This is part of the reverse!timetraveler AU I've been chewing on for the last month. In the timetraveler AU Little Dipper disappears and Big Dipper gets sucked into the past to fill the space his younger self left behind and help the family get him back.

[GRAVITY FALLS, OREGON]

[6:03 PM]

[Mabel]

As a creative 12 year old Mabel had expected far more of the future. In her mind she had seen chrome gratuitously plating everything, robotic animals, android maids, and hover-boards. What she had ended up with was nothing short of not that at all. There were no self-tying shoes, invisible cars, or spaceships- in fact everything looked not very different to what she knew in her own time. If anything, things actually looked older.

Grunkle Stan said that it wasn't surprising that things weren't up to her expectations given that it was only 5 years ahead of their own time.

Seated at the dinner table Mabel watched perhaps what was one of the weirdest things she'd so far seen during her stay in this equally strange and familiar new place;

17 year old Pacifica Northwest with her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, cooking dinner.

Her blond hair had been pulled back into a pony tail, a few loose strands waving about as she went from pot to pan. She was dressed in a simple pair of paint splattered jeans. A white shirt lay beneath a cream polyester crop-top marked with a beautiful koi fish design. 5 years older than she knew her almost-friend to be meant that Pacifica's face was more angular and defined; the baby fat she'd held as a 12 year old gone from her face.

Mabel had of course offered to help her in the kitchen but the teen had declined- several times- stating that she'd rather their meal be glitter free.

"Pst, Mabel," Wendy's voice pulled her from her thoughts, a loud sizzling erupting from the stove as Pacifica poured olive oil across the frying chicken.

"Yeah?" she returned the whisper, holding a hand in front of her mouth and leaning over to join her friend in what surely must be forming mischief.

"Did you know Pacifica could cook?" Wendy asked, eyes on the blond.

"Frankly, I didn't know she knew how to hold a broom," Grunkle Stan supplied from across the table, seeming just as baffled as the two girls.

"I can hear you," Pacifica suddenly snapped, looking over her shoulder with a spatula in one hand and a pan in the other. The three jumped, surprised by what could only have been super-human hearing. A moment later Grunkle Stan was folding his arms across his chest and huffing, putting on a disinterested exterior.

"Whatever," he grouched, "so long as it's not Soos cooking."

As though summoned by his own name the man in subject appeared through the backdoor. He was bundled up in thick jackets and a long fuzzy scarf, a pom-pom hat covering his head.

"Soos!" Mabel greeted eagerly, standing up in her seat and waving at the handyman.

"Hey hambone!" he returned, grinning widely and peeling his grandma's handmade gloves from his hands, "what's happening?" Over the years he had grown roughly a foot taller but remained as rounded as ever. Removing scarf and coats he revealed the perpetual roundness of his belly and wore the same employee shirt as she knew he did 5 years ago. It was a little strange to see him wearing long sweat pants, though Mabel figured that was only because she'd never been at the shack during the winter.

How funny was it that they'd left Gravity Falls in the summer and returned to find it in the midst of December?

"We're just watching Pacifica cook," she chirped.

"They're treating me like I'm a da-" Pacifica's face twitched with frustration, "da-daaarrnn zoo animal!"

"That's good," Soos nodded his head, slipping out of his thick boots and joining them in the kitchen, "most zoo animals are treated like royalty."

There was a loud clang as the blond slammed a lid over the bubbling pasta, "Not this one!"

"Oh~?" Wendy teased, "so you agree that you're a zoo animal?"

Pacifica turned cherry and emitted a frustrated scream, arms stiff at her sides. A distant ringing interrupted the relative silence of the living room. It was cut off a moment later and replaced with the somewhat earie depth of her older brother's voice. While a far cry from the TV announcer's voice he'd attained when he was a kid it was no less strange. There were no cracks in his voice anymore and it was deeper than she recognized. The Dipper from this time period was 17 years old and in college already. He was on a special financial program paid for by their high school but the college he went to was halfway between Oregon and California. He'd said that the two of them did video calls every night and that he frequently came home to visit- particularly on weekends- but despite his attempts Mabel just couldn't get comfortable with the idea.

She kinda missed her Dipper…

"Hey, hambone," Soos's voice jostled the girl from her thoughts and she looked up at him. The handyman had removed his hat, revealing well-groomed, shoulder-length hair that had been pulled back into a short pony tail- or as she had learned Soos called it; a 'man-tail'. "Here you go," her friend held out a pudgy hand.

Resting neatly in his much larger palm was a peach gemstone no larger than her thumbnail. Someone had cut it to resemble a rose, their excellent craftsmanship carved into every angle, every sanded bump and finely detailed texture. It genuinely looked like a tiny rose.

Mabel gasped, her eyes sparkling with awe, "Soos, oh my gosh!" She eagerly grabbed the stone and held it up hardly a millimeter from her nose for closer inspection. Pacifica abandoned the pots and leaned over her shoulder to get a good look too. Wendy, on the other hand, only seemed half interested. She was a little more excited about the developing lake of snow outside- all too ready to pack up and go skiing down her favorite hills.

Held between her index finger and thumb, Mabel examined the white wriggling veins framing every petal like frosting on a red velvet cake. The rose held hardly a scratch save the natural abrasions under its polished surface. Embers and molten orange-red flames seemed trapped inside the rose's center but tapered off into lighter, warmer colors towards the last petals. Although, observing it against the kitchen light made Mabel feel as though she was looking through the web cartilage of a bat's wing more than a burning inferno. Unable to decide which it resembled more she settled for a strange combination; embers inside a bat's wing.

Regardless of whatever allegory worked best the rose gem was indeed a sight to behold. In fact, it was so impressive even Stan couldn't get his eyes off it, having gone as far as to start appraising it.

Soos smiled affectionately at the dazzled young girl and jabbed his thumb at the door, "yeah, I found it in on the side of the road while I was on my way here. Thought you might like to have it- that color doesn't really suit me," he chuckled.

A pitched squeal of glee erupted from Mabel's throat and she flung herself at the handyman, dropping her prize in the excitement.

"Soos, you're the best!" she cried, "you're number one!"

He laughed and shifted the girl so she wasn't attached to his face like an alien leech, instead resting comfortably on his shoulder.

"Yeah, well," he grinned, "someone's gotta be, amI'right?"

"Soos, Soos, Soos!" Mabel chanted, still beaming.

"What kind of stone is this anyway?" Grunkle Stan asked, having saved the gem from its decent.

Squinting at it, Wendy said, "it looks kinda like some sort of amber or topaz."

With an unexpected deftness Pacifica's long ivory fingers plucked the gem out of Stan's grip. She ignored his protest and clucked her tongue, scowling at them like there were all foolish barbarians.

"This is Oregon sunstone," she explained with a faint sneer, "Oregon's state gemstone since 1987. I can accept that Mabel wouldn't know what it is but you two live here."

Stan and Wendy shared a look but before either of them could make any jabs at Pacifica's up-brining- as Mabel figured they would- she returned to her examination. Something about the way the blond refused to so much as brush the topic of her parents or any subject addressing why she'd spent the last few days sleeping at the Mystery Shack concerned Mabel. There was something wrong with Pacifica that went deeper than just the transition between a 12-year-old and a 17-year-old.

"Feels somewhere around 2 grams," Pacifica began, "maybe 2.3 so that would be-" she paused to do the math in her head, "11 and a half carats and $1,000 per carat amounts to $11,500." There was a loud bing from a timer mounted on the stove that struck a very close resemblance to a cash register popping open when Stan perked up.

"What?" now it was his turn to almost- almost, never actually- squeal.

Pacifica scoffed and turned up her nose, placing the gem back into Mabel's care, "it's a natural copper-bearing labradorite feldspar- rare but not rare enough if you ask me. It doesn't exhibit any green dichroism. Gemstones with this color can be found all over Oregon so it's not really special or anything."

Mabel was a little too stunned and confused to feel any sort of hurt by her almost-friend's dismissal.

She wasn't the only one from the looks of things, and a uncomprehending silence- save for the sizzle and gurgle of cooking foods and Dipper's voice arguing with someone on the phone in the background- took hold of them all.

Then Soos opened his mouth, smiling with something almost like pride in his eyes as he explained, "Pacifica wants to major in geology when she goes to college so she can start a jewelry business. I can't really understand half of what she says sometimes but I think that just means she's doing a good job."

All Wendy could say was, "woah."

Stan raised an eyebrow but made no remark.

And Mabel beamed even wider than before.

"That's so cool, Pacifica!" she encouraged, "you really sounded like an expert just now!" The praise seemed to puff up the blonde's chest all on its own and that made Mabel all the happier. Pacifica was actually taking her seriously- she was receptive to what the younger said to her. She'd never done that to her when she was a kid.

"Well, of co-" she began to gloat but before she could finish Wendy leaned to the side, trying to see past her, and grinned with vixen-like amusement.

"Hey, Rock-Queen, the stove's on fire."

Startled, Pacifica whirled around and immediately caught sight of the flames burning through the chicken. With a cry of dismay she rushed forward to put it out.

"Haha," Stan laughed and teased, "guess it's safer for all of us if you stay away from cooking majors."

Filling up a cup of water she tossed a nasty glare over her shoulder, "oh shut up at least nothing I make has hair in it!"

"Hey!" Stan slapped a hand against the table for emphasis, "my hair adds flavor- it's a natural spice!" Then he gestured at Mabel, "right?!"

Recalling every greasy hair that she'd pulled off her tongue after a hastily made batch of Stan-cakes, Mabel stuck out her tongue and scrunched up her face in a way she hoped was as apologetic as it was teasing.

Stan was about to say something but got cut off by a loud FWOOSH and splitting screech from Pacifica- who was stumbling wildly away from the inferno her efforts had incidentally created.

"Woah- what the-?" stumbling back, Stan raised his feet off the floor as a hoard of gnomes pooled into the kitchen. Pacifica emitted yet another shriek while Wendy stepped up onto her chair to avoid the little gremlins- punching one or two off as they tried to climb up her legs.

"What are these- dwarves?!"the red-head demanded.

"Hey!" a familiar voice struck a shiver down Mabel's spine, "we are nothing like those smelly cave dwellers!" Looking no older than the day she'd met him, Jeff was lifted into the air by a small squadron of his followers.

"Ah!" Wendy cried as one of the gnomes leapt from the windowsill and swung on a lock of her hair. "Get off of me!" she snarled, yanking the creature free as simply as if she'd rehearsed the defensive move. Knowing she had at least two young brothers, Mabel would bet she had.

"Yo, pretty sure these guys are the little mole people that keep stealing our trash," Soos mentioned, not seeming to mind much when Smebulock Jr. started gnawing on his leg.

"We are gnomes!" Jeff continued as though he hadn't noticed, "fierce warriors of the wood come to retrieve our stolen treasure." The fire on the stove burned ever brighter, fanning upwards into a column that sent some of the more curious creatures backwards, twittering fearfully.

"'Stolen treasure'?" Stan echoed, relaxing somewhat as he faced the tower of gnomes while those not conjoined settled elsewhere.

"That's what I said," Jeff huffed then jabbed a finger at Soos, "Your slave-baby has stolen our sacred rosa gemstone. He has challenged our race and threatened our people!"

Mabel's brow furrowed and, glancing between the rose in her hand and the gnome, asked, "do you mean this?"

The gnomes erupted at the sight, twittering and chirping. Little hands made grabbing motions at Mabel, still perched safely on Soos's shoulder, while cries of "the stone!" and "give it to us!" filled the air. Smoke made her cough and the flap of flames turned her head towards the stove.

"Guh!" Wendy groaned, now trying to fend off her stubborn leaches with a broom, "Mabel just give the dumb thing to them- we gotta put that fire out!"

Yet, a childish reluctance held the young girl back. She wanted to have something to remember her future friends by when she, Stan, and Wendy returned to their own time and what could be better than such a beautiful gift? She wanted to show it to Dipper…

It was just as her brother's name passed through her thoughts that he appeared in the doorway.

Well, not technically. The person she'd come to call "Big Dipper" was not entirely like the one she knew. He was taller for one- taller than Wendy even (something he was quite smug about). Long camo-green cargo pants hung off his hips and a customary red shirt peaked out from under his navy hoodie. A metal dog tag- the kind soldiers used to identify themselves- hung around his neck on a leather chord and a braided bracelet made of horsehair was wrapped a few times around his right wrist, visible as Dipper held a cell phone against his ear. He'd told her she had made it for him.

There were size 6 black gages pieced on either earlobe and he kept his hair a little shorter than when they were kids. It was still long enough to cover his birthmark, though. Even if it hadn't been her brother didn't seem to have given up his old hat- the one he'd gotten after their very first adventure in Gravity Falls. It was beaten up, faded, and had a poorly saved hole in the back but, to Mabel, it was a relief to see.

She was not at all happy, however, about the bags that underlined his eyes. When Soos had taken Stan, Wendy, and herself to pick Dipper up from college on the way to the Mystery Shack they'd looked heavy- but not too much more than normal. Now they were terrible.

Starting at his tear ducts they were an irritated and bruised looking red that faded to the customary blue-black-purple highlights of insomnia as you moved away.

He stood with a tired expression on his face, overlooking the complete and utter chaos that had overcome the kitchen in his absence. Whoever he was talking to said something but Mabel was only able to hear the buzz of their voice- not any distinct words.

"Yeah- yeah, I'm still here, sorry," Dipper sighed and yawned.

"Dipper!" Wendy hissed, "what are you doing- go get the fire extinguisher!"

He lowered the phone from his ear to respond, stepping inside the kitchen, "there isn't one."

"What?! Why?!"

"We haven't been able to replace it since the last time," he explained, speaking over Jeff as he shouted at the teen.

"Hey! Kid!" Jeff gave some signal for his cohort to move forward, "I'm talking to you, don't be so rude!"

"I'm back," Dipper said, returning the phone to his ear and his back to Jeff. He opened the pantry and looked around for a moment, listening to the person on the other line as though the gnomes weren't even in the house. Mabel was concerned that maybe her brother was just too sleep deprived to notice them…

"Okay- no- that's not-" he tried to interrupt, pinning the phone between his ear and shoulder so he could free his hands. "Dude, no, listen to me; you can't insert L5.1-96 into one of Mr. Bollocks's cells!- Yes, we named the mouse! Do you even know how old he is?" He lifted a large tupperware box from the cupboard and stood. All anyone seemed capable of doing now was watching him. "Stop it," he sighed, "KIF13A has literally nothing to do with this. You can't just-" He was cut off again and frowned, seeming peeved, working the lid off the box. When the lid was removed he held the container above the flames on the stove and began a shuffling gesture with his arms. Baking soda poured out and onto the flames, soon smothering them.

"David," Dipper's voice was firm, "look, I appreciate the effort you've put into this but honestly; you're trying to combine plant DNA with animal DNA- not to mention the process you just labored through is only going to splice the RNA like three more times than needed. You won't have anything left to sequence!" When he was sure the fire was out he turned towards the fridge and reached upwards. "What sound?" he asked innocently, pulling down a pen, "oh that? Yeah, remember how I haven't been in class these last four days that's because I'm trying to help my family deal with a crisis."

"Alright that's it- gnomes, attack!" Jeff, at last, seemed to have had enough of being ignored.

It was at that exact moment that Dipper pressed his thumb into a switch on the side of the black pen he'd revealed and a red laser sprung out the tip. The light landed on the floor and just like that all the gnomes stopped.

"Woah, woah, everybody stop!" Jeff ordered, holding his hands out and making a sweeping gesture with them.

"Oh my gosh," Dipper groaned, still locked in his conversation. "I can't believe this," he mumbled under breath, then said louder; "look I know you can put eukaryotic DNA into prokaryotic DNA but-"

To Jeff and his colony Dipper no longer seemed important. Their eyes were trapped, locked on the red dot flickering around in slow absentminded designs.

"It's the dot." Hushed exclamations of wonder rippled through the crowd.

"The dot," they said, "the dot is back."

"The dot is back!"

"The dot is back?"

Then; "grab it!"

And like that they were off, chasing the laser pointer like excited grey hounds. A slow amused smile was born on Mabel's face and a disbelieving chuckle escaped Wendy. Dipper led the swarm of gnomes around the kitchen like they were a school of fish, making sure that he had every single one of them before he walked back out the door.

Curious, Mabel jumped down Soos' shoulder and followed her brother to the front door. Phone in one hand, laser pointer in the other, she was more than ready to help him but he had it covered before she could so much as stand next to him. Once again pinching his cell between shoulder and ear he freed one hand and turned the knob.

Dipper didn't bother with shoes as he stepped out onto the porch, making the red light of the laser pointer zigzag across the snow and watching the little gnomes dive after it- everything up to the tip of their hats disappearing into a sea of white. Every now and then one would jump, flying through the air like a minnow breaching the surface before diving back under.

For a while he stood there craftily leading the gnomes on a hunt and talking to someone she eventually realized was one of his project partners. She didn't really understand much- having no idea what "Pseudomonas fluorescens" or "neurological motor control cells" were. She felt somewhat lonesome and detached from this person she seemed to know nothing about and share no more interests in.

At last he noticed her standing beside him and grinned tiredly. Mabel could see genuine delight take place in his eyes, though, and was relieved.

He hasn't forgotten me, she thought, comforted, even though he's been working all this time. Dipper was so different as a teen it was hard not to feel anxious.

Catching his sister's attention Dipper motioned to the little cat flap beside the door- probably how the gnomes had entered the house. He mimed a closing movement and almost dropped his phone but thankfully Mabel understood. She was latching it when he finally sent the gnomes scurrying into the woods, chasing the phantom "red dot" and seemed to give up on his conversation.

"Okay- you know what?!" he snarled, "fine- fine. If you want to throw apart our experiment and destroy three years of data go for it. I have more important issues to deal with and I'm not your professor. I'm not paid to let you waste my time." Then he snapped the cell shut and threw it into the snow like it was a Frisbee that had caused him personal grief.

His breath plumed white smoke into the cold winter air as he took a deep breath, his shoulders sagging with stress and exhaustion.

"Dipper?" Mabel's voice sounded small even to her ears and, apparently, to Dipper's too. He turned and saw her, commiseration welling up in his eyes.

"Hey, sorry," he said quietly, squatting down to look into her eyes. Mabel pouted at him for it and he laughed, "yeah, yeah, I know. If it helps I think you've still got 3 or 4 millimeters on me in this time."

Glee bloomed in Mabel's heart but she shut it down before it could get too big, concerned once again for her sleep deprived brother. He was so different- so stressed and tired and busy it was like he was a different person. Dipper saw this homesickness but was diverted when she shifted her feet, noticing her bare, bright red toes. He at least was wearing socks.

"Woah, what," he reprimanded teasingly, "no shoes? Didn't forget which feet were yours again did you?" The joke, one that carried back to their preschool days, lit Mabel up and carried a smile onto her face. "That's just no good," Dipper continued, reaching forward and seamlessly scooping his little sister up into his arms, "here; let's go sit down. I can give you a detailed, three hour lecture on the history of shoes."

"Noooo!" Mabel shouted, laughing as she slammed her fists against his chest- "ow." - and neck- "ow." Then she threatened; "I will glue your socks together again, Dipper!"

"Hey, that's just mean," he chided, smiling as he opened the door and carried her inside, "Look at all this effort I'm going through for you!"

Laughter burbled up out of Mabel and she struggled in his grip long enough to hear him call to Grunkle Stan and close the door. Someone mentioned something about pizza and getting the kitchen cleaned up but she was far too focused on her escape. Almost before she knew it Dipper was dumping her into Stan's old weathered arm chair and collapsing on top of her.

"Oh no," he moaned, "I've been slain by the mighty beast." Still laughing Mabel jammed her legs into his back and tried to hold him off.

"No you haven't, get off!" The smile on her face was so wide it hurt.

"Guaaaaaagghhhhh," her brother insisted and slid past her defensive legs like jelly, "Dipper capsizing, Dipper capsizing!"

"Dipper no!" she giggled, pushing her hands against his head and cheek.

"Nope," he whispered, growing still now that he was splayed completely over her, "Dipper's not here anymore- he's dead."

"No you're not!"

"Yes he is…Welp!" then Dipper perked up, pushing his sister further into the couch just in doing so, "guess it's time to watch TV."

"Dipper!"

"Hm, sounds a bit like Mabel."

"Get off or I'll bite you!"

"Hey, Stan! What did you do to the armchair- it's weirdly lumpy today."

"Dipper!" Mabel kept true to her word and after flipping through channels and several changes in position- so Dipper ended up half on the chair and half off with his head hanging upside down over the armrest and trying to watch spoiler-worthy episodes of Ducktective- she kept true to her word and a loud yelp resounded through the shack.

In the kitchen, just finishing with the dishes, Grunkle Stan heard his nephew shout in his best tattle-tale voice, "Grunkle Stan Mabel bit me!" It was hard to resist laughing.

Yep. Dipper really hadn't grown up at all- just as he'd always expected.

That night was spent trying to cram 6 people onto a one person arm chair- never mind the couch beside it- and get the three time-skippers all caught up on the new season of Ducktective. And for the longest time it would remain one of Mabel's most treasured memories.

Dipper, she decided, was missing out- poor guy had to wait 5 years to get to this single moment. Snug between her twin and her Grunkle she marveled at the little rose in her hand, knowing that Dipper knew she had it and knowing that Dipper knew the gnomes had wanted it back but had let her keep it anyway.

He's going to be so jealous, she thought with a sleepy smile.

-END-