Mabel Pines took a deep breath of fresh, cold night air.

Her orange jacket was wrapped tightly around her, with an oversized grey coat on top of that. The night was frigid, and the cold seeped into Mabel's bones despite her layers. Though it was only seven P.M., the sun was long gone. Mabel's flashlight would be her guide tonight.

Her fingers rubbed against the small stack of money in her pocket. Thank goodness she had convinced Ford to let her go into town for food. The decades-old canned food he had been trying to feed them for the past three days was disgusting.

She breathed in deeply again. It wasn't just the food. She, Dipper, and Ford had been cramped in a tiny underground bunker for three days, with nothing but the stench of tension and canned meat in the stale air. But she was out now. She was outside, where the air could flow freely, where she could actually breathe. She had begged Ford to let her go buy some food, but what this was what she really wanted.

"Mabel! Mabes, wait!"

Mabel jumped at the sound of her brother's voice and turned her flashlight on him. "Dipper, shh!"

"Why?" Dipper asked. He sidled up next to her, shivering slightly in his dark blue coat. "It's not like Pacifica is here spying on us," he added, though he lowered his voice all the same.

"She very well could be," Mabel replied with a shudder. "But anyway, remember what Ford said about not attracting anyone to where we are."

Dipper rolled his eyes. "You and Ford are acting like it's the apocalypse or something. It's just Pacifica. With all that stuff in Ford's bunker, we could take her."

"Just Pacifica?" Mabel asked. "She tortured Ford three days ago! She nearly killed me a couple weeks ago!"

Dipper put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, you're right. Can we go into town now?"

"I'm going by myself, Dip."

"I wanna go too! Plus, if something happens, the two of us can protect each other."

"We'll be too conspicuous," Mabel argued. She really would rather have him with her, but she was afraid of him giving them away.

"You mean I'll be too consi. . . conspe. . ."

"Conspicuous."

"I'll be stealthy, Mabel, I promise!"

Mabel sighed. "Does Ford know you're up here?"

Dipper hesitated. "Well, I told him as I was leaving."

"And I'm guessing you left before he could tell you no."

Dipper shrugged.

Mabel rolled her eyes, but she couldn't resist a smile. "All right, fine. Let's go get some real food."

"Yes!" Dipper said, pumping a fist. "Real food!"

"Shh."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Fifteen minutes later, they emerged from the trees and found themselves on a small asphalt road. Mabel turned off her flashlight, not wanting to draw attention to them. There were street lamps in the distance to light their way.

Dipper let out a small gasp next to her. "That's Greyson's house!" he whispered, pointing at the house across the street.

Mabel knew what he was thinking. "You can't go talk to him, Dipper."

"But he and Candy have no idea what happened to me!"

"That's the point," Mabel replied. "We gotta be off the map as long as Pacifica is threatening us."

"I hate being off the map," Dipper sulked.

Mabel sighed. She didn't like it much either. "C'mon, Dip, let's put our hoods up."

"Won't that make us more conspicuous?" he asked, over-pronouncing the last word to show that he could do it.

Mabel shook her head. "It's cold out here. It makes sense that we'd have our hoods up." She put the orange hood over her head; the grey coat didn't have one.

Dipper followed suit with a sigh. The twins walked silently down the road, toward the street lights that indicated civilization. Mabel kept expecting Pacifica to jump out and attack them, or for someone to notice them and tell Pacifica that they were out and about. She had to remind herself that most of the town didn't know the Museum had been stolen, much less that town darling Pacifica Pleasure was prone to torturing anyone who got in her way.

Before long, the twins came upon the local grocery store, and Mabel's insides started to buzz with nerves. There were bound to be people in here, even if there hadn't been on the street. Sure enough, a few townspeople were milling around the small store, looking at produce or buying their food.

Mabel heard a sharp intake of breath from Dipper beside her. It only took her a moment to notice what he did.

Melody Ramirez stood across the store. She had her back turned as she browsed a shelf of dry cereal boxes, but her reddish-blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail was unmistakable.

Mabel grabbed Dipper's arm and dragged him behind a display. "Dipper," Mabel said very quietly, "we need to get out of here."

"No way!" Dipper hissed. "If anyone deserves to know what happened, Melody does!"

"We can't tell anyone where we are! Ford said!"

"Robbie knows!"

"Robbie only knows what happened, not where we are. You know that! Come on, we gotta get out of here."

"What if she goes to the Mystery Museum without knowing and Pacifica attacks her?" Dipper demanded, his vehement tone unimpeded by his quiet voice.

Mabel couldn't argue with that. She took a breath, unsure how to respond. "We can't tell her where we're staying," she said slowly.

"We don't have to," Dipper replied.

"Let's just. . . get our food." Mabel moved out from behind the display, trying to look casual. She headed towards the canned food, hoping Melody would move soon — she needed to get some cereal.

"Hey, can we get some Pitt Cola?" Dipper asked, lingering by a stack of the popular brand.

"If we have extra," Mabel said. "We gotta get what we need." She looked up at the canned goods and sighed. Ford's canned food was disgusting, and he didn't have a microwave in his bunker. He did have some gizmos that could work as a microwave or a refrigerator, but attempts to make food edible with those had so far been futile. So Mabel reached for the canned fruit, thinking they should at least have something sweet to go down with the unidentifiable meat they already had.

"Ooh, look, Goldfish!" said Dipper, pointing to a shelf near Melody. Mabel shushed him, casting a nervous glance towards the Museum employee.

Too late.

"Kids?"

Mabel turned her head away, her face shrouded by her hood. She couldn't face Melody; she couldn't tell her what was going on without accidentally giving something away. Dipper would probably be even worse.

"Mabel! Dipper! Thank goodness — I've been worried sick!"

Melody hurried over and hugged Dipper. Mabel tried to edge away, but Melody pulled her into the hug, too. There was a moment of silence as Melody wrapped her arms around the twins.

Then, she pulled away and looked down at them. "Where have you been? Are you okay? I tried to go to the Museum a couple days ago—"

Mabel's breath caught in her throat.

"—but it was dark, and nobody would answer no matter what door I tried."

Mabel let out a relieved sigh. "We're okay, Melody," she said. "But. . . well, do you remember Pacifica Pleasure?"

Melody nodded. "Of course. The fake psychic girl. There's been some talk about how she hasn't done shows for a while."

"Except she isn't a fake!" Dipper blurted. "She has powers, and she's crazy! She tried to kill Mabel!"

Melody's eyes widened, but Mabel cut in. "That was a while ago," the girl said. "But now, she's stolen the Mystery Museum and driven the rest of us out — we're okay," she hurried to add. "We're safe; we're staying with Ford somewhere safe. But we can't. . ."

"Can't what?" Melody asked, suspicion lacing her voice.

"We can't tell you where," Mabel said sheepishly.

Melody put her hands on her hips. "What do you mean, can't tell me where?" she demanded.

"Ford told us to keep it a secret!" Mabel said. "He said that we can't give ourselves away. He didn't even want to let us come into town in case something like this happened. We have to go into hiding, he says."

Melody just stared at the twins for a moment. Then, "That idiot old man!" she burst out.

Mabel blinked in surprise.

"That idiot!" Melody said again. "'Have to go into hiding'! If he thinks that's going to solve anything, then he's. . . he's an idiot! Don't tell him I said that," she added quickly. "No. No, do tell him I said that! You know what, never mind, I'll just go tell him myself!"

"Woah, woah, Melody!" Mabel said as Dipper put his arms out as a shield. "Y-you can't come back with us. We just gotta get some food, and then we've gotta—"

"You don't even have food?" Melody cried.

"We do, we just—"

"If you think I'm not coming with you—"

"Ford said—"

"I don't care what that old man says! If he thinks it's acceptable to take the kids he's responsible for into hiding in the woods or who even knows where—!"

Mabel and Dipper both stepped back in the wake of her indignant anger and shot each other a concerned look. "M-Melody," Mabel said quietly, "if we tried to go back to the Mystery Museum right now. . . Pacifica may try to kill us."

Her words hung in the air, and Melody visibly deflated. "Why?" the woman asked, her voice soft.

"Because she's crazy," Dipper answered. "She thinks Mabel is evil, or trying to steal her powers, or something."

"And she does have powers," Mabel added. "She used them on me. Ford won't really give us details, but she most likely used them on him, too. We don't know why she took the Museum, or what she really wants, which is why Ford says we have to be extremely careful right now. I-if you follow us, and then go back home, and Pacifica gets ahold of you. . ."

Lines of age appeared on Melody's face as Mabel's words set in. "That little girl," she said, not quite meeting the twins' eyes, "doing all this to you."

"We will get the Museum back!" Dipper said. "We'll fix things! We just have to be careful right now. So Ford says."

Melody's eyes hardened, and she looked directly at the twins. "Don't listen to what that man says," she said firmly. "He's been broken in ways none of us know. He doesn't think clearly about things. Don't let him turn you into him."

"We won't," Mabel replied softly. "He doesn't even seem to think we can get the Museum back from Pacifica."

"But we will," finished Dipper.

Melody's eyes went glossy with a film of tears, and she knelt down, wrapping her arms around the twins in another hug. "A-are you sure you two are okay?" she whispered.

Mabel nodded against Melody's shoulder. "As soon as we get some real food we will be," she said, with a muffled attempt at a laugh.

Melody laughed too, though it was shaky. "I really can't come with you, can I."

The twins shook their heads but didn't pull away. Mabel found herself trying not to cry in Melody's arms; it had been days since she'd felt such a warm love from someone. She and Dipper had been too worried, and Ford had been too. . . Ford, for any of that.

Finally, reluctantly, Melody pulled away. "Do you two want help picking out your groceries?" she asked with a smile that looked forced.

A sudden wave of relief passed over Mabel. "Yes, please," she said. "I have no idea what to get. W-well, I have some ideas, but. . ."

"How much do you have?" Melody asked.

Half an hour later, Mabel and Dipper were laden with plastic grocery bags on their arms. Melody had made sure to get them food that was filling, healthy, and the best for their money, for which Mabel was extremely grateful. The thought of eating something other than cans labelled "Brown Meat" was enough to make her knees go weak.

Melody gave the twins one last hug. "Come and find me as soon as you can," she ordered. "I refuse to be left in the dark."

"W-we will," Mabel said.

"Be careful, but not too careful. Don't let Ford scare you into doing nothing."

"You be careful too," Dipper replied. "Pacifica. . . well, you never know what she might do."

The three looked at each other, and Melody looked like she was about to pull them back. Part of Mabel wanted her to. Part of Mabel would rather go stay with Melody than go back to that smelly underground bunker — or back to Ford. But her promise to her great uncle to come back, and to keep their secret, overruled everything else.

She grabbed Dipper's arm. Together, the twins disappeared into the night.