Gideon woke up the following morning from the sound of his phone ringing on his nightstand. He forced his tired eyes to remain open as he answered the call.

"Paz?" he croaked.

"Sup, Gid! Sorry to wake you up from your beauty sleep, but I needed to tell you something. Meet me outside and I'm gonna hang up before you can protest!"

The line went dead. Gideon groaned. He rolled out of bed and slipped on a jacket along with a pair of sneakers before leaving his room. He didn't bother with attempting to tame his spiky bed hair besides running his fingers through it once or twice before answering the door.

"Why do you always want to meet up so early?" Gideon yawned. Pacifica didn't bother with answering his question. She grabbed his hand, placed something in the palm of his hand and curled his fingers into a fist.

"I got this for you and I was planning on giving it to you before that whole wendigo fiasco."

Gideon unfurled his hand to examine the object he had been handed. It was a white, circular pin with a blue pine tree engraved in the center.

"I got it at a gift shop on one of my first days in town." Pacifica smiled. "I'm not the new kid in town anymore. It's a new chapter."

Gideon pinned it to the heart of his sweatshirt. It seemed to fit there perfectly, like a key that had been inserted into a lock. A perfect match. "Wow. . . I can't believe it! Thanks!"

"Don't mention it." Pacifica's smile grew wider as she continued. "But I can think of a way that you could possibly pay me back. . ."

Gideon shoved his hands in his pockets in an attempt to warm them up from the chilly morning air. "Sure, I'll try the best I can, whatever it is."

"Do you think we could possibly snag some tickets to go to the grand reopening of the Telepathy Show?"

"The Telepathy what?" The name rang a bell in the back of his mind yet Gideon couldn't remember exactly where he had heard it from.

"The Pines twins are putting on their first show in five years. It's a pretty big deal. So big, the show sold out last night!"

Gideon's unexplained weariness towards the Pines temporarily subsided as his curiosity got the best of him. "Seriously?"

Pacifica turned on her phone, tapped the screen a few times, then handed it to him. She had pulled up the Mystery Fair's website, and sure enough there was a big, red SOLD OUT icon plastered over every old ticket option.

"I know from that rehearsal that your dad doesn't usually get freebies when it comes to the shows, but it wouldn't hurt to ask, right?"

Gideon nodded considerably and handed her phone back. "It's worth a try, I guess." He stepped aside and let Pacifica enter the hallway before closing the door and walking towards his dad's bedroom, ready to knock on the door and ask the big question. He lowered his hand when he saw the bright yellow note taped to the door.

Had to leave for work early. Breakfast in the fridge. Working late tonight for the first show. Call if you need me.
-Dad

Gideon took the note from the door and crumpled it up in his hands. "Sorry Paz. He's already at work."

Pacifica took the ball of paper from his hands, un-crumpled it and scanned over the writing. "But it says right here that you can call him."

"He never answers his phone while he's at work," Gideon muttered. "Believe me. I've tried."

Pacifica frowned and handed the note back to him.

"Sorry to hear that."

Gideon snatched the note from her hands and shuffled to the kitchen to fix some breakfast.
"There's nothing to be sorry about. It's just the way it is. My dad and I have never really gotten along or bonded or whatever. I'm sure that the only reason he let me stay here in the first place was to get on my mom's good side, to fool her into thinking that he still cares about us."

He tossed the note in the trash and flung open the refrigerator door to find something to throw together. Pacifica sat down at the breakfast table and rested her head in her arms. "I'm sure it's not like that. Everyone has some good intentions. It's just not always easy to see."

Gideon laughed and pulled out a carton of eggs from the fridge and a pan from a cabinet. He let them fall on the countertop with a number of audible clangs.

"You don't know my dad at all. He gives you this sense of hope before pulling out the rug from under your feet, and before you know it you're wondering if it's your fault to begin with."

"Stop talking like that! I'm sure-"

"-how can you be sure? Just forget it, Paz. It's not your problem," Gideon snapped. He took his anger out on an egg by cracking it on the side of the pan, a little too hard. The yolk spilled from in between his fingers and dripped on the floor.

Pacifica jumped to grab a towel. Gideon reached the towel before she did.

"It's not your problem," he repeated.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

"Mabel. Time to go," Wendy called from the bottom of the staircase. "The show starts in less than an hour."

"We'll be down in another minute!" Mabel called back while she finished lacing Dipper's amulet through the collar of his baby-blue button down shirt. Finally, she took a dark blue cape and began tying it around his neck.

Dipper sighed and absentmindedly whistled a bit of the show tune that Bud Gleeful had written for their opening number. After so many long hours of rehearsal, the catchy music had practically been wired into his brain.

"I feel ridiculous in this thing," he complained. When Mabel turned to grab a comb, Dipper took the opportunity to quickly loosen the bolo tie in order to breathe normally

"Stop your complaining. I designed these myself," Mabel said with a smile. "They suit us." She ran the comb through his hair, sweeping his long curls out of his eyes and smoothing them back with some hair gel. This way his birthmark was impossible to overlook.

Dipper turned to gaze at his reflection and instantly regretted doing so. The boy standing in the mirror couldn't be him. No way. His pale, colorless face glared back at him with dim, tired, brown eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and hatred. Dipper looked back at his sister, who stared back at him with a look of great pleasure.

"You look perfect."

Dipper grimaced. "I don't look like myself."

"That's why it's called a costume." Mabel examined her own reflection and tossed her long hair over her shoulders. "Now let's hurry to get this over with. The sooner the show's over, the sooner we can get our hands on that journal."

"Remind me exactly how we're going to pull that of?"

"It's simple," Mabel said. "We'll talk to Bud after the show. I told him to take the tunnel entrance in our dressing room so we could meet up at the Order."

"Do you think he'll already have the journal? It's only been. . . what, a day or two?"

"I don't know. But if he doesn't, I can assure that there will be consequences."

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

Gideon was able to calm himself down over the course of breakfast with Pacifica. She seemed to work well with people no matter what mood they were in. Gideon concluded that this is definitely one of the main traits that made Pacifica a people person.

"And I know I've been asking a whole lot of questions this morning, but I was just too curious to hold back," Pacifica said casually after finishing off her omelet.

"Ahuh?" Gideon mumbled before taking a long sip of orange juice.

"How far have you gotten in that book?"

Gideon coughed and set down his glass hard enough that it could've shattered into a million pieces. "I don't know what you're talking about," he lied.

"I'm not an idiot. I saw you take it."

Gideon knew he was terrible at lying and now questioned himself as to why he even tried to get away with it. Mental note to self, don't even try to lie. It never works. Gideon slid deeper into his seat, ashamed of himself. "I couldn't help it! It was an original copy, those things are worth hundreds!"

"Exactly!" Pacifica exclaimed happily.

Wait, Gideon thought. Why is she happy? He frowned. "You're not suggesting that we resell it, are you?"

"What? No way!" Pacifica scoffed. "I was gonna say that this would be the perfect opportunity to sneak into the show! Now if we get caught, we have a perfectly good reason. You can tell whoever catches us that you found the book laying on the floor or something and decided to return it to the Pines."

She waited for Gideon to agree or even congratulate her on such a wonderfully thought out plan, but he didn't.

"What's the problem? Are you already too attached to it?" Pacifica teased.

Gideon shook his head. "No. . . it's not that, but then again in a way my answer would be yes."

"Is there something you haven't told me?"

"That book wasn't just some old copy of The Sibling Brothers. The book jacket was only disguising it. I'm pretty sure that the twins were trying to keep it hidden. I have no idea why, but it kind of makes since from what I've read."

"What are you talking about?"

Gideon scooted his chair across the floor and hopped down to his feet. "I'll show you. Hold on, I'll go get it."

He ran to his room, nearly tripping over himself in the process. His heart pounded louder and louder from the excitement. Sliding into his room, Gideon looked at his nightstand, where he remembered putting the journal before he fell asleep.
The journal wasn't there.

Gideon's heartbeat raced faster and faster by every passing second as he ran around his room, looking around every inch of the space. It had be there. It's not like a book could disappear or just grow legs and walk.

Pacifica appeared in the doorway, looking bored.
"What's taking so long? You've been in here for fifteen minutes already."

Gideon didn't look up at her, he was too busy desperately tearing through a pile of dirty clothes.
"It's not here! I have no idea what happened to it!"

"You lost it?!"

"I didn't lose it. . . it's gotta be somewhere in this house."

Pacifica gasped. "You don't think someone stole it?"

Gideon paused and looked up at her. "No. . . who would do that?"

Before Pacifica could suggest anything, Gideon's eyes widened. "What if it was the twins?" he whispered.

Pacifica broke into a fit of giggles. "That's a little outrageous, don't'cha think?"

Gideon began pacing around the room in circles. "It makes since for them to do so  if that book was really important to them. . . Oh no. Oh no this can not be good."

"What's not good?"

Gideon stopped and nervously pulled at the strings of his green hoodie. "That book has a lot of dark stuff in it. I'm talking spells, witchcraft, there was even an incantation to summon a DEMON!"

"Why on earth would anyone believe that?" Pacifica pointed out. "All of that junk just sounds like a really bad book."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Gideon exclaimed. "Just last week we were attacked by a WENDIGO! At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if I heard about a car accident involving a unicorn!"

Pacifica fell silent, then nodded. "Okay, so maybe you have a point, there. Yeah. . . this probably isn't good."

"Duh," Gideon replied sarcastically. "What're we gonna do?!"

Pacifica shrugged and leaned against the door frame. "Maybe call the police? Someone had to have broken into your house in order to get that book, right?"

Gideon nodded. "I guess you're right. . ." He didn't sound too sure of himself, but went along with her idea anyways. Pacifica took her phone from her pocket and dialed 911. The phone rang three times before someone picked up.

"911, what's your emergency?"

Pacifica nodded towards Gideon, signaling for him to speak first. Gideon felt panic overwhelm him. His throat clenched so the only audible noise he was able to let out was a small squeak. Pacifica rolled her eyes before speaking in his place.

"Hey. . . um, we'd like to report stolen property? I believe someone broke into my friend's house and stole this bo-"

Gideon slapped the phone from Pacifica's hands. It clattered to the floor. The receptionist sounded confused. "Hello? Hello? Is everything okay?" Gideon quickly picked the phone back up and ended the call.

"What the heck is wrong with you?!" Pacifica shouted. "Why did you do that?!"

"WE CAN'T REPORT THIS!" Gideon sputtered. "I WAS THE ONE WHO STOLE THE BOOK IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

Pacifica couldn't help but laugh. "You're actually afraid of getting caught stealing a book? It's not like you murdered someone."

"That's not the point," Gideon said. "The cops aren't gonna care about some old book. I'm sure they have bigger things to worry about. Besides, we don't have any physical evidence to prove our case."

Pacifica put her hands on her hips. "Well, you should've thought about that BEFORE we called."

Gideon smiled nervously. "Haha. Whoops?"

"So what do you propose we do now, huh, Sherlock?"

"This is a real life mystery, just like The Sibling Brothers. And if I know anything, it's how to solve a mystery just like this!"

Pacifica looked intrigued. She tilted her head and asked,"what's step one to solving a mystery?"

"We work with what we've got," Gideon announced in his most confident voice. "Who are our suspects?"

Pacifica pursed her lips while she thought to herself. "Dipper and Mabel Pines, for starters." She counted on her fingers as she spoke. "And the only other person who lives in this house." She wiggled three  fingers in total.

"You're accusing my dad?" Gideon laughed. "You've got to be joking."

"Consider the possibles, though. Doesn't your dad work with the Pines Twins in the first place?"

Gideon didn't know what to say. At the moment, there was no other evidence to debunk her theory. If it were true, why would his dad sneak into his room to steal some dusty old journal? Gideon hadn't even told his dad about the book to begin with, so how could he know where it was at the time? There had to be something missing, something his dad wasn't telling him. Of course Gideon knew that he and his dad weren't close, but what could his own father be hiding?

A bit of the excitement died off inside of Gideon like a flame as the weight of Pacifica's words settled in the pit of his stomach.

A/N Hope you're enjoying this new turn of events! I'M SO EXCITED FOR WHAT'S COMING NEXT!!! I'd also like to apologize for the lack of updates. School's slowly getting more and more stressful as this semester comes to a close so I've had to focus on my main priorities.

This May, all of my stories are going on hiatus for the month so I can focus on school and junk. On the weekends I'm going to be working on editing older stories (*cough cough* like Dead or Alive *cough* *cough*) and I'll be working on a Gravity Falls one-shot to release sometime in the middle of the month or so. (The one-shot will be called "Three" and it's based on some Weirdmageddon fanart I found where basically Dipper, Wendy and Gideon are the only survivors left and have to find a way to work together to save the town.)

That's all, and I hope everyone has a lovely lil' Sunday followed by a great week.

I'm off to church! :)

-Cath