It was a cold night, cold season, cold... everything, the night that changed the Pines' lives forever. Even though they didn't know it yet.

It took a few months for the GFPD to call Pines' Pawns to tell them their son was dead. It was a terrible accident, whatever had happened, no one would have been able to survive. We feel so sorry for your loss. Let us know if you need emotional support. Ugh. Filbrick could live without people babying him. He was a grown man for crying out loud! Sure he had lost his son, but he hadn't been doing anything for him lately, that big disappointment.

By the time Filbrick and Caryn had learned of their son's death, he'd already been buried in Gravity Falls' cemetery. There was a tiny funeral, and the three remaining members of his family had crossed the entire country to come.

That's when Sherman had found the secret door in the old 'shack', as the townsfolk called it, and that had led to the discovery that would fully cement the change in their lives.

Inside of their son's house was a basement, something that was normal for a lot of houses, but it was what was housed in the basement that was strange. Right in the center of the largest room was a gigantic triangular structure, a hole like a burn in the center. A portal. A portal to another dimension.

In front of the portal were two things, an oldish-looking book, and a pair of Stanford Pines' glasses.

Something told them that this was no 'normal' death.

Ah, summer break. A time for leisure, recreation, and takin' her easy.

Unless... Your name is Dipper Pines. Well... any name that ends with 'Pines' really.

When Dipper and Mabel Pines' school year ended, like, literally the day after it was done, Mr. and Mrs. Pines had decided to send them to Gravity Falls Oregon. To live with their grandfather Sherman for the next four months. June through August. Should be fun. Spend time with Grandpa. Fish or something. What could their fifty-something-year-old Grandfather possibly have hidden that could make this entire summer... Fun?

One word: Journal.

Sherman had sent Dipper out to the woods on their first day there, told him to "Go climb a tree or something, gets the excess energy out. And let me know if the roots spell out our demise or something."

The tree Dipper chose to 'climb' actually turned out to be made out of metal. It was cold to the touch, unlike every other tree, and Dipper had easily found a secret compartment that opened up. It revealed a bunch of switches and buttons, and Dipper had heard a mechanical 'whoosh' once he pushed one or two. And that's how the Journal entered his life.

Their Grandfather had gone into... an interesting occupation. Right after he had moved from New Jersey to Oregon, he'd begun writing books. He wasn't that popular, but it was enough for him to pay off his house, which he had turned into some sort of museum or something. If you came to 618 Gopher RD. Gravity Falls, you'd be met with a log cabin, one side filled with books and merchandise related to the books. Keychains, signed copies, bookmarks, you name it.

For a present Sherman had given Dipper a signed set of one of his more popular series Crime Grandpa, that had raised a few eyebrows at him, but he had laughed them off. "Don't worry kids, I'm not some evil supervillain."

Sherman's reaction to Gideon would have cracked any other version of Dipper and Mabel up, but all it did for these two was convince them that their grandfather was (slightly) insane. The guy had taken one look at the kid on his porch, a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates in his hand, and had chased the kid far far away, yelling "You leave my grandaughter alone! You blonde-haired weirdo!" Dipper had never seen his sister blush like that.

Dipper had shown him the Journal, which had always seemed to know exactly what to do in almost every situation, and he had taken it from him for about four days. Then after a particularly close-to-death situation (cough, zombies, cough cough), Sherman had said he was being inspired to write a new book, which he almost always was, and had started spending more time in his office. Nothing suspicious here folks. He had also given his grandson full access to the Journal again, but only after Dipper had promised not to go looking for trouble.

So the next day Dipper went out to look for trou- Shapeshifter. He found a shapeshifter.

Lots of near-death experiences later (Bill, an insane video game, the time traveler... that one ghost...) the literal US Government showed up at the Book-Nook (Pines and their Puns) and had arrested Sherman. Conspiracy, doomsday device thingie, radioactive waste... At first, Dipper and Mabel had been sure that the agents were just talking about one of Sherman's books, but... After finding all the stuff in his room... (fake IDs, newspapers that either told about some grifter or the death of a Pines) Maybe that wasn't the case. Maybe Sherman really was an evil mastermind... And why did he have the other two Journals!?

They had gone to the basement and found a gigantic triangular superstructure. One that the Author had been wrong about. One that could destroy the universe. One that Sherman had restarted. One that Dipper was about to stop. One that Mabel... didn't stop. She didn't press the red button.

One that brought two figures back.

"Who..? Who are those?"

The last time Sherman had seen his brother had been when he was six, when Ford had graduated from Backupsmore, and Sherman was sure that there had only been two Pines brothers there. Who could this new one be?

"The Author of the Journals..." Sherman said, only half answering his grandson. "My brother."

He pushed himself onto his feet, and strode up to the man he hadn't seen in over thirty years. "I don't believe it... You're actually here! After all this time!" Sherman tried his hardest not to pay attention to the man who looked almost exactly like him's hard and emotionless expression. "After all these long years of waiting, you're actually here! Brother..!"

Ford's fist collided with his brother's face. The other Ford-lookalike gave a whoop, one that Ford... or at least, Sherman thought it was Ford... didn't pay any attention to.

"Ow! What on Earth was that for?!" Sherman yelled, rubbing his jaw, man that hurt. Ford took a step back, and seemed to reassess the situation. He looked around the room, and then his eyes landed back on Sherman. Ford ran a six-fingered hand through his hair (yup, he was Ford, only one person in the world had twelve fingers... at least, only one that looked like Sherman), and sighed.

"Wait. Sherman?" Ford asked, "What in the Multiverse are you doing here? Why did you restart the portal? How did you find my Journals? Didn't you read my warnings?"

"The warning you wrote in invisible ink?" the other Ford asked, folding his arms, "Yeah... I'm totally sure he read them Poindexter."

Sherman's eyes flashed between the two versions of his brother. The closer one had six fingers and a cleft chin, whereas the further one looked like a carbon copy of Sherman, except that he was older. Time travel? Who knows.

"Stanley, not now. We need to talk to our brother." Ford said, looking back at 'Stanley', whose eyes widened. He stared open-mouthed at Sherman, and he shook his head, lifting a hand up to his forehead. "Wait, wait, wait. That's Shermie? Like... Shermie-Shermie? Wow. He's a lot more... Adult than the last time... Last time he was a... I haven't..." Stanley stopped talking when Ford sent him a glare. Why would Ford be upset with Stanley? Who was Stanley? How did he know Sherman's old nickname? What..?

"I swear Stan, if you try to guilt-trip me..."

"I won't, that got old years ago." Stanley said, stepping right up next to Ford. The two of them were dressed all in black. Ford was in a thick coat that went all the way down past his knees, and it looked like he had a sweater underneath it, with a silver strap that just had to be housing some kind of weapon... and there's the giant gun. Stanley had a thin jacket which covered a black t-shirt, he had a chain attached to his belt, and Sherman didn't want to know what he did with it. Both of them had identical knee-high boots. Now these were awesome old people.

"Um... What?" Sherman asked, and his brother and Stanley looked at him, like they had just noticed him, again.

"I'm sorry, I just... I know Ford..." Sherman explained, after the two new occupants of the room had given him identical looks of confusion. "But... Uh, who are you?" He waved a hand towards Stanley, and both of them widened their eyes.

"Wait. Mom and Dad never told you about Stan?" Ford asked, looking over at Stanley, whose mouth dropped open in shock again. "I knew I should have punched him. I had the perfect opportunity..." Ford held a hand up to his face and let out a long and exacerbated sigh. "Sherman... This is Stanley... My- Our brother."

It was Sherman's turn to be absolutely shocked.

"Nice to meet you kid, again. But the last time I saw you you were a baby... So I don't think that counts." Stan stepped up to Sherman and held a hand out to him. He was wearing fingerless gloves and his grip was one of the firmest that Sherman had ever felt. There were calluses all over his fingers, and Sherman didn't exactly know how to react to this.

"So... Uh... Hi. I'm your big bro." Stanley said, letting go of Sherman's hand. "You can call me Stan. I'm Ford's twin."

"Hi, yeah, Mabel here. What on Earth is going on?!"

"Stanley! Stanley! Help me! Do something!"

Ford didn't know what he wanted Stan to do. But whatever it was... It wasn't what Stan actually did.

The force of trans-universal travel forced Ford's glasses off of his face, so the world became bright and blurry. The smell of burning hair overwhelmed him, making him want to gag. There was the whistle of wind everywhere, and he could literally feel Bill. Like he knew exactly where the triangle was. He shoved his hand into his inside pocket, and he pulled his spare glasses out, shoving them onto his face and coming face-to-eye with his tormentor for the past couple of months.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't old For- And there's two of them! I got the set!"

Two? What on Earth could Bill mean... "Ford? What is that?!"

Ford looked to his left and almost yelled in horror. Floating next to him was Stanley, his shoulder still steaming. Stan had followed him through... The idiot! Did he want both of them killed?!

"Stanley! Follow me!" Ford did his best to move through the lack of gravity, he did his best not to pay Bill's call of "First one to get either of them get's their own universe!" He noticed that Stan was having a difficult time keeping up, so he grabbed his wrist and pulled him into a random cave.

Ford's mind was going at a million miles an hour. He was in Bill's realm. He had been pushed through the portal. He was trapped in the place that had made Fiddleford go insane. Stan hadn't taken the Journal. Stan was there. The portal was even more unstable. He was trapped in Bill's realm. He... He had to do something. He might die. He might starve. He might never see home again. Stan was there. Stan had gone through the portal... He was trapped in the multiverse...

"Uh Ford, there's something you need to see."

Ford hadn't even noticed that he had his eyes squeezed shut. He opened them slowly, and he saw his brother, who was holding his shoulder, and he suddenly felt ten times worse. But Stanley wasn't trying to show him his brand, but it was something behind him. A circle of some of the strangest creatures that Ford had ever seen. A small band of aliens.

The aliens explained about Bill, and Ford pretended not to notice Stan's terrified looks at him. Ford himself felt like an idiot. Who was really the screw-up of the twins?

Ford and Stan didn't really talk for the first couple of days, then, in a dimension that was inhabited by flower-people, Stan asked, "So... How do you know triangle guy?"

Ford winced. "He... I met... He's the one... Stanley, please don't hate me."

Ford broke the news to Stan, who watched him with wide eyes. Ford told him this while he was washing Stan's burn, the water there was clear and clean, and by the time Ford was done Stan's back was looking a whole lot better. Ford winced whenever Stan did, and he couldn't help a tear or two when he accidentally pushed a little too hard with his wet cloth, making Stan give a sharp cry.

"I'm so sorry Stan... I... I didn't mean to..." Ford stopped talking, he helped Stan shrug on his freshly washed shirt, and he sat down next to him in the tall, lush grass. "Can you ever forgive me?"

Stan looked over at Ford, and then back down at the green grass. "Yeah." He mumbled. "I can. I'm sorry for trapping both of us in here. D'ya think they'll ever figure out what happened to us?"

Ford shrugged looking mournfully out at the moving fields around them. "Let's hope they don't. I wonder what Dad and Mom'll... And Sherman... I was supposed to go see them next Hanukkah..." He clenched his hands into fists, tugging a bit of the grass up. He tore little pieces off of each blade and dropped it on the ground. "Sherman's turning thirteen this year... I haven't seen him in six years... I don't even know what he looks like."

Stan nodded, copying Ford's action. "Me neither. Last I saw him he was like... Four months. Remember what you said when Mom said they were having him?"

An awkward chuckle sounded from next to him, and if Stan closed his eyes he could pretend he was sixteen again. "I'll never forget. 'A baby! I can't wait to conduct experiments... I mean. Watch him'." The two of them laughed, and Stan looked over at Ford, who had a melancholy grin on his face. "And I was never allowed to babysit him ever."

"Yup. That's how it goes." Stan lay all the way down staring up at the blue sky above them. "Hey... Ford. Do you think we'll find treasure out here? And babes?"

Ford copied his action, folding his arms behind his head in a makeshift pillow. "I'd say there's a high probability. Maybe we could date some alien chicks. Hopefully it'll turn out better than when I dated that one Siren."

Stan decided that Ford had had just about as interesting life as he had. Maybe he wasn't kidding about all the things he'd been through...

"They're your family. My grandkids." Sherman said, watching his brothers' eyes widen in wonder. Man he wished he had a camera.

"How did you get a girl?" Stan asked, stepping closer to the kids, who were staring at the two space-travelers in wonder. "Teach me thy ways young brother."

"Maybe because his opener isn't 'Hi! I'm Stanley, I'm in my sixties and travel to other dimensions. Wanna get married?'" Ford said, rolling his eyes and folding his arms. "He literally said that once."

Stan huffed, but couldn't help but let a chuckle escape him. "Hey. I was still a bit tipsy from that purple drink those pig guys gave us All-Star. You have nothing to complain about!"

"And we've descended into madness." Ford said, "Let's just introduce ourselves... Wait. Sherman. Does anyone else know about this place? Anyone at all?"

Dipper loved hanging out with the Author. Mabel adored the fact that she had great-uncles (or Grunkles, as she called them), and spent every hour she could with either of them. Sherman was thrilled to be able to learn more about his brothers, and he had already begun compiling a list of things to write about. Ford was appalled at first at the mess around his house, but Stan had reminded him of the condition it had been in last time they were there... So Ford forgave Sherman.

Stan quickly became one of the towns' favorites, even running for mayor at one point. He had taken to only wearing short sleeves, a fact that Ford was miffed with, as it showed off his Holy Mackeral tattoo. Mabel had sworn she'd get a shooting star one the day she moved out of the house, and Stan had offered to help see Ford's All-Star one. Dipper had... Well... Not been impressed. "It's his body! He can show you if he wants!"

When Weirdmageddon rolled around, Sherman was left alone in his house for all of two hours. Then Fiddleford McGucket showed up, bringing a bunch of people and creatures from the forest. Sherman wasn't too thrilled to have the gnomes in his house, after what they had tried to do with his granddaughter, but he supposed that he had to help them. It wasn't their fault that Bill had showed up.

A week. He lost Dipper, Mabel, Stan, and Ford for an entire week. Then Dipper, Mabel, Soos, and Wendy had all showed up at the door, and they were excepted into the resistance. They inspired the townsfolk to build a giant robot out of the house, and head off to the middle of the madness to rescue Stan and Ford. Because. You see. Stan and Ford were... Well... They were Sherman's brothers. Of course they got captured!

They rescued them though. And they all summoned... Used the Zodiac. Sherman wasn't there for that part, he'd been told to get everyone else to safety because he wasn't a symbol. Yay. Everyone else in his family had a special mark, but not him. Wonder why.

Everything went up, and it was like the past week... month... yeah. However long it was, just never happened. The end.

Or is it?

Yeah. It was. The music played, the Stan bros permanently moved in, and everyone was happy.

Hello. It's me!

This was inspired by SonicCrazyGal's prompt. I figured out how they'd try to get the Stan twins back, also now Stan and Ford are BFFs again, so happiness! I figure that Dipper and Mabel's grandma is probably dead in this universe, so... sadness. Sherman takes the place of Stan in this AU really, except he's a bit nicer, and overprotective.

They all live happily ever after, and Sherman, Stan, and Ford all become best friends. Until next chapter, where everything is different and we're back to square one! Yay!

I hope you all have a great day. Stay happy and safe!

-BrilliantLight