"Stanley! Stanley help me! Stanley! Do something... Stanley!"

Those words echoed in Stan's mind. They'd been echoing for a long long time, but now it seemed like they were right up close and personal. He would never forget Ford's look of absolute terror all those years ago, when he was getting sucked into the portal. Never forget his screams. Never forget the first time Stan looked past his own pain and saw Ford's. Never forget what Ford had been asking for. Ford had wanted Stan to save him.

And save him he did. Thirty years too late maybe, but it was still saving.

That last gravity anomaly had shoved Stan and his family to the back of the room, far away from the portal, and Stan checked that Dipper and Mabel were alright before staring off at the giant superstructure. He waited patiently for a moment, hoping for a figure to step out. And a figure came out all right, just not in the way he was expecting.

A moment after gravity became normal again the sound of "LEE!" entered the room, followed by khaki-covered shoulders, and a thin frame. Ford spilled out of the portal, his hair completely messed up, his glasses missing, his back to the occupants of the room. He landed with a 'thwump' on the ground, and sat there frozen, before beginning to breathe deeply.

"No... No... No..." He muttered, turning himself around and propping himself up on his right forearm. He coughed hoarsely for a moment, then reached a shaking hand into his inside pocket, pulling out a pair of glasses and shoving them onto his face gracelessly. He pushed himself up, onto his knees, and began to try to stand up, his legs shaking slightly.

Stan watched him silently. Then he heard Dipper ask, "Who... Who is that?" The two of them watched Ford, who had finally gotten to his feet, and Stan answered, "The Author of the Journals... my brother."

For the first time in forever Stan was seeing his brother again. Ford's eyes were wide, his clothes were exactly the same, his hair was still a disheveled mess. He was holding his head in his hands and muttering something, and he closed his eyes, chanting something over and over again.

"Finally..." Stan said cautiously, stepping towards his brother, who glanced continued his chanting. "After all these long years of..."

"I'm not scared of you!" Ford suddenly snapped, his eyes flying open wide, his hands turning into fists being pulled up in front of his chest. He looked like he was ready to reinstate the fight they'd been in all those years ago. He glared at Stan, then something seemed to... break inside of him. "What? Where is this place?" Ford looked around the room, his eyes sucking in every part of it. "So this is the Weirdness Dimension..."

"Stanford?" It was the only thing Stan could think of saying to his brother, who seemed to have just... blipped forward in time. Like for him, the last thirty years hadn't happened. Ford's eyes met his, and he tensed his entire body, like he was ready to dash off at a moment's notice. "How do you know that name?" he hissed, narrowing his eyes at the older man in front of him.

"Ford... It's me..." Stan said, moving towards his brother, holding out his right hand. "Stan." He felt his heart constrict as Ford's eyes widened, then narrowed again, glaring at Stan with a look that would probably make other grown men shake in their boots. "You're lying. That can't be... Stan..." Ford glanced at the portal's shaft, where the button remained exposed, then at Dipper, Mabel, and Soos. "That can't be true. Bill must have..."

His sentence trailed off into the dimness, and his hands curled into fists. "You're lying!" he shouted, waving a hand in front of him, as if it would clear what Stan was saying away. "I can't trust anything you say! What are you planning?" His blue eyes bore into Stan, who widened his own. Yup. Ford had blipped forward.

There was another long stretch of silence, Stan contemplated trying to prove that he was lying, but before he could say anything the silence was dismantled by Mabel exclaiming, "What on Earth is going on here?!"

Ford's eyes, which hadn't left Stan yet, flicked over to the young girl, and stared at her for a moment. "What?" He whispered, and he glanced back at his brother. "Who? A little girl?" He scratched the top of his head, then he noticed Dipper as well, "And a boy? Bill... This can't be Bill..." He scanned Dipper and Mabel, then said, "Who are they?"

"They're Shermie's grandkids," Stan responded, turning around and waving a hand towards Dipper and Mabel, "They're your family."

There was an uncomfortable silence, then Ford said, "Well... Uh..." His eyes traced Stan and the children's outlines, then he glanced down at his hands, and said in a quiet voice, "Alright. For the sake of this argument... What happened?"

Stan explained his childhood to the kids, and his early adult years, and what had happened after Ford had been pushed through the portal, every now and then glancing at his brother, whose expression remained stoic, his eyes tired. Ford looked like he could pass out at any second, and completely refused to sit down when Stan asked. He seemed adamant to stay standing, stay moving, stay awake. And Stan was oblivious to what might be driving him towards that.

His brother listened in near silence, and Stan wondered if Ford believed that this was real. There was a sense of worry radiating off of him, and Stan didn't know what to do with him. Ford had literally jumped through time. In his view, it was still the 80s. From his perspective, they'd been fighting only a handful of minutes ago. Everything about him was still in his thirties, whereas Stan had come all this way. Now, for the first time ever, Stan was the older twin. But could they really be 'twins' anymore?

Stan thought he knew Ford, but Ford knew basically nothing about Stan. Last Ford had seen Stan he'd been a stubborn, mullet-haired, thirty-something. Ford had been a stubborn (he was if you thought about it), trenchcoat-wearing, harbinger of confusion and destruction. Now Stan had gotten thirty years of experience, where Ford had blipped past all of that. He was the same Ford that Stan had last seen, literally.

At least Ford seemed to be calming down. He looked... constipated though, but he wasn't about to restart their fight, and for that Stan was most grateful. When Dipper asked a question about where Ford had gone to college he had answered it, although there was a hint of embarrassment. When Stan explained about the fight, and the consequences thereof, Mabel's eyes widened, and she turned to Ford with a concerned expression on her face.

"And that's the last thing you remember?" she asked in a quiet voice, and her uncle nodded silently. "For me..." He said softly, "That's the last thing that ever happened... I was so worried I'd be trapped in the Night- In the Weirdness Dimension." His eyes met Stan's, then he added, this time in a louder voice, "Perhaps it's better this way."

His brother nodded, and the kids shared a glance. "Yeah," Stan said rubbing his hands together, "This way, I didn't steal half of your life." Ford froze, then added, "Yes. This way I can change everything. Tell me, I'm guessing you didn't stabilize the portal, have there been any gravity anomalies..." As soon as he was done saying that, a small yawn escaped him, but he covered it up quickly. Stan glanced at the dark circles around his eyes, and the way he was sort of dragging, and he said, "Uh... Yeah. I'll tell you about them after you get some sleep."

"No!" Ford jerked his head up, and the kids shrank back. "I can't sleep Stanley." Ford said, his eyes widening, forcing himself to stay alert. "There's too much to explain, and not in front of children." His tone was worried, tense, terrified, Stan found himself worried about his brother, who held a hand up to his head and began to mutter, "Don't trust..."

"You okay?" He asked, stepping up to Ford and placing a hand on his shoulder. Ford looked at his hand, then said, "I need to go. You can't follow me. Just... take the Journal." He shoved the first Journal towards Stan, who forced himself to remain calm. Ford was still in that old mindset. He didn't mean it Stan. What was good was that now Stan could use his 'old man powers'.

"No." Stan stated, shoving the Journal towards Ford's chest with his right hand, then folding his arms across his chest. He glared at his 'little' brother, and added, "Absolutely not. I didn't spend half of my life getting you back just for you to..."

"Stanley! Do you have any idea what you're saying!?" Ford demanded, pushing the Journal towards Stan again, a desperate look in his eyes. "I need, absolutely must have you take this Journal. Once you've hidden it you can do whatever you want." Ford gave him a pleading look, then he said, "For Dipper and Mabel's sakes, please, listen to me."

Stan squeezed his eyes shut. "You're a brat, you know that." Ford blinked at his brother's statement, and appalled look crossing his features. "What?"

"Honestly!" Stan exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air and turning to the left and right to emphasize his point, "You haven't seen me in thirty years! Alright, ten in your case, but you don't even ask me how I've been! No, 'what have you been doing with your life?'. No 'I've missed you Stan'. Just, 'get away from me and be my errand boy'." He glared at his brother, then added, "And, I'm nearly twice your age. Now if you want me to take that Journal you've got another think coming."

Ford's mouth opened, then he glanced down at the Journal, and said in a quiet voice, "I just want to fix everything Stan. There's too much for me to do right now..." His eyes closed, and a contemplating look engulfed him. His breathing slowed, and Stan wondered if he was going to fall asleep where he was. There was silence in the large room, then Dipper stepped up to Ford and said, "Um... I can take the Journal."

Ford's eyes flashed open, and he soaked in the figure of the young boy with a hopeful expression. "Are you sure?" he asked, his eyes flicking between Dipper's, who nodded, and said, "I can mail it ahead of the two of us. We'll be going home soon, and I'm sure mom and dad won't mind."

Ford breathed out in relief. "That simplifies the situation..." he stared at Dipper expectantly, handing his nephew the Journal like it was nothing, as Dipper's eyes widened as he received the book like a king's crown, his breath hitching in his throat as his fingers made the tiniest bit of contact with Ford's. "I'm Dipper!" He exclaimed, and his uncle nodded. "A pleasure. Thank you Dipper."

Dipper crumpled slightly, his knees folding slightly as he stared at his uncle with a dopey look. "You're welcome Great uncle Stanford!" His voice went squeaky at the end, and Ford glanced at Stan with a worried expression. "Is this normal?"

"For Dipper," Stan answered, not exactly sure how to handle the situation. "And, uh, are you sure that it's good for a twelve-year-old..." Ford's eyes closed again, and he shook his head. "To be honest Stan, any idea with a semblance of sanity is good in my books..."

Needless to say, Ford was completely appalled with what Stan had done to his house. He had taken one look at the upper floor, and said, "Well... This is... No. Just no. Get this all out of here. I don't care that you like it Mabel! He's made a mockery of my entire life!" Ford was also pretty upset when he learned exactly what kind of life Stan had been using his name for, but Stan had pointed out that Ford was in a different time, and now he'd need to get new legal documents anyway.

"Alright..." Ford said, watching the last of the government agents escape the premises. "Stanley, I'm going to need you to listen to me." Ford turned so he was facing Stan head on, and Stan nodded a handful of times. "About five-ten miles away is a series of caves. It's about a day's trip." Stan nodded again, and Ford took a deep breath before rattling off, "I need to go there like, right now. I'm going to need a chaperone, and I don't want the children coming. I need you to come with me and basically make sure I don't kill myself."

Stan stood there silently, watching his brother breathe in and out deeply. "Uh... Sure? I'll tell Soos to watch the kids... But are you sure that-"

"Stanley! There isn't time! I've wasted enough time!" Ford's eyes were wide, and he reached out and grabbed Stan's arms, not paying his brother's half-surprised shout any mind. "Stanley, I'm going to those caves, and I'm giving you a chance to help me!"

There was a minute of silence, then Stan placed a hand on his brother's wrist and said, "Okay. I'll just give Soos a call and pack some sandwiches." Ford nodded, then released his brother. "I'll pack a notebook... Uh Stan, where can I find a bag..?"

Two days later, a wet and tired Stan and Ford dragged themselves back to the Shack, pink hair gripped in their palms, along with a pile of treasure weighing their backpacks down. They were silent as they clambered up the steps to the porch, and Ford leaned against the wall, too tired to do much of anything else. "Get the door, would you Stanley?"

Stan sighed, watching his brother breathe deeply, his face buried in the crook of his arm. "Sure," he said, adjusting the chest of treasure that he was carrying under his left arm. He shoved the door open and Ford walked through, his steps swaying. Stan followed him a moment later, and the two of them made their way to the kitchen table, dumping all of their gain on top of the flat surface.

"Alright," Ford said, rubbing his eyes and grabbing the Unicorn hair, "I'll go set this up, Stan will you go put Moonstones..." he shoved the hair in his pocket, not really caring that he had a few strands stuck to his hand. He grabbed a map of the house out of his bag, and used his pen to circle three areas around the Shack. "Here, here, and here. Take some Mercury with you."

He shoved the blueprints towards his brother, who accepted them with a sigh. Ford pulled the hair out of his pocket, and began to head back out the door, "Stay safe." Stan said, and Ford threw him a dirty look. "I'm Stanford Pines," he said, grinning at Stan, "What is 'safe'?"

"You're back! Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Ford!" Before Ford could take another step forward a sweater covered girl dased into the room, a braced grin on her face. "How was your trip? I didn't even know you guys were leaving until yesterday!" Mabel glanced between the two of them, then at the table covered in gold and jewels. "Is that treasure?!"

Ford nodded, his eyes nearly closing as he did so. "Yes it is, have as much as you want... I'm going to... Mabel, can you get me some glue?"

His niece's jaw hung open, staring at the treasure, then she seemed to hear her uncle, and she looked at him, a greedy look in her eyes. "Oh, sure Grunkle Ford!" She spun around, taking one last look at the pile before dashing right back out of the room. She returned momentarily, and handed her uncle a bottle of glue, which he thanked her for.

He took one last look at Stan, then stepped out of the room, leaving Stan to take care of the rest of the project.

Ford had absolutely no idea what to do with the jelly-like rift he found on the floor. His first thought was to get it confined, so he stuck it in a pickle jar. He stared at the stars inside, and wondered what it was, or what to do with it, or just why it existed. A small part of him wished that he could just talk to Bill about it, but he knew that was impossible.

Ford had to admit, having someone he could tell literally anything and everything to had been nice. He hadn't even noticed how much he'd missed it. It'd been a fact of his life for so long that he'd forgotten how much he'd missed... Stan.

Stanley! Of course! Ford could tell Stan about it. A brief memory of how he'd felt when Stan had broken his project tried to make him change his mind, but he squashed that feeling down. It had been forty years! Stan couldn't be that arrogant brat still! Ford gave the lid of the jar one last turn, and began to walk out of the basement, up the elevator, and into the gift shop.

Instead of Stan being there however, there was a redheaded teenager, reading a magazine.

The girl looked up at him, then said, "'Sup Mini-Stan?" she had a smirk on her face, and Ford squeezed the jar close to his chest, shielding it from her. "Um... I'm looking for my brother." he said, and the girl nodded. "I figured, he's in the back. I'm Wendy by the way." She gave him a brief smile, then reburied her face in her magazine. Ford sighed, then said, "Thank you Wendy." He turned towards the Employees Only sign, and entered the door.

Sure enough, there was Stan, sitting on his recliner, reading another magazine. Ford stepped towards him, throwing a glance at the door he'd just gone through. "Stanley... I have something we need to discuss."

Stan looked up at his brother, noting his concerned expression, and he crossed his leg over his knee. "What is it?" Ford breathed out to steady himself. "You know how you restarted the portal..." Stan nodded, raising an eyebrow as Ford held the jar out to him. "Well, the energy the portal created made this. I believe it is a tear between dimensions." His brother's eyes widened, his mouth dropping open. Ford nodded at him, pulling the jar closer to himself. "I just needed someone I can bounce ideas off of. What do you think I should do?"

There was a brief silence as Stan just stared at the jar, then he said, "Uh... Lots of glue?" Ford opened his mouth, like he was going to refute Stan's argument, but then he snapped it shut, and mumbled, "You know what, I think that would actually work..." He grinned at his brother, then stated, "Stan, I'm going to be gone for the afternoon. See you later." He spun around, and Stan could only watch as his brother left him in the dust.

"Well, if he kills himself, not my fault," Stan muttered, picking Gold Chains for Old Men back up and restarting to read it. "Hopefully he doesn't get kidnapped by Gnomes..."

Hello everyone!

I've had this idea for a few weeks. And I finally sat down and wrote it. Basically, the portal blips Ford forward instead of taking him to the Multiverse. A lot better for Ford, and everyone's sort of happier. Except for the fact that Ford knows basically nothing about what Bill is really like.

BTW, Stan would totally be like "Glue and duct tape fix everything!", luckily Ford knows exactly what kind of glue they'd need. So they'll be fine. Honestly I think he's screaming internally for most of the time.

I hope you guys liked this! Have a great rest of your day!

-BrilliantLight