Phantom Justice

10: Calls & Threats

The above artwork belongs to me. Pretty rad, I know. I'm getting better at drawing people. Yay!

Wendy watched from the gift shop as Stan talked to the twins on the phone.

"Are you kidding me?" he was yelling into the receiver. "You two didn't even leave a note or anything! If you're gonna ditch someone, at least leave a note!"

He cursed under his breath a few times as the twins tried to calm him down. "You idiot kids!" he suddenly shouted. "Do you realize how worried I was about you? What would I tell your parents if you got lost? You're lucky I didn't call them!"

Wendy winced as Stan chewed them out. She wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of the old man's wrath.

The twins apologized over and over again. Stan looked like he was relaxing a bit, until Dipper mentioned something about Ford.

"You followed my idiot brother? Give him the phone!"

Wendy heard muffled, panicked talking on the other end. "What do you mean he's not coming back for a few days? He'd better bring you back here right now!" He paused to listen to them. "A missing person is not an emergency, and it's not important enough to keep you there!"

Wendy opened her mouth to say otherwise, and then closed it. No wonder the twins had followed Ford; she could have guessed as much. Although, she wondered who was missing.

They exchanged a few more words, in which Stan grudgingly agreed to let them stay until Ford could come back. But the twins had to check in at least once a day to verify that they were okay. They had a maximum of four days to resolve whatever issue they had, and then they had to come back no matter what.

Stan hung up the phone and rubbed his temples, still looking rather angry.

"Who's missing?" Wendy called.

Stan looked up, surprised. She figured he had forgotten that she was still there, working her shift as usual.

"It's Danny," he told her. "He disappeared yesterday."

She arched her eyebrows. Danny had gone missing? He could take care of himself just fine, though. Maybe he had left of his own free will. Or maybe something bad had happened.

"His friends don't have any idea where he went," Stan explained, rubbing his eyes. "His parents don't even know that he's missing."

"Mm," she responded. Jack Fenton wasn't the sharpest man, although Maddy seemed to be aware that her son was hiding something, at least.

Stan poured himself a mug of coffee. "I just don't understand why my brother would go down there so suddenly. None of us can drag him away from his research, but Danny can?" He shook his head. "That kid is dangerous, let me tell you."

Wendy tapped her fingers on the counter. "I like him. He's got it tough."

The grunkle snorted. "And we don't?"

She sighed. Stan was a distrustful man, much like Ford. Danny really did have a difficult time keeping up with everything, though, given that he was so young. Keeping a secret like his wasn't healthy, especially for someone his age.

Stan didn't seem to know what to do with himself the rest of the day. Without the twins, Wendy realized, life was boring. She felt a pang of sadness when she remembered that they were going back to California at the end of the summer.

They won't be here for Christmas, she thought. The realization bothered her. Gravity Falls was beautiful in the winter. They had tons of snow, and sometimes the waterfall even froze.