Step. Clunk. Step. Clunk. Step. Clunk. Step. Clunk.

Dipper looked up at the portal. His eyes seemed to water, and his head hurt. Everything seemed... Fuzzy. Like a static screen had slid over all of reality. There was only a handful of sounds that Dipper could hear. Buzzing, like a bug was stuck in his ear. The whistle of wind from the portal, growing quieter as the seconds ticked away. His own breathing, and that slow Step. Clunk. Step. Clunk. He forced his eyes open and saw a figure walking... no, limping towards them.

"Who is that?" He asked, and he wasn't entirely expecting his great uncle to answer, and he was definitely not the answer Stan gave him. The old man looked in wonder at the same figure Dipper was looking at, and said quietly, "The Author of the Journals... My brother."

Dipper's ears immediately stopped ringing. His eyes widened as he watched the Author take his mask off, revealing a face that looked almost exactly like Stan's. With cold, piercing blue eyes, unlike Stan and Dipper's chocolate brown. Dipper felt his breath hitch in his throat. The Author was there! Oh man... Oh man... Finally!

"After all these long years of waiting!" Dipper heard Stan say, not talking to Dipper anymore, and he watched his great uncle step towards his other great uncle. "You're actually here! Brother..."

The Author, who had been slowly moving towards Stan the entire time, suddenly winced. His left foot snagged on something, most likely a piece of debris, and he fell forward, landing with a 'thud' on the ground. Stan gasped when a pair of glasses slid over to hit his foot. "Oh my goodness! Ford! Are you okay!"

Ford. The Author's name was Ford. And he had faceplanted on the ground.

Stan, Dipper, and Mabel all rushed over to Ford, Stan kneeling down next to him as Ford was busy pushing against the ground with his hands, his legs staying stiff and straight. "I'm fine. I just..." He rolled over onto his right side, his movements jerky. Dipper saw that his right leg had something underneath his black pant leg, to the point it was about another half size more full than the other one. It looked like he'd put tent poles inside of it.

"Stanley, a bit of help?" Ford asked, pushing half of himself up onto his now bent left leg. Stan let him put his weight on his shoulder, and he helped him stand up. "Thank you. It malfunctioned when I was... I mean... It doesn't matter." Stan and he moved over to the wall, Ford's injured (or 'malfunctioning') leg sticking out above the ground.

Stan leaned him against the wall, and Ford winced as he placed his weight on his right leg. "The initial injury happened about... ten years ago," Ford explained, motioning towards his leg. "There are too many details to get into right now." Stan nodded, then he shook his head quickly. "What are you talking about? I need to know everything."

Ford sighed, and a small groan of pain escaped with it. He screwed his face up in a pained expression, and Dipper and Mabel came over to stand next to Stan. Ford's eyes opened slightly, then widened when he saw the kids. "Stanley... Why are there children here? Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea how dangerous..."

"They're Shermie's grandkids," Stan said before Ford could finish, and Ford's already widened eyes grew even wider and brightened. "I have a niece and nephew?" He breathed, and a smile played on his lips. "I'd kneel down to shake your hand, but I fear that's impossible presently."

Mabel chuckled, and her eyes flashed between his leg and his face. "That's okay. I'm Mabel!" She stuck her hand out to him, and he gripped it with his own. "Whoa. A six-fingered handshake! That's a full finger friendlier than normal." She said, beaming up at him. Ford chuckled, winced, then replied, "I like this one. She's weird." Stan rolled his eyes, "That's not the only reason you'll like her. Just wait till you get to know her."

Ford nodded, then his eyes rested on Dipper. "And are you two twins?" Mabel nodded vigorously, dropping Ford's hand. "That's..."

"Dipper! I'm Dipper. And you're the Author of the Journals!" Dipper exclaimed, stepping up to Ford, handing him the glasses that he'd been careful to pick up off of the floor. Ford slid them onto his face just in time to see Dipper say, "Oh my goodness, I thought you might have died! Are you okay? What happened to you? I mean... It's an honor... Sir. Can I call you great uncle..." Ford's eyes flashed to Stan, and a look of pure awkwardness covered up any pained feelings he had.

"Um... Yes. As it appears great uncle..." Ford started, then Mabel gasped. "Now we have two Grunkles! Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford! Hey, together you guys make Stan's name!"

Ford shook his head slightly. "Um... Together we make my name. I'd have to be Lee to..." Stan coughed slightly, and Ford looked over at him. "Yeah... About that Ford... Um... I maybe, kinda..." Stan swirled his pointer fingers around each other in front of him, and he looked at the ground about a foot to his left. "Stole your name. Now everyone thinks I'm Stanford."

Ford blinked at his brother, then back at the kids, who were staring at Stan like he was crazy. "You what?!"

Sometime early 2000s:

"Well, at least it can't get worse."

At least, that's what Ford thought as he hung against the wall, his wrists high above his head. To be honest, a dimension made entirely out of metal was one he was surprised he hadn't run into earlier. The trees were metallic, the ground clanged whenever he walked on it, and the animals and inhabitants were... well, they were like living statues.

So, the moment they found him, a person who was... fleshy... they instantly apprehended him. Chained him up in some sort of prison/mad scientist lab thingie. They fed him, something he wouldn't normally allow them to do, but when they literally injected his 'nutrients' (or so they said) you were sort of stuck in between a rock and a hard place.

Ford didn't really know how long he'd been there. At least, not until he came up with a brilliant escape plan.

When it was time for his 'feeding', he used all of his upper body strength to pull himself up, and wrap his legs around his prison guard's silver throat. Being made out of metal this didn't really do much to hurt the man, but Ford had what he needed.

Using strength he didn't even know he had (what was in that IV?) Ford pulled the man up, the latest blueish-clear packet getting thrown in the air. Ford twisted against his chains and pulled with all his might against them. Then he shoved the man down, and reached, with his few seconds of semi-freedom, into his coat, pulling out his magnet gun.

A handful of magnipulses later, Ford was free. The guard was lying in an unconscious lump on the floor, and Ford was starting to actually worry about his wanted posters. He'd escaped so many of them... But that didn't matter.

He bent down next to the guard, and reached for his belt, pulling a set of keys off. He stepped towards the door and entered the correct one. 618.

Nothing happened.

He flipped the key around. He probably had it upsidedown. That didn't work either. He double-checked that he had the right key, then tried it again, this time shoving it in with all his might. Then he tried key 816, but that had just as much luck as before.

In a frenzy, he began going through the entire set. He double-checked the wires, the escape route. Nothing. He was stuck in an eight-by-six cell, with an unconscious metal man, and a set of keys that wouldn't let him out. Deep underground. In an alternate universe that had him here simply because he looked different. And he was in a small area... And were the walls closing in? Oh man... Oh...

The door slid open with a hiss, and Ford breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't completely out of the deep end but still...

He stepped out of his cell and came face to face with a golden man, and a silver woman. The two of them blinked, then the woman said, a metallic echo in her voice, "Uh... Should we report this?"

Ford didn't stick around long enough to hear the man's answer. He bolted in the exact opposite direction. The man and woman beginning to chase after him.

Since they were made out of metal, and Ford was... human, their footsteps echoed throughout the halls at a louder volume than Ford's, making his ever-growing claustrophobia start getting worse. Oh Axolotl help him. Please let there be a way out. Please... Please...

He came to an elevator shaft, and he jammed the door open, not really caring that the closest car was several stories below him. He jumped into the shaft, which was barely any smaller than the cell he'd been in. Using his magnet gun he started leaping back and forth, going up as he did so.

He came to the floor he was going to get off at, and waited for a moment to catch his breath. His arms screamed at him, especially his right one, where he'd gotten his injections. His mind was ablaze with thoughts of Please don't let me die. Please let me get out of here. and his stomach growled from lack of actual food. This wasn't the worst situation he'd been in, but it was pretty bad.

He didn't even hear the elevator catch up to him.

Ford lay on his couch-bed, his right leg propped up on the cushions. Stan had insisted that he and the kids would be able to help Ford, and Ford had no objections to the three of them doing at least some of the work. It was difficult to do repairs on... yourself, and Ford was grateful for the assistance. His anger that he had originally felt towards Stan had faded once his twin had begun to take care of him. Ford had forgotten all of those moments from their childhood.

Dipper and Mabel had limited knowledge of mechanics, especially cyborg (Mabel had decided that that was what Ford was) mechanisms. But the kids had promised that if Ford was ever bored they could help. Since Ford had at least some ability to move he'd been spending time in the basement, talking with Dipper about the Journals. Mabel was more of the upstairs dog, while Dipper was sort of Ford's 'cat'.

Stan had to stifle his laughter when he heard that Ford had crushed his leg beyond regular repair with an elevator. "What, did you get off at the wrong floor?" Was his joking question, but a stern glare from his brother cut off any future ones.

Ford had been patched up in that dimension. They hadn't really been evil, just curious. Ford had been given the option of amputation... or rods that supported his completely crushed bones, a procedure that he had been more than willing to take. He now had a silver 'cage' that was permanently attached to his calf. Stan shuddered at the sight of his brother's leg, and Ford reminded him of all the gross injuries of Stan's that he had been forced to look at.

Ford had explained that in the last universe he had been in (cough, Nightmare Realm, cough) he'd been injured (Bill. Lightning), and the technology, there was some in his 'cast thing', had been fried, making it impossible for him to move his right knee. His knee cap had been replaced, and electrically wired to the rest of his leg, and Dipper had taken an immediate interest in the mechanics of the device.

"And you're sure you don't need anything? A book? Coffee? Tea?" Ford smiled at his niece, who was pulling a blanket over his legs. She had taken to mother-henning him, and Ford was actually quite amused by her constant asking about how he was.

"I could use some peace and quiet." He said, wiggling his eyebrows at her, and she sighed. "Not even water?" She asked, and Ford chuckled. "Maybe some water." He said, reaching out to pat her on her head. She beamed at him, then spun around. "Coming right up!"

Ford sighed as she walked out of the room, he reached into the cushions and pulled out a secret notebook that he hadn't even shown Dipper. Ever since finding the rift he'd been worried about its stability. He'd need something to keep it together. A glue of some sort. An adhesive... The alien adhesive from the CSO! Of course! But how would he get it? He couldn't go anywhere near that thing, and even if he did, how would he get down and up? There was only really one thing to do.

He had just started writing his plan out when Mabel reentered the room, glass of water in hand. "Whatcha writing Grunkle Ford?" She asked, handing the glass to him, who thanked her quietly.

"Nothing of interest. Boring science stuff. Say, Mabel, can you get Stanley for me? There's something I need to talk with him about." Ford said, taking a sip from the glass. Now that he thought about it, he'd been quite thirsty. Mabel nodded vigorously. "Sure thing! I think he's doing a tour right now... But I can..."

"Let him finish that then." Ford said, dropping his notebook and smiling at his niece. "Thank you for all of your help Mabel, you'd make a good nurse. Remind me to get some books on that subject. Also, I can give you some hands on..." A dreamy look came across his face, and Mabel tilted her head as his sentence drifted off. His eyes glazed slightly, and a grin spread across the bottom of his face. "Yes... That would be perfect..."

"What would be perfect?" She asked, and Ford shook his head, snapping himself back from his thoughts. "Nothing of importance currently." He said, glancing at his notebook and then back at her. "Just go get Stan. I'll tell you later."

"And that's how Dipper and I permanently moved to Gravity Falls!"

Dipper glanced over at his sister, who was standing on the deck of the Mystery Shack (the kids and Stan had convinced Ford to keep it. Not that he had had much of a choice before they could fix his leg) and was beaming down at a small group of children that they were 'teaching'. In reality, the kids were there for the Shack, but they had gotten there several minutes early, and the two teenagers had decided to distract them from their boredom.

"And just for that story, you all owe me five bucks!" Mabel exclaimed, holding her hands out to the crowd. "Now come on, pay up!"

She definitely was Stan's niece.

Ford had taught Mabel all he knew about medical procedures (which, after thirty years in the Multiverse... it was pretty large) and Dipper was given all the paranormal lessons. Mr. and Mrs. Pines had been very confused at first about why their children weren't coming home, but then Stan had 'explained everything'. They had discussed several ideas on how to remain close to their kids, but it the end had just decided to move to Gravity Falls.

Needless to say... One of their uncles was a cyborg, the other was Mr. Mystery, and their kids were telling them stories on how they defeated a demon. This wasn't exactly what they had expected to hear about their kids' 'boring' summer vacation.

Hello guys! This was inspired by a guest review from... forever ago (winces). I was trying to think of a realistic situation where Ford could get injured, and I was just like "Hey! What if he was captured by people that's weren't actually evil but he thought they were? Then he does something 'stupid' and they have to help him?" Yeah, that works.

Thanks TFD and Biancamanda16 for the reviews! And for everyone else for reading this! Have a great day!

-BrilliantLight