"We need to take his deal," Ford said. "It's the only way he'll agree to save you and the kids."
Stan wasn't so sure. "Do you really think he's gonna make good on that deal?"
But Ford sounded as if they'd already been defeated, which, in a way, they kind of were. "What other choice do we have?"
Ford let those words hang in the air for a moment. The two of them felt the weight of their situation heavily on their hearts. It was really over. One way or another, you could look at a thousand other outcomes and either way, they were gonna wind up losing. It was over.
"I thought you'd forgiven me," Stan said, out of the blue.
Ford looked up, confused. "What?"
"When you sent me that postcard. How'd you find out where I was living anyway?"
"Mom," was all Ford said.
"Mom," Stan repeated. The two of them had stayed in touch even after his dad had kicked him out. He had always been closer to her than to his dad anyway. She seemed to take pity on him for being the stupid, less talented twin. Meanwhile, Dad took great pride in the smarter, more successful son. Kind of ironic, Stan always thought, given what a tough guy Pa was, that he liked the smarter, but weaker twin more.
He had lied to his mom from time to time, told her he was doing well, but was always honest with her about where he was staying.
"She seemed surprised that I wanted to get back in touch with you," Ford continued. "'Oh, my two boys are finally patching things up', she'd said. I felt bad, but I told her that I just wanted to send you a postcard. She seemed disappointed, but she still sounded a little hopeful at the same time."
"You left out all the stuff about the portal, huh?"
"Yeah, I didn't think the fake psychic would handle the news of a real psychic demon who had tricked her supposedly brilliant son all that well. And dad...well, he's not particularly open minded, so…"
"Yeah. When I got that postcard, I was surprised. But I was happy, at the same time. I thought that maybe it was too good to be true. And I was right. I thought that you'd finally forgiven me, that you wanted to patch things up, but...turns out you were just desperate."
Stan looked away from Ford, who at that moment suddenly felt guilty.
"I was, Stanley," Ford said gently. "I was more desperate and scared and alone than you could ever know."
"Yeah, you seemed like you had a screw or two loose when I showed up at your door and got met with a crossbow and a crazy question about me coming to steal your eyes. Though it kind of makes sense now."
"I had lost a good friend, I made him lose his mind...Then I remembered how you...growing up, whatever weird thing we had going on, whatever crazy idea or theory that I had, you were always on my side. I remembered how I could always count on you."
Stan looked up at him and asked, "Until you couldn't?"
"Stanley," Ford massaged his temple before letting his hand drop. "You ruined my chances at the college of my dreams-"
"It was an accident! You just didn't believe me!"
"Accident or not, you were glad it happened! And you never apologized."
"I didn't do it to hurt you!"
"Well you did! You sabotaged me, and when you hurt someone, even by accident, you say you're sorry! You never did! Even after all these years! And you know what else you never apologized for, getting me tossed through space and time!"
"Well I was!" Stan was shouting now, and there was no one around to hear them argue. His words echoed in the room.
Then Stan's voice got softer. "I was sorry, Stanford. I was sorry while it was happening, I was sorry after it happened, and I've been sorry for thirty years. What do you think I've been doing all this time? I spent all those years trying to make things right and you couldn't even acknowledge that. You said to do something, you said to help you."
Stanley, Stanley, help me!
Oh no, what do I do?
Stanley, Stanley, do something! Stanley!
"I've been hearing those words every night. Every time the portal failed, everytime I thought about you, I wanted to make it right. Then I did, and you punched me in the face."
Ford chuckled awkwardly a little at that. "Yeah, I did. You deserved that. Stan, thank you. Really, thank you for bringing me back. I mean, the reason I got so mad was because, well, I was afraid of what's happening right now actually happening. But I guess that was always," Ford let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose before letting his hand drop, "Inevitable. But, thank you, Stan."
Stan looked at his shoes before speaking again. "I'm sorry. For everything. West Coast Tech, the portal, I'm sorry for all of it."
Another moment passed and then Ford said, "I missed you, Stanley. I missed my brother. I missed my friend. I was just still too angry to ever pick up the phone. We lost all that time, and it all feels so small and meaningless now."
"I missed you, too, Sixer," Stan replied. "You know it's funny, Dipper kind of reminds me of you. Obsessive nerd who comes up with five new conspiracy theories before breakfast. Kind of fitting that he's the one who found the journal. Little geek just tripped on it while I've been tearing the property apart all these decades. Figures." Stan chuckled a little with a tired smile on his face.
"And Mabel reminds me of you," Ford replied, smiling. "Odd little bird who can find the fun in almost anything she does." Something Stan had always noticed about Ford that most people didn't always get right away was that he said things like "She's weird" or "He's odd" the way most people said "She's nice" or "He's fascinating".
"They're good kids," Stan said. Suddenly, he stopped smiling and looked a lot more serious. "He's not gonna spare the kids. He's not gonna spare anyone. We can't take any chances."
"Stanley-" Ford started gently. Stan knew what he was going to say: We don't have any other choice, there's nothing else to do. But Stan refused to accept that. Something he had learned all those times in prison, all those times running from the law, always failing at business: always have another plan, because there was always another that needed to be carried out.
"No," Stan said firmly. "Let me do this Stanford. For my family. This demon threatened my family. I wanna show him what I showed some psychic brat, highly trained and heavily armed government agents, rival business owners, tax collectors: that no one messes with my family."
Ford looked into his eyes and knew that he was serious. Dead serious. Stan was always serious when it came to protecting the Pines family. He had that same look in his eyes whenever he protected Ford from bullies. It had always seemed to Ford that no one understood his brother better than him, because no one ever seemed to take this behavior seriously. They took it as a feisty kid with a behavior problem defending his brother. They had no idea that when Stan fought, it was with everything he had and that he fought tooth, nail, and whatever else he could find for who and what he loved. And he had always loved Ford, whatever their conflict, and he loved the twins that same exact way. There was no stopping him, no matter how hard For might have tried.
"Stanley, if you're sure-"
"Absolutely," Stan spoke firmly. "Are we thinking the same thing?"
Ford nodded and took off his coat. Stan followed suit.
"I taught them our chant," Stan said.
Ford and Stan looked at each other for a moment. "Pines, Pines, Pines," they chanted in union. They smiled, but Ford looked away and Stan felt tears swell up in his eyes.
"Will you promise to do the chant with them?" Stan asked.
"What else were you expecting?" Ford asked with a sad smile. "Stanley-"
"I know, Stanford. And I do, too. You'll always be my best friend. You never stopped being my best friend."
At that moment, Ford leaped over and embraced him, wordlessly, in a tight hug. That hug said it all. All they had ever said, all they hadn't said, and all they would ever need to say. The love was implied, and very much confirmed.
"Alright, now let's hurry up," Stan said, breaking from the hug and wiping off his eyes. "Let's save the world. Hey, I just thought of something: The last thing that smug monster is gonna see before he disintegrates, or whatever, is my face. Which is also your face. If that isn't poetic…"
Ford smiled a bold smile, the very idea thrilling him. Now he actually wished he was the one whose mind Bill was going into. But this was the next best thing.
Don't worry bro, wherever we go, we go together.
"High six," Ford said, holding up his hand as they both donned each other's clothes.
"High six," Stan responded, their hands meeting in their signature spin on the high five.
And that was when Bill Cipher showed up.
"Alright Ford, times up," he had said.
Yes it is, Bill. For you.