length was covered in huge, long, and beautiful feathers of similar color. They shot out past her hands like trails of color, drifting in the air. The gold shimmered in the light as she passed between his sight and the sun.

"You're... you're a harpy," Dipper gasped, "Now it makes sense! You really could fly!"

A gust of wind rushed underneath them, and Dipper yelped. He felt the sudden pull of flight below him. Jessandra's huge feathers caught the updraft and carried him, along with herself, into the sky.

"Dipper, are you okay?" Jessandra asked from above him as they exited the canyon, soaring above the tree tops. "Dipper?" she added with a worried tone when he said nothing.

He had just escaped death with his skin on its teeth. Werewolves were now a distant memory, along with that mad, dangerous hunter. Before him was a vast wilderness of trees, mountains, cliffs, and rivers. The beautiful landscape that surrounded Gravity Falls struck him. He could see it all again, like he had as a kid. This time it was safe, and in a trusted friend.

What could he say?

"You did it!" Dipper cheered. He tried to reach up to pat her, but he found that her locked legs made his own arms unable to reach upwards. He resorted to shouting, "You were incredible!"

"You... you really think so?" she asked, her flight slowly taking her down, towards the town.

"Yes!" he laughed, "Oh man, this is awesome! Mabel is going to be so excited to know we're friends with Harpies!" he shouted to her. Jess chuckled. She steered herself around, and they saw the town ahead and below them. Dipper called up to her, "Hey, land over there," he said, doing his best to point near a backlot, "We don't want everyone to see your, uh, special qualities as we land."

She followed his direction, and landed behind a bar on the outskirts of the downtown region of Gravity Falls. Letting go of Dipper first, she flapped her arms easily and dropped next to him. Dipper was in awe as he watched her feathers slowly fold and retract into the outside of her arm.

"That's so cool," he couldn't help but admit, which he felt slightly ashamed for as soon as she blushed. "Sorry," he quickly apologized, "I don't want to make you feel weird or anything."

"It's okay," she shrugged. "I need something to cover this up," she pointed to her ears and head, where the protrusion of feathers hadn't retracted.

"Hm... you're right," Dipper grinned. He plucked off his head his own hat, gently placed it on her head, "There. That looks better, doesn't it?"

Words failed the young harpy for a few moments. She, holding the neck of her t-shirt, was looking to the ground. Had Dipper done something mean? He hadn't meant to; it just seemed like the right thing to do. She had just saved his life, and he had hoped it meant something to him.

"Uh, it's okay, I know it's kind of a crummy hat," Dipper apologized and scratched his hair, "I can take it back if you-"

"It's not crummy!" she defended, holding it tight to her own hair, "I... I just feel bad for you giving it away."

He eyed the cap. That hat and him had gone through a lot: fought the supernatural, solved century-old mysteries, even saved the world once. He gave it a fond smile. "It's just a hat, Jess," Dipper told her, "It's almost too small for me anyway. I think," he reached around her, adjusting the fastener on the other side, "But it will fit you perfectly."

"You think?" she asked with a watery smile.

"Absolutely," Dipper grinned back. "Now come on, let's get back to the car."

She pulled away from the alley leading back into town. "Bu-bu-but what if people in town see me!?"

"People in town see weird stuff all the time. A girl with feathers being led around by me isn't something a lot of people will look twice at," Dipper told her, "You just have to act like its nothing. Own those feathers," he told her with pride.

"Uh... okay," Jess nodded, and went pink in her cheeks again, "Can... can I hold your hand when we're going back?"

He smiled. "I don't see why not," Dipper told her.

The two grabbed hold and started their walk out. Dipper ruffled his hair and wondered if he was going to get a cap or not- he had always wondered if a beanie would do him well. Maybe he could get a small fedora? He cringed: it reminded him of a certain triangle he once knew. Forget the fedora.

As they stepped into the sidewalk, someone shouted, "Dipper!"

A pink motorcycle ridden by a wild looking, frizzled brunette, and a shaken but smiling hooded man pulled up before them. "Dipper! There you are, we need to talk! Jace and Jessandra need to tell us something super-cool!"

Jace, smiling at first, went pale as he spotted his sister. "Wait, is Jess without her sweater?" Jace lifted his sunglasses, and Mabel was prompted to do the same. The two gasped: without the dark glasses they saw the truth. "Jess! He can see you! The not-human part of you!"

"I know," she whined, "My hoodie got eaten by wild werewolves. I kind of miss it."

"By wild – wait... what?" Jace shook his head quickly as if a ball bounced around inside his skull. "Werewolves?!"

Mabel eyed Dipper, and then looked to Jess. "Isn't that your hat?" Mabel asked of Dipper.

Many promises of explanation were made. The four managed to get Dipper and Jess back to his car, and briskly return to the Mystery Manor. Far from the visitor's entrance, the four chatted.

Mabel wrapped up her explanation to a sour Dipper. "So, they promised me I couldn't, but after you left, Jace and I had a heart to heart. We decided that we'd share everything to one another; no secrets between us. I was gonna tell you," she promised her brother.

"Lame, Mabel," Dipper scolded his sister. He was rightfully upset that everyone had left the one person who adored mystery the most: himself. He glared at Mabel, who wilted under his fiery gaze.

"I know, but they were so scared, and I didn't want-"

"We weren't scared," Jess assured them, "I was scared when fifteen werewolves were going to eat us. I was nervous with you and Dipper."

Mabel snorted. "Fine. Nervous," Mabel looked back to her brother and quoted the source directly, "I couldn't get them all down when they looked so helpless. I'm sorry, bro-bro," she said timidly.

Mabel's sincerity, as always, cooled at Dipper's anger. He sighed. "Yeah, okay. I just wish we had a chance to meet on better terms," Dipper admitted as he scratched his head, feeling naked without his cap. He added, "I wish we had a better chance to meet up and hang out."

Jess exclaimed loudly, "Yeah!" and then shrunk slightly, "Sorry. I just really agree."

Jace laughed. "Keep it toned down, girl," Jace patted her head as he stood up from sitting next to Mabel. "We can still stay in touch. We don't carry phones, but we can write to you from where ever we are when we're traveling. Let's be pen-pals!"

Dipper said, "Sounds good to me."

"Wait," Mabel leapt up from her seat, "You're leaving now? Like right this moment now?"

Jace woefully nodded. "We have a creature that can fly at the speed of sound to catch. It's not an easy job," Jace admitted as he started lifting the hoodie above his head, exposing his bright colorful arrangement, "But as long as we don't frighten him, we should be okay trying to catch it."

"Wow," Dipper sighed, staring at Jace's feathers.

Jess, for once, was on Mabel's side. "Wait, but – but Jace," Jessandra whined to her brother.

He stared at his sister, clearly fighting back his own sadness. "We need to be going. Mom and dad will kill us if they found out we let anyone else know about this – but they'll pluck us naked if we let it get away! Imagine how big it will get if we let it go all the way to the equator!" Jace told her with warning.

Jess slumped. "I... I know," Jess nodded solemnly.

Dipper asked, "How do you two track it, anyway?"

The siblings glanced to one another. From under their shirts, they revealed a metal charm on a necklace. Inside the charm seemed to be a small chipping of some material- a nail or talon. Jace explained, "This glows red when we're near. It kind of lets us know if we're hot on its trail," Jace leaned over to Mabel, who snorted and pushed his face away with a laugh.

Jess glowered. "You're dumb," Jess told her brother.

Very cleverly, Jace retorted, "No, you."

"Oh, great comeback, bro. Just make sure to mail that one in, people need to hear about it-"

"Oh shut up, dude," Jace smacked his sister's head. Jess entered a rabid state; she shrieked angrily and clawed at him, climbing onto his back again quickly and pulling on the feathers on his back. "Ow! No fair!" Jace yelled as she attacked him.

Mabel, side-stepping the mayhem, asked to her brother, "Man... do they really need to go?"

These two made it rather easy to talk to someone here. Most creatures of humanoid qualities or sapience the twins had met kept their distance, or were returned home. These two had finally revealed their big secrets, and the twins had let them in their own. It would be nice to have similarly aged people around who saw eye-to-eye with them. They had, however, a quest. He sighed as he came to his own final conclusion.

"I think so, Mabel," Dipper told her with a pat to her shoulder. "We've kept them long enough."

Jess finally stepped away from her beaten up older brother. "Getting beaten up by your younger sister," Jessandra stuck her tongue out at Jace. The man massaged his wounds, which were mostly plucked feathers tossed into the air. To the fortune of the romance-hungry, one fluttered just before Mabel, who gently reached out and let it fall into her palm. She eyed it, and then eyed Jace, who looked back. Mabel's cheeks flushed brighter.

Jess groaned with a, "Oh no."

"Oh no," Dipper moaned as he turned away. Mabel took two confident strides over and landed a kiss against Jace's lips.

"Mabel!" Dipper scowled.

"Jace!" Jess yelled.

Mabel broke apart from the kiss, beaming. "Ha! There we go," Mabel grinned to her recipient. To her shock, Jace was still... in shock. "Jace? Did... did you not like it?" she worriedly asked.

Jace seemed uncertain to what to say. "Uh... I don't- uh-"

Jess was less patient for her brother to explain. "Mabel," Jess piped up while next to Dipper, "Jace is gay."

"What?" Dipper gasped.

"He is!?" Mabel moaned in shame.

"I am?!" Jace demanded. The three turned to look at the feathered teenager. "What? That was my first kiss!" he said, his pitch reaching Dipper levels, "I don't know how they do it in high school, but we don't kiss that often when you're taught at home!"

Dipper nodded, "Fair point."

Mabel looked to her newest crush. "Are you really gay? And we've been flirting all this time?" Mabel asked sadly, all the hopes of a new, exotic boyfriend washing away like a tidal force of sadness.

"I... uh... I don't know. I've never had a girlfriend or boyfriend before," Jace admitted, "I'm sorry, Mabel! Jess!" he rounded on his sister, fire in his eye, "How come you never told me!?"

She looked so completely done with him. "Bro... I don't even want to go into the list, but fine," she held out her hands and listed with her fingers, "You take an hour to groom, you won't have breakfast, only brunch, you always wanted to play barbies with me growing up, you-"

Jace cut in, "Well, you were eight, Jess-"

She elaborated in force, "I never wanted to play barbies! I wanted to learn about board games!" she elaborated in force.

Jace spluttered and looked between the three of them. "Well, those are complicated and usually really boring. But... uh... okay..." Jace looked back to Mabel. Without as much as a single warning, he bent to her and kissed her on the lips as she had done. Dipper and Jess groaned again and the two broke. Frowning, Jace turned away. Before Dipper knew what was coming, he too was kissed on the lips.

"Oh-" Dipper bent away as he was wiping his mouth, spluttering all over the place, "Dude! A little warning next time!?"

"Jaaace!" Jessandra roared, her boiling red face called for the quick, merciless execution of her brother.

Jace wasn't listening to the protesting man or his sister. Instead, a dawning realization was emerging into his mind, shining out his eyes as clearly as a rising sun. He straightened himself up, and stretched his neck.

"Hm. Maybe I am," Jace wondered aloud. He faced Mabel, who still looked crestfallen. He asked her gently, "Hey, we can still be friends though, right?"

Eying him at first, she eventually smiled. "I suppose a little one-sided crush can't hurt," Mabel told Jace, and the two hugged.

At his sisters words, Dipper looked to Jessandra. She seemed shaken by what Mabel had said, and picked at her new hat's rim. Then she noticed Dipper looking her way, and lowered the brim to cover her eyes. Dipper's stomach tightened as he worried for her. Maybe this was the time to let her down gently. Dipper considered telling her, leading her aside and talking to her about how he understands. He knew where she was coming from; he could promise her that things will get better. It may be easier that way on her.

"Hey, Jess," Dipper found words from his straining brain, but he was beaten to the punch.

"We should go," Jace broke from the hug with Mabel and tapped his sister's shoulder.

"I know," Jess nodded and followed his path. The two headed towards the backyard, which led towards the infamous bottomless pit and branched out into the forest.

"Jess," Dipper called out a bit stronger.

"Well guys," Jace turned to face the twins as he walked backwards, "I don't know if we'll see each other again, but we'll mail you, okay? Postcards! Mail us back if you change homes, okay?"

With a flap of his arms after he tied his sweater to his waist, his great long feathers emerged out. He winked at the twins, and with one more mighty flap of his wings, he was lifted into the sky; gusting air and dust everywhere. As he took to the wind, Jess turned around once to the twins.

She was smiling, and waved to them. "We'll see you guys later!" she said. Before she turned away, she seemed to remember Dipper asking her by name. She stared at Dipper for a second. "Yes?" she finally answered. There was so much hope, so much excitement and youth behind her gaze.

He remembered what Wendy had told him. He needed to play it safe. He opened his mouth, ready to say something about her feelings. As he dwelled on those exact words, he saw into her eyes a hope, a love.

He swallowed down his mission. He couldn't say it. "Uh, be safe, okay?" Dipper told her with a sad smile.

The young girl beamed. She jumped high into the air with a whip of her arms. Rocketing away, the two siblings soared into the air; leaving behind the human twins. Mabel called and cheered, jumping on her feet as one of the few amicable creatures they had ever met vanished over the horizon. Dipper waved, a pit forming in his stomach.

As the harpy siblings grew in distance, Mabel let herself settle. She eyed Dipper. "Dipper," Mabel said to her brother, "You know, Jess totally has a crush on you."

"I know."

"What?!" Mabel gasped, "She told you? Wait, did you get better at this?!" Mabel gasped again, "You figured it out on your own!?"

Sadly, Dipper admitted, "Wendy told me."

Mabel nodded. "Oh. Well, if that's the case, why didn't you say anything to her?"

"Like what?" Dipper asked his twin.

Put on the spot, Mabel flustered. "Like, well, like, uh – you know!" Mabel nodded, hoping her lack of an answer solved his need for an answer. Dipper glared at his scatter-brained sister, and she relented. "Okay, I don't know," she said in defeat.

He turned back to the skies, where the figures of the siblings were fading away into tiny dots. "I wanted to tell her that I'm too old for her," Dipper admitted, staring into the sky. "If we do meet each other again, it's not like I'll have changed my mind."

"No, I guess not," Mabel agreed, resting her head on her brother's shoulder, "Maybe it's better if she thinks she has a chance for now."

"Really?" Dipper asked with a trying look.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Hope can be nice to have when your crush is older than you, right?" Mabel told her brother simply. "Like, would you and Wendy still be friends if the second she got the vibe you liked her, she had flat out told you no?"

Dipper was certain he had a response. A solid, certain reply to assure himself and Mabel that Wendy and Dipper would have been friends one way or another, certainly. To his shame and indecision, that reply never came. He stood there, his mouth open, hoping for a word to answer for him. Finally, he said, "Maybe... maybe not. I don't know."

"So, maybe now you can work on being friends with her first," Mabel suggested. Dipper sighed. She added, "C'mon bro. We can go chill with Soos and Wendy inside. Oh! We still need to go to City Hall to-"

Dipper frowned and said loudly, "I'll be inside in a bit, okay?"

Mabel eyed him, and said nothing else. She understood, and stepped away. He wanted to be alone for now. She left him out in the backyard as she made her way back towards the Mystery Manor. Dipper heard the door close, and he closed his eyes, thinking.

Mabel wasn't wrong; Dipper and Jessandra could easily be friends. They thought similarly, acted similarly, and heck, kind of dressed similarly. There was a weight that tugged inside his stomach. Inside his heart. Dipper expected Jess to understand that he was too old for her. He hoped that that they should just be friends, and she could come to understand that.

Everything he wanted from Jess – a plutonic understanding of one another – was everything he didn't want with Wendy. Even his approach, to become friends and then break the news of his knowledge later, was a repeat of Wendy's tactics. It made him mad at himself; he knew that hadn't worked. Case and point: he had a renewed crush on the redhead again- a ridiculous and well-kept secret crush.

A painful one.

Knowing how all of this felt, how was it fair of Dipper to ask any of this to Jessandra? He stepped back towards the building, and Dipper leaned against the wall of the Mystery Manor. His eyes gazed high into the very horizon he had watched his newfound friends vanished to.

---

EARLY UPDATE! Truly December is the time of sharing, caring, and gifts! You know why?! Because starting now, each Friday AND Sunday of December will have an update for RtGF! I'm insane!

The reasoning for the extra content is simple- I need to get Season One done ASAP- by the end of December. So before December rolls around to its closing days, we should have a final episode conclusion under the belt. That's right guys, we're almost done with the first season.

So, a bit of a teaser for next chapter, for Sunday:

It's dungeons and dragons.

That is all. ;)

I've been excited to write this chapter for about as long as I realized I was going to write this story, so it's going to be a BLAST. The next two days will vanish because of how fast I'll be churning out this chapter. Fights, magic, rolling dice, and roleplay are coming soon... to your screens!

Speaking of rolling a dice, lets roll for initiative... (EZB pulls out a pair of twenty-D and gives them a shake before dropping them on the desk. They land on two ones.) Ohhhh crud. (Just about every monster known to the DnD universe swarms out of no where and pummels, smashes, devours, burns, and otherwise slays EZB)

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Soaring past the cliffs that encircled the lands of Gravity Falls, two feathered humanoids soared along the updrafts. Their long, beautiful feathers catching and lifting them into the air easily, Jace and Jess soared southward. They had a long flight ahead of them, one which had a moving destination.

Jace, ahead by about thirty feet, glanced over his shoulder. Jess was deep in thought, as she often was mid-flight. Her face was dark and gloomy, and she constantly looked down and behind herself, back at the Mystery Manor.

The older brother sighed, and allowed himself to float back to her. She was too busy looking at her new hat to realize he was just next to her. She did not notice him arriving next to her until a moment later. He eyed her, a soft smile on his face.

"How are you holding up?" he asked her gently. Jess pointedly looked away. He nodded, and added, "I figured."

"I'm going to miss them," she said, quiet enough for her sadness to peek through but not quiet enough to be dimmed by the roaring winds around them.

"Yeah?" Jace asked, eying her carefully. "Them, huh? Not just, I dunno, one guy?"

She went deep pink in the face. "Shuddup, Jace!" she warned him, no, dared him.

"Oh!" he gave himself some distance from her. "You use that tone when you think about Dipper?" he asked, cockiness becoming his spirit animal.

"I will kill you if you don't-"

"Wow! Won't get your boyfriend to do it for ya?"

Jess shrieked like a falcon and dived at him, slamming into his back. He lost composure, and both plummeted for a moment; caught up in a mid-air brawl. Only a moment later, both flapped their arms back up, taking to the skies again. Jace sported a large bruise on his beautiful face, and Jess seemed smug.

But Jace grinned. "Feel better?" he asked her.

The pride of her violence subsided. Jess looked to her wounded brother, and nodded. "Sorry for kicking you in the teeth," she timidly apologized.

"Hey," he winked at her, "What are brothers for?"

She gave him a real smile. The two turned their attentions on the journey ahead. It would be a while before they landed. Jess would use that time to think, and reflect. It was a new topic that buzzed her mind and made her heart flutter. She had hours, maybe even days, to think about her first ever real crush, and how special he had made her feel.

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