[Hey guys! It's been a while, huh! ; well I'm going to be completely honest, I've sorta run outta steam for this fic, so until further notice this is on Hiatus. But don't worry! I have tons of ideas and fics on the way! I have a tumblr where I post fics and doodles of alllll my AUs! It's teenytinyhatkid. I'll start posting more here! See you soon!]

Hat Kid squished her face against the car window, watching the last bits of the city melt away into rolling countrysides and enormous oak trees. She had never seen Grampa Tim's house before! She only occasionally saw her grampa at holidays and family gatherings. Tim quickly became her favorite relative, offering her strange gadgets and gizmos to her as strange presents.

"Don't look too excited." She heard Timmy say. Peeking over his handheld game, he scowled. "This is gonna be the worst summer ever."

"Buck up, buddy!" Thor chimed from the front seat. "Tim isn't so bad. Plus, it'll be nice to get you kids out of that stuffy apartment for the summer, eh?"

"I don't like the outside." grumbling, Timmy returned to his game.

"I like the outside!" Hat Kid chirped, scooting the sleeping Bow onto Timmy's shoulder. "I like Grampa Tim!"

"See? I'm sure we'll all have lots of fun!"

Grampa Tim's house was a huge, old house nearly lost to the plant life surrounding it. Hat Kid was no expert in architecture, but she honestly felt like a strong breeze would knock the whole thing over. There was a large shed in the back that looked like it absolutely covered with rust.

"Hullo!" the front door opened, revealing the kooky old man himself, Tim. Hat Kid squealed in delight, rushing forward to give her grampa a big hug. Bow followed suit. "Hullo, girls!" Tim wheezed through the tight hugs. Looking up, he said, "Howdy, junior!"

Timmy waved. Clearly, he was not as excited as his sisters. "Hi Grampa Tim."

Tim smirked. "Whatsa matter junior? Too 'cool' for hugs?"

"He's goin through a phase, dad." Thor pats his young nephew's shoulder in a comforting gesture. "He's too 'cool' for this."

"Alrighty! Raincheck on the hug, junior." The old man waved them inside. "Come in, come in! I'll give you the tour!"

The kitchen was first, and it was strange. It was old; full of creaky wood and ancient types of appliances. But at the same time, it was filled with half-built inventions and pieces of metalwork. "If you guys ever want something sweet, I keep sugar cubes in that cupboard."

Hat Kid, always eager for sugar, immediately went to the cupboard in question. But she paused, curious and confused. She swore she saw something moving in the cupboard. She snagged Timmy's arm. "Timmy? Do houses like this have...rats?" she whispered.

"Probably," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I thought you liked rats."

"Pet ones! Not the wild ones!"

Tim walked up behind them. "What's a' matter, gumdrop?"

She pointed to the cupboard. "I thought I saw a rat!"

Her grampa started to chuckle. "Ooh, deary. You didn't see a rat. We don't have rats here!" he pat her shoulder. "C'mon. I'll show ya."

Tim led his granddaughter to a small room, decorated for that of a young girl. "Your mother used to stay in this room," he added softly, directing Hat Kid to a massive dollhouse in the room.

"You see, gumdrop, your mother believed in Borrowers. " Tim opened up the dollhouse to show the inside; everything perfectly to scale and elegantly crafted. He leaned forward and turned on a tiny light.

"Borrowers?" Hat Kid asked with confusion.

"Borrowers are tiny people that live in the walls. 'Borrowing' sugar cubes and other tiny things we won't miss. Your mother begged me to make this house for them. But they never touched it."

There was a scoff from the doorway. Timmy frowned, walking inside and looking at the dollhouse. "Because they don't exist."

Hat Kid liked her brother, she really did. But the way he said that made something click. It made her angry. "They do exist!" she shouted at him, shoving him out of the room. "You're wrong!"

After shoving her angrily sputtering brother out of the room, she ran and hugged her Grampa. "I know they're real!" she insisted. "They gotta be!"

"Gumdrop, it's OK! They're just stories after all…"

All Snatcher wanted was a sugar cube. All he wanted was to eat. He was hungry, he rarely ate. His mother had warned him that 'a fat borrower was a caught borrower', so he made sure to keep his form as slim as he could.

But after three days of waving off CC's concerns for his eating habits, he couldn't take it anymore. He was practically starving and he couldn't not eat anymore. So he snuck out during the day, using the complex pulley system to lift himself up to the cupboard.

What he was doing was risky, yes. But he had lived in this house for years. Snatcher knew the old human would never catch him. This was a cake walk! Just grab the sugar cube-

There were new Beans in the house. Snatcher barely had time to dart behind a cup by the time he noticed. Doing his best to steady his breathing and racing heartbeat, he waited until they left.

Once he was absolutely certain that they were gone, Snatcher reached over to snatch a sugar cube and dart back home. This was bad, bad, bad. The new Beans seemed primarily children, and the children were the worst of them all.

As he used the pulley system to get down, and hungrily devoured the lump of sugar, Snatcher's mind was racing. What were they gonna do now? Would they have to leave?

Finally reaching their home, he threw the door open, then leaned against the closed door, still trying to catch his breath.

"Snatcher, sweetie?" CC sang from the kitchen. "Is that you, sugar?"

Slowly, he stepped into the kitchen, practically dropping a half-eaten sugar cube onto the counter. Turning to CC, who was currently stirring a pot of food, he muttered, "...I have some bad news."

The older woman frowned, setting her spoon down and turning to him. "What's a' matter, sweetie?"

"There's more Beans at the house."