11
Pacifica

Mabel wanted to go there instantly, however everyone all said they would need, at least, a day of prep prior. One doesn't simply waltz into a cult's lair and demand for Dipper Gleeful back and return unscathed, right?

Morale had been knocked down. That was one way to put it. In other words, it had been shot, tortured with the chance of hope, and then buried deep deep down.

Why? Pacifica thought as she paced the kitchen floor the following afternoon. Why would Dipper go put himself in harm's way intentionally? He always had a motivation. He always had a logical reasoning behind every move he made.

"Well? Is your brain planning?"

Pacifica stopped mid-pace to stare at Matthew, who had somehow silently entered the kitchen. Clearing her throat, she tried to look a little less frantic. "Yeah, I know Mabel's a little out of it, so I want to help as much as I can."

Matthew nodded and let out a small, sad smile. "I cannot help but wonder, Scarlett," his expression didn't change as he said her false name —he must've really believed that Scarlett was her. "Where your motivations lie."

Was she wrong? Did he actually know that she and Scarlett were lying to him? "I'm. . .I'm not sure what you mean."

Matthew shook his head sadly, casting a glance to the balcony where the real Scarlett stood. "I know a jealous heart when I see one. I hope it doesn't harm your already fragile heart, but Dipper spoke fondly of you. Too fondly. Am I safe in assuming that he loved you?"

Bitterness swelled in Pacifica's chest. She couldn't really explain or even begin to fathom why. Was it because she wanted to be the only girl he could love? She knew how he treated past relationships, if he ever had any serious ones, and it had always made her feel happy knowing he loved her. Unconditionally and truly.

There must've been a sort of tell on her face, because Matthew made a soft 'ah' sound.

"You loved him, is that right?" He continued. "It must be, judging by your perseverance and all that. Would I be wrong in assuming you still love him?"

"He's my best friend." Pacifica lied, trying to inhabit Scarlett Valentino's mind. She was a difficult person to read, and when it came down to it, Pacifica would list her as morally grey. Matthew's words clawed at her neck, cutting off the air she was meant to breathe. Did Scarlett still love Dipper?

"Ah, unrequited love." He mused, closing his eyes. "Is there anything more tragic?"

Pacifica kept her mouth shut. This had to be a test, right? He wanted to make sure she was really who she claimed to be, right? Why did it feel like he hit the nail right on the head?

"Do forgive me," he quickly spoke, "I do not wish to recover buried memories, I just want to make sure your heart is in the right place. It is best, regardless of the outcome, that we get Dipper reunited with his family —present and future."

"You're fine." Pacifica said through clenched teeth, eyeing where Scarlett smoked on the balcony, Mabel next to her albeit a little distant.

"Do you have a plan?" Matthew changed the subject fluidly. "You seem like the best strategist currently available."

"I have the basics of a plan." She admitted, "however I dunno this café, but you must, right?"

"Oui!" He clapped his hands together. "Forgive my enthusiasm, this all just sounds so very heroic! Always wanted to play the hero, y'know?"

"Focus." Pacifica snapped, feeling instantly bad as she saw his hurt expression. "We just need a run-down of how the building is structured. As soon as we know of the entire layout, we will be able to pin down any possible entryways."

Matthew gestured to the table. "Shall we discuss? I have a very good memory! Would you like a drawn-up version? I major in art and theatre!"

Despite the initial air he brought when he first started talking, Pacifica found a small smile on her face for the first time in awhile.

"Of course you do."

Matthew took a minute to grab some supplies from his bedroom, but he was back soon enough. After that, Pacifica anxiously tapped her foot as he began sketching the layout of the building.

At first she was a little alarmed that Matthew knew so many details about the café, but he reassured jer that he hadn't planned any criminal activity, it was just his favourite place to go.

"You must try their teas, Scarlett!" He had exclaimed in the midst of his drawing. "I promise you they are worth your interest!"

Gideon came through the kitchen about halfway through our planning session. "Hey p-people." He stumbled over his words, and Pacifica prayed that he could easily play it off. "Whoa! Mattie, did you draw that?!"

"Matthew." Matthew corrected. "Oui, is it to your liking?"

"I'm impressed!" Gideon exclaimed, pulling a chair up next to Matthew. "You've got mad skills."

"Please never say that again in my presence." Pacifica bit her lip, trying to get her mind to relax.

"Well, thank you very much!" Matthew grinned, positively beaming and basking in Gideon's praise. "I am nearly finished, and then Scarlett and I will be gathering everyone in the kitchen. Would you mind fetching Miss Gleeful and Miss Paz?"

Gideon blinked twice and gave Pacifica a look. It took another moment before it dawned on his face and he gave them a nod paired with a thumbs up.

Ten minutes later, they were all seated at the kitchen table, looking over the drawing that Matthew was kind enough to give them.

"You see, the café is a very bustling place, however it happens to be closed now." Matthew explained, "and considering how it is now past sundown, we should have no trouble getting into the place unseen."

Pacifica decided it was best to explain what she had noticed in the sketch while she watched Matthew draw it. "See, the likelihood of the secret passageway being inside the actual café is highly unlikely. If you can see here," she pointed to the clusters, "all the tables are spaced out to perfect proportions, leaving little room for a secret underground tunnel."

"Just because it is at the café, doesn't mean it's inside the café." Mabel clarified. "The café is next to an alleyway, right? Wouldn't it be more likely for the passageway to be located somewhere in the alleyway?"

"Yuck, that's too cliché for me." Scarlett snorted.

Mabel shot her a look. "It doesn't matter if it's too cliché for you, what matters is taking in all the options we have!"

Pacifica winced at Mabel's harsh tone, knowing all too well that it wouldn't do any good, especially when aimed at someone like Scarlett Valentino. However, she could understand where Mabel was coming from; her brother's life was on the line, for heaven's sake! "I agree with Mabel," Pacifica muttered, "regardless of how cliché it is, it is the more likely route."

"Hey, guys?" Gideon suddenly spoke, making Pacifica realise that he hadn't said anything for quite a long time. "I know how serious this is and everything," he rubbed at the back of his neck as if he were too embarrassed for even speaking up in the first place, "and that's why I think we need to discuss."

Pacifica wanted to make sure that Gideon was comfortable, so she gave him her warmest smile that she could possibly muster during that time, and nodded. "Please, continue."

Gideon only seemed to be more panicked. "U-um, well, we are talking about breaking into a passageway that leads to where a cult that has been around for at least a thousand years lives unbothered. . .a cult that does away with anyone who figures out who they are. . ."

Oh. Pacifica knew where he was going with this.

"I think we should just talk about the possibility that this will fail." He gestured to the sketch on the table. "And that this is very dangerous, everything that we're doing." Gideon immediately turned to Mabel, an apology splattered on his face. "And I know that we're doing this all for Dipper's sake and I'm not trying to sound selfish. . .but I'm. . ." he trailed off for a moment before regaining some of his composure, "I'm honestly really scared that we could die."

It was hard to speak after such a statement. It was absolutely true, Pacifica realised, that there was a good chance they could perish from whatever happened. She thought of her parents, and how they would find out how she lied to them about her whereabouts. How betrayed they would feel. And then to find out she was dead? Pacifica was so caught up in just rescuing Dipper that she didn't even think about the repercussions of her actions.

Her face paled and Pacifica quickly looked at everyone, hoping to see that they had reached the same conclusion as she had. The only person who's expression stayed un-wavered, was, of course, Scarlett's.

"My parents have always favoured Dipper." Mabel spoke softly, as if she wasn't entirely sure where she was going with it. Or if it was worth being said out loud in the first place. "It was clear from early childhood, especially when he first travelled across the country with Stanford. I remember how my parents looked at me like I was nothing, and that I would never succeed. I'd rather not exist than go back to that."

Pacifica reached out a hand to comfort her, but she pulled it away.

"Dipper is the only family I have left that actually, truly, cares about me. And sees me as I am.." She shook her head sadly. "I know my life is on the line here, and I'm not afraid. Anyone who feels different, I completely understand."

"We're with you, Mabes." Pacifica said, feeling a bit more sure of herself. "You can count on me."

"M-me too!" Gideon shook away any feeling of timidity.

"Of course, I'm in." Scarlett snorted. "We've made it this far. What else could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

Despite it not being her first 'heist/mission', Pacifica was just as shaky as she used to be. It's hard to get used to daring rescues when you just want to live a normal life.

And as soon as she stepped foot in Reverse Falls those three years ago, it seemed that normal was no longer on the table. Not by a long shot.

Silently, the four of them —Matthew ended up admitting that he was not up for potentially losing his life—, walked closer and closer to the café.

To make things more cliché, they were dressed in all black, heads down, the whole thing. The only person who looked normal was Scarlett.

They decided that it would be best to let her take the lead, seeing as she had successfully snuck in and out of places more frequently than the rest of them had, but Pacifica had never seen her so vigilant before.

"We're here." She muttered, glancing at the place. "We need to make this quick; in and out."

"I don't think I've watched nearly as many spy movies to prepare myself for that." Gideon commented.

"Just follow my lead." Scarlett rolled her eyes and stepped away from the café, eyes scanning down the darkened alleyway. "We already have the location of the entryway pinned down to three places. It shouldn't be that hard getting in."

"Our plan is to stay out of sight." Pacifica nodded along, feeling a little less than useless during this entire escapade of theirs. But she had to realise sooner or later that not every task we handled would fall under her jurisdiction.

"I hear you," Gideon nodded, "but like, what if we are found out?"

"Run like hell." Scarlett deadpanned. "Can't catch us all, can they?"

"That's not the way to be looking at this, Scarlett." Mabel muttered. "You all know the routes to take if we are discovered, right?"

Pacifica nodded. "Yes, we pair off. Me with Dipper, and you three—"

"No." Scarlett said firmly. "I've more experience with running and rendezvous points; I'll go off on my own. That splits us into three groups. Ergo, more difficult to track."

Pacifica wanted to voice her concerns, but soon realised it would be a rather moot point. Scarlett knew what she was doing, there was no reason to question her. "Gotcha."

Mabel tapped her foot a little, as if she didn't like the plan Scarlett borderline-improvised right in front of her, but it looked like she eventually came to the same conclusion as Pacifica had. "Alright. Let's get this over with."

"Agreed! I'm kinda cold."

As silent as shadows, they crept down the alleyway, all their eyes scanning every single crevice in that place. Pacifica was glad they had Matthew draw the area around the café as well prior to their search, because otherwise they would've spent much more time out and about, looking more and more suspicious.

Scarlett eventually tracked down the sewer grate that truly led somewhere. And they made it all down there almost completely unscathed. Except Gideon got his foot wet.

Pacifica grabbed her phone to use it as a flashlight, but stopped dead in her tracks when Scarlett whipped an actual flashlight out of her pocket.

Slowly and steadily they walked down the dimly lit tunnel until it funnelled off. A ladder led them to the bowels of the tunnel and it smelt like wet wood down there.

The smell invaded Pacifica's nostrils and she had to cover her mouth and stop in her tracks for a moment.

"We don't have all night, Paz." Scarlett warned as she passed her by, shining the flashlight in her face. "Yeah, it smells like shit, but what did you expect?"

The longer they walked, the less sure of herself Pacifica became. What if this was a dead end? What if they didn't find anything down there?

But then again, if the cult allegedly existed for thousands of years unseen, they knew how to hide themselves. That thought kept her going for the rest of the walk.

Just when Pacifica was about to voice her concerns about them finding anything, they stumbled upon a huge pipe that had a stream of water just falling out of it into a deeper part of the tunnel system.

"This looks like the end of the tunnel." Mabel frowned.

"Ooh! Wait wait!" Gideon pushed ahead of them and stopped two feet from the waterfall of death. "What if it's like from Tangled?"

"The fuck is Tangled?" Scarlett asked.

In lieu of answering, Gideon gave them a thumbs up before covering his head and jumping through the waterfall.

"GIDEON!" Pacifica couldn't help the startled yelp that left her mouth when her brain finally caught up to what he was intending to do.

"You guys get over here!" Gideon's voice yelled from behind the water. "There's a door! It really is like Tangled!"

Scarlett winced as she looked at the water, her eyes viciously scanning the remaining area. "Are we sure that there isn't another way around?"

"Aw, are you scared of getting wet?" Pacifica joked lightly, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Her head whipped to stare at her directly, vivid green eyes slitting. "I'm not scared of anything." She stated firmly before going to the slimmest sliver of solid ground, eyeing the distance, and leaping across, without touching the water.

Where she landed wasn't much firmer anyway, and she carefully shimmied behind the waterfall, until she disappeared from sight. The only way they knew if she had made it or not was Gideon's loud groan.

"Ugh! There was a way to do this without getting soaked?!" He whined.

After Pacifica and Mabel made it across, also without getting wet, we had Scarlett pick the door open for them with much more urgency than she had when we broke into Matthew's apartment. With less show and tell, she got the door open pronto and led them through it.

When Pacifica thought of a cult's secret hideout, she figured that it would be extraordinarily high-tech, hidden behind a rock in the woods or something. Not in the sewers of Paris. The only noticeably 'high-tech' thing in the entryway was a blasted handprint scanner. Quite literally blasted.

Gideon's teeth stopped chattering enough to question it, "hey, um, what do you think did that?"

Scarlett leaned closer to take a better look at it. "That's weird, that doesn't look like the blast radius of any weapon I know."

Pacifica turned to look at her, the question clear on her face.

"One of my sister's ex-boyfriends was an arms dealer." Scarlett shrugged as if that was the most nonchalant thing in the world. "But whatever did it, it was trying to get into this place."

Mabel gasped lightly. "Maybe. . .maybe it was Dipper?"

Pacifica nodded along. "It could've been him." Dipper had said in his secret message that magic had to do with this. Whether he was referring to the cult, or himself, she wasn't sure.

"Alright, from here on out, we need to be cautious. Everyone follow my lead, and keep an eye out for Dipper, and boobytraps." Scarlett grumbled, slowly opening the door and peeking inside.

Gideon snorted. "Boobytraps? Isn't that a little cliché?"

"Gideon, they have a secret hideout behind a waterfall."

"Fair point."

Scarlett continued to lead them through, much more slower than her initial pace, but Pacifica understood why. This was going to be the most dangerous part of their crucial mission. Making them hide behind pillars, and walls when she heard footfalls.

With extraordinary luck, Scarlett found a room that was uninhabited and made them rest there for a moment. Pacifica's heart was beating out of her chest, and she was thankful that everyone felt the same as she did. She glanced around the room and saw rows and rows of cabinets.

Without so much as a second thought, her feet carried her to the nearest cabinet. A file cabinet, by the looks of it. Pacifica pulled open the drawer and began sifting through the numerous amounts of documents painstakingly organised.

"Paz, what are you doing?" Gideon hissed, running up to her.

"This is some sort of information station." Pacifica mumbled, keeping her eyes on the documents. It didn't help that a majority of them were written in some sort of code, but some of them were written in French, as well as English. "And we need all the information we can get."

She tried to understand the organisational system that the cult had going for them, because Pacifica knew she wouldn't have enough time to go through all of them without someone noticing, but that was difficult when most of them were written in code.

Knowing that she wouldn't have the brain power to figure them out on her own or remember their contents, Pacifica resorted to grabbing her phone and snapping pictures of every single document she could get her hands on. She knew they were running on a clock, but if they were docking in the information room to touch base, she wanted to try to assist a bit more than she had been.

Pacifica felt that Scarlett had really been taking the lead in their search. Not only did she list a few places where Dipper could've been, but she chatted with people from the school he was attending, found his apartment, and got them in in no time flat.

Also, she had snuck them in completely unseen despite the stakes being so high. It was very clear that she wanted Dipper found more than she would admit outright, which was to be understood. They were the best of friends. However, Matthew's words echoed in the back of Pacifica's mind.

Ah, unrequited love. . .is there anything more tragic?

Maybe there was some truth to Matthew's passing words. Guiltily, Pacifica glanced over her shoulder to where Scarlett was whispering what she could only guess was about a plan to Gideon. Mabel stood on the sidelines, arms crossed across herself, but paying adamant attention to the words coming out of Scarlett's mouth.

Put together how fiercely Scarlett was searching for Dipper with how distant she and Mabel had become. . .the picture was not something desired to look at. Despite all the affirmations her head was giving her about Dipper's love for her, Pacifica's heart couldn't stop screaming that Scarlett was a threat.

Besides, Dipper didn't even clue her in on everything he was doing regarding magic while he was away. Why would he do that? After promising that he would never lie to her. How strong could their relationship really be if he was lying to her about his intentions in Paris?

"Paz? Let's go!" Gideon had snuck up on her without her knowledge, causing Pacifica to jump out of her thoughts and right into him.

He fumbled, waving his arms dramatically as he tried to catch himself before he fell, but it was rather fruitless as he tumbled across the floor. All that was heard after the crash was the sound of a blaring alarm overhead.