Disclaimer: 1) I do not own Gravity Falls, or any of its characters. 2)This story is based loosely on the work of Jessica Sheffield, the talented artist at , specifically her comic "Country Roads". The cover photo is from that comic too—thank you so much for letting me use it !

Stan yawned and looked out the passenger window of the car. "Are we there yet?"

The young man driving the car, who looked very much like Stan aside from being more slight in his build, wearing horn-rimmed glasses and having a cleft in his chin glanced at him. "Well, good morning sleeping beauty. No, we're not there yet. We just crossed the Oregon border about half an hour ago. "

Stan yawned again and shook himself. "So, tell me again what all you did with that grant money? "

The young man in the driver's seat watched the road. "Well, I had a house built on the outskirts of town—and there's a lab underneath. "

Stan gazed at his twin brother. How on earth did they get here? It seemed like just yesterday the twin's father had thrown Stan out of the house for accidentally breaking an invention that would have gotten his brother into a swanky college on the west coast. Now he had graduated (ahead of schedule) and the two were heading to a little logging town in Oregon.

"What'd you say the name of this place was, Ford? "Stan asked.

"Gravity Falls. "

Evidently, the young mens' father was not prepared when their mother had had twins, so they were given very similar names—Stanley, born about seven and a half minutes before his brother, Stanford. Lately Stanford had decided that "Stanley and Stanford" was quite the mouthful to say, so he asked people to just call him Ford.

"Gravity Falls…huh." Stan said to himself.

Looking over his shoulder and out the back window, he watched the trailer they'd bought rattle along behind them. The tarp they'd put over their belongings appeared to be still intact.

After making sure the trailer looked okay, Stan's Crayola-brown eyes focused on the tiny passenger asleep in the back seat. Well, tiny in the sense that his lanky five-foot-seven frame was miniscule compared to Stan's bulky six-foot boxer physique body.

"How long has Fidds been asleep?" Stan asked, turning back around.

"Well, after you fell asleep, Fiddleford and I talked for a while, then he seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes open, so I suggested he lie down. "

Stan looked up in the rear-view mirror. "So—what did you say the kid had—I mean, those letters behind his name? "

Ford rolled his eyes. "Fiddleford has a doctorate in computer science and a masters in engineering. "

Stan shook his head. "Oi. And you have twelve PH-whatsits—and don't tell me what they all are, I'll get a headache. "He smiled at his brother. "But I'm proud of you, ya know that? I may not understand anything you're talking about-or Fidds either, for that matter—but I'm proud of you. "

Ford smiled and kept his eyes on the road. "Thank you, Stanley."

Stan smiled a "You're welcome" back, and turned to check on their passenger again.

At twenty-one, Fiddleford McGucket was a year younger than the twins. At the beginning of their school career, he had become fast friends with Ford, and Stanley had only met him when he had tried to come back and apologize to Ford for breaking an invention he'd created. Seconds after meeting Fiddleford, he and Stanley had had run off to save Ford's life, Ford having been taken by a cult of sorts that believed he should be destroyed because he was "imperfect." Fiddleford turned out to be the one to actually save Ford's life, taking a dagger in the back that the cult leader had meant to plunge into Ford's chest.

"There's a big heart in that little body." Ford had told Stan.

Stan turned around and looked at his brother's hands as they grasped the steering wheel. There were six fingers on both of them. Ever since the twins were small, Stan had felt the need to, and had, protected his brother from the bullies that had teased him for it. Thinking about their passenger he wondered,

Was Fidds ever bullied as a kid? In his case, it was probably for being so little. Did he ever have someone who stood up for him?

Aloud, Stan said, "So, all these years and Fidds has never told you about his family? "

Ford nodded. "It somehow seemed a bit of a sore subject, so after the first few times I asked him about it I decided not to pry. "

"Hm."

"Well, there it is." Ford announced, interrupting Stan from any more thoughts he may have had about the subject.

Stan looked ahead of them. At the right side of the road was a large billboard painted with a blue background. Large green letters with trees inside them, as if they were a portal to another world, read:

Gravity Falls.