The Northwests built their mansion over a graveyard.

Mabel backed slowly away from the stone pieces — the gravestone pieces — until she was off the dirt floor. She wiped her hands on her jeans, hoping against hope she wouldn't be cursed just for touching the shattered gravestones. Then again, Gideon was already cursed, so maybe it'd rubbed off on her just from being around him.

"Oh, come on, Pines, the ghosts don't care about you." Gideon's face was partly in shadow, since the amulet was under his chin, but Mabel could still see him roll his eyes at her.

"You built your mansion over a graveyard?" she demanded. "You bulldozed over someone's resting place? No wonder you're haunted! You're standing six feet above a dead body!"

Gideon took a casual step away from the gravestones. "I didn't build over anyone," he said, moving towards her. "This mansion was built a few centuries before I was even born."

"Yeah, well, now your whole family is cursed," Mabel shot back, "so it doesn't really matter. It's a wonder the ghosts haven't tried to kill you before. You said you had a sort of treaty with them?"

"Yeah. They wouldn't bother us, and we'd stop trying to exorcise them."

"No wonder they didn't finish construction in here," Mabel mused. "The haunting was probably so bad that they had to just block it off and build around it. And they can't leave the mansion, because their resting place is here, and you defaced it."

"My great-great grandfather defaced it," Gideon corrected.

"And for some reason they haven't moved on to the next life. . . and you trying to exorcise them with your amulet was like trying to push them against a screen door. It didn't do anything, but it hurt. But brute force can't fix their problem." She frowned. "And apparently they think killing you can."

Gideon raised an eyebrow. "Can it?"

"This is serious!" Mabel said. "You — your family — you're torturing these souls every day just because you decided their graveyard was good real estate! And then you try to banish them from their own resting place because they annoy you! Do you know how — how — "

She stopped, clenching and unclenching her fists, trying to force back tears. She didn't say what she was really thinking: Do you know how scary it is to be a trapped ghost?

Then it hit her.

"This," she said, her voice quiet with horror. "This is why you didn't want me to talk to them. You didn't want me to know about this place."

"What?" Gideon said. "No. I had no idea about this room, or that the mansion was over a graveyard."

She glared at him. "Yeah, right."

"I didn't! My parents told me to exorcise these ghosts, so I tried, and when it didn't work, I made a truce with them. Then everything was fine until they decided to rampage again. I did not know about the graveyard. Otherwise I wouldn't have just tried 'brute force,' as you put it."

There it was again. That tone that said, I obviously know a million times more about ghosts than you do. Mabel hated it. She wanted to punch a wall, stomp her foot, push Gideon into the dirt. You have no idea! she wanted to scream. You have no idea what I've been through!

"You obviously don't believe me," Gideon said, sounding disgusted. "I'm not just another Northwest, Mabel. I wouldn't trap a bunch of ghosts just because I wanted the land their graves were in. Do you really think so poorly of me?"

She was shaking too badly to answer, so she just glared. His callous words, mixed with being trapped, mixed with being trapped in a graveyard — it was building up in her entire body. It was too much.

Now Gideon sounded a little desperate. "Mabel, I'm telling you: I didn't know about the graveyard!" He tried to meet her eyes, but now she refused to look at him. "Mabel. Would I lie to you?"

"Maybe not," Mabel said shakily, her voice rising, "but you'd steal!"

Gideon went silent.

Mabel couldn't take this anymore. She had to get out. She had to get away from Gideon, but she couldn't; she couldn't; she was trapped; she was trapped with him—

So she did the next best thing and stomped to the other side of the room.

She avoided the gravestones, walking along the edges, and made her way to the little alcove in the back corner, where she wouldn't be able to see Gideon or his amulet if she positioned herself the right way. It was dark, but that was better than the amulet. Better than having to see him.

Mabel sat down against the wall, still shaking with anger and panic, wanting to breathe deeply but just too upset. She'd been okay when she was engrossed in the mystery of the gravestones, but solving it had just made everything worse. Now she was entirely aware that she was trapped in a room with an old graveyard surrounded by the lavish mansion of a family too engrossed in their riches to even care.

Trapped in a room with a member of that family.

She closed her eyes and tried to imagine herself somewhere else. It didn't work. She kept trying, kept trying to steady her breathing, kept trying to calm down.

It took a long time, but eventually she managed to calm herself. She leaned her head back against the wall, focusing on breathing in and out, wondering what Gideon was doing, trying not to think about Gideon.

But she was starting to feel bad for what she'd said. She wasn't really angry about him stealing the Journal, or at least it wasn't the most important thing right now. She was just anxious about being trapped, and she'd let it out on him. . . but she couldn't apologize. He didn't deserve that. He still stole the Journal back when Pacifica was terrorizing Mabel's family.

She kind of wished he'd come over here.

No, stop that, Mabel. He's a Northwest. He's Gideon Northwest. Even if his family hadn't done terrible things, he still has. You don't want him around.

But. . . she wanted someone around, and he was here. . .

She moaned and lay down on the stone floor, curling up in a miserable ball. She should never have agreed to this. It was too soon after. . . after what happened with Bill, and she was exhausted. She hadn't fully recovered yet. She shouldn't have left the Museum, she should've just stayed and slept and played cards with Dipper. . .

Gideon was here. . . at least she wasn't completely alone. . .

There was no telling how long Mabel lay there in the darkness, thinking all sorts of tangled thoughts. Finally, though, the events of the day overtook her, and she fell asleep.

~~~~~

Mabel floated through the theater as fast as she could. She had to get away, get away now. He was after her.

She went through the wall and came out in the house, above the spot where the audience sat. It was unnaturally crowded, and she wove through people, trying to get away.

"Help!" she shouted. But nobody heard her.

"Please help," she pleaded. "He's coming for me."

Someone walked through her.

Mabel was so panicked that she couldn't think straight. He was coming, and there was nothing she could do.

She strained her ears, trying to hear him. There it was, in the distance. A chilling, multi-layered laugh. . .

Mabel woke up.

She was still half in her dream, though, and the darkness of the room around her made her think she was back in the theater basement, trying to crack the laptop password. She gasped and sat up, looking around. Darkness.

Mabel started to hyperventilate. She was confused — she couldn't remember where she was, and her nightmare had been scary enough that it was playing in her head over and over again. She drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, trying to calm her breathing.

"Mabel?"

It was Gideon. She was in the Northwest Manor, trapped in a graveyard by vengeful ghosts. Remembering this did not help Mabel calm down.

The blue light from Gideon's amulet was something to focus on, though, so Mabel stared at it as she hyperventilated.

"Mabel, calm down. I'm here."

She couldn't stop herself now that she'd gotten started. She took huge deep breath after huge deep breath, trying to stop in vain.

"Mabel."

Gideon touched her shoulder.

Mabel jumped and stopped hyperventilating. Gideon was touching her. He was touching her, and he'd just watched her have that entire freak-out —

"There we go," he said. "Take slow breaths."

She did as he said, still shocked from his touch.

Gideon moved his hand away and sat next to her while she calmed down. The skin around her eyes was wet with tears. Mabel wiped at them.

Mabel and Gideon sat there in silence for a long time, Mabel trying to breathe quietly and smoothly. She didn't want to go into another panic attack.

"Yeah," Gideon said, sounding hesitant. "I had one a couple hours ago."

Mabel looked sideways at him. "A panic attack?"

Gideon nodded. His eyes wouldn't meet hers.

Mabel decided to change the subject. "You said it happened a couple hours ago? How long was I asleep?"

"A while. I don't have a way to measure time in here besides approximation."

They fell into awkward silence again. Mabel traced the gravestone pieces with her eyes as Gideon coughed into his glove.

A realization hit Mabel so hard she almost couldn't breathe. She looked up at Gideon, wanting to ask, but it was such an awkward thing to get out in the open.

"Um," she said hesitantly, "were you. . . watching me sleep?"

Gideon blushed and doubled his efforts to avoid her gaze.

Mabel's fingers traced the dust on the floor. "I don't mind," she said. "Ever since the incident with the laptop, I've needed to take a good amount of naps throughout the day. Dipper is usually watching."

"Oh."

The conversation died after that.

Mabel sighed, closed her eyes, and tilted her head back. "I wonder what time it is."

"Late," Gideon guessed.

"Yeah," Mabel said. "Will you be missed? Will they come looking for us?"

"Probably, but I don't think they'll find us. The hallways are basically a maze, and this room is secret, anyway."

"Well, if we're in here for long enough, they'll find us."

His eyes clouded, and he drew his legs in close. "Even if they do, my father will probably think I'm trying to get out of tonight's event again."

"But can't you explain that we were trapped in here?"

"It won't do much good," Gideon said. "Father punishes first and asks questions later. And my explanations will just sound like excuses." He sighed. "I have to have the ghosts gone by this evening. That's the deadline Father gave me."

Mabel let her legs drop. "Your dad sounds terrible," she joked. "I can see where you got it."

Gideon sat very stiffly. "My father is a very good man," he said. "Just a little intimidating, is all."

"Intimidating? You're afraid of him?"

Gideon shifted uncomfortably. "Somewhat, yes."

"Why?"

Gideon looked even more uncomfortable. "All children should be a little afraid of their parents, I think."

"You didn't answer the question."

"I'm not going to."

They fell back into awkward silence, Mabel cursing her tongue. It moved faster than her thoughts, and she regretted that joke now. She should've left it alone.

This silence lasted a lot longer than the previous ones, and Mabel turned to her thoughts, which were mostly guilty. She wondered how long they were going to stay trapped in this graveyard, and how they were going to get out. She also wondered how Gideon was dealing with being trapped so well. He looked so smooth and cool-headed, even in this situation. How did he do it? How come she couldn't channel some of that ability herself?

She thought about her panic attack. She wasn't channeling it then. But Gideon had helped her calm down much faster than she would have on her own, she figured.

Gideon shifted a little next to her. She was grateful for his proximity, and his amulet light. He'd done some terrible things to her in the past, but maybe it was time to let bygones be bygones and just appreciate his company.

Gideon let out a sigh. "Mabel," he said. The words sounded reluctant. "I'm sorry about the Journal."

He said it so sincerely that Mabel was shocked. Had he been thinking about the Journal this whole time?

"Th-thanks," she said. "I, um, accept your apology."

They both went quiet.

"It really hurt, though," Mabel said. "I was desperate to save Dipper, and I put a lot of faith in you, just to get betrayed like that. I was willing to make a deal with Bill Cipher once you left. Only Ford coming for me stopped us."

Gideon's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything, just stared into the distance.

Mabel kept rambling about how upsetting Gideon stealing the Journal was. It felt good to get it all out while they were sitting next to each other. Gideon listened without interrupting, for which Mabel was grateful.

" — and I got it from a hole in the ground, so I didn't even expect you to know about them!" She stopped. "Wait. Wait a second. How did you know about them?"

Gideon didn't answer.

Mabel fiddled with her the zipper on her hoodie as she thought. "I didn't know about the Journals until I found mine, and I'm staying with the man who wrote them! Do you. . ." She paused and looked up at Gideon with wide eyes. "Do you have one of them?"

Gideon was silent, but Mabel took that as a positive answer.

She scooted closer to Gideon. "Can I have it?" she asked. "We really really need all of them for — a project."

"What?" Gideon spluttered. "So it's okay for you to take mine, but it's not okay for me to take yours?"

Mabel flushed with embarrassment. "You'd be giving it back to its author," she said. "Why do you need it?"

Gideon hesitated. "It's. . . my only escape," he said.

Mabel was quiet. That was what hers was for her too at first. An escape from Ford and his lack of desire to explore.

She brought her knees in closer to her chest. "I understand," she said. "It was super scary to give mine back to Ford, but it's been worth it. He really needs it."

"What for?" Gideon asked.

She slid her eyes down to her feet, hesitant. "I. . . don't know if I can say."

"Fine," Gideon said. "Then I'll keep my Journal."

Mabel lifted her eyes to glare at him half-heartedly. "He needs them back. . ."

She trailed off, trying to think of the best way to word it.

"He needs all three Journals back so he can fix a machine — a-an interdimensional portal — and save someone's life," she said.

"Who?"

Mabel hesitated again. "I. . . don't think I should betray Ford's trust."

Gideon looked at her in exasperation. "Did he tell you specifically not to tell anyone?"

"Well. . . no. . ."

"Then it's fine. Tell me who you need to save."

Mabel bit her lip. "Well. . . fine. It's. . . it's Ford's twin brother, Stanley."

Gideon's eyes widened until Mabel could see the whites.

"Yeah, I was shocked to find out, too," she said. "But we don't even know if he's alive. Still, we gotta try, right?"

Gideon's eyes went back to normal, and he took a few calming breaths.

Mabel held her breath.

"Here," Gideon said quickly, quietly. He reached into his vest and pulled out a book. His fingers lingered on the cover as she grasped it, but then let go.

She held the Journal to her chest. "Thank you, thank you!" she said. She uncurled and put the Journal down on the ground, looking at the big "2" on the cover. "This will help so much!"

And before she knew what she was thinking, she hugged Gideon tightly.

He stiffened, but then relaxed into her grip. They stayed there for a second, content, until the embarrassment set in.

Mabel released Gideon quickly and coughed awkwardly as she scooted away. He looked as embarrassed as she felt, which was somewhat relieving. They sat there, both consumed with feeling awkward, until there was a grinding noise from across the room.

Mabel and Gideon both looked at each other. Then they jumped to their feet.

"Is that?" Mabel asked.

"I think so," Gideon replied.

They hurriedly made their way to the graveyard exit — Mabel avoiding the grave fragments, Gideon running through them, and so making it to the exit before Mabel — and were eyewitnesses as a tiny bit of light came through the thick tapestry that guarded it.

"I think we'll be able to get out now," Mabel said excitedly as the grinding continued.

They waited as whatever was blocking them in was moved out of the way. The moment it was gone, Gideon thrust his hand into the tapestry and felt around.

"Aha!" he said, pushing it aside. Light from the hallway spilled through into the graveyard.

"Thank goodness," Mabel said breathlessly.

She blinked a little in the bright light and then smiled widely at Gideon.

"Let's get out of here," she said.