182 Days After

Monday, October 13th, 2013

Mabel desperately wished that time travel was possible. She never imagined that she wouldn't see her brother again after that day, after she stood in the doorframe to watch as he disappeared. She would've said something. She would've hugged her brother and insisted that she travel to Oregon with them.

Now she was traveling to Oregon alone.

It had been approximately 153 days since the scary government agents showed up at their doorstep. Mabel's parents were confused at first, but plenty of tears were shed after the agents explained their arrival.

One month ago, Mason and Stanford Pines had gone missing. All of the explanations that the agents could all lead to terrible news.

As a wealthy and intelligent man, Stanford Pines had plenty of enemies. Mabel had seen the list of suspects herself. They all had their own page with a Polaroid of a headshot. Each page was kept in a heavy folder that the agents had given to her parents before they proposed an investigation.

Mabel and her parents were astounded at their idea. It was insane. There was no way it could be done. It was like something that would happen in a movie.

Mabel never would've imagined herself where she was now.

She subconsciously glanced at her reflection in the window, reaching a hand to her hair and combing the curls away from her forehead. She had been told to wear her bangs down in case someone happened to notice that she lacked her brother's birthmark. The hairstyle was awful. It was a version of her own brother's haircut that was longer, so her bangs almost completely covered her eyes.

"You okay?" Stan asked from the seat across from hers. He looked slightly uncomfortable in a turtleneck sweater. His hair was neatly combed and his face was clean-shaven. Mabel still wasn't used to seeing him in something besides his police uniform.

"Yeah." Her answer was a lie, of course. Mabel couldn't ignore the churning in her stomach. The fear that gripped her insides made her want to crawl deep into her suitcase and hide for the rest of her life.

"We've come this far," her uncle said. "We're going to be okay."

Stan was staring down at his hands. He wiggled his fingers and stared at them with sadness in his eyes before slipping on a pair of gloves that had been designed to make it appear that he had six fingers.

His twin brother, Stanford Pines was a recluse. Some had even assumed he died a long time ago. Little did the public know, whenever he wasn't in his office at the academy, he was continuing his studies in the old log cabin that he shared with his brother.

The two men were identical. The only difference that stood out was Stanford's birth defect. He had an extra finger on both hands. Mabel knew all about the story of how the defect pushed him to learn all there was to know about anomalies. Stanford and Stanley used to spend their summers together in Gravity Falls as kids. Stanford always said he felt at home in the town because of the strange things he had witnessed.

Neither Mabel or Mason ever understood what he meant by "strange things". Stan always dismissed his brother's tall tales as mere stories they made up as kids to keep themselves entertained while staying in town with their grandparents for the summer.

"I'm not saying it's true. It's your choice whether or not to believe it," Stan had once said in response to whether or not he knew it was all real.

Dipper used to be skeptical until he and his sister stayed in Gravity Falls with Stan and Ford during the previous summer. Dipper spent the entirety of the vacation helping Ford in his lab. That left Stan to babysit Mabel at the Police Department. After that summer, Mabel felt distant from her brother. All he talked about was Gravity Falls and the things he learned from Great Uncle Ford. Things never felt the same after that. It just wasn't fair.

Mabel gave Stan a weak smile and returned her gaze to the window. The limousine finally broke free of the trees to reveal enough for her to catch a glimpse of the campus. Pines Academy looked like a castle. It's towers stretched up and seemed to fade into the foggy sky.

Their driver paused at the gate and punched in a password into a keypad mounted by the security guard's booth before proceeding.

Mabel shrunk back down into her seat when she saw all the students in matching crimson and gold uniforms. She envied the girls in their plaid skirts and blouses. Their long hair tied into updos and braids made her wondered how long it would take to grow her hair back.

"Are you ready?" Stan asked.

No, she wanted to respond. Instead, she exhaled and gave him a stiff nod before opening the door and stepping onto the pavement. She tugged at her suitcase. It felt heavier than she remembered, or maybe it was just the anxious feeling tearing at her stomach and snaking through her limbs.

After finally summoning enough strength, Mabel lifted the suitcases from the ground and draped the strap of her messenger bag over her shoulder. As she approached the giant, oak doors of the building, the weight of the situation dawned on her. This was really happening. She was undercover as her own brother.

Despite her entire summer's worth of training to look, sound, and act like her brother, Mabel felt like her legs had turned to jelly. The binder pressing against her chest was growing increasingly uncomfortable.

She followed Stan down the hallway until they reached a giant set of stairs. She groaned as they began the climb to fifth floor.

"Ford is a world-renowned scientist, has twelve PHDs, but the man can't install an elevator?" Stan muttered under his breath.

When they reached their destination, Stan took key from his pocket, inserted it into the lock, and pushed open the door to reveal Mason's dorm. Luckily, her brother had requested to have his own room in the first place. The dorm was complete with a single bed dressed in crimson bedsheets along with a desk, a dresser, and an extremely small bathroom.

Once inside, Stan closed the door and locked it as a precaution. He slumped against the door and heaved a sigh. "So far, so good."

Mabel dropped her suitcase on the floor and collapsed on the edge of the bed that sat in the left corner of the room. She stared at the pictures that were tacked to a cork board over the desk. Amongst the sci-fi movie posters and torn newspaper, she noticed the old Polaroids of her and Dipper. She felt another pang of guilt in her chest.

Redirecting her attention to another wall, she noticed the stain-glass window was oddly shaped like a triangle. It looked like the eye of providence that was stitched in the very center of the school's crest, in the palm of the six-fingered hand. Spooky, she thought. The stain glass made the light in the room appear to be red.

"Are you sure that I'll blend in?" Mabel asked. "What if someone asks where I've been since school's started?"

According to the agents they were working with, Mason and Ford had gone missing sometime in late April, sometime in the first week of summer. They needed someone to take Dipper and Ford's place without drawing attention. The arrival of the agents caused Mabel to question everything about her Great Uncle. Had he been working for the government? Did any of it have something to do with the school? Who would want to take advantage of Stanford's disappearance?

The questions were never answered. Stan wouldn't tell her anything. All that she knew was that this was the best way to get her brother back.

"You'll be fine. Just make up something about traveling outside of the country for your summer vacation. Kids will believe anything," Stan told her.

Mabel already felt sick from just the thought of all the lying. She knew she was going to have to adapt to the situation. After all, it was going to be her life for the rest of the school year. That is, if they actually found her brother by then.

The worst part about it was that she wasn't even going to get to participate in the investigation part. All she was allowed to do was take her brother's place in his classes so no one would be suspicious.

"Do they tell you anything?" Mabel asked.

Stan sighed. "You know I'm not supposed to talk about it."

"Come on," she whined. "All of this-" she gestured to her hair and her blazer "-and I don't even get to help?"

"You're helping just by being here," he said reassuringly. "Besides, you're just a kid. You shouldn't be getting involved any further in this stuff. We're already vulnerable enough to danger as it is."

Mabel scrunched up her nose and shifted her weight so she faced opposite from Stan. She crossed her arms and slumped down in disappointment.

"Do you understand what I'm saying? Do you realize how important this is?"

"Yeah," Mabel mumbled. "It's just. . .It-it's not. . ."

"It's not what?"

"It's not fair."

"Kid-"

"-stop calling me that!" Mabel exclaimed. "Stop treating me like a child!" She realized she was yelling and paused to lower her volume. She crossed her arms again and looked down.

"Sorry for wanting my brother back," she said sarcastically.

"If you really want to find him, you'll do what you're told," Stan said coldly.

Mabel began to sniffle. She lifted her sleeve and wiped away the tears that began to spill from her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Stan stepped forward and bent down. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I know you're under a lot of stress, but you've got to listen to me. This case is classified, and that's final. Promise me that you won't get involved?"

Mabel sniffed again. "Sure."

"Mabel."

"Fine. . . I promise."

"Thank you." Stan smiled. Mabel flashed a weak smile in return.

He stood and adjusted the collar of his coat as he walked toward the door. He turned as he began to leave.

"Call me if you need something, okay?"

Mabel nodded. After he closed the door behind him, she pulled a blanket over her head and curled up in a ball. It didn't take her long to fall asleep. Being another person was exhausting.