Teddy Bear (Stanley X Reader - With Some Ford For Spice)

28 (Life's Cards)

I told Soos to watch the kids and joined Stan in the gift shop as he entered the code to enter the doorway behind the vending machine. We climbed down a set of stairs to an elevator. He opened a panel besides the elevator and inputted the alchemical symbols for "composition," "pulverize," "digestion," and "fusion" followed by the 'down' button. We entered and the elevator and went to the third floor. We stepped off into a room filled with complex looking machines and sensors. Stan walked past them to a desk and switchboard as I checked the safety gages.

He opened the desk and pulled out Journal #1. "After all these years..." Stan sets down all three journals as I joined him.

I smiled. "Finally, we have them all."

We laid them out together, revealing a complex image algorithm. Stan conferred it as he pressed buttons and switches. The portal beyond the glass of the switchboard lit up.

"It's working!" Stan rushed out to the room with the machine and pushed a large lever over in front of it. The machine crackled with large bursts of electricity sending beams of light in every direction, and finally turns on completely; a bright, white light emanating from it's central hole, blowing a steady stream of air at Stan as I joined him. Stan stood proudly in front of it. He put his arm around my shoulder and smiled at the portal in satisfaction. "Here we go."

Time skip

I spent my night monitoring the portal and decoding the algorithms. I was glad to see Stan come back down at three in the morning. "Ready?"

"You bet I am." Stan smiled. "Thirty long years and it's all let up to this. My greatest achievement!" He paused and looked down. "Probably should've worn pants."

"You really should have..." I checked the fuel levels in the control room, my back to Stan.

"Feisty," Stan said. "I like it."

"Thank you..." I pulled the switch. "If we finally pull this off, it'll all have been worth it."

Stan sat down in his chair in the control room. "I just have to keep playing it cool; if anyone ever finds out about this..." He looked at a picture of Dipper and Mabel. "Yeah, right. I've come this far. Who could possibly catch me now?" He pulled on a six-fingered glove and pulls a switch labeled Max. Power, which powers up the machine, causing a power surge.

I put my arms limply over his shoulders and set my head on top of his. "This has been a long time coming." I watched as the power levels slowly rose.

"It was worth it."

I let my head fall to his shoulder and looked at him. "Every minute of it." I smiled. "I've been thinking..."

"About?"

"Life... And the cards it dealt me."

"And what did you come up with?" Stan asked, turning his head slightly in an attempt to look at me.

"Four of a kind... And that brought me to a question."

"What?"

"Not what. When..." I giggled like a school girl as I tensed my muscles and hugged Stan tight. "When do I tell Ford I fell in love with his brother?"