Gravity has Fallen

Familiar Stranger

With no hesitation, the twins threw themselves at the man who caught them with a grunt. The twins had grown quite a lot in the time they haven't seen each other and, though he would never admit it, put a strain on his old bones. Nevertheless, he wouldn't change this moment for anything in the world. Dipper and Mabel, finally back in his arms.

They separated and, for a moment, just looked at each other. Stan has only grown more wrinkles, his hair an even lighter colour, but to the twins he seemed just as fit - if you can call him that - as he always had been.

The younger two, on the other side, had change a lot. Their hight, for example was a sure bit taller. Dipper now only a few inches shorter than the old man, Mabel shortly behind. Also, the way they styled their hair. The girl's only going just past her shoulders and her brother's still unkempt ones, wasn't hiding his beauty mark anymore.

But other than those obvious changes, their clothes reminded their grunkle of the last summer they stayed with him. Mabel, as always, was wearing a sweater, the skirt though has been replaced by a pair of colourful pants, and the hairband was now a hairclip with her signature shooting star as its design.

Dipper wore the hat Wendy had given him at their goodbye, his vest was now a thin blue jacket and his shorts have also been replaced by a pair of pants, but not as colourful as his sister's.

It was so easy to picture them as twelve-year-olds again. Stan had been nervous when their parents had sent them his way, without much asking. He was not prepared to watch other two preteens, but in the end, he had managed and found people he could finally call his family again. All that was thanks to these punks standing in front of him, now on the verge of entering adulthood.

"Are you two okay? Haven't seen you for years." his voice was just as rough as the siblings remembered it to be if not a bit more coming with the ages. He held both by one shoulder, not wanting to let go. Because this could all be a dream and the second, he lets go, the twins will vanish again.

"We are," Mabel answered with the brightest smile. "We missed you so much." she put a hand on the arm holding her.

"You missed some stuff, really. Soos is running the shop when Sixer and I have been around wherever, but the old Stan o' War II had to get some repairs done for now." he stopped, as if he remembered something. Then he turned his head towards the corridor leading to the gift shop. "Ford, get your old ass up here!" he yelled.

Not long after the three heard heavy footsteps running up the stairs, a crash - probably the snack machine getting thrown open and hitting the wall - right before Ford came running into the room, a futuristic looking gun in his hands.

"What is going on?" he demanded to know, his gaze roaming every entrance until falling onto his brother and the younger twins. Immediately he froze in place before getting his bearings and putting the gun into a holster on his belt, walking over to the three still half-hugging people in his living room. "How are you here?" Ford's voice was now soft, no trace of the strict tone he had just a second ago. He came to a halt a few feet in front of them giving everyone a once over.

"What are you waiting for? Come here." Stan grabbed his brother by the collar and dragged him into a group hug. The slimmer man sank into the welcoming hugs of his family. It took him a lot to get to this point, often times only giving a handshake or a nod, but with these people he felt home and safe.

They were interrupted by a loud clearing of the throat. All four looked in the direction the sound came from; There in the doorway, stood the blond man, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "I am sorry to interrupt whatever this is," the blond man gestured at all of them. "But could someone explain what these strangers are doing here?" his tone reminded Dipper of Pacifica when he first met her. But there was something about this guy that was just too familiar. The blond hair, the way he spoke. Dipper shook his head internally, maybe he was related to the girl, who knew?

"You're right, technically you don't know each other." The hug dissolved, the younger twins standing between the older ones. "Let us go into the kitchen, you two must be hungry." Without waiting for a response, Ford started walking. Dipper and Mabel shared a confused look but followed, the other two already ahead of them.

The kitchen looked just the same as the twins remember, only the notes on the fridge and the table have been replaced over the years. It wouldn't surprise anyone would the fridge stop working any minute now. They would have thought that Ford would upgrade the Shack once everything had settled down.

All five of them sat at the portable, plastic table, the place a little cramped. The last time they sat there was on their thirteenth birthday, right before leaving. Back then the twins had been just kids. Now the table made for a small family had to make space for five adults.

"This may be difficult to understand, we know that." Ford started, fiddling with his fingers. "We are trying to investigate it for quite some time now - maybe you could help us with that, Dipper." his face lightened up, just now realizing that the two geniuses of the family could finally work together, exchange theories and solve mysteries!

"I would love to! You have no idea how long I have waited for this day!"

Before the two could start rambling about their science, Stan interfered. "Sixer, focuse." that made Dipper and Mabel concentrate. It was uncommon for their grunkel to be this serious. When Dipper showed him the journals after the zombies, he had acted like it was all a joke and not worth the trouble the teens had been going through.

"Right," he swallowed. "My computers have alerted me to a weird signal. It may be as strong as the portal had been, if not stronger. I started to investigate and followed the signal. It led me deep into the woods."

Dipper was at the edge of his seat. He would do everything to solve whatever strange mystery this signal was. His thoughts going a mile a minute, forming one incredulous theory after the other. To him they seemed realistic, seeing as this was Gravity Falls and not just some small town in the woods, like any other. In this town, no matter how weird, it was guaranteed it would happen. Ghosts? More than enough. A bear with multiple heads? Sing him a song, maybe he likes it. Demons? They had seen enough of those for sure.

"I was prepared for everything, but when I finally found where the signal came from, I didn't know what to do."

"What did you find?" Mabel was just as curious as ever. "You always know what to do!"

"I know, I know. What I found was a young man, lying unconscious in the middle of the forest." the blond man's shoulders stiffened. "It was right where we defeated Bill, his statue only a few feet away."

The younger twins' eyes went wide. "Don't tell me that idiot made a deal with him." Dipper asked anxiously, his voice barely above a whisper.

"No, he didn't." Ford hesitated, as if trying to find a way to explain the unexplainable. "The statue was broken." he continued, ignoring the gasps from the teens. "After I made sure the man was alive, I took him here."

"Yes, hello, that was me. You know I am sitting here, right?" the blond man waved his hand arrogantly before crossing his arms over his chest. His blond hair fell to the side as he lifted his chin and revealed a light brown, almost golden, eye and one almost white. With his golden, dark-brown skin Dipper had expected dark brown eyes. He made a mental note to look more into genetics and eye colours later.

"Just wait, this isn't easy."

The man rolled his eyes. "Just tell them, how bad can this be?"

Stan fixed him a look that screamed shut up.

"How about I do this? It would go faster, and we can finally go back to sleep."

"Yeah, this must be easy for you." grumbled Stan.

"Yes, it is. You can't expect it to be any different when you two don't tell me anything." the blond pointed an accusatory finger at the two older men.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Yelled Mabel before the situation could escalate. "What is going on?"

Dipper noticed Stan's hands have been balled to fists and Ford looked like he'd rather be anywhere else.

"This man," he gestured to the stranger next to him. "Is Bill Cipher."