Gravity Falls. That's where it all began for him. He had hoped that getting what he wanted would be fast and easy. However, with what's about to happen, he might have to wait a bit longer. He walked up the long dirt path that leads towards where he needed to go; the Mystery Shack. While he was walking down the dirt path, he would every now and then look at the forest that surrounded him. Finally, after the long walk, he had arrived at the Mystery Shack. All except one letter was standing on top of the roof; the S had fallen off so just says, Mystery Hack.

"This is it," he said to himself. As he walked up to the shack he noticed a few things. Above the porch was a sign that read "Gift Shop" , a soda machine on his left with a penny press machine next to it, and a big cooler to his left. The young man looked at each one of these with confusion written on his face.

"Something's not right here," he said before he walked through the side entrance of the gift shop; dusting off his black shirt and blue jeans off before he entered. When he walked in, he saw what you would usually see in a gift shop; t-shirts, mugs, snowglobes, and some other stuff. What caught his attention was some of the other stuff they had. Hand in a jar eyeballs in a jar, a skull with one eye socket, and a bear head with a unicorn horn on top of his head.

"Excuse me?" he said to the cashier. "Can you tell me where your...boss...is?" When he looked at the cashier he saw a little girl with long brown hair, braces, and a shooting star on her pink sweater.

"Oh you mean Grunkle Stan?" she said, "He's over there!" She pointed in the direction of a postcard display stand, where her boss was standing. The entire time, though, the guy she was talking to was staring at the shooting star on her sweater. When she looked back over at him, she noticed that he wasn't paying attention and poked his cheek for some odd reason. Somehow this snapped him out of his trance.

"Hey," she said, "You okay?" Instead of giving her a verbal response, he just nodded her head.

"Sorry," he said, "It's that shooting star on your sweater. For some reason, I feel like I've seen it before" He walked over to the man standing over by the postcard display stand, with a table full of coffee mugs nearby. He looked to be between the age of 50 and 60 with a five o'clock shadow, brown eyes gray hair. He wore a maroon fez with a yellow crescent and dot on it, a black suit and white dress shirt under it.

"It can't be him," the young man said to himself. "But...it doesn't hurt to check" As soon as he walked up to him, the old man turned his head towards him.

"Hello uh...Grunkle Stan, is it?" the stranger said to him. "Would you mind helping me out with something? I'm looking for someone" As he talked to him, he picked up one of the coffee mugs from the table next to him.

"That's actually what my kids call me," the old man said, "Call me Stan. Stanford Pines!" As soon as Stan said his name, the guy he was talking to started squeezing the mug he held in his hand; hard!

"Oh!" he said, "Stanford Pines, eh? That's funny because that's who I'm looking for!" He did his best to stay calm and keep a smile on his face, but he was having a bit of a hard time. "Okay, Stan Pines!" he started, "Since you're here I'd thought I'd ask you a question or two!"

"Sure," he said to him. This guy seemed to be upset about something so he thought that he could answer a question or two to help calm him down. "What is that you want to a-"

"Where is the real Stanford Pines you fake?"

Stan was a bit surprised by what he was asking him. How dare someone come into his store and call him a fake? Not to mention accusing him of identity fraud!

"What're you talking about?" Stan said to him, "I am Stanford Pi-"

"Don't play games with me, old man!" the stranger yelled, squeezing the mug in his hand tighter and tighter until it shattered into pieces. Not even caring about causing a scene, the guy pinned Stanford up against a wall. "I've met and seen the real Stanford and you're not him!" It was a while before Stan gave him a response.

"Let me go or else I'm getting the police involved," he said, talking calmly to him. Realizing what he was doing, he let go of Grunkle Stan and took a step away from him. "I want you out of my store, right now"

"Yes sir" The young man started, "But before I do, can I say something first?" Even though this guy just caused a scene and attacked him, Stan could at least let him say something before the stranger left his store forever.

"Sure," he started, "What is it that you wanna sa-"

"Your brother was a great man, Stanley," he said, talking soft enough to where only Stan can hear him. "He always talked about you before he vanished. I'm sorry for not noticing who you were" With those words, he walked out of the store; not bothering to give the people around him a second glance. And Stanley? He was still standing up against the wall; thinking about the good times he had with his brother.

"G-Grunkle Stan?" said a worried Mabel, "Are you okay?" Not even bothering to give her a response, he also walked out of the store. As he passed by the counter, he gently patted Mabel's head a few times. When he stepped outside, closing the door behind him, he noticed the guy that the guy he kicked out was sitting on his porch.

"I thought I told you to get out of here," he said, talking calmly still as he walked up to the young man. He didn't really say anything to Stan; he just let out a soft chuckle.

"I could of sworn you told me, 'I want you out of my store' . Well I'm not in your store, I'm outside it" He turned his head and looked up at Stan; giving him a small smile. He patted on the spot next to him. "Come sit with me," he said, "Let's talk, Stanley"

"Why are you still here?" asked Stanley, "How do you know about me and my brother? Just who are you?" So many questions were flying from his mouth; and yet no answers were given.

"I'll answer your questions as soon as you sit down" Doing as told, Stan sat down next to this suspicious stranger. "I think I'll answer the third question. It's Jason, pleased to meet you. For the first question, I'm still here because I knew you'd want some answers. I promise to pay for that mug, by the way"

"It's alright," said Stanley, with a bit of a smile on his face. "I'll get over it eventually"

"And for the second question…" Jason started smiling as he thought about his answer for this question. "Me and Ford go way back. Like your brother, I was into all of that paranormal stuff. We would go on adventures, look for outstanding things, it was amazing! Whenever we found something, he would write about it in his journals. The last time I saw him was when he made that portal…" After he finished his story, he went quiet for a while. When Stan saw the depressed look on Jason's face, he thought that it'd be best not to ask anymore questions.

"I'm sorry kid" Stan started, "But...my brother isn't here anymore" It was at that moment that he remembered something. "Wait a minute...say that last part again!" Jason looked at Stan a bit confused.

"The last time I saw him was when he made that portal?" "Now the one before that!" "He wrote in his journals?"

"BINGO!"

Jason was now more confused due to what was going going on right now. Exactly why did he need to repeat everything he just said?

"Stanley, I'm confused," said Jason, "Mind giving me an explanation?" The only thing Stan told him was to meet him back at the Mystery Shack at night time; no explanation, just to meet him there at night.

5 Hours Later

It was nighttime and everyone had gone to bed. Well, not exactly everyone. After running out from the woods, towards the front entrance, Jason stepped up onto the porch as to not wake anyone. Giving the door a few quick knocks, he waited. And waited. And waited. Luckily he wore a jacket or else he'd be freezing his butt off. The door swung open, revealing Grunkle Stan in a white tank top, blue boxer shorts, and also very large belly. When he opened the door, he had a baseball bat held up high in the air; ready to strike any incoming intruders.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY FA- Oh! It's you, Jason" said Stan, as he regained his composure and lowered his bat.

"Come on, Stan," Jason said, "If it was a snake, it woulda bit ya!" As soon as Stan stepped aside, Jason stepped through the entrance into the gift shop; Stan closing the door behind him.

"Before I show you," Stan started, "I need to ask you one more thing. You said that the last time you saw my brother was when he made that portal, right?" Jason only nodded his head to his question. "But that was over 30 years ago! If you were there, then you wouldn't look so...young!" Jason thought about his answer for Stan; the best way to explain it.

"Stan I wish I could tell you," he said, "But I can't. More like there's nothing to tell you, because I don't know myself" Even though Stan didn't want to accept his answer, he did so anyways. Somehow he could tell that there was some truth to what he said.

"Alright kid," he said to Jason before stepping over to the vending machine. Now it was Jason's turn to be confused. As he was walking towards the vending machine, Stan picked up a lit lantern that was on the counter. As soon as he got to the vending machine, he started punching in some of the keys on the vending machine's keypad.

"Stanley? Now is not the time for-" After punching in the keys, the entire vending machine itself swung open. "Snacks" When Jason looked to see what was behind the vending machine, he saw a flight of stairs leading downwards towards something. After Stan went in and started going down the stairs, Jason followed him in; closing the doorway of the secret entrance behind him.

"Trust me," Stan said, "It'll be worth the wait" As soon as they got to the bottom of the stairs, they walked down a sort of long hallway which had computers all over the walls.

"Stanley," Jason said as they got to the very end of the long hallway. "I'll believe when I see it"

"...I'm seeing it and I cannot believe it!" he said as he stood in front of a large upside down triangle with a large circle in the middle of it. "It's here...it's really here!" He ran to the metal table located at the end of the hallway, where Stan was waiting for him. When he came over to the metal table, he spotted a red journal with a golden 6 fingered handprint on it.

"That's it alright!" said Stanley as he stared at the portal. "My brother's portal!" It was then he noticed Jason staring at the journal. "Oh yeah," he said, "You were around when he made these" As soon as Stan handed Jason the journal, he read that thing probably faster than anyone has ever read.

"It's here! It's all here!" Jason said, excitedly. "Stanley, thank you for showing me this. Both the journal, and his portal. It's nice to know that there is at least some part of Ford that still remains here in Gravity Falls. He really was a great man" When he looked over at Stanley, he saw a few tears sliding down his face with a smile on his face.

"Thanks kid," he said, "It's nice to know someone besides me knows that" Smiling back at him, Jason gave him a light pat on the back. "But don't worry," he said, "He won't be gone much longer"

"...What?" said a confused Jason. "Mind repeating that, Stanley? I think I've got something in my ear" As a joke, he pretended to pick something out of his ear. "Are you saying that Ford is...coming back?" Still smiling, Stanley gave his a soft nod. His mood immediately changed because he knew he had to explain to the kid; by telling him EVERYTHING. After Stanley finished talking to him, Jason had turned his head away from him.

"So that's why Ford is gone?" said an obviously mad Jason; gripping the edge of the table hard. "Stanley Pines. As much as I want to...I know that won't solve anything. We've both done things that we regret to this very day. We've both lost family members. Plus if I did attack you, not only would Ford never forgive me...neither would I" When Jason turned his head towards Stanley, he had tears streaming down his face.

"Hey hey now," said Stan "To be honest, I still haven't forgiven myself for what happened. But trust me when I say that we will get him back" Jason smiled after hearing this, slowly letting go of the table; the edge of the table being slightly bent. "Once we get the other journals, we'll be able the portal up and running in no time"

"I'll help you out so long as you don't threaten me with the cops again," said Jason with a smile on his face. "Oh, and no baseball bat either!" Stan couldn't help but laugh at this kid.

"Only if you don't make another scene like last time, kid!" said Stan, holding his hand towards Jason. "So long as you don't do that, it's a deal!" He grabbed his hand and gave it a light shake. While Stan was heading back down the hallway, Jason was busy staring at his hand.

"Deal…It's a deal…why does that sound familiar?"