Wings (A Gravity Falls Wings AU)

Prologue: Taken

The rain poured down as the two ran home from school, feet splashing the many puddles and coating their legs in mud and water as they pounded along the pavement to the Pines Pawn Shop just down the street.

Stanley and Stanford Pines skidded to a stop just outside the two story building and pushed open the door, the bell jingling as they walked across the threshold. The two grinned as their Ma looked down on them with a frown, her arms crossed at the sight of her dirty children "Bath! Now! You're filthy!" she said, pointing to the stairs that lead up the the house.

Ford looked out the window as he set his backpack down on the floor "I'll be back soon Ma, I just need to check the Stan 'O' Wars tied down properly before the tide comes in!" he said, racing back out the door before Kari could stop him. Stan giggled "One day, Ma, me and Stanford are going to sail the world," he said.

Kari smiled. "Sounds like a plan, Stan," she said, pushing him up the stairs.

Stan smiled.

~

Ford ran down the street and onto the beach, the sand he kicked up sticking to his wet pants as he raced across it. The tide was already coming in and the thirteen-year-old boy hurried over to the half built boat to check the ropes were secure and tight.

"Hey kid!!" a voice called.

Ford looked up, his chestnut brown hair already plastered to his head from the torrent of rain and his glasses already hard to see out of, he squinted in the rain and adjusted the frames as the slid down his damp nose, wiping off the water with his sleeve, "Me?" he asked, pointing to himself.

The beefy looking man in the suit nodded "Come help me with this box, young man, it's heavy!" he said, pointing to the back of his van, the words 'Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge' written in white cursive lettering on the side. It seemed safe enough to investigate so Stanford hurried back to the street to help.

The man smiled. "You seem like a strong young man, can you help?" he asked, pointing behind the wide open doors.

"I can try, Mister, but you seem strong enough yourself," Ford replied, coming over and peering into the back.

He frowned at the emptiness "Wheres the b-"

Ford let out a shocked yell as the man grabbed him and threw him in the back quickly "Hey! What's the meaning of this!?" he cried, leaping towards the doors as they closed, there was a thunk as it locked. He pounded his fists on the back. "LET ME GO!"

A hissing noise from above caught Fords attention and he looked up in shock as a white gas began to filter through the tiny vents in the ceiling. He coughed and covered his mouth with the back of his jacket sleeve as he tried to avoid the whiteness filling up the small space, but he knew he was just delaying the inevitable.

Soon, Stanford was passed out on the floor and the van's motor sprung to life, zooming down the street as it made it's way back to base. The man in the front smirked as he adjusted the camera screen from the front, watching the unconscious boy on the floor roll about,

"Welcome to Project Barn Owl, Subject 6"

One Month Later ~

Stan waited every day by the window after school, his face smooshed against the glass and eyes darting left and right hoping to spot his twin, but his brother never returned. And while his parents gave Stanford a funeral and grieved for him and let him go, he waited.

He knew Stanford was alive, he could feel it in his heart, a twin connection that no matter how much his Ma and Pa told him otherwise, kept his hopes up. "Come home Stanford, please" he whispered, placing a hand on the glass as the sun sank over the horizon, turning the sky gold and bathing the sea in an orange glow as the calm waves lapped at the shore line.

Meanwhile, miles away from his home and trapped in the white interiors of a secret facility, Stanford's screams were ignored as the scientists sliced into his back with scalpels.