Aggie woke up to the tight sound of knuckles on her door.

She groaned and checked her communicator watch. Four in the morning. It was still dark outside.

"I thought we'd get an early start!" Ford said cheerily from the other end. "Get dressed and meet me downstairs in ten minutes."

Aggie rubbed her eyes and rolled out of bed. She hadn't bothered changing out of her speedsuit when she had fallen asleep last night, so there really wasn't any need to get dressed.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Aggie could smell coffee brewing.

"I hope you were able to settle in," Ford commented when she reached the kitchen. Aggie couldn't help but be a little impressed at how up to date the house looked. It must have been built recently. She looked at her boss, who also apparently hadn't changed last night from his trenchcoat and slacks. Ford handed her a cup of coffee, black. Wordlessly, Aggie took a sip.

"I would have appreciated a little more time to settle in, but I guess you hit the ground running, don't you, Dr. Pines?" Aggie joked. She took another sip, and winced. This coffee was too bitter. "Do you have anything to eat, like a muffin or something?"

Ford looked at her in disapproval. "I have some granola bars in the cabinet, but they're more of a last resort. I…haven't had much time to go shopping lately.

Aggie nodded. "I'll add that to the to-do list."

"We can worry about that later. I was thinking we could start developing our work space. I've tunneled out an area large enough to support any potential trans dimensional structure, and I've built a rudimentary elevator shaft to get us there. However, I was hoping with your expertise we could improve both of these and start on the portal."

"Have you reinforced the walls and accounted for pressure?" Aggie asked.

"Of course, I'm not an idiot. I've been able to set up some basic computer equipment, but it's definitely a work in progress." Ford admitted.

"And in terms of our budget…" Aggie asked.

"I could scrounge up maybe a couple thousand." Ford replied.

Aggie tried not to spit out her coffee. "You've got to be kidding me. No wonder I'm working for free."

"We have the materials, believe me. All we need is access to a reliable power source. I'm thinking we could run the thing on nuclear power, and we'd have a chance of getting this to work!"

Aggie's eyes widened in disbelief. She held the cup in her hands, contemplating her options. "I see why you were keen on asking your friend McGucket. From the papers I've read, this sounds like the…creative problem solving he's known for."

Ford smiled fondly. "Well, we had completed some amazing projects together with much less... But I expect you'll be up for the challenge."

Ford motioned for her to follow him as he reached a bookshelf near the edge of the room. After pulling it to the side to reveal a control panel, the door to the elevator slid open. "Ladies first." Ford declared, gesturing for her to get in.

Aggie gingerly stepped into the carriage of the elevator as Ford followed her in, closing the door behind her.

When they arrived at the workshop, Aggie had a better idea of what they were working with. Ford had set up a computer with an impressive monitor, and an antechamber for the proposed portal, but it looked like he'd only set up a frame that needed to be assembled. And even then…

"I think we could change a few things." Aggie said. "Let's start with the frame, this isn't going to support the energy level that's going to be emitted once this opens. We'll need more steel."

"I think we could get that." Ford chimed in.

"And that computer. What's its processing power? Is it connected to anything?" Aggie asked. She rolled up the sleeves on her speedsuit and tied her hair back with a scrunchie.

"I've written down the specs over here, but so far it's connected to the frame, and the power source." Ford took out his journal from his coat. "If you want to look at the schematics, this design should be able to control the magnitude of the electromagnetic pulses."

Aggie reached out to get a better look at the journal, only for Ford to snatch it back. "Please don't touch," he warned. Aggie frowned, but nodded in compliance. It seemed her boss had his quirks.

"Well, you've made a lot of progress so far, Dr. Pines. But I think it would work better if we tried a different approach…"

By sunrise, the two of them had made some headway discussing where to go in the project and their next steps.

Once they had ironed out the general plans, Ford grabbed her coat and told her they were heading for Crash Site Omega.

One short drive later, and they were climbing down into an abandoned spaceship covered in grass.

"Looks like it's Galflorkian," Aggie noted as she inspected the writing on the walls. "You sure they're all dead?"

"I haven't had any trouble so far." Ford commented. "I saw a few skeletons here and there."

"Good. I don't have a blaster anymore and I'm not too keen on getting abducted again."

Judging from the silence, she was glad Ford didn't have any followup questions as they climbed further into the deepest end of the ship.

Ford brought some soldering irons to take down parts of the ship, and what looked like a rudimentary shrink ray to store the parts in a knapsack.

"Did you come up with that yourself?" Aggie asked.

"I developed it based on the local phenomenon in the area, but yes I did." Ford said proudly. He took out a flashlight and led the way as they spent the rest of the morning scavenging for parts.

In the dim glow of the flashlight, walking through the dark empty halls of the abandoned ship, Aggie couldn't help but steal glances at the man next to her. Maybe it was the lighting, but she had to admit, he looked handsome when he was lost in thought. Maybe it was the furrowed brow, or the passion and enthusiasm he had in examining an alien culture…

No. You don't complicate things by crushing on your boss.

They carried them back up to a truck Ford had rented and drove back to the house.

"Do you go into town much?" Aggie asked as they headed back. Ford insisted on driving as Aggie looked out the window.

"Only if I have to. I…don't really get on with the locals." Ford replied as he shifted gears. "Keep an eye out, ok? I should probably fill you in on the local wildlife here."

"What, like bears? Mountain lions?" Aggie asked.

"Something like that."

As they drove back, Ford explained more of the general weirdness of Gravity Falls. Manotaurs? Multibears? Eyebats? It wasn't too out there for Aggie, but she found Ford's enthusiasm to be infectious.

As they hauled their stolen parts downstairs, Aggie related her own experiences. From her time working at Venture Industries in college, her brief but disastrous stint at Cognito Inc., and finally her time in space with Dr. Sanchez.

"So he just left you to die with the Ombulans on Omicron 7 in exchange for space crack?" Ford asked in disbelief as they worked on the wiring of the circuit board.

"He came back for me…eventually. And it was space PCP." Aggie said half-heartedly. "But that's Rick for you. He draws you in for an adventure, then you're on your own when things get dicey."

Ford scoffed. "What a dick."

Aggie laughed. "Tell me about it. Still, he has his principles, however flawed they may be."

"That's debatable. From what I recall they're just an excuse to rant about something." Ford replied irritably. He was fidgeting with the transistor in his hand. Aggie tried not to look at his fingers.

Aggie shrugged, and finished the last of the soldering. "Looks about done here. What do you want to do next?"

"We could work on the frame?" Ford suggested.

Aggie checked her watch. "Huh. It's already seven. I think we should call it a day."

"But we're just getting started!" Ford protested.

Aggie could hear her stomach growling. "Food first. Then we can think about it. Personally, I'm too tired to go near a blowtorch. I saw a diner in town when I was driving over."

"That place is crap. They mostly do breakfast food anyway."

"Still better than three year old granola bars. We'll go shopping on the way back."

They drove over in Aggie's car, parking in front of the log shaped diner. Aggie noticed a from the corner of her eye two men in suits staking out the place. We're they OSI, or just one of Rand's men?

"You see the two at three o'clock?" She whispered in Ford's ear.

"Yeah, what do they want?"

"No idea. But let's wait and see."

They entered the diner, only for Ford to be greeted as a local celebrity.

"Well, if it isn't the scientist!" A short woman in a pink waitress uniform and big brown hair waddled over to them with a pot of coffee. "And you've brought…a lady friend? Isn't that nice."

Ford coughed. "Oh, hello…Susan." He said, looking at her name tag. Susan squealed at the thought that Ford had remembered her name. This is my colleague, Dr. Davis. She will be staying in Gravity Falls until our project is complete."

"Right, your project." She winked. Ford blushed, Aggie snickered. "You don't have to worry about me, I'm hip. The rest of the town might gossip though. Can I get you two anything?"

"Two coffees, please." Ford muttered. When Susan walked out of earshot, he leaned over and whispered to Aggie. "This is why I don't go into town."

"Oh, that wasn't so bad." Aggie replied lightly. "Better they think we're living in sin than suspect what we're actually doing. Then they'd bring the pitchforks."

Ford looked livid. "But we're advancing the progress of science by decades. If we can prove trans-dimensional travel…"

Aggie raised her hand, urging him to pipe down. "Not here. But think about it, if there are infinite dimensions, with infinite versions of ourselves- then does anything we do matter? Are our choices worthwhile, or is everything meaningless?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ford asked.

"I don't think the average person is going to take too well to the idea. Kind of makes the concept of religion pointless if none of your actions matter."

"They matter because they have meaning to you." Ford replied. "Even if you did something in another dimension, the events in this one made you the person you are." Ford paused, as if he was mulling over what he just said.

Their coffees arrived, and they placed their orders. Aggie got the turkey sandwich, Ford ordered the cheese burger.

They picked at their food, and discussed possible improvements to the power system.

"You think we can power this thing on nuclear waste?" Aggie asked in disbelief. She reached over and stole one of Ford's fries, much to his displeasure.

"I know I can. I've designed it myself. It should work, I just need to find where I can get a couple tons of the stuff legitimately." Ford said as he poured ketchup on the rest of his fries in protest.

"That's easy enough, I know a guy." Aggie replied, stealing another fry. "But if this fails, this won't be the fun sort of radiation poisoning where we get superpowers."

"I don't think that's a thing. That's just in comic books, right?" Ford asked.

"Only if you're not tinkering in gene modification on the side." Aggie replied dismissively.

"Venture?"

Aggie looked around, then quietly nodded. "Can't get into the details, NDA and whatever, but it was a joint thing with OSI. Someone wanted to become a Hulk."

Ford snorted in surprise. "And I thought the OSI were the competent ones."

"They are…most of the time. You've never had to work with them? They tend to rope in everyone in the super science community at some point of the other." Aggie complained.

"My thesis advisor for my engineering doctorate helped design something called…the nozzle? I'm still not sure what it did to be honest."

Aggie made a face. "Ugh. You were part of the nozzle? I hate that thing."

"It was pretty fun. The whole point is to make the test subject uncomfortable. I suspect it doesn't do anything else." Ford said as he sipped his coffee.

Aggie looked out the window. Those two suits in sunglasses were still watching them from the parking lot.

"Are you finished here?" Aggie asked. "I think I have an idea of how to lose those two spooks."

Ford raised his hand and called for the check. As they paid up, Aggie found a newspaper abandoned in the next booth over. "We're just in time."

Aggie grabbed Ford's hand as they walked out the back door of the diner and towards downtown, walking through alleys and cracked sidewalks.

"Are they behind us?" She asked.

"Not yet."

They walked for another three blocks until they stopped in front of the Gravity Falls theater, it's bright lights blinding them with large marquees of the upcoming shows.

Confidently, Aggie strolled up to the ticket booth. "Two for the eight-thirty screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, please."

"Really, Dr. Davis? Isn't that a children's film?" Ford said disparagingly. He noticed she hadn't let go of his hand yet, but he hadn't bothered pulling away.

"Oh come on, you'll love it! Trust me." Aggie grabbed the tickets from the cashier as they headed inside. The theater was packed. Ford wasn't aware that so many people lived in Gravity Falls.

"I can't believe we were able to get seats on the opening day." Aggie said excitedly. She looked over at Ford, who still looked uneasy. "It's about an academic who travels the world, searching for enchanted artefacts. This one's the Ark of the Covenant. Maybe you'll find something in common with Dr. Jones."

Ford rolled his eyes. "If you say so."

As the lights dimmed, Aggie wrapped her arm around Ford's, resting her head on his shoulder. Ford should have pushed her off, her head was heavy but perhaps she was tired. At least she smelled nice.

Despite his misgivings, Ford had to admit the movie was enjoyable. He looked over at Aggie to see her reaction to each event. She was practically squeezing the circulation out of his arm at the first scene with the boulder, and towards the end when the Nazis faces melted.

"This is definitely not a kids movie." He muttered.

"But it was fun, right?"

Ford was about to admit defeat when he saw two latecomers enter the theater. "We've got company."

As the two searched the rows, Ford and Aggie slunk down to the floor, then crouched down and crawled towards the exit on the other side, trying not to bother the other moviegoers and failing. After a few yelps and warnings, it was obvious they were making a scene and they'd be found out.

"Hey, you two!" One of the suits pointed at them.

Ford and Aggie scrambled to get out of the theater, and ran towards the back exit. They left through the back, narrowly escaping the suits as Aggie kicked a trashcan to its side, it's contents spilling on top of them.

"Oh man, I'll never be able to get this out." She could hear one of them complain as they ran back to the diner.

When they reached Aggie's car, they drove back to the house, out of breath and exhausted.

"What do you think they want?" Aggie asked as the kept her eyes on the road.

"The portal." Ford declared. "I was warned about this. Trust no one. Did you call them?"

"No, of course not." Aggie said, outraged. "How could you think I'd do that?"

"I don't know. I don't know you at all."

Aggie slammed the breaks, her car screeching to a halt. "Then we need to work on that. Look, I get this portal means a lot to you, but you're going to have to meet me halfway."

"I've been more than generous!" Ford protested.

"So will sixteen hour workdays be the norm then? How many other team members are you bringing in?"

Ford stared at her blankly.

"Just me then? So, the next few months are going to be fun. I get that you have a lot on your plate, and I won't deny it's an honor getting to work for you, but I don't know if this is going to work out…" Aggie declared nervously.

"Aggie, look. I'm…not used to working with someone new. I usually work by myself, and it took a while for me to open up to Fiddleford. Just…be patient with me, ok?" Ford begged.

Aggie pressed her lips together, biting on her bottom lip in thought. She sighed, and turned on the ignition. "Ok. When we get back, we'll work for another hour or two, then we get some rest."

Later that night, Ford finally collapsed from exhaustion. Aggie was grateful she had insisted on holding onto anything flammable and he only had the sidings. She dragged him to a workbench and placed his coat over him as a blanket. She checked her watch. One thirty.

She might as well get 'off the clock.'

She took the elevator up to the main floor and made her way to the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of water. She looked at the phone hanging on the wall, and sighed. Might as well check on him, he'd be up anyway.

She dialed his number from memory.

"Yellow? T.S. Venture speaking."

"Hey Rusty, it's me." Aggie said wearily.

"Good god, you sound like hell. What happened to you?" Rusty asked.

"Oh, just settling into my new job. Not sure if it counts as a job if they're not paying you, but whatever." Aggie huffed.

Rusty gave a low whistle. "That bad, huh? Getting blackballed by Cognito so you're taking anything that comes your way?"

"More like I wanted to keep a low profile. I'm staying with this kind of offbeat one man research station in Gravity Falls who thinks he can make trans-dimensional travel a reality."

"Rick?"

"No. Stanford Pines. You heard of him?"

"He's more into monster stuff, right? Dad and Colonel Gentlemen mentioned him at one point, though it wasn't favorable."

"Hmm. Yeah that's him. But this has the potential to be something big. You want to come over and join us during Spring Break? Maybe stick it to your dad?"

"Sounds so much better than Cancun." Rusty drawled. "But I'll have to pass. Pete's invited me to his hometown and I'd rather be literally anywhere else then…wherever it is you are now. Washington?"

"Oregon."

"Yes, that."

"Ooh, you'll have to tell me more about this Pete."

"You've met him." Rusty replied. "Move in day, remember. Tall skinny albino kid?"

"Oh right. The kid into tabletop games. You know, my new boss is into them too."

Rusty snorted. "Still not interested."

"Have you heard from Jonas lately?" Aggie asked.

"Not you too. He's too busy with his shiny new space station to care about us mere mortals." Rusty sighed dramatically.

"Honestly, it's kind of a relief. Less good old Jonas pries into anyone's business, the better. Though I'd appreciate any funding he could throw my way." Aggie sighed.

"Don't we all. You can still apply through the Venture Foundation." Rusty offered. "Though it's run by those creepy guys from the insurance company, so you might not get anything."

"Worth a shot." Aggie paused. "I miss you, Rust."

Silence. "I miss you too, Aggs."

"That roommate giving you any trouble?"

"No. Not anymore."

"I'll come over and visit sometime, alright?" Aggie said hopefully. "Or you probably don't want some old person cramping up your style."

"No, by all means come over. My friend Mike doesn't believe me when I tell him we're friends. If you showed up, I bet he'd cream himself."

Aggie chuckled. "Then I have to come over. After I finish up here, I'm driving back down."

They said their goodbyes, and Aggie felt better. It was nice, knowing that Rusty was safe in college and she didn't have to worry about him anymore.

What she hadn't realized was that Ford had listened in to her phone call.

As Ford lurked by the adjoining wall, he could feel Bill gloat that he was right all along. He was beginning to suspect his new assistant might be a spy, for Venture no less. He was going to need to bring in Fiddleford, he needed someone he could trust.