First off, I really want to thank everybody who has reviewed or requested some one-shot of any sort. I sincerely appreciate that you took the time to do that. I smile every time I get a request or a nice review in general. If I had known so many people would enjoy these one-shots, I would have begun them ages ago.

That being said, I now have quite a bit more requests so I may be slow updating due to trying to get them all sorted out. Whipping these out isn't as easy as it looks. But I promise I will try to finish all of them!

From Carol Molliniere: "Do one more that centers on Grunkle Stan, from any episode."

Sure thing! This one-shot is set during the end of Land Before Swine (the bit where Stan saves Waddles), which gives me a bit of emotional aches sometimes. Stan and anything having to do with the twins makes my heart ache. Enjoy!

And Upon Realization

The moment he locked eyes again with that insufferable pig, he knew what he'd been denying for quite some time now and knew it to be true. It was as if the pig were sending him a mental message: See? Do you see it now?

He recalled the way his chest tightened every time the twins came back to the Shack with bruises and scrapes galore, wishing he could hurt whoever or whatever did this to them both. He recalled how he'd get this weird fuzzy feeling whenever Mabel beamed up at him or when Dipper gave him that small hesitant smile. He recalled how Mabel was always so eager to try out her jokes on him, her smile growing when he actually laughed at a few. The way the older twin would give him a hug before racing up the stairs to the attic for bedtime. How Dipper would surprise him with his bursts of stubbornness over a subject, reminding Stan of himself at that age. The way Mabel had learned rather quickly how to play cards with him and picked up the art of cheating from him just as fast (something else she seemed to have gotten from him). How the two of them genuinely seemed to like him, despite whatever misgivings that they might have had in the beginning of the summer.

Oh.

Oh.

It appeared, that despite his initial annoyance towards his relatives... he'd grown fond of them.

He would care if Mabel stopped talking to him for the rest of the summer. He would care if the twins got hurt on his watch - and not just because he was obligated to watch them for three months. He would never forgive himself if they got hurt because of the supernatural in this town because they dug too deep into its mysteries and didn't listen to him because darn it, he cared for Dipper and Mabel.

Stan had struggled to deny it the whole time they'd been here, and now as he stared at his great-niece's pet, he knew it was stupid to keep pretending. Yes, it hurt when Mabel vowed never to speak to him again. It hurt when Dipper turned away from him after he mentioned his curiosity with the town was getting irritating. It hurt even more when the two of them abandoned him on that "family bonding" trip to go adventuring with Soos, of all people. Even when they came back, he could still feel the sting of rejection.

The pig's snort drew the old man out of his thoughts and he laughed as he imagined the animal trying to say, I told you so. The laugh died down as he glanced past the pig and saw a large shape swooping towards them.

"Aw, dang it!"

He looked back at the pig who just stared back expectantly, and a low sigh left his lips. "Oh, don't look so smug about it." He knew what he had to do; there was no way he was going to allow Mabel's precious (yet highly annoying) pig become dinner to that dinosaur.

He felt stupid as he quickly attached that darn pet carrier thing (what had she called it? Huggy Wobbly something?) around him and placed the pig in it snugly. "Well, this is just about the dumbest thing I've ever done."

Turning back to the pterodactyl, Stan shouted, "You want this pig?" Waddles snorted quietly and the sound gave him a strange sort of confidence. "THEN YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO GET THROUGH ME, YOU FLYING DEVIL! COME AND GET ME!"

The pterodactyl swooped towards them, now only feet away, and Stan leapt out from under the mushroom with a yell. Yep, this was definitely the strangest thing he had ever done by a long shot.

He managed to land on the dinosaur's head somehow and as it tried to tilt its head to snap at him, he yanked it up so that they'd at least be heading out from near the oversized mushroom. It let out a guttural cry and Stan punched it in the face, finding the action strangely ironic considering that story he'd made up to the twins earlier that day. As they flew higher, the con man leaned around to punch it in the eye. He could have sworn he heard Mabel's voice crying out something but he continued punching the pterodactyl anyway. There was time to check on the kids and Soos later. He had a pterodactyl to deal with.

"From heck's heart I stab at thee!" Stan yelled and punched the creature in the eye once more. The pterodactyl sank, loosing altitude as they fell toward the cliff where he had stood last before falling down with that pig. He leapt off and pulled himself onto the cliff as they came close to the edge, panting and feeling utterly ridiculous with the pig in the carrier attached to him.

To his surprise Dipper and Soos ran up to him cheering, and he noticed his great-niece hanging back a bit with his familiar fez atop her brown hair. She didn't look angry - she almost looked happy... Did she forgive him?

Only one way to find out.

"Here's your pig, kiddo." Stan picked up one of the pig's little arms and waved it at her.

Mabel definitely smiled now, and it grew once he handed the pet to her. "Waddles! You saved him for me."

He tried to ignore the warm sensation deep in his heart and ultimately failed. Taking his fez back, he said, "Yeah, well... sometimes you just gotta - "

There was a sound behind him, and his first thought was Should have made sure that thing was dead. The next thought was Get them out of here, keep them safe!

Not that Stan Pines really minded.

"LOOK OUT!"

I have a thing for protective Stan. Oops.