It had only been a few months since Dipper and Mable had gone back to California. Soos was doing well running the Mystery Shack, Wendy was in high school and still worked at the Shack part time, and Stan and Ford had been on a boating trip. If they hadn’t come back to shore briefly to talk to Soos and his girlfriend, Stan might’ve missed one of the most important phone calls he would ever take.
Now Stan didn’t approve of how the twins’ parents had been arguing before they sent them to him, he never had. He knew the marriage was going bad and they had a habit of taking it out on other people. However, not for a second did he think his nephew would get this bad about it. The kid always had taken after his father in possibly the worst ways, but Stan had hoped his marriage to a woman he was infatuated with would solve that. No dice, as their clashing parenting styles ultimately led to screaming matches or the children ending up forgotten in another room during the fights.
Stan could remember one of those arguments from very early on in the twins’ lives, during a trip he had taken to see them about three years after they were born. He was thrilled they were twins and that they loved each other just as much as he and Ford did when they were little. While he was playing with them, their parents had walked off to the kitchen to “get him some coffee”… a few minutes later, he could hear cussing and shouting, as well as glass break. The twins seemed to know what was happening, and little Mabel flinched away from the sounds and covered her ears while little Dipper hugged her tightly. Both of the toddlers looked close to tears, and Dipper was mumbling something along the lines of “it ok Maba” and trying desperately to look brave for her. Stan was afraid of how used to this they both seemed, and he picked up both of the little ones and tried his best to comfort them.
Eventually, the shouting had stopped, and their parents emerged looking angry, but ultimately trying to play it off. Not wanting to scare the kids anymore, he waited until they had both gone to bed for the night to tell his nephew exactly what he thought of that. He was disappointed in both of them and hopelessly tried to explain just what their fighting was doing to their little ones. His words fell on deaf ears, and he and his nephew had the worst fight of their life. He didn’t want Stan to come near their family again if he was going to be so “judgmental” of their family situation. He said goodbye to the kids the next morning and cursed himself the whole way back to Oregon about how he just lost some of the only family he had left.
Naturally, when he got the call nine years later that the twins were coming to Gravity Falls to stay with him, he was both thrilled and terrified. Thrilled because he truly loved the twins and wanted them safe and happy. Terrified because he knew the reason they were being sent to him, and whatever fight that the family had was enough for their mother to want them out of the situation. Dipper was just as protective of his sister as he had been when they were toddlers, and Mabel had sparkles in her eyes and was so optimistic it shocked him. Stan had hoped that their parents had been keeping their fights quieter, but of course, that hope was dashed when he heard Dipper crying in his sleep one night and begging two people to stop fighting.
Somehow, all the chaos of Gravity Falls was still better for the kids than the situation that had been happening at home. Dipper had come out of his shell and was acting more like a tween and Mabel was able to learn a thing or two about business from her Grunkle. Both kids were so happy it was making Stan regret that they would have to go home at the end of the summer. When he, Ford, and all of the little Mystery Shack family went off to the bus to see the kids off, he pulled Dipper aside and handed him a paper with a phone number on it.
“If anything ever happens, call me, ok Kid?”—Stan said, gently grasping Dipper’s shoulders— “I’ll always be here if you need me.”
Dipper nodded and stuffed the number into his jacket pocket, hugging Stan before he ran off to the bus to join Mabel. For almost three months, Stan and Ford had heard nothing but crickets from either of the twins, and Stan had a sinking feeling in his gut why.
When he and Ford had returned from their boating trip in late October, Gravity Falls was fully prepared for Halloween. The leaves on the trees were in full autumn glory and the breeze made everything even chillier than it had been in the summer. The whole Mystery Shack was decked out for the holiday, yet the house felt empty without the kids there.
It had only been a few days since returning to the Shack, and Stan woke up to the phone ringing downstairs. It was the middle of the night, and he forced his old bones to get out of the bed and down the stairs. When he got to the phone, he groggily picked up, holding the receiver to his ear.
“Grunkle Stan?”, came a small voice through the phone, as though whoever was on the other side was either afraid of being heard or close to tears, or both.
Stan felt his blood run cold, and he whispered back through the phone, “Kid? What’s wrong? What happened?” The dam broke for the teen on the other end, and Dipper started silently sobbing, trying to speak through tears.
“I- Mabel- They’re gonna take Waddles from her and I don’t know what to do. Dad’s trying to make me wear the skirt part of the school uniform and I can’t keep avoiding it. They were screaming again, I can’t take it anymore. I wanna go home Grunkle Stan. I want to go home.” He sobbed, voice breaking on the phone. Stan could feel every bone in his body scream for him to go wring his nephew’s neck, but he swallowed that down and whispered to Dipper.
“Kid, I’m on my way.”
Less than twenty minutes later Stan and Ford were speeding down the interstate, breaking every traffic safety law they could. Those kids were not staying in that apartment a day longer. 95 miles an hour and about seven hours later, Stan was banging on their front door.
“MASON PINES!” Stan roared as he pounded on the door, “GET OUT HERE!”
Stan’s nephew had barely gotten the door open before the front of his shirt was forcibly manhandled and he was shoved into the wall by Stan. Ford followed him in and pulled out the ray gun he carried as extra insurance.
“Stan what the hell are you doing here? I thought I made it clear years ago that you weren’t welcome to stick your nose where it don’t belong! You’re lucky they were even allowed to come to-“
Stan cut him off with a punch in the jaw, and Mason Sr. slumped to the ground, clutching his cheek and scowling at Stan. Juniper, the twins’ mother came out to see the commotion and froze when she saw the two older men fighting her husband. She started yelling at them, going on about how they had no right to do this and how it wasn’t their business.
“Those are my grand niece and nephew and I think I have every right to call them my business! You wanted me to protect them, I’m doing my job as a Grunkle!”
“Nieces!”, the twins’ father piped up before Ford shut him up by visibly cocking his pistol.
“My nephew and niece”, Stan all but growled at him. He shoved his nephew to the floor and nodded to Ford before walking through the apartment, quietly opening the twins’ bedroom door. His chest went tight when he saw them.
Both of the kids were hidden in the back corner of the room, Mabel hugging Waddles with her whole soul and Dipper standing in front of her defensively like he was prepared to take a hit for her. All Stan could see in that moment was the little ones he wished he could’ve been around for all those years ago, and he met Dipper’s scared gaze with his own.
“Kids, get your things. We’re going.”
They didn’t need told twice, running and grabbing anything they could fit into carryon luggage as quickly as they could. Mabel was crying and Dipper looked as though he was trying to hold himself together. After a few minutes, both of them had all that they needed and Stan gently ushered them out of the room. As they passed by their parents, Stan scowled at them.
“I’ll see you in court. These kids are staying together and staying safe if it kills me.” He nodded to Ford, who covered him as they left the apartment. Once they were out of the building and back in the car, Ford informed everyone that he already alerted the authorities about what happened and knew people who would make sure the twins didn’t have to go back if they didn’t want to. Both kids broke down, the full scale of their exhaustion on display.
It was a long drive back to Gravity Falls now that Stan wasn’t speeding. He could see both of the kids had fallen asleep together in the back seat, and every fiber of his being screamed at him that he should’ve roughed up his nephew more than he did. Those kids didn’t deserve hearing fighting or being the topic of fighting.
When they finally pulled into the driveway of the Mystery Shack, their little family was already out front and running up to the car. The kids had barely gotten out, and Soos was crushing them in hugs.
“Dudes! I can’t- Your folks- Are you ok? Where are they?”, Soos said quickly. Stan had never seen Soos so angry, the normally easygoing man looking close to committing a murder. Both kids cried against their friend, too tired to talk about everything just yet. Stan could see that Wendy was running out with Robbie to check on them, and she had her ax, looking equally furious.
A few hours, several mugs of cocoa, and multiple long hugs later, the twins had finally calmed down and were starting to relax slightly.
Stan led the two of them upstairs, into the bedroom they had shared for the summer, and both of them collapsed onto their familiar beds. He turned to leave the room and let them rest, but before he did, he paused in the doorway.
“Dipper, you’re a good brother, and I’m proud of you for trying to protect you and your sister.” Dipper rubbed his eye and smiled at his Grunkle, relaxing as he laid back in the bed. Stan cleared his throat before continuing, voice dropping to a whisper as he turned off the lights.
“And kids? Welcome home.”
He left them in the comfortable silence of the room they had become so accustomed to sharing, and the twins had the first full night of sleep they had gotten in months.