In the Multiverse, you could be sure that whatever horrors you were facing, they would be real. A giant lava monster about to melt your toes off? Real. Tiny laser cats trying to gnaw their ways through your wrist? That was just sometimes reality for you. Yellow dream demon bent on entering your dimension and molding it into his own twisted image? You bet your boots that was real.

Your brother actually fixing up your old portal and bringing you back to the place you've always wanted to go back to? How in the Multiverse could that happen?

First off, how could Stanley, of all people, find all three Journals, figure out how to read Ford's instructions, and manage to not destroy the world in the process? How could he just be there, standing in front of Ford, holding his arms out to him? How could he be accepting of Ford, who had literally branded him with a glyph all those years ago, how could he just want him back? Stanley was the one who wanted him in the Multiverse in the first place! How could this happen right after Ford had faced Bill again after thirty years!?

No. There was no way this could be happening. Not even a sliver of a possibility. It wasn't real. Bill was just trying to get Ford to put his guard down. To try to get him to give in. To break Ford. And Ford wasn't buying it for a second... Or was he?

Ford stared down at Stanley, his dark eyes empty of emotion. Stan didn't care. Ford was there. Ford was actually there! After all this time. After all these years of heartbreak, Stan was finally seeing his brother again. Ford's lips were pursed, and there was a glare in his eyes that Stan hadn't noticed before. It was unreadable, yet perfectly understandable. Ford had to be happy to see Stan again, probably confused on why he was there so late, but Ford just had to be grateful. There was no way he couldn't be... Right?

There was absolute silence for a moment, after Stan had announced his relation to Ford, then he stepped towards his brother, his shoes making dull thuds on the ground around him, and said, "Finally, after all these long years of waiting! You're actually here!" Stan smiled at Ford, who was still up on the large chunk of the portal that had fallen down. He had taken his mask off, and Stan was relieved to see that he still looked Stan's age.

"Brother!" Stan shouted, holding his arms open wide, expecting Ford to... I dunno, do something. There was more silence, and Stan coughed before saying, "I know it took a while. But I'm soooo happy to see you again! This took so much work, and... And you're here!" Ford's eyes flicked across Stan's body like he was sizing him up, then he hissed, in a voice that made Stan almost shudder, "As if I'd buy into your game for one second Cipher."

"Uh... What?" It was all Stan could think to say. Cipher? Game? "No... Ford, it's me. Stan! You... You remember me, right?" Stan asked, stepping closer to Ford, who continued to glare at him. Ford's face was as hard as rock, and Stan wondered what was going on in that super-smart head of his. Probably boring nerd stuff.

"Ford... You remember me..." Stan repeated, watching Ford knit his eyebrows. All Ford seemed to want to do was stare at Stan and breathe deeply through his nostrils. Stan ground his teeth together, and wondered for a moment what had been on the other side of the portal. Or what he had thought Ford would do once he came back. Whatever it was, it wasn't this.

Finally, after what had to have been at least a minute, Ford said calmly, "Of course I remember you. You're Stanley, my brother. My twin. The one who shoved me through. The one who you would know I care about." His voice gained venom when he finished his statement, and it took Stan a moment to realize what he had said. Ford cared about him.

"Oh... Uh... That's good." Stan said, glancing to his left and lifting his bandaged hand to his jaw. "So... Uh, how have your last thirty years been?"

Ford opened his mouth, then snapped it shut a moment later. His eyes bore into Stan, and he rubbed his fingers together next to his sides. "And why would you care?" He hissed, and Stan gulped. Ford sounded stilted, like he was testing the waters. Stan decided to play it cool and he answered with a shrug, "Uh... Cause you're my brother, and I'm sort of curious..."

"Alright." Ford stated, folding his arms and furrowing his brow at Stan. "I'll accept that. It was... Wondible. Wonderful for research and hypothesis, but horrible for almost everything else." He sighed, then added, "I'd ask about you, but I bet you've been getting into your fair share of trouble. With the law, and people." Stan chuckled, his mind trying to find a proper balance. Ford... was acting strange...

"Hi! Yeah, uh, Mabel here..." Stan glanced behind him, at his niece, who had her right hand raised like she was in a classroom. "What on Earth is going on here!?"

Ford's eyes flicked from Stan for the first time since he'd exited the portal, this time landing on the youn girl all the way on the other side of the large basement. His eyes widened slightly in shock and he mumbled, "What do you have planned Bill?" but it sounded more like it was for himself than Stanley. He stepped towards Stan, and came up next to him, still watching his niece.

"Who is that?" he asked, sounding actually interested. Stan let a smile cross over his face, and he spun around to face the same direction as Ford. "That? Oh, that's Mabel. Shermie's granddaughter. And the boy next to her is Dipper, her brother." Stan waved a hand towards the two children, and he turned his head towards Ford to see his reaction.

Ford's confused face went stoic and determined. Congrats Sixer, you have a niece and nephew! Do you thinks that's amazing? No! You don't think anything is amazing!

"Uh... Ford? That's your niece." Stan said, clearing his throat and motioning again towards Mabel, who was looking at them in shock. "You should probably say hi." He himself began to step back towards Dipper, Mabel, and Soos, not knowing what to do with his brother now that he was here. He'd expected Ford to... have emotions.

"A niece and nephew?" Ford said, following Stan a moment later. "This will be interesting..."

This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real... This isn't real... This isn't real...

It became Ford's mantra. From the moment he stepped out of the portal something felt... off... Like everything around him was a glove built to fit him perfectly. How was it that his brother came out 'perfect' (for Stanley) and everything else was ideal. His house? He still had it! His Journals? Flawless! His home life? He had children to keep him company now!

He holed himself down in the basement though, not really doing anything. Well, actually it was the opposite of that. He was deconstructing the portal, physical activity was the one break from 'reality' that he got. Nothing was real... Nothing is real...

He barely ate (who wants to eat food made by Bill? It was probably mushed up dreams, or babies, or the skeletal structure of a chimera! And don't even get him started on brown meat), he barely slept (no demon visits for him thank you very much), and what little time he spent idly, he felt like he was sinking into a ocean of falsehoods. This isn't real...

That was, until Dipper. The boy had literally fallen into his life, a piece of Ford's favorite game cluched in his thin and eager hands. In Ford's foolish excitement, he'd completely forgotten what he was supposed to be doing.

It wasn't until hour seven of their epic quest that Ford realized it. They'd moved past basic "So... Where do you live? What's your favorite color?" questions, and Dipper had asked a small query about beyond the portal. Insignificant in the long run, but it seemed to make something click in Ford's mind. What was on the other side of the portal? Bill. What did Bill want? Ford to let his guard down. What was Ford doing? Playing his favorite game, with a child who found him to be cool, in 'his dimension', alone... With a child that was just...

"No!" Ford exclaimed, dropping his dice that he was about to roll. Dipper's eyes widened as he watched his uncle scramble to his feet, breathing heavily. "No. No... No... No... No..."

"Uh, Great uncle Ford?" Dipper asked, watching him with slight fear. He glanced at the cardboard-cutout of Probibilitor, and asked quietly, "Are you okay?"

Ford grabbed the tips of his hair and stared down at Dipper, whose eyes were flashing between both of his. "This isn't real! This can't be real... You're not real!" He squeezed his eyes shut and Dipper stood up, trying to place a hand on his Great uncle's arm to offer him some comfort, but Ford jerked away from him.

"What are you talking about Great uncle Ford? I'm real," Dipper said, watching Ford take a step backwards. Ford shook his head, his eyes opening and staring at Dipper. "No, you're not." He stated simply, and Dipper carefully stepped over their game pieces on the floor, trying to get to his uncle. "You're too perfect!"

The boy blinked. Too perfect? What?

"You're smart, and creative," Ford began to explain, watching Dipper slowly get closer to him, although he had this strange feeling that maybe if he explained it would make it all better he still was cautious. "You are basically another version of my childhood-self, into monsters, paranormal creatures, aliens..." Dipper stepped closer to him, trying to wrap his DD&MD focused mind around what Ford was saying. "You have what I wanted! Adventure, guts, a good relationship with your twin..." Ford bowed his head and mumbled, "Mabel's a better version of Stanley anyway. Both of you are perfect... There's no way you're real..."

Dipper didn't know what to say.

"So... You'll never guess what Dipper told me yesterday..."

Ford glanced up at Stanley from across the control room in the basement. He had been sitting, stewing in his own thoughts ever since Dipper had given up trying to explain his existence to him. Stan had his arms folded, and he leaned against the doorway, his eyes holding slight anger, and sorrow. Ford shrugged then asked, "What did he say?"

Stan sighed, long and hard. "You really don't know, do you?" Ford shook his head, even though he had a sinking feeling that he did. He watched Stan raise an eyebrow at him, then explain, "He said that you said that everything isn't real. That the 'Reality is an illusion', or 'The universe is a hologram'. That everything Diper knows is fake. Not. Cool."

Stanley took a step deeper into the control room, and waved a hand towards the ceiling. "Do you know how long it took me to reassure him that he is real. That he's not just an illusion? Do you?" Ford sat there quietly, not making a sound, and Stanley groaned in frustration, holding his recently unbandaged hand up to his forehead.

"What did you do to our nephew?!" Stan asked, dragging his fingers across his face. This was exactly the Ford Stan was expecting. To the T. Totally.

Ford finally spoke, and his sentence was short and blunt. "I told him the truth." Alright that settled it. Ford was crazy. Ford had crazy beliefs, crazy ideas, crazy ways of expressing himself. And Stan... Was done with it. Ford could ruin the dreams of adults if he wanted, not that he spent time with adults, but still. Stan had expected Ford to know better!

The frustration that crept through Stan was skyrocketing. This was not cool. "Ford, I don't think you realize this, but Dipper is twelve." Stan said, refolding his arms and glaring down at his twin, who continued to look at him with no emotion (did thinking everything was an illusion come with having no feelings?). "You can tell me that I don't exist, but never, ever," Stan suddenly pointed his finger in Ford's face, causing him to blink rapidly. "Ever, tell Dipper and Mabel that. I will break you, and you'll know that I exist."

Ford glared at Stan's finger, then said quietly, "Alright, is that all?"

"Is that all?" Stan asked with a laugh. Ford was being ridiculous. This was crazy! Crazy! "No!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air, "It's not all! You don't think you're in reality! What am I supposed to do about that?!"

Ford didn't answer Stan, he just turned back to his desk and flipped the second Journal open. Stan gave a great huff and spun around as well. "Dinner will be done in about twenty minutes," He said, starting to walk back out of the room. "Unless you don't believe in eating either..."

Ford was slightly surprised when Weirdmageddon came. If this was a reality created by Bill to get Ford to put his guard down, why would Bill get into it and try to mess it all up? Why was Bill settling for this dimension when there were real ones for him to conquer? Unless... This actually could...

Dipper had tried to forget Ford's speech on how he and everyone and everything he knew wasn't real. Grunkle Stan had assured him that that wasn't the case, but it still lingered in Ford and Dipper's interactions. Ford never brought it up, and even started having... fun with Dipper, but the twelve-year-old could still feel his words lingering in the air around them. Nothing is real. This is all made by Bill. You're just an illusion.

Ford had... apologized? for what he had said. He hadn't denied any of it, just said that he shouldn't have told Dipper that. It might still be real. Or... not real? Neither one really understood it.

Ford had gotten captured as soon as Bill had exited the rift. Admittedly, Ford needed to have put better precautions around it, but he hadn't thought it would be a problem. If the dimension wasn't real, and the rift wasn't real, who cared if it still was there? Ford had been stupid.

For some strange reason, Bill was adamant that he needed to learn how to get out of Gravity Falls, and Ford was starting to think that his 'family' may be right about the whole reality thing. But even if they weren't, watching Bill be completely frustrated with Ford was hilarious... Until the torture sessions began.

Human scalps are very sensitive. Which is great! Most of the time... Also, the human body is a great electricity conductor! Especially if said human body had a metal plate in its head! Bill had fun trying to make Ford's head resemble Jesus', and turn him into the world's largest lightning bug. Everything hurt.

Then the kids came. That was fun. The probably non-existent children had saved him! Now all that was left to do was gather the probably non-existent Zodiac and blast the probably existent Bill back into the existing Nightmare Realm! Piece of cake. But of course, the cake is a lie.

Ford and Stan fought about the literal reality of the situation, and... that had broken up the Zodiac, and Bill had turned six of the members into tapestries, while Ford and Stan had been placed in a pyramid-shaped prison and Bill went to chase those meddling kids. Yay Ford! Your paranoia is going to get your family killed! Wait, why did he care?

"This is all my fault," Ford muttered, placing a hand on the blue energy bar surrounding them. Stan watched him silently, and contemplated saying "yeah, it is" but he remained silent. "I didn't even think they were real, and now they're going to die."

Stan nodded watching Ford sigh and lean his head against the wall. Ford's hands tightened around the bars, and he said, "I still don't know what's real or not. Why would Bill do something like this if it wasn't? How will I live with myself if it is?" He looked over at Stan, who shrugged and moved to stand next to him. "Hey, it's okay." Stan said, placing a hand on Ford's back, "I probably wouldn't think this was real either, you must've had a horrible time on the other side..."

Their eyes met and Ford mumbled, "I just... knew everything was real on the other side. Everything felt real. Nothing feels real here... Until now." He looked up and out at the rest of the Fearamid, his eyelids sagging slightly. "Now that the kids are going to die they feel like they're real. I never even considered that I could have something so amazing... they were just too good to be true..."

Stan chuckled, dropping his hand to the bars as well. "Yeah, that's Dipper and Mabel for you..."

If Ford had barely believed Weirdmageddon, it was even harder for him to believe post-oddpocalypse. He'd erased Stan's memory, but he'd gotten it back. He'd almost lost his niece and nephew, but they were fine now. He'd almost lost this reality to Bill, but now he had this universe, and Bill was no more. Bill was erased. This was real.

This is real. This is real. This is real... This is real...

Now Ford was repeating the opposite of his old mantra to himself. Everything around him was real. His family still loved him, he was making friends with all the townsfolk, he could actually start caring about the things around him... His life became better now that he knew it wasn't an illusion. So much better that he almost forgot that Dipper and Mabel were leaving. Now what would he do with his free time!

"Say, Stanley, how does you running the Shack while I move to Piedmont with Dipper and Mabel sound?"

Stanley... wasn't crazy about that idea. He yelled at Ford that "Just because I spent more of a summer with them doesn't mean you get to just leave me! I'll back in the same old boat I was in earlier!" And that's when a better idea struck.

"What if you get a new boat?" Ford asked, holding a hand up to his chin. "We could kidnap Dipper and Mabel, scan the world for anomalies, and spend the rest of our lives on the high seas!"

Stanley... actually liked that one. Especially the kidnapping parts. Needless to say, Mr. and Mrs. Pines were quite confused when only a letter arrived for them instead of their children.

Hi mom and dad! Mabel here!

We've been taken hostage by Grunkle Stan and Ford! (who, by the way, says we're real now) I think they're taking us to Africa? Or the Arctic. I don't exactly remember. Dipper's locked in the trunk now, and I think he's running out of snacks back there. But don't worry! Grunkle Stan says there's this awesome gas station he used to rob... I mean... stop at all the time! Grunkle Stan's not a bad guy!

Please help us! I think the Multiverse did something to Grunkle Ford. -Love Mabel.

Hello everyone! I'm here again!

This was inspired by SonicCrazyGal's prompt on if Ford thought that nothing was real when he came out. As you can tell... Everything is better/worse. I hope it lives up to your expectations.

I'm still taking prompts by the way! I love them all so much! I have one in the works right now, and I should probably get to that soon... It's another heart breaker. Yaaay... Stan and Ford are going to kill me.

I hope you guys have a great day! Stay sane! Remember that reality is real!

-BrilliantLight