In almost every universe, Filbrick Pines wasn't expecting to have to raise twins. But it most universes he simply shrugged and named them Stan.

Not this universe.

His eldest, Sherman, was still at home. Unaware that his mother was recently dead. It didn't happen as often anymore, but the stress of the double labor, and... something... had been too much for Cayrn's body.

So there Filbrick was. In the waiting room, two newborns in his arms. Two perfect, identical, tiny boys.

Except for the fact that one of them had twelve fingers. A freak. A strange one. A defect. The bad seed.

There was only one thing to do.

"After all these long years of waiting... You're actually here!"

Stan rushed up to his brother. Holding his arms out and trying to appear as welcoming as possible. It has been thirty years since he'd seen Ford. Three decades. Almost half his life.

Ford had taken his mask off. The winds of the dying portal ruffling his hair. There was a deadness in his eyes that almost set Stan on edge. But it didn't matter what Ford looked like, all that mattered was that he was there.

Before Stan could even blink, Ford dropped to the ground and swept a leg under Stan, bringing his brother crashing to the ground.

Stan gasped, then groaned. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, trying to process what had just happened. His back suddenly clenched up and began to scream for his back pillow.

He pushed himself up through the pain. Ford was back on his feet, dusting his hands off. Stan glared at him and mumbled, "Looks like you didn't age that badly..."

"I knocked you down for a reason." Ford said, folding his arms, then, thinking better of it, he reached his hand down and Stan gripped it. Ford pulled him up and Stan almost fell backwards again when Ford immediately let go of him.

"Why didn't you pay any attention to my warnings?!" Ford asked, glaring at Stan again. His brother shrugged, "Maybe... Cause you're my brother... And we're family..."

Ford huffed, "I'd say something, but I know what your answer would be."

Stan nodded, and a smirk played on his lips. He groaned suddenly and reached behind him to grab the middle of his back. "Ow... Remember I'm old next time you feel like beating me up."

Ford looked like he wanted to facepalm, but he refrained. "Says Mr. 'I'm gonna find the Fountain of Youth'."

"We were twenty!" Stan cried, adjusting his fez. "I didn't know better!"

"Hi... Yeah, uh... Mabel here. Quick question... What on Earth is going on here?!"

"Dad! Dad! Dad! Is it a boy? Is it? Please tell me they're boys! A girl would be nice too, but I've always wanted a brother!"

Filbrick Pines came home on June 16th, his one son in his arms. Sherman bounded up to the door (as five/six year olds do), and practically demanded to see his brother.

His one brother. His perfectly normal brother. His brother Stanley.

"Um... Dad... Momma said there's gonna be two... Where's the second one?" Sherman asked, after the minute of wonder wore off. "And where's momma?"

Filbrick hadn't even thought of breaking the news to his oldest son. How would he explain that Caryn was dead, and Stanford had been given away?

"There's some bad news..." Filbrick said. He'd always been a blunt man, and he wasn't going to stop just because his son was young.

"Your mother and other brother... Are dead."

"Stanley... Why are there children in my house? I mean... I'm not exactly mad, but the stuff I'm dealing with is... You moved all my stuff, didn't you."

Ford adjusted his glasses, slightly reveling in the feeling of the metal frames beneath his fingers. The way the plastic overlayed the silver aluminum. The thought that he could actually see... He had learned to be grateful for the little things in life.

Stan nodded, and adjusted his own glasses, and Ford suddenly wanted a pair like his brother's. The idea of being able to actually pay for something that he wanted and made him happy filled him with exuberance.

"Yeah... I still got most of it... Your bacteria have been long dead..." Stan said, and Ford looked at him in confusion.

"Bacteria? I didn't have any bacteria experiments..." He mused, rubbing his chin. "What were they in?"

"I found a few in some..." Stan began, but he was cut off by Mabel crying, "You still haven't answered me!"

"Oh." Stan mouthed, and Ford rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah..."

"Greetings." Ford said, kneeling in front of Mabel and extending a hand out towards her. "Do people still say 'greetings'? I haven't been in this Dimension for a really long time." Mabel shrugged, and stuck her hand inside of Ford's larger than normal ones.

Ford couldn't help but run a finger over the back of her hand. The skin on it was soft, and solidified the fact that she was real. That she was there.

"Wow. A six-fingered handshake. That's a full finger friendlier than normal!" Mabel breathed, flashing him a silver smile. Ford smiled back and shifted uncomfortably. Old habits die hard.

"Huh, you got six fingers."

Ford sat in the waiting room, his backpack leaning against his chair. This was yet another home he was being transferred to. Stupid foster care system.

He looked over at the boy sitting next to him, and tried to judge whether or not he could keep showing his hands. The boy didn't look particularly dangerous, but you could never be too sure...

Ford yanked his jacket sleeves over his hands, curling them into fists so no part of them was showing. He looked down at his notebook folded open in his lap and tucked his head down.

"Yeah..." He mumbled, but before the boy could say anything else a young woman opened the back door, a brown clipboard tucked between her chest and arm.

"Stanford Pines?" She asked, checking the name on top of the clipboard. And Ford picked his grey backpack up and carried it off towards her.

This made it what? The fourth time this year?

"You're the Author of the Journals!"

Ford had finished his handshake with Mabel, and now it was time for him to meet the other grandchild of the brother he had never met. Dipper was staring at him like he was the only thing keeping him alive, and Ford couldn't really help but feel... Proud, of himself.

"You read my Journals?" Ford asked, taking a step towards him. Dipper's face lit up and he exclaimed, "I haven't just read them... I've lived them! I've been waiting so long to meet you..."

Ford looked over at Stan while Dipper began to ramble on and on. The brothers half smiled at each other, and Ford turned to watch Dipper try to not puke.

"Listen... There will be time for introductions later, but right now..." Ford explained, and turned to his brother again, "Now, tell me Stanley, does anyone know about this place? Anyone at all?"

"No. Just us... And also maybe the entire US Government."

"The what?!"

"I should have kept the other one."

Stan looked down at the carpet. He was in trouble. Again. He had been failing pretty much every one of his classes, and he had gotten in a fight with Crampelter for no reason. He was now boasting a black eye, and a letter of expulsion. Yay Stan.

He looked up at his father's hard face, and breathed out, "What?"

"I shoulda kept the other one." Filbrick repeated. "Your brother would have done better than you. I bet he's probably a genius. Probably could have made this family millions. I should have gotten rid of you."

Stan's mind went practically blank. His father had gotten rid of another brother of his? Did he mean Sherman? But he was off at college...

Then it clicked. His 'stillborn' twin brother... Had never been stillborn. He had a twin. Somewhere.

Don't worry brother, Stanley was coming.

"It's okay... We're okay... It's just the Government..." Ford reassured himself, holding a hand up to his forehead. "We have a while before they find this room. We just need to lay low, and think of a plan!"

Dipper and Mabel shared a glance at each other, then Mabel said confidently, "So... Looks like we're going to be stuck down here for a while... Who wants to explain their entire mysterious backstory!?"

Ford looked up from the Journal he had started scribbling his ideas on. He and Stan shared their own look, and Ford bit his lip. "Should we? Or should we jump to when you came to Gravity Falls?" Ford asked, and he tried to ignore the other three people's confused expression.

"It depends," Stan said, folding his arms and shifting slightly. "You're going to tell them anyway... One of these days.. "

Ford had had enough.

He couldn't take it anymore. Every 'home' he went to didn't actually want him. Or they tolerated him, until he brought a puddle monster home or something.

Ford was obsessed with the supernatural. He didn't know why, but reading about creatures that were strange and different just made him feel... Normal-ish.

Was it really his fault he liked stuff like that? Could a fourteen year old really be blamed for having interests? Would there ever be a place where he fit in?

He had run away. He had been very logical about it. He'd been saving any money he'd gotten and stored it in a secret inside pocket (thanks for all the sewing lessons Mrs. Gardner). His grey backpack was laden with nonperishable foods. And... His greatest achievement, a fake ID.

Because of his careful planning, his supplies lasted a little over a month. That got him stranded in the middle of nowhere, in a dense lumber forest in Oregon.

Fighting through hunger that had been stalking him for the past two days, Ford walked past a large billboard that read 'Welcome to Gravity Falls!'.

He made it into town after about twenty minutes. He knew he probably looked disgusting. He hadn't had many opportunities to shower in the past month.

The smell of bacon wafting from a nearby diner made him want to throw caution to the wind. Even though he only had about a dollar on him he wanted to scarf any food he could get his hands on down his throat.

He chose a simpler location. The Dusk 2 Dawn over on the side of the street.

Ford forced himself not to pay attention to the people shopping around him. He picked up a loaf of bread and pulled his blue hoodie up over his head. He never liked people staring at him.

"Just the bread there stranger?" A kindly grandmother type person asked him at the register, and he nodded. "That'll be ninety-nine cents.

Ford pulled three quarters, two nickels, and two more dimes out of his pocket, and handed it to the woman. Who accepted it, then seemed to actually see the hand that had handed her money.

She looked from his hand then up to his ratty jacket and greasy hair. "Son... Do you need help? Any at all?"

Ford furrowed his brow and picked up his bread. "Keep the change." He mumbled, and turned to walk out of the shop. This particular stranger was too nice.

And... There was her husband.

Before Ford knew it, practically the entire town had gathered around him. He was led to Ma and Pa's home, and he was accepted into the fold. The grandma lady took the clothes he wasn't wearing and put them in the wash. They explained that they'd take care of him until he didn't need them anymore.

Ford wanted to tell them that he never needed them in the first place. But... He hated to admit it... He actually did need them. Yay...

"Wait. So your dad just saw that you were weird, and decided to give you away?" Mabel asked as the older twins began to explain their story. "That's terrible!"

Ford's expression seemed torn between gratitude and sorrow. He half smiled at Mabel, then explained a bit more.

Dipper didn't know what to say. The Author was/wasn't what he had been expecting. He was more... Human... Oh man.

"That's how those ghosts died of sadness!" Dipper breathed when Ford explained how he got to Gravity Falls. "And why they don't like teenagers!"

"Ma and Pa are ghosts?" Ford asked, then mumbled, "Well they were in their sixties when I met them..."

Stan has been trying to find his brother for three years.

His brother was in the records, but he was also recorded to be lost. Stan wouldn't believe that. He would find his brother, even if it took him an entire lifetime.

He got in a lot of trouble making his way across the country. Let's just say that Stan Co. didn't exactly have the best merchandise. But it still made Stan money, and if he ever ran out... Let's just say that there were a lot of saps that would believe he was still seventeen.

He pulled his car up to the parking lot of the first motel he found in the newest town he was visiting. Twin Bed Motel. He stared at the word Twin. That's what he was doing this for. His twin. He had a twin. Did Stanford even know that Stan existed? Would he even want to meet Stan? What if he had found an amazing family and didn't want another member. What if...

No. Stanford would want to meet him. At least once. They were brothers! They probably had a special connection that pulled them towards each other.

He got his room, and dropped all the stuff he felt comfortable with leaving inside the room. He grabbed his satchel and walked away. For some reason the woods behind the motel just called him. Plus it was relaxing to walk through the woods.

He'd been walking in almost a straight line for about an hour, and that's when he saw the figure.

The young man was kneeling next to a patch of mushrooms that really looked like brains. He was scribbling something down in a thick book, right next to a drawing that Stan could barely see, but it looked exactly like the mushrooms.

He was frozen for a second, then he took a step forward, and, like in the cliche, he snapped a twig.

The man froze, then reached for something in his pale brown trenchcoat. He turned slightly and Stan couldn't believe his eyes.

The random book guy... Looked exactly like him.

"So... The magic of Gravity Falls brought the two of you you together again?"

Ford and Stan shrugged, "Pretty much." The latter of them said. "Ford's sci-fi mystery weirdness summoned me."

"And then you summoned Manotaurs." Ford said, rolling his eyes. Stan rolled his own and mumbled, "I didn't know anything about the town. I literally just got there." He held a hand up to his chin and added, "You were the one who was wondering why I would try to find you. As I remember you said, "Why would you try to..."

"...find me? I'm just a boring... Look out!"

The ground began to rumble underneath Stan's feet. He stared at the wild forest animals that were scampering as far away from Stan as possible. Stan's eyes were wide, and he looked to his right, where Ford had been a second before.

But he wasn't there. Stan whipped around, but Ford wasn't anywhere. He was about to shout out his brother's name, but he heard Ford call him from what sounded like a fair distance away.

Stan tilted his head up, and saw Ford's about twelve feet up in a tree. "Stanley!" He yelled down at him. "Get up here! The Manotaurs are coming!"

Stan was so confused. His fear of heights kept him from wanting to climb up. Ford yelled again, and Stan braced himself.

He grabbed onto a branch, then pulled himself up.

"What's a Manotaur?" Stan asked once he got about six feet off the ground. Ford sighed, "Imagine if a wrestler and cow had a baby, and it grew up and became a gross stereotype of an ugly man." He answered, and looked intently down at the ground. "They tried to teach me how to be a man... But I said no."

Stan nodded, then was going to say something else, but sure enough, a cow-person ran past them at that moment, then turned around and stood at the base of their tree.

"Oh no." Ford mumbled, "Hey! Leave us alone Masculour! I will call the Multibear!"

Stan looked up at his brother. His head was swimming, from fear, pride, happiness, and confusion. Masculour looked up at Ford, and yelled "Jerky!"

"You didn't bring jerky, did you Stan?!" Ford yelled down to Stan, who opened his satchel and pulled out a bag of the stuff. "Just give it to him!"

And that was how they had their first adventure.

"But... How did you get trapped in the portal."

Ford liked how his nephew's mind worked. So far the kid had been asking very logical questions. He shifted uncomfortably and mumbled something under his breath.

"Well, when genius over here decided to build a portal to another Dimension, without me mind you. He started acting... Weird." Stan said, looking at his brother and sighing. "And by weird I mean... Holy cow that guy's weird."

Ford nodded, "There were a number of things that led to that. But I do not wish to disclose on that right now." Stan rolled his eyes, but Ford didn't really pay him much attention.

"We never had the best relationship see," Ford's added, he rubbed his hands together and watched the kids and Soos. "I have a hard time trusting people... And... Well, I wasn't in a good emotional state."

Mabel and Dipper nodded. Mabel held her arms open and asked, "Do you want a hug?" At which Ford shook his head. "I'm good, thanks."

Stan nodded, "He wouldn't tell me anything about the projects he was working on. He was super possessive of his stuff and wouldn't let me touch it. We went on adventures and hung out a lot, but he still didn't trust me.

"When I finally had enough of his weirdness, I decided to confront him about his hiding himself in the basement. Only after the guy started looking like death warmed over."

Ford bit his lip, but didn't say anything. Stan explained how they had fought about that fact. How Ford wanted Stan to take his first Journal and leave for forever. How they had gotten into a fistfight, and how Stan had pushed him through. Accidentally of course.

"So, all this time you were just trying to get your brother back..." Dipper said, staring at the ground and looking somewhat miserable. "Grunkle Stan, I'm so sorry I didn't believe you."

Stan rubbed the top of Dipper's hat. He himself looked uncomfortable, and he reassured Dipper with, "It's okay kid, I probably wouldn't have believed me either."

"Now what to do with those Government guys..." Mabel muttered, and her family looked awkwardly at Ford.

"What?! I don't know what to do with them! I just got here!"

Hey guys! This was inspired by BlueOrca2000's wonderful fanart on DeviantArt. If you're reading this... Thanks! Go check them out! I switched the twins by the way.

Just to be clear, I don't think canon Filbrick would do this. It's one thing to kick a teenager out of your house, it's another to just give a baby away. And the only way I see him being able to do this is if Caryn's dead so... I'm sorry Mrs. Pines!

Anyway. Thanks for the reviews! I (platonically) love you guys! Have a great day!

-BrilliantLight