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Chapter Three: Almost a Reunion
Gravity Falls, Oregon, 1992
Stanley Alexander Pines had never considered himself to be a particularly emotional person. Sure, he had his moments - who didn't? - but overall he was pretty good at keeping his feelings in check. Being homeless for ten years will do that to you.
Then came the day he'd found a woman unconscious not far from Mystery Shack (formerly known as the Murder Hut). Gravity Falls was filled with things that weren't what they appeared, so he was tempted to ignore her and continue his hunt for his brother's journals. But...his conscious wouldn't allow it. He'd passed out countless times a lack of food or dehydration or just plain exhaustion. He didn't know what the woman's story was or even if she was as human as she appeared. Her snow-white hair and pale gray lowlights made him skeptical, but he'd chalked that up to hair dye.
Besides, a lot of the times he'd pass out, he'd woken up injured, kidnapped, or robbed. And, she was a pretty thing. He couldn't let her lay there just for some heartless bastard to find her and do Lord knew what.
So, now she was laying in his bed. Stan had brought in a chair from the kitchen and used it to perch himself beside her, waiting for her to wake up. She had been there for almost an hour, but she was still breathing. That was a good sign, right?
Stan and absentmindedly twirled a lock of pencil-straight lowlight around his finger. Poor woman. He knew what she was going through. If her story was anything like his, she'd probably try to kill him when she woke up.
Eventually, she grunted, and her eyes, so dark that they could only be described as black, fluttered open. To his immense surprise, she didn't try to maim him. Although, she still seemed cautious when she asked, "Who are you?"
"Stanford Pines," he answered. He was so used to having his brother's identity that lying wasn't even a challenge. He still wasn't sure how he felt about that.
The woman's scowl deepened. "Yeah, right. You don't have enough fingers to be Ford. And, your voice is too gravely."
Stan sat in a stunned silence. When he did speak, his voice was barely above a whisper. "You know Ford."
The woman raised an eyebrow and gently lifted herself up. She nearly collapsed again and didn't complain when Stan reached out to hold her up. "You know Ford," she repeated with carefully masked curiosity. She squinted at him long enough to make him extremely uncomfortable. Then, she blinked in shock. "You...You're the twin he mentioned. Stanley, right?"
"He, uh, mentioned me?" Okay, this was getting weird. "How do you even know him?"
"Would you believe me if I said we met in another dimension?"
If Stan's heart could pound any harder, it would have exploded a while ago. "Y-Yeah. Yeah, I believe it." He knew he shouldn't have. He knew he should have called the nearest looney bin and told them to come and pick up their nutjob. And, yet...if there was even a chance that it was true, that she did know Ford… "'Round here, you'll find things much, much weirder than freaky dimensional voodoo. I once saw a gnome bathing in squirrels. Really wish I could unsee it."
The woman chuckled and shook off his grasp on her. "Cute. You, not the gnome thing. That's weird, even for my standards."
Stan forced back a smile. She may have known Ford, but that didn't mean she was trustworthy. Who knew what nightmares were on the other side of that portal? "So… Uh, how do you know Ford?"
She eyed him skeptically. It was clear that she didn't trust him either, even if he was Ford's brother. "We...traveled together. For a while."
"Oh," Stan responded when it became clear that she wouldn't say anything more. Then it occurred to him. If they were traveling together, and she was here… "Is-Is Ford with you?"
She looked at the wall across from her, probably thinking that he wouldn't notice the sorrow in her dark eyes. "No. Not anymore."
"He…" Stan swallowed hard, not liking what her words implied. "W-What do you mean?"
She must have realized what "not anymore" sounded like and looked back at him. "Oh, he-he's not dead. I just meant that we don't travel together anymore." Stan let out the breath he'd been holding. Her next sentence stirred his curiosity, and she said so quietly that it seemed like she didn't want him to hear it. "It's better that way."
"What do you mean?" he couldn't help asking.
She flinched, clearly unaware that she'd actually said that last thing. "Uh, don't worry about it." She turned and carefully pulled herself off the bed. "Thanks for taking me in, but I should go."
"Go where?" Stan asked, standing up. A selfish part of him didn't want her to leave. Not when he had so much to ask her about his brother.
The woman glared at him, but something in her posture and hesitation told him that she didn't know the answer to his question. "Are you my mother?"
Stan's softened brown gaze trailed over her body (not in a weird way). Her messy hair, dirty and torn clothing (the pink ribbon tied around her wrist struck him as odd), scabbed over wounds, distrustful eyes. She looked like a female version of his homeless days.
She coughed into her fist and scowled. "Uh, my eyes are up here, pal."
Stan felt a blush crawl up his neck. "S-Sorry, I wasn't staring at your- Look, I'm not some kind of creep, I just- This...This is coming out weird, isn't it?" She rolled her eyes but smiled a little. "Look, it's just… If you're not from this dimension, do you...actually have somewhere to go?"
She crossed her arms, but Stan already knew the answer. "Again, I ask, are you my mother?"
Stan sighed and raked a hand through his brown curls. This chick was tough. He could see why Ford liked her. Or, at least traveled with her. "Well, um, assuming you don't gotta be somewhere right now… Could I maybe ask you some stuff about Ford?"
The woman blinked and raised an eyebrow. She eyed him wearily, and he couldn't resist saying, "Uh, my eyes are up here, pal."
And, he finally got a laugh out of her. "Well, I guess I don't have to leave right this second. Sure, I'll answer your questions."
"Great. Also, you don't actually have anywhere to go, do you?" She frowned and opened her mouth, but Stan cut her off. "Don't try to deny it. I was homeless once. I know when someone's like that." That shut her up real quick. "By the way, you never told me your name."
She smiled softly. She was a lot prettier when she wasn't treating him like a potential rapist. "My friends call me Echo."
"GSRH GLDM RH Z NZTMVG ULI GSRMTH GSZG ZIV HKVXRZO..." - HGZMULIW KRMVH
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