Welcome to Gravity Falls

Oh no."

Dani's attention was directed towards the boy pinching his temples and followed his line of sight to Mabel, who had her face pressed against the bars of an animal cage. The animals inside were of course, startled by her enthusiasm and moved as far back as they could.

"Aww, look at the cute little rabbits!" The girl squealed.

The Halfa rolled her eyes and went back to looking over the leaflets for pets. Trust Mabel to get distracted, so Dani had decided to occupy herself with some reading material. Sadly, the leaflets were less than interesting.

"Mabel, remember what we came in here for?" Dipper pressed.

"Yes, but hold up bro-bro, this rabbit won't stop staring and her eyes are adorable!"

Dani finally shoved the guide on hamsters back into the rack and spun to face the two fully.

"Perhaps you should go up and ask Dipper, since you're also somewhat responsible for Waddles."

They'd been at the pet store for around fifteen minutes at that point. As soon as they'd gotten through the door, Mabel's goal had changed from, get the medicine, to, look at every single animal.

Dipper laughed at Dani's words, "Totally not my pig whatsoever, and I don't even know what exactly he needs, so that's up to Mabel." He responded before going over to his sister and pushing her towards the counter.

"Hey!" She grumbled in frustration.

"Ask." He demanded.

Mabel huffed once more before facing the lady at the counter who was struggling not to laugh at the spectacle she had just witnessed.

"Do you have any cold medicine for pigs?"

The woman at the counter thought for a moment, "Erm, yeah, I think we've got some in the back." She left the three to go down the corridor behind her and into one of the back rooms.

"Now I'm going back to the rabbits!" Mabel declared.

Dani groaned in annoyance before one of the cages caught her eye. Dipper watched in confusion as a smile lit up her face and she made a bee-line in that direction. He followed her over, curious as to what had changed her attitude so suddenly.

When he reached her, she was waving a chew toy through the bars and he realised there was a small dog inside.

"You like dogs huh?" He asked, instantly regretting it as the words left his lips. No, she hated dogs, that's why she was playing with one.

"Yeah, I do, they're fun." At least she didn't mock him in response.

He decided to try to learn a bit more about her, "Do you have a dog then?"

The Halfa frowned and turned away before a sad smile formed, "No, but there is this cute little mutt in my neighbourhood...He's called Cujo."

"Cujo?" He smirked, only for Dani to get up in his face.

"What, got a problem with that?" She demanded, her expression and tone suddenly hostile.

Dipper backed up a little, "Uh, no no, it's just a name." he grinned worriedly.

Dani eyed him for a moment before leaning back into a less accusatory stance.

"Good."

Dipper looked at her quizzically and went to speak when the chemist returned.

"Here's your medicine." She said, sliding it over the counter while Dipper and Dani joined Mabel, "That'll be $7."

The brunette handed over a $10 note with a smile, "Keep the change!" She beamed before skipping towards the exit as the other two followed.

Dani smirked, "Don't tell Mr Pines you did that."

"So, where now?" The Halfa asked, stuffing her hands into her pockets in anticipation. She was happy to be going about town instead of being stuck in the pet store.

Mabel smiled awkwardly, "Well, I'm gonna feel bad forever if I don't give this to Waddles asap, especially after spending so long in that pet store...So I need to go back to the shack."

Dani shrugged nonchalantly, "Okay, then we'll head out again right?"

"Yeah and we'll show you the town." Dipper responded, his tone proving he will still a little shaken by Dani's earlier reaction.

"I'm cool with that," She nodded, "your pet's sick and you want to treat him when you can."

"Thanks for being understanding!" Mabel grinned, patting the girl hard on the back, "So what are we waiting for, let's get back to the shack!"

Barely an hour later, they were out again and had gotten through a couple of streets in town. The twins were hoping to show Dani as much as they could that day and whatever remained could be visited the next day.

"You know, I expected you to at least be a bit annoyed about having to go back." Dipper started as they approached a rustic looking building with a large sign on top. 'Big Gunz Lazer Tag' it read.

The ravenette waved a hand dismissively, "I don't mind, if I had a sick pet, I'd want to help them as soon as I could."

"True. Anyway," He pointed at the building sign, "as you can see this is the Lazer Tag place." Dipper announced.

"Yeah, and we should take you some time!" Mabel exclaimed.

The Halfa smirked and considered the idea, "I don't know, I'm not sure how long I'm staying. But I guess it could be fun." Not like she didn't have her own lazers though.

Dani went to keep walking but Dipper stopped her.

"Hang on a sec, I just realised something."

"What's up?" She asked, turning back to the two confused.

"Have you contacted your parents about you being here? I mean, you seem really independent in what you're doing." He began with folded arms and a raised brow.

Dani's eyes narrowed for a moment, "As a matter of fact I have."

"And they're fine with you staying with strangers?"

"...Yes, they understand the situation and won't be able to come get me for a week or so."

He nodded his head once slowly, "I guess that's okay then."

"Yeah, it means I'm free for a bit right." She smirked again and turned away from them once more. A grimace settled on her face.

She'd need to ensure she was keeping track of what she was saying before she accidentally slipped up in her lie. Lying to suspicious people was of course stressful so keeping a level-head and sticking to the story was tough.

"Speaking of free, who wants to go to the arcade!"

"That doesn't relate at all."

"I know, I just wanna go to the arcade now. SO LET'S GO."

As the three approached the entrance, the bouncer of sorts said something to Dani that caused her to scowl and storm inside. Mabel skipped up to her and asked what the issue was.

"What did he say?"

The ravenette simply groaned and rubbed her head.

"He said doubloons are too old for the arcade."

"Ohhh, because of your eye-patch right?" Mabel laughed loudly making Dani frown more.

"It's not funny."

"Hey, you gotta admit."

Dani pouted and crossed her arms and Mabel sighed, feeling bad for the girl.

"Okay, well how about we do something fun to make you happier!"

Mabel's idea of fun...Once more Dani was scared of what she might suggest, "Like what?" She hesitantly asked.

"Dancy Pants Revolution!"

"Is that the one where you have to stand on the correct arrow?"

The brunette nodded enthusiastically.

"Alright you're on!" She shouted and the two ran towards the brightly coloured machine and readied their coins.

Dani grinned deviously as she unleashed a storm of kicks to her opponent. The screen lit up in dazzling colours as she continued to press the buttons and move the joystick and the fight theme for Fight Fighters played in the background. Currently, Rumble McSkirmish, was getting his ass handed to him by her skillful playing. Even though she hadn't played in an arcade for at least six months she was still a pro at the games.

She was vaguely aware that Dipper and Mabel were elsewhere in the arcade playing air hockey, probably laughing and smiling away. She wondered who was winning but had been too caught up in all the other machines to take too much notice and had ended up where she was playing this game.

She'd soon get an answer as she felt a presence suddenly next to her. Glancing out of her peripheral vision, she saw Dipper. They must have just finished.

He had a smile on his face watching her destroy (not literally) Rumble with powerful combos. She noticed there was a hint of something in his smile that she couldn't quite place...Almost like nostalgia.

"So, who won the game?" She spoke, without moving her eyes from the screen. Multitasking at it's most useful.

"Mabel." He mumbled.

"Sorry, what was that I couldn't hear?" She grinned.

"Mabel."

"Told you~" She sang, "You owe me 50 bucks."

"What!"

"Just teasing." She laughed and the round finished. She glanced at the countdown on the screen then at him with a smile, "So, you wanna play?"

Dipper shook his head smiling, "Sure." He replied and inserted a coin on his side.

After the two had picked their characters, the first round began. To the Halfa's surprise, she was beaten in the beginning three rounds but ultimately managed to make a comeback and take Dipper down on the next few ones. At one point, Mabel came over to watch the pair and rooted for both sides...Depending on who was winning.

When it came to round 15, which happened to be the tiebreaker, Dipper jumped, startling Dani too. The girl turned to see what had spooked him and saw two hands on his shoulders. Looking up, she caught sight of the grinning face of that one teen worker from the Mystery Shack.

"Hey dudes. Sorry to startle you Dipper but I couldn't resist." She chuckled good naturedly.

Silently glancing back to the screen, Dani took the opportunity to perform a fatal attack on Dipper's character and become the winner.

'WINNER'S DON'T LOSE' flashed boldly in front of the two and the game counted down asking for more coins. Dipper turned to the girl with an expressionless face and she smiled sheepishly in response.

"Apparently winners don't play fair either."

"Ha ha."

"Wendy, d'you wanna play air-hockey as a four?!" Mabel exclaimed excitedly.

The redhead scratched her neck, "Sorry man but me and the others only came to get Lee and Nate." She said remorsefully, gesturing at two boys playing a racing game.

Dani recognised them too, she'd played a game of Nort with them.

"You guys can hang out with us tomorrow though if you want, even you newbie." She said ruffling the girl's hair with a laugh. The Halfa pouted and moved away.

"Sure, we'd love to!" Dipper responded enthusiastically and something clicked into Dani's mind. She looked at the boy with a knowing smirk and held in a laugh.

"So tomorrow once I've finished my shift, we're going to Robbie's house and then somewhere else okay?"

"Yeah." Dipper answered and the two girl's nodded in approval.

"Sweet."

"Wendy! Come on!" Her group called to her from the door.

"Right! See ya losers." She laughed, saluting the three before running away to re-join her friends. Then, with the sound of screeching tires, the teens left the area.

"Well that happened." Dani stated after a moment, eliciting a chuckle from the twins.

"Hey, can we go somewhere else now? Maybe get a snack?" Mabel groaned, playfully flopping her tummy.

The idea of food snapped Dani's attention.

"Race you to Greasy's Diner." She shouted and bolted out the building.

"But we haven't got any money!" Dipper called back so she stood in the doorway with a look of distress.

"Yeah we do." Mabel added, half laughing half smiling crazily as she held up a small bag of coins she must've won on a coindozer machine.

"How much is that?" Dani asked.

"About $8."

She looked at Dipper expectantly.

"It's enough." He sighed.

And then the young teen disappeared.

"These pancakes are sooo good." Dani mumbled between mouthfuls.

"You should try putting maple syrup on them." Dipper suggested and the girl looked at Mabel's syrup covered pancakes beside him before letting loose a chuckle.

"Alright but not as much as that." She replied, pointing with a cringe at the sickly pile.

Mabel handed the bottle over, allowing the Halfa to pour on a substantial amount. She grabbed her fork and hesitantly took a bite.

The flavour hit her in an instant and her face contorted in surprise.

"Holy crap."

The twins' pulled a face at her choice of words, eliciting an apology from the girl.

"You're acting like you've never had pancakes before." Dipper said after a moment with a smile.

Dani took another mouthful of the food and glanced between the twins.

"That's because I haven't."

Dipper's eyebrows shot up and before she could explain, Mabel had pushed herself up and slammed her hands down on the table.

"How could such a crime happen?!" The brunette practically shouted, gaining some funny looks from other booths.

Dani rubbed her neck, "I dunno, it's just never been a breakfast I've had..." The reason for that was that Vlad had insisted she eat muesli for breakfast. She'd complained a few times but the man had been persistent, claiming 'it's the perfect start to the day because it will provide you with all the energy you need!' She thought that was a load of crap, all it did was taste and look like slop.

"On a different note," Dipper began, "because we're busy tomorrow, do you wanna finish the tour the day after?"

The ravenette shrugged, "Well what about the rest of today? It's only 11:30...besides, you guys said we've already been around most of the town."

"I guess, there's just a few more places to see and then we can do whatever. I just wondered if you were getting tired of doing this all morning."

"It's fine," Dani waved a hand dismissively, "This is fun spending time with you guys."

The twins smiled at her.

"Oh! And I've still got $3.50." Mabel pointed out.

"Well, when you two are done eating we can go." Her brother suggested.

"Sure." Dani noticed Dipper's now empty plate of waffles. He didn't have as much food as the girls, so now he had to play the waiting game. The Halfa wondered if it was always like this with him and Mabel. Most likely since the older twin seemed to have a larger appetite.

"Hey, I just remembered! We haven't found out where you're from Dani!" Mabel suddenly burst out.

Dani nearly choked at the sudden question and quickly regained her composure, "Oh, well I'm from a small town in Illinois. You've probably never heard of it."

"A bit like here then?" Dipper joked.

The ravenette smirked back, "Yes and no. It's called Amity Park." She decided to tell them, "It's not an actual park though, it's like a generic town...Anyway,"She started to change the focus to them, "where are you two coming from?"

"Piedmont, California." Dipper answered.

Dani felt herself smile unintentionally, "Really? That's another state I've been meaning to go to."

The two siblings gave her a confused look. Dani realised her mistake and flailed a hand.

"Erm, never mind."

She shoved a forkful of pancake into her mouth and cast her gaze to the window to shut herself up. She'd revealed enough to the Pines twins already.

Looking at the surroundings to clear her head, something caught her eye. Dani looked back to the two and swallowed her food. She'd seen a scratched and defaced advertisement to something they'd previously mentioned.

"You two never told me what was wrong with the Tent of Telepathy or why it got taken down."

The twins glanced at eachother uncomfortably. Hm, maybe she wasn't the only one with a past.

The Halfa heard Mabel grumble something about crazy 10 year old creeps.

Dipper sighed, slumped in his seat and ran a hand down his face before sitting up straight again, "Okay, so the Tent of Telepathy was a phoney place run by this little kid, Gideon Gleeful." Dani snorted at the name, "He tricked the whole town into liking him with his babyish persona and always got his way because of it. When he met Mabel, he pretty much fell in love with her but she didn't like him back so then there was a whole war thing between us and him and we've hated each other since."

"That doesn't explain what happened." The Halfa replied with an amused expression.

"I'm getting to that. Anyway, Gideon also really wanted to own the Mystery Shack because we were his competition, so he kept devising plans to get the deed for it. At one point, he used dynamite and blew up some of the shack and stole it so we had to live with Soos for a bit. Then he tried to make Gideon Land in replacement of the shack but only got so far as to make a giant robot of himself. At this point, Grunkle Stan was sending us home and we were on a coach driven by Soos because he had no proper job anymore when out of nowhere came the Gideon bot."

"You're kidding."

"I really wish I was."

Dani rested her head in one palm, "Then, what did he want from you?"

Dipper cringed slightly and it didn't go unnoticed by the girl, "Erm, he thought we stole something...important of his so he ended up kidnapping Mabel when we didn't have it and-"

Mabel pushed forward, "And then Dipper jumped and punched his way into the robot head and fought real Gideon inside, it was awesome, but scary 'cause I was on the outside. I don't know why, but the head started spinning and the robot fell and my grappling hook saved me and Dipper. When we landed, we were gonna get arrested but Grunkle Stan came out of nowhere and showed the officers what Gideon had done so they arrested him instead!" Mabel finished with a maniacal laugh a the end.

Dani's eyebrows shot up only to curve in disbelief, "That's all true?"

They wouldn't be pranking her right? She'd feel like a right idiot if they were. But they seemed so damn serious...and Dipper had seemed hesitant to explain...

Dipper face became suddenly very serious, "All true." He stated.

Examining his expression, the ravenette realised he was being completely truthful. She sat back slightly in her seat, feeling a rush of awe pass over her momentarily.

"That's incredible. Looks like weird things happen in more places then I thought...I mean, a giant robot? How did he even get to make that!?"

"Money mostly." The twins nodded at eachother.

"I can actually believe that. Sadly I know someone who would do the same...And Dipper," She looked at the younger twin again, "You defeated it yourself with your bare hands? That's amazing."

A faint blush rose on the boy's cheeks causing Dani to grin at his embarrassment, "Thanks, I was just doing what I could to protect my sister."

"Don't be so modest bro-bro. You totally kicked ass! I mean, sure he was smaller and younger anyway, but still! You fought instead of using your brain power for once."

Dani laughed at the pair only for Mabel's words to make her consider something.

"Hey, so is that like, all you guys have experienced here? Or are there anymore weird stories to come out Gravity Falls?"

Frankly, the robot incident was the most interesting thing she'd heard about in a long time. If there were more stories, she'd love to hear them. Apart from the ghosts in Amity Park, no other place she'd been to had a strange story. Granted, ghosts were a lot weirder than a giant robot but it was something.

"Well..." The two began in unison.

-Mystery Shack 18:09 PM-

"Hey kids, dinner's ready!" Mr Pines' voice boomed from the kitchen.

The three kids taking residence in the Mystery Shack hastily gathered around the table, ready to eat.

"So, let me get this straight," Dani whispered to the twins, "you've fought a robot, uncovered the 8th and a half president and proved that a 'sea monster' was actually another robot this time controlled by an old man?"

Dipper and Mabel chuckled at the enthusiasm she was trying to hide, "For the fifth time Dani, yes." The former answered.

Mr Pines walked in at that moment, juggling four plates of food in his arms. Two were barely balancing on his forearms and they wobbled precariously.

"Ooh, food!" Mabel bounced in her chair, too focused on the meal to notice her Grunkle's struggle.

"Quick, take 'em!" He exclaimed.

Dani and Dipper grabbed the top ones and Mabel took one from his hand so he could sit down and start eating his own.

"Thanks."

As Dani sat and got to examine the plate of food before her, her eyes widened and her mouth began to water. A jacket potato, beans and cheese as well as little tomato sticks.

"Ooo." She gushed quietly.

"What's wrong with you kid, you look you've never seen a baked potato?" Mr Pines pointed out, having heard her.

She'd had seen them but never had the chance to eat one.

"Sorry, I'm just really hungry." She supplied with a grimace. Like she hadn't eaten barely an hour ago.

As if to prove her point, Dipper spoke up, "You just ate an hour ago."

"Yeah well I'm a glutton." She smirked. Technically not a lie anyway, so she could probably get away with that.

"Yeah Dipper, food is food and food is good! There's not a one letter difference for no reason!" Mabel grinned in her defence and the Halfa gave her a happy nod of approval.

The young teen grabbed her fork and eagerly dug into the potato. She scooped out some of the creamy inside and tasted it. Warm, smooth, delicious, homey. It was just really nice.

Vlad's food always tasted like something was missing...She didn't realise until having food with the Pines that it was the feeling of comfort.

Dani glanced around with a warm smile at the others as they ate, wondering if they felt the comfort from the food too. They all seemed fairly relaxed and comfortable, so maybe. Probably. Dani also took notice of the fact that everyone seemed to eat differently. Mabel would mix everything up and eat it together, Dipper would eat the potato and beans separately and wouldn't yet touch the tomato sticks; and Mr Pines ate the potato and beans together and then had a tomato stick after each bite.

Dani felt a little lost, considering how she should go about eating the meal before opting to eat the side first and then add the beans to the potato and scoff it up. In the politest way of course.

The sound of Mr Pines clearing his throat interrupted her thought process.

"So what did you three get up to on your tour today?" He asked with genuine interest.

Vlad had never asked about her day...

"We got to see some adorable pets at the pet store! There were these cute fluffy rabbits, and cats and hamsters and-" Mabel started listing only to get drowned out as Dipper took over. Similar to what she had done to him at the diner.

"We played some games in the arcade and Wendy appeared. We're gonna go with her and the others somewhere tomorrow."

Mr Pines nodded, "Well good, but be back before sundown; there's a new episode of Tiger Fist on that you won't want to miss."

"Tiger Fist?" Dani blurted out with confusion. what an odd name for a show, "What's that about?" She inquired.

"It's about a tiger who got hurt in an explosion so a human arm was put on him and he can punch stuff. Mostly his own face but that's not the point." Dipper explained, leaving Dani to shake her head, still confused but also intrigued none the less while everyone went back to their food.

Once the four were all done and full, Mr Pines gathered up the plates and took them back into the kitchen leaving the kids in the room.

"Soooo. What can we do now?" The Halfa asked after a few seconds of silence.

"We could play a game?" Mabel suggested, "Like a video game or a board game."

Dani became interested at the idea of a video game. She thought board games were for old people with nothing better to do. At least, at that point in her life when she hadn't played one.

"What kind of video games do you have?"

Dipper folded his arms, "Well, here at the Mystery Shack, Grunkle Stan surprisingly doesn't allow us to play the more violent games."

"Yeah, our parents are more lenient about them!" His sister pointed out.

"She's not wrong." Dipper began to list what he could remember, "Anyway, here we have Kirby, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Galaxy-"

"And Super Mario bros of course!" Mabel added cheerily.

"Super Mario Galaxy maybe?" The Halfa answered. Her inherited interest in space influencing her decision.

...

After setting up the console and the game, the three were sat on the couch watching as the save file menu appeared.

"Sorry I chose a single-player game."

"Don't worry about it, we can just take it in turns or help you out."

Dani nodded, "Erm, do I start a new game or play one of yours?" She asked while wiggling the cursor between a Mario and a Luigi planet.

"You could start a new one. The very first level's a tutorial but we both haven't re-unlocked it yet so you can't play it on our saves." Dipper explained.

"Alright." She aimed at the third planet and pressed A on the remote. Options for different icons appeared and ultimately Dani chose a funny looking dinosaur called Yoshi.

In the middle of playing the level's start, Dani felt uncomfortable.

"What's this guy's problem? It's never right to kidnap people." She almost growled.

"I still can't believe you don't know the Mario games." Dipper began to speak, unaware of the girl's discomfort, "Anyway, that's Bowser, he's in love with Princess Peach and wants to marry her."

Dani thought back to Vlad's obsession with Danny's mother. Sounded a lot like that, minus the kidnapping...She hoped.

She wasn't sure. He was a bit of a creep about her...

"Dani?" Mabel clapped in front of her face causing her to jolt slightly.

"What's up?" She quickly said.

"Are you okay? Mario nearly got crushed by a meteor..."

"Fine, just...got a little distracted..."

The twins shared a look of concern.

"Maybe we should sto-"

"Hey Dani?" The three turned to look at Mr Pines as he stood in the doorway.

"Yes, Mr Pines?"

"Have you got any clue at all as to when that doctor's coming over?"

She shrugged, "No, not really. All he really said was a few days?"

"Alright. Well, remember if you need them, your aspirin and medication are in one of the kitchen cupboards."

Dani nodded, only to pull a face, "One of them?"

"Yeah, just- you'll find them."

"Well if I'm dying I'll thank your directional skills." She smirked as the old man shook his head and left to go upstairs.

Dani caught sight of Dipper looking at her funny but elected to ignore it, instead continuing to lead Mario to the castle and not let herself get distracted by her past this time.

-Twins' Bedroom 21:04 PM-

Dipper sat on his bed deep in thought, he swung his legs backwards and forwards on the edge as a sign of his concentration. Something had been nagging him quite a lot that day.

"Mabel, have you noticed something odd about Dani?" He asked eventually.

His sister, who had been wandering around the room, gathering some of her many blankets for Dani, paused to look at him with her head cocked to one side.

"Like what?" She asked back.

The boy stopped for a moment, trying to figure out how to put his thoughts into words.

"I don't really know. It's some of the things she says I guess...And maybe the fact that she moves around like she can do anything but not two days ago she was almost fatally wounded."

"Maybe she's a superhero." Mabel snickered.

Her brother pulled a face at her so she dropped what she was holding and went over to him, a concerned expression on her face.

"Where's this coming from bro-bro?"

Dipper sighed, "My paranoia from being in Gravity Falls probably. She's new so I guess I'm just super wary right now...She seems nice of course but...I feel like she's hiding something..."

A knock at the door forced the pair to stop the conversation.

"Come in." The younger twin called out.

Dani opened the door and came into the room.

"You guys going to bed?" She asked.

"Yep!" Mabel nodded, "Oh and," she went to grab the discarded blankets, "I gathered these for you to use."

"Cool, I'm pretty tired so thanks." She smiled sleepily.

Mabel handed over the blankets and Dani headed over to the beanbags in the room.

"I'm not taking one of your beds so I hope you don't mind if I sleep on a beanbag." She stated as she dragged a dark blue one to just below the twins' beds. Dipper went to speak but thought better of it. It was his beanbag.

Not too long after, the three were all ready for bed. Dipper was sat in his bed, the next book in the murder mystery series he was currently reading gripped tightly in his hands. Mabel snuggled under her covers on the other side of the room.

"So, goodnight you two." Dani said from the beanbag, "Oh and thanks for the pyjamas Mabel. Oh and please remind me to buy some new clothes from town before we go with Wendy tomorrow."

Dipper glanced up from his book with a frown, "How do you have the money?"

"You have a gift shop right?" Dani asked.

"Yeah."

"Then I'll get a job!" She chuckled.

"If you ask nicely Grunkle Stan might give you some money." Mabel yawned with her face down on her pillow.

"But Grunkle Stan loves his money." Her twin snickered causing the girls to do so as well.

"I've actually got a weenie bit in my bag but, that's not for clothes so, anywho, I'm sleeping now so everyone be quiet please." Dani mumbled as she sank further into the beanbag and under her blanket.

The bag...Dipper glanced at it, where it sat a few metres away from Dani. Just another mystery surrounding the new girl...

"Goodnight." Mabel drawled.

"Night." Dipper mumbled, still thinking about the bag.

About an hour later, when he was sure Mabel and Dani were asleep, Dipper but his book down and carefully climbed out of bed. So as not to disturb anyone, he tiptoed slowly out of the room and all the way down to the gift shop.

Standing in front of the vending machine he made sure to check his surroundings before proceeding to open it and go through the passageway.

The elevator came to a stop on the floor of Ford's workshop and Dipper walked out, hoping that the man would be up still. To the boy's relief, as he got further into the room, he noticed the man was busy at work at his desk.

He took in a deep breath, "Great uncle Ford, I need to talk to you about something."

Ford momentarily turned away from his work and motioned Dipper over.

"Go ahead." He said.

Dipper scratched his arm, "Right, so um, you know Dani?"

"Yep, the visitor."

"Well, uh, so basically...When she got here, she was covered in scratches, bruises, what you'd expect from a lightning strike?"

Ford nodded his head in confirmation.

Dipper continued, "Well now, she's fine. Granted, she has a black eye...but she moves around normally as if she was never hurt and it's only been two days!"

Ford raised an eyebrow at this revelation. This news was concerning to him but he decided not to voice any opinions yet.

"One could argue, she may just be a fast healer...but you let me know if you spot anything else unusual." He ordered.

"I will." Dipper nodded, eased by the fact that someone wasn't questioning his concerns, "Goodnight great uncle Ford."

The man nodded again and turned to continue his work as Dipper went back to the lift.

As soon as Ford was sure his great nephew had gone, he rested his hands ahead on the desk and thought. He hadn't been upstairs to see the change in the girl but when first saw her, her injuries were rather significant...If what Dipper said was true and she was as healthy as...well Mabel, then that would be a weirdly big difference in such a short amount of time...

The old man frowned in confusion and shook his head before returning to his work.

He already had his hands full with the Cipher problem to start concerning himself anything menial right now.

Hopefully, this issue would sort itself out and that girl would be gone from their lives.