This house was so cold. Stan had searched up and down for a heater, a thermostat, a fireplace… goddamn something, but he couldn't figure this place out. Every door he opened led to another room filled with science junk, he found the only bathroom stuffed with jars of eyes, and there were boxes everywhere labeled EXTREME DANGER in shaky red marker. He'd ask his brother what on earth was going on here, but… well.

Stan, huddled on a stiff couch in his brother's bedroom, let out a sigh that fogged the air. His brother's glasses lay on the coffee table; they glinted at him in the moonlight, and once again he saw Stanford floating in the air, Stanford pleading with him as the portal sucked him in, yelling help me, do something, Stanley-

Stan sat up suddenly; pain lanced up his shoulder, but he gritted his teeth and got to his feet. He was gonna do something - he was gonna take a look at that stupid portal again. There just had to be a way to get it working.

He cast one last glance at the glasses. There just had to be.

Then he made his way out of the room. Squeezing past boxes and steering clear of the more zappy-looking contraptions, he made his way back to the elevator and started on the long trip down. If it was cold upstairs, it only seemed to get colder down here; he was shivering through his cheap coat, and the air was moist and musty. The elevator juddered to a halt, and he found himself surrounded again by so many mysterious levers and dials. He stepped out, and through the glass, before his eyes, he could see… the portal.

His stomach dropped, but he set his jaw and marched through the door. The portal loomed over him, huge, inexplicable - and completely dead. He made his way past the two massive metal circles dug into the earth, past the lever, stopped, and placed a hand on the metal. It was so cold, and he could see his reflection through it. It almost looked like Stanford reaching back, and he sighed.

"I did it again, didn't I?" He said, and gave a mirthless laugh. "Just like Dad said - maybe he was right about me. I know that's what you thought too."

His hand fell back to his side, and he winced at the pain, held his arm. He looked up, up at the dark portal, and then across as he followed the power lines in the ceiling back to the control room. He was so out of his depth here, he could feel it. This portal, this house, this life his brother had made for himself out in the middle of nowhere - it wasn't meant for him. Every step he took here was a step too far, everything he touched, he knew he was screwing something up somewhere, and the portal…

Well, Stanford would know how to fix it. But Stanford wasn't here. He looked at his reflection again, and saw only his own face, tired and haggard and absolutely determined.

"I'm gonna fix this thing," he said, quietly. "I'm gonna get you out of there, Stanford, I don't care how long it takes. Just hold on, okay?"

He wasn't expecting an answer, but the silence still sat heavy with him.

"Just hold on," he muttered. "Wherever you are, just hold on."

He stood there for another moment, taking in the enormity of his promise… and then there was a noise. It was muffled, hard to make out, a groaning? It came from the portal… no, it came from just behind it, and Stan felt his heart stop.

No way. It couldn't be... could it?

Ughhh, what happened? Danny didn't know how long he'd been out, but when he came to, he wished he didn't. He opened his eyes and immediately squeezed them closed; god, it felt like his brain was trying to squeeze itself out of his skull. His mouth was so dry, too - dry, and filled with a strange ashy taste, like he'd just stuffed his face with burnt toast.

He groaned again. No, don't think of eating right now… or maybe ever again. He didn't know what that stupid portal did to him, but he knew one thing for sure: this was the last time he ever went anywhere near one of his parents' inventions.

What kind of awesome, super-cool things exist on the other side of that Portal? Pain. Pain is what exists. You're welcome, Sam.

"Stanford?"

Through his throbbing headache, Danny frowned. He didn't know that voice, and when he forced open his eyes again, he realised he didn't know where he was. He wasn't in the hospital - he was lying in a moist dirt, with his back against something hard, and metal, and… tall. Really tall. His vision swam as he tried to make sense of it.

"Stanford, is that you? Stanford!" Through the corner of his eye, he could see a figure stumble around the corner. "I can't believe it, I thought you were-" The figure stopped dead. "Oh, goddammit. What the hell are you?"

Danny struggled to sit up. He could see the figure backing away a little, which was odd to him… but not so odd it took his mind off how much everything hurt. Ugh, his head - he moved to cover his hand with his face, but it came into view and he froze. His hand… it was glowing.

"Uh, hello?"

The figure was speaking, but Danny was hardly listening. His arm was glowing - no, his whole body was glowing! The hazmat suit he was wearing, the colours had gone all weird and when he stared hard enough - oh my god, he could see through his own arm!

"Hello? Do you, uh, speak English, or…"

"Gah!" Danny jumped up, and then shrieked as the ground kept rising. "Oh no no no, what's going on! What happened to me! Ow!"

He banged his head on a pipe jutting out from the ceiling - the ceiling! The ground looked like it was three stories down; he clung to the pipe for dear life, and gasped again as his hands started passing through it!

"No, no, no, help!" He scrambled for purchase. "I'm gonna fall, I'm gonna fall, I'm gonna- aaaah!"

Then he slipped through and fell screaming straight to the ground. He hit the ground hard - he even bounced - but… that didn't hurt nearly as much as he thought it would. He sprang up, patting himself down, but nothing was broken!

"Hah! I-I'm alive, I'm alive!" He looked up, and his smile dimmed a bit. "Wha… what the heck was that? What happened? Where… is this place?"

This place… it looked like nothing he'd ever seen before, even in his parent's lab. A giant inverted triangle dominated this space, darkened symbols encircling a giant hole through the middle. There was movement near the base, and Danny looked to see the figure emerging from behind, a man in a shabby red coat with a crossbow in his arms.

"Alright, ghost," He jabbed it right at Danny, who gasped and put his hands up. "Here's the deal, you're gonna stay right there, and you're gonna tell me who you are and what you're doing here."

Danny blinked. "Ghost?"

"Ghost, spook, phantom, whatever you're called, I don't care!" He hefted the crossbow, winced, and switched arms. "Start talking!"

"Uh, okay, okay!" He shrank back as the man approached. "Well, I-I'm just Danny, Danny Fenton, I-I go to Casper High School-"

"What? High school?" The man narrowed his eyes. "Yeesh, do you all look like that in your dimension?"

"Dimension?"

"You came through the portal, right?" He motioned at the machine with his crossbow, and Danny blinked.

"That's a portal?" The meaning caught up to him, and he felt his stomach drop. "W-wait, dimension? I'm in another dimension?"

"Uhh, I guess so."

Danny stared at it with wide eyes. The panic was setting in now; oh, this was bad. This was really, really bad. He looked back at the man.

"I've got to get back. Sam and Tucker, they don't know what happened to me - you've gotta turn it on again!"

"Uh…" The man looked sheepish. "Well, it's not that easy, kid-"

"Why not? What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing! Nothing, it's just… down for repairs." He gave a grin that was a little too wide. "Maintenance, y'know? These portals, they get, ah, testy."

"Maintenance?" Danny stared at the man. "Wh… what are you talking about? You can't turn it back on?"

"Uh, nope. Not for a… little while. Sorry, kid."

Danny groaned. "Oh, this is great," he said, putting his face in his hands. "Just fantastic. Wha-what am I gonna do now? How long is it gonna be down for?"

"Ahh, hopefully not too much longer?"

"Okay? Can you be any more specific?"

"Nnnope. Wish I could, but I can't." His voice softened a bit. "Really wish I could. Hey, uh… what's your name again?"

Danny looked up at him suspiciously. At least he'd put the crossbow down. "It's Danny. Who are you?"

"Uh," The man rubbed his chin. "Call me Stanford. Anyway, how'd a ghost kid like you find your way into a portal?"

"I'm not a ghost," He shot back… but looking down at his glowing hands, he sighed, and hugged himself. "I don't think I am, but this is, uh, new. I think the portal did this to me."

"It killed you?"

There was an edge to Stan's voice that made Danny glance up. He was still smiling, but Danny could almost see the blood draining from his face.

"N-no? No, I'm not a ghost, okay!" He crossed his arms, and then had the odd sensation of them phasing through his own chest. "Gah! Uh, a-anyway, look, all I know is I went in my parent's portal - I think it turned on, and then I woke up here? Where is here, anyway?" A pause. "Uh, hello? Stanford?"

Stan blinked. "What? Yeah, I was listening!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Sure you were. I said, where am I?"

"Uhh," He scratched his chin. "Town called Gravity Drops - no, wait, it's Gravity Falls. It's in Oregon."

"Oregon?"

"Yeah? Oh right, you're from some wacky scifi dimension, huh?"

"No, like… like the state?" Danny watched him nod. "No way! A-and Illinois, does that exist?"

"Oh yeah, went to jail there once."

A spark of hope - Danny grinned. "Hah, wow, that's great!"

"Gee, thanks, kid."

"No, not the, not the jail part - but don't you see! If I'm in a different dimension, why do we have two states with the same names? Does uh…" Danny snapped his fingers. "Shoot, I should have paid more attention in geography… Wisconsin! Does Wisconsin exist?"

"Yeah." Stan crossed his arms. "But that's the last one I'm doing, kid. I've got better things to do than name the states."

"That's fine, so do I!" Danny tapped his chin. "Maybe I'm not in another dimension at all - maybe I'm just in Oregon! That means all I have to do is get back to Illinois… uh, you wouldn't happen to know how to get there, would you?"

Stan looked at him, and then fixed his eyes on the portal. "Nope," he said, and stuffed his hands in his coatpockets. "Good luck, kid."

"What? But I don't- ugh, of course I don't have my phone!" He watched Stan turn away and ran to catch up with him. "Hey, w-wait, you can't just leave me with a good luck! I'm stranded here!"

"What do you want me to do about it? I can't get you to Illinois." He shrugged. "You'll figure it out. Get a bus or something."

"I don't have any money!"

"What, and you think I got cash to hand out?"

"But… but… I'm just a kid!" He watched Stan stop. "Please, man, you gotta help me! I-I've never been this far away from home before, a-and my parents, they're probably already worried sick about me… come on, there's gotta be something you can do!"

Stan didn't say anything for a moment. He heaved a sigh, looked back at him, and shrugged. "I'm sorry, okay? I really am sorry, but I can't help." He seemed to stare past Danny for a second. "Trust me, you'll figure something out. That's what you do when you got no choice. Good luck."

He hesitated for a moment, like he wanted to say something else. But then he turned on his heel, and started towards the door. Danny couldn't believe it - he was just gonna walk away?

"You're actually serious?" His fists clenched. "You get me stranded halfway across the country with your stupid portal, and all you can say is good luck? What is wrong with you!"

"I didn't…" Stan put a hand on the door. "I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."

"Then help!"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I… I can't, okay?" Stan shot him a look. "Look, I just can't, and-"

"But-"

"-and if you ask me again, you're really gonna tick me off, so if I were you I'd get going." He wrenched the door open, and glowered down at the floor. "Elevator's this way."

Danny glared defiantly at him for another moment. He thought about saying something else, but the tension in Stan's shoulders, his clenched fists… he thought better of it. It looked like he was really gonna have to do this on his own.

Still, as he stepped past Stan, he couldn't help mutter a bitter "Thanks." Stan didn't acknowledge it; he led the way past a strange lab, pressed a button, and jabbed a finger at the elevator as it opened.

"Get in," he said, and Danny hesitated before he got inside. Stan didn't join him; he pressed a button, and Danny stared forwards at the shadow of the portal as the doors slid shut. With a judder it started upwards, taking him to a world he didn't know if he'd recognise.

It felt like only a few minutes ago he was hanging out with Sam and Tucker in his own house. Now in an instant he was far from home, all alone, and he had a horrible feeling that it wouldn't be so simple to get back.