Stanley had lost almost all of his family.

It was a fact of his life. He had lost his Dad... When he had broken Ford's project, maybe before that. He had lost Ford that same night, and had lost him again when he was pulled through the portal. (in)Conveniently, that was when he lost contact with his mother, and any chance he had of knowing Sherman. He had to be Stanford, and Stanley was dead. So... That cut him off from them permanently.

But then Dipper and Mabel had shown up in his life. Why he had agreed to watch the two of them that summer still confounded him. But he wouldn't trade their time together for all the money in the world. The two of them reminded him so much of himself and Ford that it was scary. Almost like they were making parallels between the two sets of Pines Twins on purpose.

So when it came down to Ford or the Kids, Stan had no idea what to choose. He had spent thirty years trying to get the stupid portal to work, and now it finally was. The very year Stan had gained something he could lose. He could feel his connection with Dipper dwindle, and the last strings that kept him and Mabel close were unraveling quickly. They just had to stay together for just a little longer... Just a minute...

There was a gravity anomaly, and Stan was shoved against the wall, Dipper was pushed near another, and Soos was... Wherever Soos was, that didn't really matter right then.

That's when Stan saw where Mabel was.

While the anomaly had pushed three of the four people to the back of the room, it hadn't been able to do that to the only female. Mabel was still near the shut-off switch, and her foot was caught on a wire that was keeping her close to the floor... and it was slipping.

"Mabel!" He shouted, watching her try to swim down towards the button. Stan pushed against the wall with all of his might, sending him towards his young niece. Time seemed to slow as he got closer and closer to her. Mabel was now caught in the portal's gravity, her eyes as wide as Ford's had been all those years ago. Her body flailing towards him like Ford's had. Her mouth forming almost the same words his brother had. History was repeating itself.

Not today.

Stan came right up next to her, grabbed her arms with both of his hands, and shoved her as far away from the portal as he could. His hands wrapped around the soft fabric of her key-sweater, and the contact was all too short. He used all of his strength to get her away. He would not lose someone getting Ford back. He couldn't make Dipper go through what he'd been through.

One thing he forgot (on top of the list): Newton's Third Law.

When he shoved Mabel forward, he simultaneously pushed himself towards the triangular device he had shoved Ford through all those years ago. He felt the swirl start to suck him in. It felt like he was passing through a curtain made out of jello. It was a funny sensation.

The last thing he saw from his own dimension was Mabel's terrified expression, then everything went white, then black.

Pressure. That was all Ford could say about trans-dimensional travel. It was like having your insides compressed into a small cube, then being vomited back into your regular shape. But hopefully, this should be the last time he'd ever have to experience that.

He came out of the portal, a structure he'd only thought he'd see in his mindscape. It had consumed so much of his thoughts that it was now a permanent fixture of his mind. Almost nothing else was there when he went there. A set of swings (trust Ford, he had tried to get rid of those, but it was impossible), and a broken boat (another thing he just couldn't get rid of) were the only other things that greeted him in that field of probably-wheat that was his mindscape.

So to actually step out of one of the two triangles that haunted him... was a nightmare come true.

He was expecting to be greeted by Stanley. He was expecting Stan to either write off the last thirty years (like he had a habit of doing, at least when Ford had known him), or have his brother fall at his feet and begin a long rant about how sorry he was. Who was Ford kidding? Of course Stan would stick with option one!

If Stan was there of course. Which he wasn't.

Ford came out of the portal to see three people he had never seen before. Two children who looked to be about ten, and a man Ford could swear was from Rodentus 7. Where in the multiverse was Stanley?

He decided to pick the Journal that had caught his eye up before he questioned the other people. He knelt down, picked up the book, straightened, then took his mask off. He was not expecting what came next.

"Grunkle Stan! You're okay!"

The girl rushed towards him, her eyes filled with tears. She looked up at him, her expression looking like she had just found something extremely valuable that she had lost. She squeezed her eyes shut, then she threw her arms around his middle and pressed the side of her face against his stomach. "I thought I had lost you! You saved me! Thank you..."

Ford's eyes met the other child's, then he glanced down at the girl's brown hair. "Uh... I... Can I help you? Where is Stan?"

The girl stiffened, then she looked up at his face again. A single tear trailed its way down her left cheek and she released him. Ford knelt down in front of her, fighting the awkwardness that was attempting to consume him. He tentatively lifted his right hand, and wiped her tear away with its pointer finger.

"What?" She asked, glancing at his now wet finger. "What do you mean? You're Grunkle Stan... Right? You have to remember me! It's me, Mabel! Remember?" Ford didn't know what a 'Grunkle' was, but it sounded like a relative... So...

"Are you Stanley's, or Sherman's?" Was all he could really think of saying, and the girl tilted her head when he asked it. "What? Grunkle Stan... Who?"

"Who's Stanley?" the boy asked before Mabel (who just had to be his sister, they looked so similar) could say anything else. Mabel's cheeks were now both streaked by tears, which were falling down like rain. She was quiet, but... Who were these kids? "Our great-uncle's name is Stanford..." The boy added, and Ford didn't need any more notice that they were related.

"Well... I'm Stanford Pines," he said, placing an awkward hand on Mabel's left shoulder. "So I'd be your great-uncle. My question was if you were Sherman's grandchildren, or Stanley's. But I believe that your statement earlier answers that." He shifted uncomfortably as Mabel gave him the most horrified and miserable look he'd ever seen.

"Then you are Grunkle Stan!" She said after a moment of silence. "He's Stanford! And you're Stanford... So you have to be him! Please... Why don't you remember me? What was on the other side of the portal..." She trailed off as Ford gave her a confused look, and she suddenly flung herself on top of him, knocking him onto the ground. "Come on!"

This would be... interesting.

As it turned out. Stanford was not 'Grunkle Stan'. He was in fact, Stan's twin brother, Grunkle Ford. Stan must have decided to make Ford's life even more of a nightmare.

Ford had suspected that if he ever got back to his own dimension it'd be relaxing. Who wouldn't want to be back in a place that they knew how the laws of... nature... made sense. Or were 'normal'. So it was quite a shock to get the exact opposite of what he'd been expecting.

Stanley had stolen his name, turned his house into a tourist trap that mocked the entire study of the paranormal, used his name to commit a bajillion crimes, had an entire pile of taxes that almost all of them had records of him committing massive tax fraud... and was that a marriage license?! Who in the Multiverse was 'Goldie'?!

And on top of that, he had two children he'd been 'watching' for the summer. And Stan had possessed the audacity to get himself trapped in the Multiverse before Ford could even say 'hi' to him (he probably actually would have punched him. Especially if he'd known what he'd done). Oh! Also. Stan had restarted the portal. Which could have destroyed the world and/or let Bill into this dimension! Was there nothing else he could do?

One night, about a week after Ford had gotten back, found him in the kitchen, a giant pile of papers sitting in front of him, and a pen in his hand. He picked the top one up and read it carefully. He took a swig of coffee right then. This would be a fun night.

Two hours later the clock read midnight, and Ford had only gotten through about a fourth of all of the legal documents. He had made a pile of non-useable, and it was the slightly larger of the two piles he'd been making with the papers he'd already sorted. He was on his fourth cup of coffee, and he was silently contemplating getting a few shots of Mabel juice to fully wake him up.

That's when Mabel dragged herself into the room.

Ford looked up at his young niece, who glared at him as she walked over to the counter and pulled a clean glass out of a cabinet. She filled it up in the sink and began to slink out of the room. Something was wrong.

"Mabel... A word?" Ford said, turning in his chair to face the door she was leaving through. She turned around, and Ford steeled himself up for what he was about to say.

"Mabel... I want you to know... If there's anything upsetting you, you can tell me. I understand that it's late and you might not..." Ford trailed off. He'd promised the kids that they could still stay with him for the rest of the summer, and that he'd keep the 'Mystery Shack' open until they left, but there was still a tension in the air.

Mabel glanced at the clock on the stove, then at Ford's tired yet hopeful face. She stepped up to the table and sat down on one of the free chairs, placing her glass next to Ford's white mug.

"Why aren't you saving him?" She said quietly, and Ford did a double-take. "What?" he asked, glancing at the papers for a fraction of a second. He scanned Mabel's figure, and leaned forward, just in case whatever she said next was in a quiet tone.

"Why aren't you saving Grunkle Stan? He saved you. So..." She took a small sip of water, and Ford bit his lip.

"Mabel... I..." Ford clenched his hands into fists on his lap. Part of him wanted to save Stan. Part of him wanted to let Stan feel what Ford had gone through. The rational part of him was having quite a battle over keeping this dimension safe from Bill, and keeping his brother safe from him. He looked into Mabel's determined eyes, and said quietly, "Mabel, I can't do that."

"Why not?!" She asked loudly. "I get that you hate him. But he's still your brother! I'd save Dipper! Stan saved you! Why can't you be the hero, just like he is?"

Ford held a hand up to his forehead. He hadn't told the kids about Bill yet, and he doubted that he ever would. He needed a way to tell Mabel the truth without getting into those details. She was right, but she was also wrong. Like a certain Grunkle of her's...

"Mabel, you remember the gravity anomalies." He said, choosing the easiest part to explain. "Right?" She nodded, and Ford saw a flash of bitterness fall over her face. "Well, when I first started using the portal, thirty years ago, they weren't as intense. They definitely weren't picking entire buildings up. In fact, they were nonexistent."

Mabel crossed her arms and nodded. Ford sighed and continued. "Every single time the portal is started up they get worse. The portal gets even more unstable. If I try to get Stanley back... Who knows what will happen. Gravity could disappear permanently." He shifted uncomfortably and tried his best not to let Mabel's stern look change his resolve.

"So?" She asked, "You're smart! Figure out a way to stop those! There has to be a way!" she threw her hands up in the air, and Ford winced. "If Grunkle Stan could find out a way to get you back..."

"Mabel."

The girl was starting to cry again. Ford stood up and took a single step to stand directly in front of her. He kneeled down and looked straight into her eyes. "Mabel. I'm sorry... I just... I can't..." He held his arms out, "Just... Let's not discuss this now..."

"No! We need to talk about..." Mabel glared at him, but before she could say anything else Ford scooped her up in his arms and began to carry her out of the room. She let out a sharp cry of protest, but one look from Ford made her stop. "My water?" she asked quietly, and Ford answered, "I'll bring it up to you."

Time to rethink everything.

Ford had a problem.

Last time he'd needed to build a device that had to do with interdimensional travel, he'd had a friend to help him out. But... Uh... That friend's name was Fiddleford, and if there was one thing Ford couldn't do it was... Well, talk to Fiddleford.

So Ford was left alone, as the only adult in the entire Shack (Soos didn't count) working to fix everything. On top of that, there was a rift that the portal had made, an insane triangle who wanted to get that rift and start Wierdmageddon, and a dead mayor.

And kids who wanted him to run for that position. As if Ford needed even more stuff to do. Yes, Ford was just spending all that time in the basement twiddling his thumbs. Yup. Exactly what he was doing. It wasn't like he was trying to save the universe or anything. No... He didn't have anything going on.

Yet there he was, standing on a stage, in front of several dozen people. Some weird car guy on one side, and... Was that the one bicycle kid from thirty years ago? Li'l Tyler looked... Cute, even after all these years.

He was just getting to the part where he suggested that they completely rewrite like... All of Gravity Falls' laws. Seriously. Who kept the stuff Quinton Trembly (thanks Dipper and Mabel) had put in place? Who just let people marry woodpeckers? How did that even work?

Then he heard the screams. Good thing he had worn his infinity belt.

The audacity of Gleeful to just say that Dipper and Mabel were 'demolition dummies'. Ford proved that his paranoia was still useful. He pulled his magnet gun out of the suit coat that Mabel had forced him to wear. He quickly scaled the ladder, and jumped over to Dipper and Mabel, who were especially excited to see him.

"Grunkle Ford! You're here! You're saving us!" Mabel said, a smile on her face as Ford grabbed on the rope tied around the chairs that she and Dipper were tied on. Ford dropped his infinity belt down to them, and Dipper grabbed onto it with his stuck hands. Just in case.

When Ford and the kids fell safely down to the ground they were half shocked to discover that the townsfolk loved it. Ford had been so focused on saving his family that he had forgotten that literally everybody had seen what he'd done. And thus, Stanford Pines was mayor of Gravity Falls, after that 'freedom eagle' had planted a kiss on his forehead. Something that he had immediately had started rambling about the impossibility of.

Luckily for him, and unluckily for the kids, he was immediately disqualified. Apparently, the law didn't care that your brother had stolen your name, and there was no way on Earth Ford would say he was 'Stanley' Pines.

The sweater Mabel made him was nice though.

When Weirdmageddon had rolled around, Ford was on very thin ice with his niece.

In retrospect, tearing her away from yet another family member wasn't the best decision that Ford had made. Dipper had taken one look at Mabel's miserable appearance, then had dashed back downstairs, leaving his backpack in their room.

Ford had gone up to talk to Mabel, something he knew he needed to do more of. He felt like he was going to the principle's office.

Mabel had accused him of hating her. She told him about how horrible her day was. She told him that she hated him. She told him that she wished that Grunkle Stan had never had a brother. She said a lot of things that Ford knew she didn't mean, but still cut deeply. Then, when he had tried to explain himself, she ran out of the room, grabbing a backpack, and leaving the house entirely.

Unfortunately, the backpack she grabbed was Dipper's. So when Ford came down to the basement, he had a bunch of flyers and chocolate, but no rift.

And no Mabel.

Ford had been captured before he could even start looking for his niece. It tore his heart out to have to destroy Bill first. But once the demon was blasted into oblivion it would be a million times easier to find her. He had told Dipper to stay in the shack, there was no way that Ford was going to lose everybody in his family.

Bill knew that Ford could take down the barrier around Gravity Falls, but, of course, Ford would rather die than let Bill take over the world. So the torture sessions started. Luckily Bill couldn't just possess him (thanks Jhesselbraum), but he could do practically anything else to him. Bill had started with electrocution, which wasn't the worst, but it was still painful. Ford forced himself to move after every shock. After every time. He had to keep his guard up. He had to remember. He had to remember why he was doing this. If anything happened to the kids...

The next thing he knew, the two of them were next to him. They had reunited, something that they promised they'd tell him about later. And Dipper asked him if he knew another way to defeat Bill. He showed them the Zodiac but... There was something wrong.

There were ten symbols, and nine people.

Stanley wasn't there. Because of Ford's stupidity they would all die. He should have spent all his time getting his brother back, his brother who had saved him and Mabel, his brother who might be annoying and reckless, but in the end still loved them, his brother who he had hated. Without Stanley... they would lose.

Luckily, if there was one thing that Bill had taught him, it was wording.

"Wait!"

Bill held Dipper and Mabel in one of his many hands. The two symbols he'd been flashing on his eye disappearing. He looked at Ford and seemed to be interested in what he was about to say.

"I'll do it. I'll give you the equation." He said, "On one condition." Bill dropped the kids and shrank back down to his regular triangular shape. "I'm listening."

Ford gulped, watching the kids get trapped in an identical cage to the one he was in himself. "You can't ever hurt Dipper and Mabel again. You or your friends. Physically, or Mentally."

"Deal!" Bill said, holding his hand out to Ford, who was grateful his nerves made it impossible for him to smile. He reached his hand out and shook Bill's, feeling himself slide into his mindscape.

Let's just say Bill didn't like getting burned.

One of the pluses of Bill's deal was getting Stan back. Like, the moment Weirdmageddon was over Stan just appeared in the middle of the woods. He looked around, then Ford and Mabel threw themselves on him.

"Oh my goodness! Grunkle Ford! That was amazing!" Mabel shouted, hugging Ford yet again. "That was the greatest thing ever! You just defeated Bill!"

Ford smiled down at Mabel, and there were tears in his eyes. "Yes... I did... I almost lost you..." He kneeled down and wrapped his arms around her. "I love you Mabel. I love all three of you."

"Uh... Is Ford crying?" Stan asked, and Dipper nodded. "It looks like it."

"And I saved you! And I didn't even have to do that much with the portal! I mean, I accidentally caused the Oddpocalypse. But I stopped it." Ford released Mabel and turned to Stan, a sad smile on his face and tears streaming down his cheeks. "I think I need to get to the hospital. Everything hurts..."

"Uh... Is this normal?" Stan asked, "It's good to see you guys again. But I have no idea what's going on. The Oddpacalypse? Ford saving people? Ford saying 'I love you'? What?"

Dipper just shook his head as Mabel hugged Stan, Stan patted her head and said "Hey Pumpkin. Yeah, I missed you too."

Ford just smiled and cried. Happy tears. Happy tears people.

Hello guys. I'm back! Yay!

So on Thursday my power went out (yay! Power-out party!) and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday I had stuff to do. Then I got this done today! Yay!

This was inspired by SonicCrazyGal's prompt. I did more of the repercussions of what would happen with Ford and Mabel. I think Dipper would be more understanding of the predicament they were in, whereas Mabel would be like "But he's Grunkle Stan! You have to save him!" She'd still be her happy-go-lucky self, but a bit sadder. And Soos would start doing the Mystery Shack tours, because I just can't see Ford jumping into them.

I hope you all have a great day! If you have anything you'd like to see leave it in the reviews or private messaging. Goodbye!

-BrilliantLight