I'm trying to finish these as quick as possible for you all, but you have such good ideas that I have to think them over for a bit before writing them down. Especially ones that aren't canon. These are so much fun, though, and I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying them!

From The-epic-Lemon: "I wouldn't mind seeing a post sock opera scene from Stan's perspective, but if not that's totally cool as well!"

Yes, that is completely fine, don't worry! I love requests, and Sock Opera is one episode I definitely do not mind writing about (has to be my favorite episode of this new season so far). Stan & Dipper's relationship is my favorite too, so kudos to you!

Enjoy!

The Fighter

Mabel's worried brown eyes were haunting Stan. He sighed for the umpteenth time and rubbed the bridge of his large nose out of exhaustion. He couldn't forget the way his great-niece had looked at him mere hours ago, exclaiming that they had to get him to the hospital, he was seriously hurt and tired, he needed medical help. And while Stan hated hospitals (he had never liked how clean and annoyingly polite they were) he knew that he couldn't ignore her cries.

She wasn't wrong either. Dipper had looked absolutely exhausted when the twins met up with them outside the theater, and he had quickly fallen asleep once they got into Stan's car. The sense of worry lingered over the atmosphere of the vehicle as the man drove faster than he normally did over the speed limit, glancing in the mirror every so often to check on Mabel and Dipper.

Now it was well past eleven o'clock and Stan had told Soos to take Mabel and her pig home to the Shack while he stayed overnight with his great-nephew. Wendy had promised to come in early, to his astonishment, to watch Mabel with Soos, who would be staying over at the Shack.

Despite how lazy the red-haired teen usually acted, he couldn't help but feel a rush of relief at her vow. Mabel would be alright. She had Soos and Wendy to take care of her.

All he had to worry about now was Dipper.

The thought made him cringe outwardly. He was sitting outside the hospital room by request of the blonde nurse who had shown him to the room, and he had never felt so nervous in all his life. If someone asked him whether he would be so concerned over his great-nephew at the start of the summer, he would have laughed in their face.

There was no way he would make that mistake now.

How on earth had the kid managed to get himself so banged up in the first place? Sure, he had looked tired in the morning (those dark bags under his eyes had been kinda funny too) but when they had carried the boy into the hospital, Stan had noticed scratches and bruises all over his arms and his neck. He had no doubt in his mind that they probably were all over his body, given by how worried Mabel had been over his state. She wouldn't say what had happened (he highly doubted the fight the two had onstage was the main cause of these injuries, to be honest) and it was starting to bug the old man. Had something occurred backstage during the show?

Oh, no - how was he going to explain this mess to the kids' parents?

"Mr. Pines?"

Stan's head swiveled to the blonde who had shown him in. She flashed him a polite apologetic smile as he stood quickly, ignoring the ache in his back (ugh, he was getting old).

"What is it? Is he alright?"

"Your great-nephew is going to be fine, Mr. Pines," she assured him and his heart lifted slightly in relief. "He has many cuts that could get infected, though, and it would appear he is sleep-deprived, given how long he has been napping these past hours. Would you like to see him?"

Stan nodded immediately and followed her into the hospital room. He swallowed back his panic at the sight of all the tubes and how pale and small Dipper looked on the hospital bed. They had changed the twelve year old into a hospital gown and he appeared to be breathing steadily as he slept, the heart monitor beside his bed beeping every so often.

A balding man smiled politely at him, holding a clipboard as he stood next to Dipper. "Ah, Mr. Pines! Thank you, Rachel." The blonde nurse nodded and left, glancing back at Stan with an unreadable expression.

"I know you wanted to see your great-nephew, Mr. Pines," the doctor said, his gaze turning back to the sleeping figure on the bed. "However, due to how alarming these injuries were, I just wanted to ask a few questions concerning his...accident."

Stan stiffened, moving closer to Dipper involuntarily. This was the absolute last thing he wanted to do right now. "How about I ask a question of my own: will I be able to take him home tomorrow morning?"

"Y-Yes, if his condition hasn't worsened, which I doubt it will," the doctor stammered. He was surprised by Stan's forward nature and the hard look in the elder's eyes. "But, I was wondering how this happened. Could you possibly explain - ?"

"No, I don't think that's my place." He himself didn't know the full details, but like heck was he going to let the other know that.

"Mr. Pines, there were cuts on his arms - "

"Yeah, he got bruised up." Stan snorted. "Tell me something I don't know."

"It would appear that the cuts were from forks, however," the doctor managed to get out before Stan continued. His posture was stiff now too, and both men were silent for a moment.

Forks? He had to be kidding. What on earth would Dipper do with forks that would cause cuts that deep? Stab himself with them?

"Look, don't you have some paperwork to fill out or something?" snapped Stan, unable to find a good response to this revelation.

The man gave him a look of pity that caused him to feel even more infuriated. "I will check in on you both in the morning. Get some rest, sir. I can tell it has been a long night for you. Your great-nephew is safe now."

As the doctor left the hospital room though, Stan felt as if he were never going to sleep again. Was the kid really okay? What had happened to cause this, to put the preteen boy in the hospital of all places?

With a soft sigh, he sat down in the chair beside the kid's bed, looking sadly down at his pale face. Even asleep, he looked as if he were in pain.

Stan's eyes darted to Dipper's noodle-like arms and he bit his lip, not wanting to believe what the doctor had told him. There was no way those cuts were from forks...right?

He hesitantly picked up the boy's nearest arm and flinched at the sight of the bandages wrapped around it in various places. He lifted away part of the bandage, not wanting to hurt him, and frowned when he noticed one of the cuts underneath the cloth. It actually did appear that the boy had been stabbed by a fork.

That was odd, and a little bit alarming.

"Come on, knucklehead," Stan muttered, redoing the bandages on his arm before placing it back down gently. "You're stubborn, you can fight through this. Heck, I don't know how you're still alive what with how badly your sister was reacting to these scrapes."

He paused, staring down at the brunette's closed eyes. What he wouldn't give to know that Dipper was well and truly alright - and not from some crummy doctor or nurse.

"That's one of the things you do best, kid. When the world fights, you fight back. Reminds me of how I was when I was your age. But the point is...I just - uh, your sister just wanted to know that you're okay. You and I both know you're stronger than this, Dipper."

He looked down at his lap, closing his tired eyes and groaning softly. He was growing a bit tired, especially with how many late nights he had had working on the portal below the Mystery Shack.

"Hey, Grunkle Stan..."

With a start, Stan's head shot up and his eyes went wide at the sight of familiar brown eyes fluttering open to peer up at him. Somewhere in his heart, something inside melted a little and his throat tightened uncomfortably.

He was okay.

"Hey, kid."

Oh, I love these two so much. Stubborn knuckleheads...

Thank you all for reviewing, by the way! I'm floored by how many of you have requested one-shots, and I am so happy that you're enjoying them! You all are amazing.