In Your Dreams Sixer II

Chapter I

It had been two years since Ford had seen Bill. Since he had said goodbye to one of his only companions, his closest one ever. They had had something special, something Ford had never felt with anyone. He was still with him, in a sense. His impact had never left Ford. Everything he had done to help him along his journey was thanks to Bill. Stanford had considered the possibility that Bill had forgotten about him, even though they both made a promise that day. They both understood they're connection and just how serious it was. I mean Bill could see the world through Ford's eyes and have constant access to his thoughts and his mindscape in general. It was the deal after all; Ford would help Bill build his portal in exchange for Bill's incredible intelligence. When their minds merged they were at their happiest in their relationship. Even though it did last for about 6 months before he had to leave. Maybe the deal did end there. When the portal was finished Bill was gone. Completely gone.

The dreams had almost stopped. And Ford had moved on- for the most part. He rarely got them anymore, any of the many different types. Sometimes they were encryptions, codes, and strange languages that made no sense wandering through his mind. Or sometimes it was flashbacks of what Ford had worked on in his past. But the worst ones were the memories of Bill. The memory of seeing his partner vanish into the portal for good, and reliving all the emotions Ford had felt in that moment. Ford used to relish it. He even used to wake up in the middle of the night and brew sleepytime tea- strictly for nostalgic purposes though, he told himself. Ford would then walk down to the portal which hasn't worked since that fatal day two years ago. 

It was 3 am when Ford had abruptly woke up to the sounds of unintelligible screaming and familiar visions flashing in his head. It's only a dream. Ford reassured himself. But it was a dream he hadn't had in a while. The man brought his rough hands to his face and rubbed at his eyes. He felt for last night's rye on the table beside him and once he grabbed it took a swig in an attempt to distract himself. The last time he had this sort of dream was about 5 months ago. He had been through enough nights like these before to have learned he would not be going back to sleep. Ford begrudgingly sat up and shuffled out the door, stumbling on his way down the stairs.

"Damnit! Must've forgotten to put away the screwdriver." That wasn't the first time Ford had accidentally hurt his foot on cluttered equipment. It made sense since he had been too busy focusing on a new experiment. About a week or so ago the scientist was wandering in the woods behind his house and discovered a strange species with strange properties. They could change physically only slightly- and shift between different shapes. Not like actual shapeshifters- since what Ford found could only change their body from what seemed to be almost liquid into solid. They used that capability to fit between small openings and envelope small objects. He wondered if he could harness and contain it in an injection or machinery of some sort. 

The lights flickered a bit before they decided to fully illuminate his lab. Ford sat at his much too old table on a very precarious broken chair that Ford "fixed" with duct tape. He sifted through the papers on his desk and in old folders and shelves- cursing when he couldn't find anything.

No- no I swear I've seen something like this before! The molecular composition of these- these things are too similar to something I have worked with before and- Ford finally realized exactly where he had worked around these types of creatures- or at least a version of them.
   
Ford stood on the porch, staring up the giant, intimidating walls. He felt a longing urging its way to the surface along with other emotions and this time struggled to suppress them. Ford cleared his thought and tightly grasped the satchel at his side. God Ford, It's been two years! Get over it he's not coming back. Just get in and get out. Grab the papers and leave. You don't have time to reminisce about what happened here. The last time Ford was at Bill's mansion was to cover all of his important data and bring it to the shack after he left- which, apparently, he didn't do a good job over. A shaky hand reached into his pocket and brought out the key to open the wide doors. As Ford opened them he expected to see Bill- looking back at him with his bright eyes ready to welcome him to his home- which almost always had a party going on. Despite what Ford was used to, his deity wasn't there to greet him. When ford entered he shut the door behind him. He could have sworn he heard someone curse but convinced himself that it was just his nerves. Ford slowly made his way upstairs, relishing the familiar feeling of the railing wood on his palms. When he made it to Bill's old bedroom he opened the door and felt the memories he experienced there wash over him- a wave of pain but also comfort overcoming him.
   
God get it out of my head. I am here for business. Ford took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He frantically searched through the drawers on his old partner's desk- until he finally found it. The journal entries on the creature with regenerate properties.
"Finally!" With papers in hand, Ford turned around and made his way towards the exit.
"Shit damn!" An unfamiliar rough voice called out. "Who's there!" Ford shouted back- followed by the sounds of rapid footsteps frantically running down the stairs. Ford heard the noise coming from the library.

"Stop!" Ford yelled at the mysterious figure in the abandoned mansion. "Who are you?" Ford inquired. "I'm uh," he cleared his throat. "I'm Rick Sanchez. I'm guessing we're both here looking for the same thing?" "Rick" was a tall lanky guy with messy grey almost blue hair, which belied his young and carefree appearance. He didn't seem stressed out at all- in fact, he was waving around a flask in his right hand and making wild gestures with the other. He spoke in a monotone voice.

"Why are you here?" Rick stared Ford down. "Because- wait why are you asking the questions! I have my own business being here but to get into the specifics a bit more it's for science." Rick just continued staring. Ford was shocked by how upfront the man was.
"Well, no shit! It's not hard to tell by how you dress or really anything about you." Before Ford started to speak again Rick cut him off. "I'm wearing a fucking lab coat you think that we're not here for the same thing? Look I-I-I'm just saying maybe we can help each other out. Yanno- hombre un hombre. Muchacho to muchacho." "Fine. Only because I don't want you ruining this house," Ford shuffled in his bag searching for the documents, "Look who's to say that you would even believe me? This town is too small for someone dealing with the science that I do on my level." The so-called scientist in front of him scoffed. "I've dealt with shit beyond this world- I-I mean fuck man! The entire multiverse! And trust me you do not want to have a run-in with some of the testicle monsters that I've seen. I've even-" "Okay! I guess I'll tell you. You seem like you know what you're talking about," Ford observed how Rick drank from his flask and wondered if maybe he's just a meth-addicted hobo who wondered in. What else do I have to lose? He thought to himself. "I found a strange creature in the forest and I knew that the person who used to live here had notes on it- or something that was similar to it. I wanted to find them. And I did. So what about you?" Ford stood watching Rick expectantly. There were about 9 feet between them since Ford still didn't consider him safe.

"Well, I was searching for someone- er- something for a friend of mine." Ford eyed the scientist in front of him. "But uh! I found it. Yup- here- here it is!" Rick kept his eyes on Ford as he grabbed a book off of the shelves behind him.
"Right so what you were looking for was Thins the human brain and fruits have in common?" The taller man gazed at the book in his hands. "It'll come in handy later for an experiment." "Also this is tooootally out of the blue but do you maybe have a place that I could stay? My uh- ahem- transportation broke and I need a place to fix it." Ford had only just met the thief and he was already asking for a place to stay. He assumed if he said no then Rick would just make the decision to stay at Bill's.
   
"Ah dammit. Okay. But only for a few days. I don't need anything bothering me while I'm working. Unless...maybe you could help?" Ford questioned. "Sorry- can't. I-I got my own shit to do. Probably won't stay long anyway." "Oh. Okay well then if you have everything then we can go.
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"You know you never got my name." Ford shifted his glance to Rick who was in his passenger seat." "Yeah. It's because I didn't ask." He replied.
"Well it's Stanford but everyone calls me Ford. Ford Pines." Rick didn't say anything. He stared at Ford- a surprised look on his face like he was calculating something. "What is it?"
"Nothing. Didn't expect you to be so...ahem... the way you are." A puzzled look plastered across Ford's face as the man next to him said this. "Wh- what's that supposed to mean?" He didn't expect the mad scientist next to him to make that much sense but he was still fairly strange. "Oh. Just uh- well- well you know, with a name like Ford it wouldn't be a shock if you were some kind of twink, is all." Ford didn't know how to respond, or even if he should. They continued their drive in silence.

Hope you like it :)