Chapter one
Hatter didn't know what to think anymore. A few days ago everything was simple, nothing made sense and yet he knew how everything worked, how things had to be. He worked both sides of the court so that he was never the victim, he could never lose. He liked to convince himself that he did it because it was the right thing to do, he could get food to the refugees and still be on the right side of the Queen by running his Tea Shop, but really, he knew it was because he was a coward.
Who wanted to be the vigilante anyway? The martyr that gets themselves killed for their cause. By double crossing everyone and making sure that he could look out for himself, he was safe.
He could play a role in the distribution of Wonderland's Tea problem, whilst keeping alive and aiding the very people fighting against it. All this time he had blamed the Queen and her Suits for the way that his home land had become, but now he could see clearly; thanks to Alice.
It had taken one Oyster, one fiery, beautiful yet ever so slightly crazy girl to make him realize that there were more people out there that mattered than just him. She had made him care about more than just payment or his own personal gain. Sure, he had felt sorry for the refugees and the resistance, but at the end of the day, if it came down to his life or theirs, he would gladly save himself without so much as a backwards glance at them.
All until a pretty girl in a very wet dress, that was, stepped into his office and spun his world upside down. A girl who's life he valued over his own, a girl, who he was quite confident in saying now, he loved, and a girl that he had let slip through his fingers and through the Looking Glass. Alice was gone for good.
He turned away from the Looking Glass as the last of the Oysters filed through it one by one until its reflective surface lay calm and still as if its use was no more than to look at and the magic it held was unnoticeable.
What was he going to do now? He could help rebuild his world, look out for Charlie, maybe even set up his Tea Shop again and sell actual tea this time. But all of it would be pointless without Alice.
"Something on your mind?" Jack asked, stepping in front of Hatter and adjusting his crisp new red suit. As much as Hatter respected Jack, he really couldn't stand him and his smug, royal face. It was the last thing he wanted to see right now.
"Look, Alice's gone now and we both know that we don't like each other. Let's just go our separate ways and get on with our lives." Hatter grimaced as he pushed past him and towards the doors but Jack caught his arm and stopped him from leaving.
"Very well, I was just wondering if you were going through the Looking Glass now or later? I really have to close it up soon so that we can get Wonderland rebuilt as soon as possible." The hint of a smile lingered in the very corner of his mouth.
"What?" Hatter's face contorted with confusion.
"Are you going through now or later, do you need to pack anything first or are you going now?" Jack asked,
"I'm not going through." Hatter stated, "I don't belong in her world."
"Does the place really matter when you're with the person you want to be with?" Jack asked, raising a perfect blonde eyebrow, "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a kingdom to run." The corners of his mouth twitched into a smile as he clapped Hatter on the back before walking to the centre of the room.
He was right. He could think of a million excuses of why he should stay in Wonderland, but all of them were nothing in comparison to the reason Jack had given him for going through the Looking Glass. Alice was everything.
"Any more to go through the Looking Glass?" A man called out to the room. This was his chance, he had to go through. But if he thought about it too much, he would talk himself out of it. He caught Charlie's eye.
"I was wondering when you would come to your senses." He said with a knowing smile, walking towards him, "Give Alice of Legend my love."
"But what if she doesn't want me there? What if I don't like her world? Isn't she better off as she was before she even met me? I'm nothing special." He looked to the ground,
"To her, I think there is no one better. Besides, there is only one way to find the answers you seek. Go, hurry." Charlie gave him a modest smile as he clutched Hatter's shoulder and pointed him towards the mirror.
"No more? Very well." The man operating the Looking Glass took the Stone of Wonderland from the mirror and placed it gracefully back into its box.
Hatter took a running start, the Looking Glass would only work a short while without the ring, but he had no idea just how short that short time would be, so he had to hurry. He cast a quick look over his shoulder and back at Charlie. He waved cheerily, but there was a sad look lingering about his face; he was all alone again now.
The Looking Glass shimmered and melted around him as he fell straight through it and into a dimension where he was constantly falling, after what seemed like a lifetime of falling, he hit solid ground and looked up groggily at his surroundings.
He had no idea where he was. Alice had told him of the place where she had fallen through the Looking Glass, she had said it was like an abandoned warehouse with a large mirror propped against the wall. The mirror that he had came from had been mounted to the wall and what surrounded it looked nothing like a warehouse, it was a public toilet with three cubicles, three sinks and three mirrors. Why had he come through that mirror and not the same one as Alice?
He had heard that there were many different mirrors that connected to the Looking Glass all over the world, but as far as he knew only one mirror at a time could be connected to. Where had he been taken to? Was all of this just a cruel trick from Jack; talk him into going then send him to the other side of her world so that he couldn't find her?
He placed a hand back on the mirror that he had come from, it was solid now and he had no way of getting back through. He was stuck here.
The doors to the toilet opened and an old woman walked in, she looked up at Hatter and screamed.
"Whoa, whoa whoa!" he held his hands up in surrender, "What's wrong with you?"
"Get out! Who do you think you are lurking in the women's toilets waiting to pounce on the next woman that comes through, well you're not attacking me!" she started hitting him with her handbag whilst still screaming.
Hatter made for the door as quick as he could, whilst still trying to fend off the attacks from the old woman. She had an American accent just like Alice's so he hoped that he wasn't too far from her. On the other side of the bathroom doors he was faced with a Bar. Almost every pair of eyes fell upon him at the same time. He stuck out here more than ever.
He tried to brush it off as he walked towards the door and was faced with the outside world. The first thing that hit him was that he was standing on the floor yet when he looked up there were no other floors above him. Buildings went into the sky, but nowhere near as high as the buildings in Wonderland did, and it appeared that the only way in or out of them was through their ground floor entrances. It was so strange.
The buildings that faced the Bar were all closed with metal shutters guarding their entrances, but they all looked like shops, or stores as they were called here, none of them looked anything like a warehouse to him. He had to find Alice, he just had to.
Looking both ways he noticed that the buildings got larger to his left as they went on. If the warehouse was anywhere, it would be that way. His feet started running before he could think about it anymore.
At the end of the street he could see a construction site and a large grey building opposite it. That must be the place. He accidently bumped into a group of construction workers as they were on their way out and they all roared with laughter at him.
Hatter looked down at his clothes and then at theirs. Everyone seemed to dress so strangely here, denim trousers and running shoes with jackets that looked way too thin and flimsy to keep anyone warm. As ridiculous as they all looked, he almost envied their clothes; they had nothing like them in outfit felt outdated compared to their modern clothes and he realized why he stood out so much; people here seemed to judge others on how they dressed above all else. Clothes were important here for status and fitting in.
Sure, people in Wonderland had fashions, uniforms for different positions, but no one cared what another person was wearing. Of course, mostly they were too busy trying to feel only the good and never the bad. Jealously and low self esteem were bad feelings.
He had to try and fit in a bit more here. He could see that some of the construction workers had left some clothes hanging in an office by the construction site. He kicked the door open and took a blue coat from the hook and put it on over his leather jacket before turning towards the grey building that he hoped Alice was inside of and walking through the big, open doors.
The inside of the building smelt damp and rotten in places. Boxes and other random objects littered the ground in front of him. The warehouse was massive, if Alice was still in here; it would take him forever to find her. A small circle of light was thrust in his face as a dark shadow walked towards him. The man was a security guard; Hatter could tell from his uniform, he could also see that the man carried a gun strapped to his belt.
"What are you doing in here? This is private property." The man asked, Hatter could see his hand hovering over his gun holster, he looked at Hatter's jacket and his hand relaxed a bit. "Do you work at the construction site across the road?" he asked and Hatter looked down at the coat he was wearing, the name of the construction group was printed across it in large white letters.
"Err, yeah. And I saw a girl run in here not long ago. She looked like she was in trouble and I just wanted to make sure that she was ok. I didn't see her come out, have you seen anyone?" he asked, peering around the man to get a better look in the warehouse.
"Nope, but I'll help you look." He smiled politely at Hatter, "You go left and I'll look right."
Hatter had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that something had happened to Alice. What if someone had been waiting for her the other side of the mirror, someone who wasn't happy with how she had changed Wonderland? Or what if she had ended up through a different mirror just like Hatter had and didn't know where she was? Or even worse, what if she had got up, thought it was nothing more than a dream and had forgotten about him, and started her life again?
Just as his mind had thought up every worst case scenario, Hatter heard the security guard call out to him,
"She's over here!" he called and Hatter ran towards the sound of his voice. Alice lay on the floor, her dark hair partially covering her face and behind her the mirror that she must have fallen through. He gently moved the hair from her face and hooked it behind her ear.
"Is she alright?" Hatter asked, "What happened to her?"
The security guard tapped a large wooden box that lay in front of Alice, "I don't know, she could have tripped and hit her head. Lucky you saw her run in actually, I was just about to clock out and wouldn't have seen her until tomorrow morning." The man stood up and pulled a phone from his pocket, "I'll call for an ambulance."
Hatter gently stroked her face whilst the man walked outside to get a signal on his phone; she was freezing cold so he took the big blue construction coat off and wrapped her in it.
"It's going to be alright." He whispered to her, "I'm here now."
Alice remained as still as ever, although he could have sworn he saw her mouth twitch ever so slightly into a smile, but maybe it was just wishful thinking.
He cradled her in his arms as the security guard called out to him that the ambulance was there. Two paramedics followed him to where Hatter was kneeling holding Alice. The security guard looked Hatter over with suspicion. He realised that his reaction to Alice lying there unconscious was more than was to be expected of a concerned construction worker who had never met the girl, but right now Hatter couldn't care less.
"Her pulse is strong, slight lump on her forehead, she may have concussion though. What's her name?" the paramedic looked up at Hatter for an answer, he could feel the eyes of the security guard also fall upon him, watching him closely.
"I... I don't know." He lied, gently laying her back down on the floor and taking a step back, "I just saw her run in here, I don't actually know her." He looked quickly at the security guard from the corner of his eye; he was still looking at him suspiciously.
"We'll take her in to check her over, but I think she's going to be alright." The paramedic told Hatter and the security guard, "She was lucky you found her." she added with a smile.
Hatter traveled in the back of the ambulance with Alice, explaining to the paramedics that if it were him, he wouldn't want to be alone and that he wouldn't be able to rest until he knew if she was alright. They found her wallet in her pocket and from it contacted her mother. Hatter stayed with her until he was certain that she was safe in her hospital room before slipping away. Her mom would be there soon and he knew that he couldn't explain how he knew Alice to her, so he thought it was better to just slip away. He kissed her goodbye on her forehead and walked into the hallway, he was there for only five minutes before he saw a worried woman with short, curly hair and Alice's eyes sprint into her room. He could leave now, Alice didn't need him any more.
