Hat Kid stared longingly out her spaceship window, the planet spinning slowly beneath them. They had just saved the world from her best-friend-turned-enemy Mustache Girl, and while she was glad she got her time pieces back, she felt like she was forgetting something. Sure, she would probably miss all the friends she made along the way, like the eccentric movie directors, the angry ghost noodle she tricked into friendship, and maybe, to a degree, Mu and the Mafia. She hoped that they would forgive her, and maybe even be her friend again. She sighed, and rested her head in her palm.

Well, there's no point in moping over it. She spun around in her chair at the helm a few times, before gracefully leaping off of it. Smiling triumphantly, she turned around and went to check on her time pieces. Hat Kid skipped up the ramp, stopping in front of the giant screen in the middle of the second floor. She had to stand on the tips of her toes to reach the thing, but while it annoyed her, she was the one to design her ship in the first place, so she would have to deal with it. With a small "Boop!", the display came to life, but what it displayed shocked the little alien.

"Wha-! I missed some?!" A mix of shock and horror planted itself on her face. She was sure she had gotten every single time piece, she had looked high and low, closed every time rift, heck, she had even saved the world when it had been covered in lava! There couldn't have been any more on that planet, right?!

"Wait… on that planet… That's it!" The alien girl gracefully jumped from the balcony, foregoing the ramp in her haste and diving for her chair at the console. "Ow!" Unfortunately, she was so used to having her No-Bonk Badge equipped that she wound up hitting her head against the chair. Rubbing the sore spot on her head, she gingerly sat on the chair before proceeding to enter a command. The console processed it for a moment, before displaying a planet similar to the one she was currently orbiting. "Yes!" Hat Kid exclaimed, doing a little fist pump before getting the ship to hone in on the lost fuel source. According to the ship, her time pieces resided in a town somewhere in Oh-rey-gon? Oregano? Orange? It doesn't matter. The point is, all of her time pieces seemed to be in the same little town, a much better alternative to searching the entire planet.

Smiling, Hat Kid grabbed her umbrella, her badge collection, and all of her hats before locking coordinates on the town of "Gravity Falls."

Landing on her feet, Hat Kid smiled and posed after pulling off her dramatic entrance. Taking in her surroundings, she noticed that she was in some sort of alleyway. Adjusting her hat, she stepped out and looked around, awed by the admittedly run down town. To her left, a big guy with tattoos was apparently guarding some place full of other big guys. She absentmindedly wondered if it was the equivalent of the Mafia HQ, quickly reaching into her hat to make sure she hadn't forgotten her umbrella. She looked in the opposite direction, and saw a fenced off area filled with junk, as well as a man with a long, white beard chasing after a raccoon. "Maybe they're madly in love?" She wondered, giggling at the thought.

"Enough of that! I need to get serious!" She shook her head a few times, remembering why she had come here. She gripped onto the brim of her hat, then pulled it over her face. Although it may have looked odd from an outside view, Hat Kid was actually using the hat to find the location of her time pieces. Seemingly satisfied, she pulled it off of her head and started walking to the outskirts of town. She didn't notice, but the locals seemed to be confused by her choice of clothing, one of the local teens even stopping to take a picture of the odd child. But they eventually paid the kid no mind, seeing as she wasn't the weirdest thing they had seen in their hometown.

After stepping out of the town, they stopped at the edge of the woods. Their face fell a bit, confused, before pulling down their hat again. Smiling underneath their hat, they fixed the article and started marching through the woods, absentmindedly passing by a "THIS WAY TO THE MYSTERY SHACK!" sign.

(THIS IS A LINE BREAK)

Dipper sighed as he swept the gift shop for the twelfth time this day. It was already bad enough that his parents had shipped him and his sister away for the summer, but of course Grunkle Stan, the distant relative they were staying with, had to go and rope them into working at the tourist trap he turned his home into. He looked over his shoulder, and saw his twin sister, Mabel, excitedly stalking some poor boy who had wandered into the gift shop. When the boy started to look around in discomfort. Mabel laughed, before she whispered, "I rigged it!"

While Dipper may have seen being sent off for the summer as the end of the world, Mabel was determined to make the most of it, and was currently set on having a summer filled with romance while stranded in this backwoods town.

"Mabel, I know you're going through your whole "Boy Crazy" phase, but I think you're kind of overdoing it with the "crazy" part." The boy deadpanned at his sister's antics.

"What?" Mabel responded, voice filled with mock appal. She blew a raspberry before she continued. "This is our first summer away from home! It's my big chance for an epic summer romance!" Dipper shuddered at the memory of her previous attempts.

But before he could make a comment, Mabel took the chance to speak up. "Mock me all you want, bro-bro, but I'm certain that the man of my dreams is about to walk through that door right now!" She motioned to the screen door of the gift shop dramatically, confident in her chances. Unfortunately for Mabel, none other that their own Grunkle Stan came in with that signature Stan Pines charm, burping and being generally gross. Dipper chuckled at his sister's misfortune before Stan got their attention. Apparently, the man thought it would be a good idea to put up some signs in the "spooky" part of the forest, and after a "random" process, chose to have Dipper go out to hang them up.

After Dipper left on his venture, Mabel was left in the gift shop with Soos and Wendy. Stan had left to clean up the Shack for the next round of tourists, so Mabel decided to try and sneak out to find a possible date. Right before she left however, some scuffling was heard in the exhibits.

"Hey, kid! Get your grubby hands off the exhibits!"

(BECAUSE FORMATTING IS DUMB)

Hat Kid was currently holding on to one of their time pieces for dear life as some elephant man tried to shake their precious fuel source out of their grasp.

She had been wandering through the forest for a really long time, and was almost certain she would've gotten lost if not for their trusty hat. She was expecting to see some destruction, maybe even a blue rift or two. What she hadn't been expecting was a sign reading "COME SEE THE AMAZING SPACE EGG TIMERS! ONLY AT THE MYSTERY SHACK!" Of course someone would have to find their time pieces first, someone always did. Although she did grow hopeful. While it would have been appalling to any other member of her species to see the timepieces used as regular hourglasses, it did mean that the person who found them didn't know about the true power they held. (Although, she was going to have to test that egg timer thing, it may be unorthodox but it would definitely help her to not burn her breakfast anymore)

After she had seen that sign, she equipped her sprint hat and ran as fast as she could to this "Mystery Shack." Hat Kid could tell she was getting closer as she heard a somewhat abrasive voice in the distance. As the sound grew louder and louder, the little alien eventually found themselves at the edge of a dirt lot. There seemed to be a lot of cars sleeping around, and a couple of what she assumed were just big boxes, until a bunch of people came spilling out of one. She jumped back with initial shock, but her curiosity grew as she saw the rest of what filled the lot.

The Mystery Shack, or in this case, "Mystery Hack," appeared to be a standard residence made out of the abundant nearby wood. Hat Kid had trouble telling the difference between it and a standard dwelling, the only main difference that she could see being signs over the doors reading "ENTER" and "GIFT SHOP" and a big, most likely insulated storage thing labeled "ICE."

"I bet if Vanessa started an ice business, she'd make a bajillion pons!" She smiled at the mental rambling, but immediately shuddered at the memory of the old Queen of Subcon. She rarely thought of the ghostly monarch, simply because they were the only person on that planet to scare her. "Enough sad thoughts! It's time to look for my stuff!" Her discomfort was swept under the rug as she was filled with determination. Further examination of the nearby space surrounding the shack revealed distinct lack of the general time piece glow, as well as a weird pole thing with faces carved on it, and a sign reading "NO REFUNDS!" She remembered the Badge Seller saying something like that when she bought a few of his less helpful badges. "I think it was something like, 'Are you sure? You know I have a no refund policy, right?' Maybe it has something to do with money…" She wasn't entirely sure if this planet used pons or not, but either way, she didn't really want to pay to get something that belongs to her back.

With a pondering expression, she put a hand to her chin as she started to think of a plan. She definitely couldn't just waltz in there, that man with the baggy skin was watching the entrance like an owl, and not the kind that starred in movies. As she was thinking, a crowd seemed to gather around the man, which caught her attention. The guy with the baggy skin, who she had initially had written off as just that, appeared to have captivated the tourists. The little alien equipped her Camera Badge to get a better look at the man. He appeared to be wearing some kind of felt hat, a fez if she remembered correctly, and wore an eye patch over his glasses, even though that with the extra detail the Camera Badge provided, she could tell he still had both eyes. He wore a black suit with a weird tie, and was walking around with a cane topped with an eight ball. Based off of the man's appearance, she concluded that the Mystery Shack probably didn't have very many real mysteries to it, but instead was most likely played up by the man as he would guide people through. If not for the fact that she had a mission to complete, she probably would've loved to go in and get a tour. But she knew she would have to sneak in, and she needed to find a way to get inside before she could deal with anything else.

She stopped using the camera badge, and just observed the old man from a distance. He definitely didn't seem like the old men in Mafia Town that got harassed by the Mafia. Instead, the little alien girl likened him to Snatcher, or maybe even the Mafia Boss for some reason. She decided to think about it later, just as the old guy started to lead the herd of tourists into the old shack. Seeing her opportunity, she bolted through the lot and got behind the side of the attraction. She switched back to her normal hat, and used it to guide her as close to their lost time pieces as possible. As she slunk around the walls of the shack, she could hear bits and pieces of the guy's commentary. Apparently, the conclusion she drew earlier of the attraction and the old man (who addressed himself as "Man of Mystery Stan Pines") was surprisingly correct. There was no pecking way that a "Sascrotch" or a "Six Pack-alope" existed on this planet. She had traveled through space, and she had seen plenty of weird things, but something like a "Cornicorn" was far too silly for it to be real. However, it probably worked well enough for Mr. Pines here, because when she parkoured to a small window, she caught a glimpse of the tourists being mesmerized by the clearly fake items.

"I guess in the dark room and the right lighting it could look real… ish…" She absentmindedly thought to herself as she hung from the tall height. As she thought to herself, she faintly heard a familiar ticking.

Mr. Pines had started leading the tourists to a rock as Hat Kid examined a display covered by a plastic tarp. It looked like it had haphazardly been added, the legs giving away the fact that it was being displayed on a cheap folding table. Double checking with her hat, she was able to confirm that the tarp was in fact covering her time pieces. Using her umbrella to safely drop down, the little alien started to look for a way in. She caught a glimpse of a primitive cooling system, and smiled as she realized she found her ticket in. Finding a vent near the thing, she struggled to pull it off before the metal hurt her fingers. Frustrated, she hit the thing with her umbrella, the metal giving way surprisingly easily at the force. While a little shocked by the result, she regained her focus and started crawling through the building's vents. Using her hat to guide her through the dark, confusing tunnels, Hat Kid was able to hear the man's abrasive voice giving commentary, but with the echo created by the vents, the hatted alien was unable to understand most of it. As she got closer to where her hat was leading her, the man's dialogue became clearer and clearer, and when she reached the end of the vent, she could hear him clear as day.

"Well folks, we've almost reached the end of our journey into the weird and unknown!" Several of the tourists vocalized their disappointment, prompting Hat Kid to roll her eyes.

"I know, I know. But I, local Man of Mystery Stan Pines, have saved the best for last!" The girl was getting uncomfortable in the vent, but was kinda curious what the man would say about the one thing they knew was real in this place. Mr. Pines grabbed a corner of the tarp before yanking it off in one clean motion. To the girl's horror, her time pieces, their MOST IMPORTANT BELONGINGS , had somehow been attached to a piece of pressed wood in the shape of a question mark. Her mortification went unnoticed by the people in the room, as the tour continued.

"Behold! The Space Egg Timers! Found in the deepest part of the local woods, these things came crashing down from the sky! Presumably used by aliens to cook space eggs, these things glow brighter when the eggs are done!" Hat Kid's expectations hadn't really been much to begin with, but she probably should've expected this after seeing some of the other "anomalies" on display. She must've missed the rest of the man's desecration of her culture, because next thing she knew he was leading the people into another room. The man quickly glanced around the room to make sure no one was around, before replacing the plastic covering and grabbing some signs hidden from tourist view. Afterwards, he left through the front door, a tell tale click signifying that he had locked it behind him.

Hat Kid wasted no time kicking the vent cover off, a feat that any other girl her size would struggle to do if they didn't grow up on a planet with a higher gravity. Quickly dusting the filth from the vent off of their favorite (and technically only) outfit, the little alien ran to the cheap display and yanked off the tarp. Looking at the horrendous display up close wasn't much better than from the vent, but at least she could tell that their time pieces were only affixed with wax instead of glue like they had feared. Carefully pulling the cheap wood off of the table, the alien girl removed her hat and set upon removing their fuel source as gently as possible. Not wanting to yank them out of the wax, she tried wiggling the objects back and forth to loosen the cheap material. This worked surprisingly well, the piece coming off with great ease, gently placing the fragile relic into her hat, where it will be safe. She worked quickly with the next two pieces, thankful for the person who thought that a hat with near limitless storage would have more application than as a magic trick, before getting to work on the fourth and final one.

The last time piece was tricky. While the previous three had wax applied on primarily the glass, the fourth one had been secured with wax around one of the wood supports. She tried to wiggle it out, but the fact that the wax completely surrounded the wood made this method obsolete. Panicking, Hat Kid resorted to trying to yank the time piece out, noting an argument they heard in the other room between Mr. Pines and some younger voice. "Bewarb? Is that a word here or do the bugs need little glasses?" Distracted by the mental image of bugs getting reading glasses, the little alien didn't notice the piece coming loose, yelping as she fell backwards. She heard footsteps coming closer as she reached for her hat, just barely getting it back on as the door swung open. Mr. Pines was standing in the doorway, and even if the lack of his previous outfit revealed that he was severely out of shape, he was still just as intimidating. His eyes barely passed over her scared expression, locking onto their time piece. His face shifted from neutral, to shocked, and finally landed on rage.

"Hey, kid! Get your grubby hands off the exhibits!"

The man closed the space between them quickly, diving towards the kid. She got to her feet as quickly as possible, backing out of the dive's range. Jumping over the downed man, she tried to run to the exit, but a piece of stray trash left by a member of the tour group caused her to slip and fall. Hat Kid made sure to prevent the time piece from breaking by holding the precious object out in front of them. By this time, Mr. Pines had managed to get back up and was able to grab the time piece, which she held onto for dear life.

Which brings us back to her current predicament.

Hat Kid was anything if not stubborn, and while the man definitely didn't want the object to break, it was bound to happen if he didn't stop. She tried to say something, but she was too occupied holding on to her time piece. And the man certainly didn't look like he was going to let her go anytime soon.

"Let go of my stuff already you little-" The man was interrupted, much to the little alien's gratitude, and was unable to finish the sentence.

"GRUNKLE STAN?!" Both of their heads whipped around to the source of the exclamation. A young brunette stood in the doorway, seemingly shocked. She wore a knitted sweater with a shooting star design, a dark colored skirt, and ballet shoes with puffy socks. Her long, poofy hair was kept out of her face by a headband, and she had what appeared to be some sort of metal affixed to her teeth. It would appear the two were related, as her entry made Mr. Pine's grip loosen. Once free, she fearfully backed into a corner of the shack. The man looked like he was going to yell again, but the other girl got to it first.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?" The man looked annoyed, rubbing his forehead with one had before motioning at Hat Kid with the other.

"That brat is trying to steal one of my exhibits!" Still angry over the horrendous treatment of her people's greatest treasure, she was pushed over the edge by the accusation.

"They were MINE to begin with!" The other two occupants of the room were somewhat shocked at the statement.

While the girl looked at "Grunkle Stan" with confusion, the only emotion in the older man's eyes was doubt. "Yeah, sure kid. Just because you want something doesn't make it yours." The girl looked like she wanted to make a comment on that statement, but the older man didn't give her the chance. "Not right now, Mabel. Anyways, those things fell into my yard, and I doubt that you left 'em there. Now give them back 'fore I have to chase you out."

"But they are mine! They fell out of my spaceship!" Hat Kid anger from before had faded to mere annoyance as Mr. Pines doubled over in laughter. The girl, Mabel, looked conflicted by the statement, but remained silent as her "Grunkle" finally stopped laughing enough to respond.

"Oh, that's rich kid. You got one heck of an imagination, but you can't con a conman!" His expression hardened again after that statement. "Now, I hate having to repeat myself. Give them back."

Hat Kid's face fell. They didn't believe her? "What if I can't get them back? What if the other's find out? What if-"

"Wait!"

The alien was startled out of their anxious train of thought by "Mabel's" shout. She ran in between the two, holding out her hands, looking up at her relative. "Grunkle Stan, the Mystery Shack was doing just fine before you found those, right? What's the harm in letting them keep the weird hourglass?" The man was a bit hesitant, but they continued. "Maybe they could be willing to work at the shack for the summer, huh? Seems like it's more than worth the cost of one of the many attractions, right?" Mabel looked over their shoulder at the young alien, motioning towards her family member. Hat Kid perked up as she got the hint. "I can definitely more than make up for them!" She eagerly nodded as she made the statement. Looking up at Mr. Pines, the man in question thought about it for a moment, rubbing his chin in contemplation. "Well, I do like the idea of free labor…" He pointed towards the kid. "What would you report to the authorities?" Hat Kid tilted her head in confusion. "Nothing?" Mr. Pines smiled at this. "Your hired kid." With that, the man turned around and left the room, leaving the alien with a single question on her mind.

"I wonder what an "authorities" is?"

(I DON'T HAVE A CAPS LOCK KEY ON THIS LAPTOP, I AM HOLDING DOWN SHIFT)

Mabel and the mystery girl let out a big sigh of relief once Grunkle Stan had left the room. She had come into the room because she was worried someone was going to hurt him, but seeing a little girl getting shaken around was definitely a scare. And to be fair, someone had distracted her when she stepped outside, and maybe it slowed down her response… But they're okay, so it's fine now, right? She felt a gentle tap on her shoulder, and turned around to see the girl that she had "saved" from her Grunkle. As a self proclaimed fashion critic, she had to say this kid had some great taste. They had bright blue eyes and a button nose, and her round face was framed by her bangs while the rest of her brown hair was tied up in a ponytail. They wore a purple coat that was long enough to be mistaken for a dress if not for the giant zipper, a bright yellow cape, slightly dusty white pants, and some well worn brown boots. And who could forget that giant purple top hat! It tied the whole outfit together nicely, and while it looked like it was well used, it still had a nice sheen to it.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as she was quickly wrapped in a tight hug by the girl, who was repeating "thank you" faster than she talked when she had her first batch of Mabel Juice. Of course she returned the hug as quickly as possible (who in their right mind would turn down a free hug?) before she pulled away. "Look, it's no trouble at all! That's the power of the Mabel charm!" She winked and gave a thumbs up with that comment, prompting the girl to giggle a bit. "Speaking of Mabel charm, hi! I'm Mabel!" She held out her hand to the girl. "What's your name?"

The girl beamed and vigorously shook her hand. "Everyone calls me Hat Kid!" Mabel could tell she was going to be friends with this kid, but something rubbed her the wrong way with that name.

"Hat Kid? Is that like a nickname, or…?" Seeing their confusion, the kid was quick to respond.

"Oh, it's just a nickname! Everyone has trouble with my real name, so people just call me Hat Kid. I don't mind it though!" They seemed a bit shy talking about their name, but Mabel didn't want to refer to someone they would be working with all summer with such an impersonal nickname.

"Well, your new pal Mabel thinks that you need a new one!" The girl, Hat Kid, was slightly surprised by the determination in her voice, but otherwise wasn't really too scared.

"Oh, it's alright! You don't have to, I actually really like i-."

"NOPE!" Mabel cut off Hat Kid's objection, but saw how the girl had gotten slightly concerned.

"I don't mean to be rude, but whoever first started calling you "Hat Kid" must've really sucked at coming up with nicknames. It's soooooo impersonal." Their reasoning must've made enough sense to Hat Kid, because she seemed to drop the subject, albeit looking a tad bit confused.

Mabel looked them up and down, before coming up with an idea. "Say, my twin brother is currently in the woods by himself, you wanna go surprise him?" Hat Kid's eyes lit up with excitement.

"You have a twin brother?! That's so cool!" Mabel's chest swelled at the compliment, but then Hat Kid spoke up again. "But, I have to go and put these away…" The younger girl bent over to pick up the hourglass thing. Mabel couldn't put her finger on it, but something about the thing felt… Important ?

"Aw, c'mon! You can put it away later! I'm sure Dipper would LOVE to meet you!" Trying to lighten the mood, Mabel put her hands over the younger girl's smaller ones. She would have grabbed them, but she seemed determined to keep that hourglass safe. "Also, I'm fairly certain that our window to surprise him is closing, so…"

With a resigned sigh, Hat Kid took off her hat. "I guess you're right…" She gingerly put it in… her hat? Mabel decided not to question it, as Hat Kid put their hat back where it belonged, her mood seemed to improve. "Where to?"

With a wide, braces filled grin, Mabel started walking out the door, motioning her to follow. "Just come with me! I promise, you're gonna love him!"

AN: Well, it is good to be back! I originally wrote this on AO3 over a year ago, but after one hell of a year, I decided to try and bring it back! Unfortunately, most of my strengths are in editing, and not so much writing, so it may take a while between uploads. But other than that, I hope that you have enjoyed the first chapter of A Hat in the Falls! Big shoutout to my pal DeathlyJazzHands55 for helping me recover this chapter. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a review, and I will answer them in the next chapter. - Danner

Bonus:

Original Authors Notes (archived)

So this is an idea that I have had for a long time, and was secretly hoping someone else would write it first. But, seeing as no one else has combined A Hat in Time and Gravity Falls yet, I guess I have to take initiative. I might change the title, and I'm not sure if I will be able to update this regularly (or at all) with the current situation. But these two series give me so much joy, I wanted to write it down to see if other people would like it too.

Anyways I would like to dedicate this work to any and all of my friends, from my school and especially the ones I met on Discord. I may not be able to talk to you right now, but y'all are the light of my life. If any of you see this, I would like to say thank you for giving me the inspiration to flesh this story out, and for being there when I needed it most.

Now that I'm done rambling, I would like to present the thing I have been working on instead of my schoolwork.

Well, how'd I do? I did say that this was my first time uploading to AO3, so I hope that my lack of experience doesn't affect the writing too much. Also I might go and use some self indulgent Dadcher later, but that's just because he will have significant presence in later chapters.

I'm writing Hat Kid based off of me as a kid. I acted a lot like them when I was younger, especially in my Elementary School years, so I thought I could write them a little bit better if I included stuff from my childhood. For example, Hat Kid calling Oregon "Oregano". I was born in Oregon (Which was part of the reason I like Gravity Falls so much) but moved away when I was really young. I don't know how it happened but I apparently referred to Oregon as Oregano for a year or two before learning the actual name. My dad definitely didn't like it seeing as that was his home state.

Why did I have Stan arrange the time pieces into a question mark? Well, it would have been too easy for someone, in this case a lovable alien, to just grab the hourglasses and run. Why did I have Stan use wax instead of glue? Try getting glue to stay on glass while trying to attach it. It slides away. Now, if you stick the glass in a fridge for a few hours, put some semi melted wax on the surface you want to attach the glass to, and just stick the glass on/in the wax, it quickly hardens. I know that from experience. Another reason I had Stan do this in the first place is that I needed to give Hat Kid a challenge, but one that she would have been able to complete. So I had Stan arrange them in an interesting, Mystery Shack themed way, with a plausible execution that made sense, because lets face it, I don't think any of us see him using a hot glue gun.

But in all seriousness, I am not sure if I will be able to update this regularly. I will try my best, but I am not the best writer and I often do not have the means to write.

Anyways, thank you for reading. I appreciate any constructive criticism I can get, seeing as I need to learn how to write better.

(END OF AUTHORS NOTES)