This is the first one shot in a set of 26. Each one shot corresponds to a letter in the alphabet. This first story is A for Alice. I hope you will enjoy this story.

"Alice!" The Hatter shouted rather loudly. He sounded as if he had just come up with something… some kind of amazing breakthrough.

"Yes Tarrant?" Alice said softly in the most soothing voice she could muster.

She had returned over a month ago, and the Hatter was still having moments like this where he would simply forget that she had already returned. In these moments, he would believe that she had just come back, and depending on his mood, he would react differently. Usually, he was excited and happy to see her, but a couple of his more recent episodes had caused fear in Alice.

In one incident he had become depressed to the point that he had cried calling her a "delusion" and a "nightmare". When she had tried to comfort him and insure that she was real, he had attempted to take his own life with a pair of sewing scissors. She remembered how fearful she had been before he luckily had snapped out of it. His other episode had involved him being violent towards her. He had screamed terrible things at her, and had struck her. Luckily and for her sake, he had returned to normal after hitting her. He had actually been so upset with himself afterwards that he barely ate for weeks… He was just currently getting over that, and they had just been eating Dinner in their windmill home when his current attack had started. Her fear over these "attacks" had brought Alice to ask the White Queen for assistance and advice. The Queen had told her simply that it would get better with time, but it was no comfort for moments like this.

"Alice…?" He repeated, this time in a questioning tone.

"Yes Tarrant… I'm right here… Do you need something?" She had found personally that saying his actual name seemed to calm him a bit, as well as her attempts to bring him back to Earth with ties to what was currently going on.

He stared at her for a moment, looking like he was lost in the wave of his own thoughts and emotions. He was obviously out of it, at least a little by the look on his face as he stood up from his chair at their kitchen table and walked towards an already standing Alice.

As he walked in her direction, Alice internally panicked. She knew that when he had his episodes he wasn't in control of himself, and that if he hurt her, it wasn't truly his fault. This scared her more deeply, usually the Hatter wouldn't hurt a fly, but out of control, he seemed to be a natural born killer. When he reached her, he moved suddenly towards her, and Alice, expecting a blow tensed up and braced for impact… only to find that the Hatter was holding her tightly to his chest… holding her and hugging her… he meant her no harm.

With this in mind, Alice relaxed into his grip, his warmth was comforting to her and his protective, loving grip on her was working to ebb the river of tears she hadn't known had started to flow.

"Alice…" He repeated for the third time, this time sounding calm and content. His lips were mere inches from her ear as he spoke, his warm breath teasing strands of her hair and tickling her ear.

From the situation she had expected to this, there was a complete difference… She melted in his arms, his loving touch transforming her previous fears into curiosity for what he planned on doing next. She nuzzled her face in towards his neck and put her lips on his pulse point, feeling the need to be as close to him as physically possible.

He picked her up and into his arms in one quick motion, and carried her bridal style into their bedroom. It was quite the change of events, but Alice was too lost in the moment to care. She just kept her face tucked into his neck and enjoyed the feeling of being in his arms. She wondered what would happen next, but she knew that no matter what it was, she loved him and he loved her back. Even on his worst days she knew that for a fact, and it was the most comforting thing in the universe.

Rather than set Alice on the bed once he reached their room, he sat down on the bed and kept her in his lap. He held her tightly to him, keeping her close without any plans to let her go anytime soon. He sighed lightly and laid down with her, pulling her next to him on their bed. "Do you know what A is for Alice?" He asked gently as he moved a hand up to play with her hair while the other hand and arm kept her pressed against him.

When he had carried her from their kitchen and into their bedroom, she wasn't sure what to expect, but she had had some ideas. The very last thing she would have expected however was this. The last thing she would have expected was to be playing twenty questions with a Hatter who was just as curious as she was. She may have not expected it, but that didn't mean that she disliked it, actually it was on the contrary, she was thus far enjoying their time on the bed, and she could never say that she disliked the way he was holding her. Being so close to him made her feel warm inside, and him playing with her hair made her feel tingly for lack of a better description.

"Adequate?" she half answered half asked, ready to play his game.

"No." He replied as he gently curled and uncurled her hair around his finger.

"Amusing?" She asked again, knowing that she could guess a million words but never get whatever was in the Hatter's mind.

"Close, but not quite…" He said as he used his fingers to make circles on her back with the hand that was holding them together.

"Angel?" She tried again, curious as to what Tarrant was getting to with his little game.

"Still no, but I think I'll just let you know now since you keep getting close." He let go of her hair and let it fall back into place as he let go of her and sat up. "A is for amazing…" He said as he quickly grabbed her hand.

"A is for adore…" he said raising her hand in his to his lips and placing on it a lingering soft kiss. Alice felt goose bumps go up her arm as she did so. She was still not entirely sure where this was all going, but she liked the way they were getting there.

"A is for addiction…" he said as he released her hands and put a hand gently on her chest to keep her from sitting up as he sat near her legs.

He got a look on his face like the face a child makes before he does something naughty, and it made Alice half worry and half get excited about what he was going to do next. Shivers ran up her spine in anticipation of what would happen next.

He in one sudden motion that she did not expect, leaned over her body. His hands were on either side of her head, holding him mere centimeters above her. They were so close that she could feel his breath on her face as he said, "A is for arouse…" in his thick, sexy Scottish brogue.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she gasped, she hadn't expected him to do anything like this, and while she loved seeing this new side of him, it made her shiver… it was so dark… so lusty… so sexual. They had yet to do anything like this, and she found herself not knowing what to do next, so she did the only thing she could think to do… she let go. She lifted her face slightly until her lips met his in a passionate kiss.

After a moment of kissing, the mad man pulled Alice and turned so that his front was to her back. He spoke breathily into her ear, "A is for All those things… A is for Alice."

Please review, the next chapter should be up very soon.