Stan blinked at the portal. The swirl had settled down, and the vortex looked more like it had when Ford had first come through. Now Stan had to differentiate between the times Ford had gone through the portal, and that thought made him feel... content. He wasn't perfectly content, he still had to interact with him, but he was moving more towards that mark every second that the figure could be seen.

Ford came out of the portal, rubbing his head and blinking just as hard as Stanley. He had a bandage wrapped around his left hand, and his khaki trenchcoat had a tear in the right sleeve, but it was Ford. His glasses were missing, but he quickly shoved a hand into his pocket and pulled another pair out. The nerd must lose them all the time.

After placing his glasses on his face (rather difficultly as Stan noticed), Ford looked up and blinked at the figures in the room, his eyes landing on Stan. His mouth opened in stunned shock, and he looked down at his right hand before exclaiming, "Stanley! You're here!" He dashed towards Stan. Well, it was more of a power walk, but he moved towards his brother quickly, a relieved smile on his face.

Stan's own relieved smile spread over his face. "You're here!" he said, happiness leaking into his voice. "After all this time!" Stan held his arms open wide, and Ford took just a few more steps forward, closing the gap between them and wrapping his arms around Stan's sides. Stan placed his arms around Ford as well and squeezed his eyes shut. This was perfect! Ford was mumbling something, and Stan asked him, "What was that?"

Ford let go of Stan, a sad expression on his face. "I'm sorry Stanley... I should have restarted it forever ago... I just left you there..." Stan stared at Ford strangely as actual tears began to grow in his brother's eyes. Stan didn't know what to do in this situation. The last time he'd seen Ford cry was when they were ten, so seeing a sixty-something-year-old Ford start to break down in tears was just... strange.

But it seemed that Ford got a grip on his emotions when he glanced to his left. "Stanley," he said, smiling once again. "I have some people that you have to meet. Come on." Ford reached out and grabbed Stan's uninjured hand, beginning to drag him towards the back of the room. Stan was spun around by his brother, but he followed Ford without much resistance.

"Dipper, Mabel," Ford said after he'd dragged Stan far enough towards the children. Stan had to blink extra hard at his brother then, confusion spreading through his being. How on Earth did Ford know Dipper and Mabel? The two children glanced between Ford and Stan, and Mabel nodded slowly. Ford looked back at his brother, a smile spreading over his face, "This is my brother, Stanley."

Dipper and Mabel looked at Stan, who shrugged, as well. "Uh... That can't be right." Mabel said quietly, pointing at Stan, "He's Stanford. And who are you?"

Ford's eyes widened, and a small chuckle escaped him. Stan noticed that Ford's hands were shaking, and had been ever since he'd grabbed his hand. "Mabel, that's not funny..." Ford said, shaking his head. "You know me." He looked at Dipper, and said, "Right Mason?" Dipper froze, then he asked softly, "How do you..."

"What's going on?" Stan asked, and his brother looked back over at him. "Ford, how do you know the kids? Who is 'Mason'? What was on the other side?"

Ford stepped through the portal, not really knowing what he wanted to do to his brother. The portal had roughed up the room, but it wasn't too bad. That was good, well, better than what Ford had expected. He saw his Journal on the ground, and he bent down to pick up the second tome. When he stood back up he tugged his mask off, after placing his Journal in his pocket.

He saw two children at the back of the room, and a man that looked like a rodent. That was... odd, but not completely unwelcome. The three people were staring at him, then looked to someone on his left. Ford glanced over as well, and saw a man in an outfit almost identical to his own, except he had a few streaks of red among his black.

The man took his own mask off, and there was only one person he could be. Stanley. Ford turned towards him the exact same time that he did the same, an angry look in all of their eyes.

Ford noticed that Stan had one blinded eye. It looked like someone had sliced his face open with a knife. With what Stan had briefly said when Ford had last seen him he'd most likely gotten himself in trouble since Ford had left. The two of them took steps towards each other, and both raised a fist to swing at their faces.

Ford was about ready to knock the lights out of his brother, when a small feminine voice called out, "Grunkle Ford! What are you doing?!" He turned his head to the right, frozen in place. How did this child know his name? What was a 'Grunkle'? What in the Multiverse was-

A fist planted itself in the side of his face, and he was knocked all the way towards the girl. Stanley had always put a good amount of force behind his punches, and this was no exception. He looked over at him, the girl temporarily forgotten among his pain. There was a shout from the girl, and Ford exclaimed, "Stanley! What was that for?!"

"For restarting the portal Genius." Stan snapped, crossing his arms. He had an angry look on his face that made him look especially frightening, but Ford had faced many more unsettling foes than him. "Are you still crazy?!"

"I restarted the portal?" Ford asked, sounding upset and confused, "You restarted the portal! What in the Multiverse are you talking about Stan?" He rubbed the side of his jaw, glaring at Stan, who fumed at him in return. The two of them stood silently for a moment, then Stan threw his arms up and exclaimed, "I was trapped in the Multiverse for thirty years! How could I restart the portal?!""

Alright, this was making no sense. Ford rolled his eyes and said, "Well, you're obviously wrong, because I've been trapped in the Multiverse for thirty..." He stopped talking as he felt a small hand land on his arm, and he looked over at the girl in the pink sweater. He stared down at her brown eyes, which were looking up at him with confusion and sorrow, then she said in a small voice, "Grunkle Ford? Are-" her voice was faltered by a small hiccup, and she repeated, "Are you okay?"

Ford's eyes flicked between the hand on his arm, and the face the hand was connected to. The girl's lips were pinched into a tight line, and she looked like she was almost ready to cry. He looked up at Stanley, an almost pleading look on his face, and his brother just shrugged. The next thing he knew the girl had shoved herself onto him, almost knocking him over. He was being hugged.

"Uhh..." He said, holding his arms up as the girl just gripped his around his middle. "Do you know what I'm supposed to do with this?" His question was directed to Stan, who rolled his eyes and answered, "You hug her back Genius. It's common decency." The girl didn't seem to be listening to the two of them, and she shoved her face deeper into Ford's black sweater, even though Ford knew it probably smelled of the fact he hadn't had the chance to wash it in weeks.

He dropped his hands to her shoulders and patted them awkwardly. The girl looked up at him, then said, "Grunkle Ford? Are you okay? Do you know me?" Ford glanced up at the boy, who looked eerily similar to the girl, and equally a stranger, and he shook his head. The girl let out a long sigh, seeming to have gotten over her immense desire to cry, and she let her arms fall to her sides taking a step back, his own hands dropping as well.

The girl swallowed, then she said, "Grunkle Ford, I'm Mabel, remember? Your grand-niece? I just said that I trusted you..." Her eyes bore into him, but he still had no recollection of what she was talking about. Mabel's face dropped, any hope she had fading. "Grunkle Ford, come on. It's me... Mabel!" she pressed a hand to her chest, and gazed at him intently. "You have to remember me!" There was so much sadness in her tone that even Ford started feeling bad for her. He had a sinking feeling that he knew what was going on.

"Mabel... can you tell us what just happened?" Ford asked, kneeling in front of her and motioning towards Stan. "We want to know everything."

"You two remember me, right?" Dipper and Mabel shared a glance as the new person, who had come out of the portal and looked exactly like Grunkle Stan, stepped towards them, a concerned look on his face. Mabel shook her head, and the man sucked in deeply. "Dipper..." He said quietly, "Dipper, you... You don't remember me either?" Mabel felt super duper sorry for the man, who stared at them with a look of intense longing.

"Ford?" Stan took another step forward after 'Ford' had let go of his hand. Stan placed his hand on Ford's left shoulder, his own look of concern crossing his face. "Are you okay? How do you know the kids?" Ford glanced over at Stan, and he said, "I've been watching them since June... I was... Was it Fiddleford's memory ray?" He turned all the way towards Stan, then said quickly, "Alright, so I know you haven't been here for a while, but one of my old friends make a device that can erase memories, and I think it might have been set off during one of the gravity anomalies." He reached up and grabbed Stan's wrist. "All we have to do is remind them of me... Of course! Mabel's scrapbooks! There's plenty of pictures we can..." His voice trailed off as he saw Stan's worried expression.

"Ford?" He repeated, and Ford nodded one. Stan noticed that Ford's hands were shaking extra hard right then, his fingers not entirely closing over his wrist. "Ford, there aren't any pictures of you in Mabel's scrapbooks. I don't even know how you know Mabel, much less that she has scrapbooks." He stared at his brother, who mouthed one simple word. What?

The air was quiet, and Ford just stared at Stan, who stared right on back. Then Ford said quietly, "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

The instant Ford's words fell on Stan's ears Stan could feel his heart freeze. There was something immensely wrong with Ford, and Stan had a tiny idea of what it might be. He watched in stunned silence as his brother held a hand up to his forehead, his fingers stilling once they settled on his face, and squeezed his eyes shut Mabel took a step forward, and placed a hand on Ford's free arm, wrapping her hands around it.

"Hi, I'm Mabel," she said, and Ford looked down at her, a sad smile on his face. "I'm Stanford, but you can call me Grunkle Ford." Mabel nodded at him, then she opened her mouth to continue, but she decided against it. The two of them looked at each other for about a minute, no one else in the room making a sound, then Mabel finally found her voice and asked, "Do you want a hug?"

Ford didn't answer her verbally, but he did nod. Mabel stepped around him and wrapped her arms around his middle. Ford knelt down, and let her readjust her arms to be around his neck, while he hugged her key sweater. He squeezed his eyes shut, and he laced his fingers in the bottom of her hair, each of them quivering ever so slightly.

Stan watched his brother and niece silently, then he looked up at Dipper, whose eyes were widened, and Stan didn't blame him. He began to step past the two hugging members of his family, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Ford was hugging Mabel. As he took two steps next to them they relinquished their grasp on each other, and Ford straightened.

"Stanley, there's something I need to ask you." Stan stopped walking, and turned on his heel to look at his brother. Ford had a tired look in his eyes, and Stan answered, "Go ahead." Ford shifted uncomfortably, then said in a quiet, yet punctual tone, "Were you branded, all those years ago?" Stan blinked at the question, it was definitely not one he had been expecting.

There was a moment of silence, then Stan answered in an equally hushed tone, "Yes."

Ford closed his eyes and nodded. Mabel stepped up next to him, and Ford placed his right hand on her left shoulder. Mabel looked up at Ford, then over at Stan, a confused and worried look in her eyes. "Uh... What?"

Mabel, Dipper, and Soos had explained pretty much everything that the three of them knew about Stanford Filbrick Pines. The guy had lived alone until that summer, until Dipper and Mabel had been sent off to live with him for that season. He was also apparently a stickler for 'real science', and had denied the existence of the paranormal and supernatural until Dipper had, well, accidentally summoned zombies, and Ford had been forced to admit that he knew about them.

Dipper explained almost everything, with Mabel's commentary every now and then, Soos mostly remained silent, watching Ford with sad eyes. Ford instantly felt uncomfortable whenever he made eye contact with the man-child, and scooted as far away from him as he could. If the others noticed they didn't point it out.

When Dipper got to the part when Ford was arrested Stan and Ford shared a look. Dipper explained why Ford had been taken, and what the kids had done to get back to the house, then he got to the part about the portal.

"He... He had another Journal, and I don't even know why!" Dipper exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air. He dropped them though when Mabel placed a hand on his shoulder, and the two of them gazed solemnly at Stan and Ford, who, once again, shared a look. "But don't you know?" Stan asked, reaching into his black regular coat and pulling out the first Journal, while Ford simultaneously grabbed the second one from out of his trenchcoat. "Ford is the Author of the Journals. That's how he could- can operate this without the first one."

Dipper's jaw dropped, and he stared in awe at the two Journals being held out to him. "Wait," He ordered, holding his left hand up to his forehead. "So you're telling me that I've been living with the Author of the Journals this entire time!?" Mabel patted his shoulder and was about to say 'I told you so' when Dipper exclaimed, "Why didn't he tell me?! He knew I was looking for the Author! Why would he lie to me!?"

"Dipper..." Mabel said, patting his shoulder, "I'm sure he had a very good reason..." She stopped when her brother spun around and snapped, "But what would it be?! If it was dangerous he knew that I could handle it! If he had told me..." Dipper breathed in deeply, then said in a lower voice, "I just wish that he trusted me. But apparently he didn't."

Ford watched the boy silently for a moment, then he said, "Well, from what I know of myself... I probably wouldn't tell you much..." Dipper looked over at him, and their eyes met, Dipper's hard. "But he should have trusted me!" He repeated, pressing a hand to his chest, "I could have handled it! After everything I've told you you should know that!"

Stan glanced between his nephew and brother, then he said, "Well, you're what? Ten? I probably wouldn't tell you stuff like that either." Dipper glared at him, then snapped, "I'm twelve. I..." Stan shook his head, "Wow, such a mature twelve-year-old. Ya know, I think I remember what I was doing when I was twelve, do you remember Ford?"

"Driving every single female within a twenty-mile radius of you completely insane?" Ford answered, his tone a bit questioning. Stan laughed, then said, "Yup. I'm sure Ford was just expecting you to be... well, not normal, Gildon knows this family ain't normal." He shook his head, as if to make his point more clear. "And after reading about all the stuff that Ford did... Whoo boy, I don't think I'd want to tell a kid about some of it. A certain... Aria, so to speak."

Mabel couldn't help but giggle at the look Ford gave his twin. A mixture of shock and embarrassment. The two of them seemed to have a silent argument, then Stan burst out into laughter. "Yup. That's probably part of the reason he never told you." An eye roll and a nod from Ford gave Stan the credit he needed, and he was about to say something else when a strange male voice called out, "I heard talking! It was coming from behind the vending machine!"

"Who was that?" Stan asked, turning towards the entrance/exit, Mabel, Dipper, and Soos' eyes all widened, and Dipper exclaimed, "Oh no, the government guys!"

"Well, that was surprisingly easy." Ford put the memory ray inside of his coat, and turned back to his family. "Shall I go upstairs and handle it? Or do you want to do it Stanley."

Stan shrugged, then said, "Why don't you. The kids and I'll follow you up soon." He glanced at the children, and Ford nodded, thinking for a moment. "Actually, Stanley, something like this will require... fake legal documents... I'm going to need some papers..." He glanced at his hands, then back up at Stan, who nodded, "I'll ask Mabel for some." He answered, and Ford breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you Stanley."

Stan froze for a moment, a burning question that he didn't really know consuming inside of him, but he turned around without asking it, as Ford began to wring his hands nervously. He stepped towards his niece, knowing full well that Ford would watch him until he was out of eyesight. To be fair, he also knew that he would do the same to Ford, and this Ford was a Ford that seemed more... open to Stan than the last one he'd seen.

This Ford wasn't the same Ford, literally.

Stan pushed any of those thoughts out of his mind for the time being, he came to Mabel and asked her for a few sheets of paper, and she happily grabbed some that she had stuck in Dipper's bag 'for emergencies', Stan accepted them, snickering as he thought of Ford seeing the 'Snadger'. How would Ford be able to keep a straight face?

Apparently Ford was pretty good at keeping his laughs in. He was very serious as he told the disoriented government agents to scram, and he even ruffled Mabel's hair once she told him how amazing he was. Dipper even bounced towards him and immediately asked if he could ask him a couple 'billion questions about Gravity Falls'. Ford rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Maybe after some dinner? Or over dinner, we haven't eaten since breakfast, and the three... four of us need proper nutrition." He glanced at Stan, who remembered how hungry he was as soon as Ford mentioned it.

"Yeah, let's go eat. We'll have to see how messy the kitchen is first," Stan said, waving Ford, Dipper, and Mabel inside while Soos excused himself. Ford nodded, then blinked at the messy gift shop. He obviously hadn't had time to take in the damage when he was confronting the government agents, and now the full force of the gravity anomalies was settling in.

"Stanley... you didn't stabilize the portal, did you?" Ford asked in a quiet voice, the tiniest bit of fear laced behind his words. Stan shook his head and replied, "I barely got that thing up and running, I didn't have time for that I had to rescue... I had to rescue you..." The same feeling from before crashed over Stan. He knew that this Ford wasn't from there, and he knew that Ford was probably thinking the same thing.

"Well, it looks like the gravity anomalies did a good job," Ford muttered to himself, holding a hand up to his chin and gazing around the room. Stan nodded, then Ford added, "I'll need to go into town to check out the damage there... perhaps see if there's any lasting impact upon the townsfolks' psyche..."

Stan nodded, and he didn't even notice as they reached the door, nearly crashing into the wall. Ford snickered softly, and Stan turned to him with a huff. "As if you've never ran into a wall..." He snapped, and Ford sighed, "Oh, I've done my fair share of wall-bashing thank you very much." Ford responded, "And I'm sure I'll do it again. Have you seen Dipper when he's nervous?"

He stepped inside and Stan followed him, the sound of their chuckles filling the nearly empty house.

A week, they'd been back for a week. Stanley sat next to Ford at the small kitchen table, Ford writing calmly in his Journal, Stan watching him patiently. The kids were off with Soos for 'recuperation', and should be back in about an hour.

That left the two adults plenty of time to talk.

Of course, the question of who would enact the conversation was still left unanswered. Sure Stan got along fine with Ford, but when it came down to the nitty-gritty details of actually having a full-blown conversation with him... Stan was at a loss for words. Sure they could talk about the Multiverse, but did they actually want to do that? They could talk about how they had to watch children now, but Ford already had most of the work thrust upon him.

Then a thought struck him, and he said, "So, whatcha writing?"

Ford snapped his attention over to Stan with a jerk. He had been completely engrossed in reinking a drawing he was just finishing, and it took him a moment to realize what Stan had said. "Oh... Just a few things about the Multiverse... Trivial really. It's just a way to get these thoughts out of my mind..." He looked down at his drawing, blew on it once, then snapped the book shut. "You know what it was like."

Stan nodded, he really did know what it was like to be in the Multiverse. The constant terror you felt in infinite strange places, the unchanging feeling of not belonging, the omnipresent stares you received in almost every dimension...

"I wonder how the others are doing," Stan said, not even needing to clarify what he meant to Ford, who glanced guiltily at the door. "I'm sure they're fine." Ford answered, running a finger down the spine of his Journal. "I just hope they don't do anything stupid. I trust Ford to..." a small smile played on his lips and he mutterd, "Boy that sounded weird."

"Oh yeah, it does." Stan said, nodding, "And it probably always will." He smiled sadly, then said, "Does it bother you, that I'm not the same Stan you grew up with?"

Ford froze, his breath half caught in his throat. He glanced down at his hands, then shook his head once. "Not really. I'm actually sort of glad that I ended up with you, from what I know of your own Ford... Stanley in that situation would not have turned out to be my best friend." He looked back up at Stan, then said with a smile, "Now don't tell Mabel that I called you that. The girl went bonkers when she saw me writing yesterday."

Stan laughed, some of the burden he felt sliding off his shoulders. "Definitely, apparently the guy can't even hold a mug. Wonder what happened to him." Ford nodde again, then shrugged, "It probably had something to do with Bill. Maybe he tried to install his own metal plate." He waited a second for Stan to comprehend what he had said, then Stan smacked a hand across his forehead. "Ugh... He probably did. The idiot!"

"I was pretty idiotic in my thirties..." Ford admitted, standing up slowly. "Come on, I have to mentally prepare myself for when the children come back and want to spend some more time with me..." A tired smile spread across his face, then he added, "Who knew children would be so tiring and fun?" Stan nodded, "I can help if you want." He offered and Ford sighed. "That sounds amazing. I was thinking of doing some third-dimensional calculus with them today, they're very advanced for twelve-year-olds."

"Ford, they've been living with a version of you for the summer," Stan joined his brother, and the two of them started to make their way towards Ford's room. "I'm surprised they're not doing more advanced stuff already."

Ford smiled at his brother, then threw an arm around his shoulders. "Stanley, you're absolutely right. We'll need to rectify this situation immediately..."

Hello everyone!

I became ever so slightly obssessed with this AU, so I wrote another chapter about it! I contemplated splitting it up into two chapters but decided against it. I see these Stans and Fords getting along better with each other (because no one can blame the others!) and everythings okay! (Except for the Grunkle-verse, that Weirdmageddon is going to be a doozy...)

"Now Dipper, do you think that Grunkle Stan is the mom, or Grunkle Ford?"
"Mabel, what are you talking about?"
"If Grunkle Stan and Ford were our parents, which one would they be?"
"Oh, that still makes no sense but..."
"Grunkle Ford is totally the dad! He's the one that's always saying 'ask Stan if you can do that', plus, he's always cooped up in his room!"
"Mabel, neither of them are our parent-"
"And Stan's the mom! He's always there to make fun of... comfort us!"
"Whatever Mabel..."

I'm already planning out the next chapter... It's going to be a fun one... 19-618... I'm going crazy, aren't I!?

Well, I hope you guys have a great rest of your day! Stay safe and weird!

-BrilliantLight