Author's note: I needed a break from the Cretaceous with Connor and Abby on the Primeval site, so I decided to spend some time with Hatter and Alice. What if Hatter hadn't followed Alice at the end of the miniseries? My one-shot, twist on getting these two together.

Alice's Choice

Alice stood staring at the ornate mirror in the empty building. "O.K., I did not get a concussion and dream the whole thing," she said to herself, "the mirror is here. Hatter is real and Jack is a king! Jack told me he would have the mirror set to recognize me. As long as the mirror is functioning, I can come and go. All I have to do is step forward."

Alice didn't move. She continued to stare as she thought about what she wanted to do. Her overnight stay in the hospital had given her time to think. She had gone home with her mom and put away all of the work she had done on finding her dad. Then she had spent the rest of the afternoon nervously waiting to see if Hatter would come to her. He hadn't. By Alice's count, if one week in Wonderland equaled an hour of her time, it would have been 6 months since she had last seen Hatter.

She didn't like the awkward way she had spent her last moments with him. She wanted a little more time to say thank you. She could step into the mirror, spend the afternoon talking with him and be back in her own world within minutes. Still she didn't move. "I could tell him how grateful I am for his help and say a proper good-bye," she whispered.

As she said the words, she knew she was lying to herself. She wanted to see him again. She wanted to know if she had imagined the attraction between them. She didn't want to spend years wondering what might have happened.

She realized that during the past six months, Hatter might have found someone else or even gotten married. The thought upset her but she needed to know the truth. She had spent the last ten years wondering about her father. She refused to do the same with Hatter. She would see him one more time then move forward with her life. Squaring her shoulders, Alice stepped into the mirror.

Hatter sat at his desk trying to focus. Business was good. The tea shop had reopened offering high quality tea blends and baked sweet breads. Some of his past clients were happy to see the familiar location open, even if the emotion teas were no longer available.

Others, who had been addicted to the emotional wonders, had been a problem during the early weeks, but Hatter had kept security tight. He had convinced many to enter the rehab programs at the hospital of dreams. The few addicts, who were too far-gone to listen to reason, had faced his sledgehammer fist.

Finally, after six long months, everything was running smoothly again. New clients came out of curiosity, to see the man who had helped Just Alice overthrow the Queen, and stayed for the high quality food and service. The shop became the gathering place for people to discuss the latest happenings in town and to come together during the rough transition of their economy and society.

Hatter took pride in making his business successful again, but he could no longer lose himself in the work. Alice haunted his dreams and kept his emotions stirred up. Every single emotion he felt since she had gone back through the glass, hurt. Even the happy memories he had of her turned to pain. He sympathized, very slightly, with the deposed queen for not wanting to feel the bad. Hell, he didn't want to feel all the awful feelings pouring through him either.

The first two weeks after Alice left, he kept busy putting his shop back together and working with the new king (who did have lofty airs and was a royal pain in the arse, in Hatter's opinion). As the days passed, Hatter began to work longer and longer hours, but it didn't help. He was still assailed with loneliness, regret and heartache.

Every night he lay in his empty bed unable to sleep, while thoughts of going after Alice filled his head. No matter how much he wanted her, he just couldn't go after her. He would surely look foolish, chasing after a girl who could have married a king. What could he offer her, but the practically unused heart of a slightly shady workingman?

As the months passed, the sharp sadness inside him had gotten so bad that Hatter had broken his own rule and taken a drop of happiness from the last of his rare, undiluted cache. He had learned a very valuable lesson that day. Swallowing an artificial emotion when you were brimming with your own was not a good idea. Hatter's body had rejected the chemical happiness most violently. He had been sick for hours.

After that, he had decided to suffer through his true feelings and prayed that he would someday be able to forget about Alice and all she made him feel. He believed he had no choice but to get over her. She couldn't possible feel anything for him. He wasn't worth anyone's love, he knew.

His gaze fell on the purple velvet coat hanging over the front of his glass wardrobe. He couldn't make himself put it away. It still smelled like her which was comforting, arousing and tormenting all at once.

Hatter forced himself to look at the financial sheet on his desk. Wealth wouldn't be a problem if business continued according to his projections. But what did it matter without Alice?

He paused as he heard a footstep on the grassy path leading to his desk. Without bothering to look up, he said, "Dormy, would you bring me a cup of tea?" He was taken by surprise when he heard a familiar female voice instead of Dormouse.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a man who knows…" the warm, feminine voice flowed across his senses as his heart began to pound.

Hatter raised his head and stood up while he stared at Alice. She looked incredibly beautiful in her light blue blouse and close-fitting jeans. His mind couldn't quite grasp that she was here, in his office. "Alice?" he said, not able to believe she was truly with him.

She smiled at him somewhat warily and said, "Hello, Hatter."

He began to move. He was around his desk in a flash, arms held wide open as he quickly walked toward her.

The huge grin on his face was all the encouragement Alice needed. She ran toward him, practically knocking him down as she threw herself into his embrace.

There it is, he thought, true happiness.

He was drowning in feelings; happiness, fear, excitement, desire, and love. If his heart burst from all the emotions flowing through him, it would be worth it. "Alice, I'm so happy to see you" he said as he kissed her.

Alice forgot all about proper good-byes and saying thank you, as she kissed him back. Before she even registered it, he had picked her up and moved them both to his white couch. He kept her wrapped tightly in his arms while he kissed her. It took quite a while before he could make himself raise his mouth from hers and touch their foreheads together. He smiled brightly as he said, "I missed you."

Alice smiled back but then decided she needed to understand. "If you missed me, why didn't you come to see me?"

"Because I'm a coward," he admitted unhappily. "I didn't think you had feelings for me and I was afraid I'd make an ass out of myself if I came after you."

"So what do you think now?" she asked.

"I love you," he said into the silence of the room. He desperately wanted to snatch the words back as he watched Alice's eyes become shuttered. "See, I told you I'd make an ass out of myself," he tried to joke, but the pain in his heart was back, stronger than ever.

Alice saw the hurt look on Hatter's face and couldn't stand it. She cupped his cheek in her hand as she spoke, "Hatter, this is so fast for me, and it seems crazy, but I think I love you too. I couldn't walk away from you."

"O.K., I can definitely work with that," he answered quickly. "How long can you stay?"

"Just for the afternoon, then I need to get back," she said.

"In that case, we need to handle the most important things first," he said with a sexy smile.

He very slowly lowered his head while watching her carefully. He didn't want to scare her by demanding too much, so he gently touched his mouth to hers. When Alice turned her head and kissed him back enthusiastically, Hatter's control snapped.

Six months of frustrated desire overwhelmed him as he leaned into her, pushing her back on the couch without breaking the kiss. Passion exploded between them turning the kiss into an exploration of each other. Hatter ran his open mouth down the column of Alice's throat, licking and softly biting. His fingers sought out her breast and gently rubbed over it. Alice pulled his shirt out of his slacks and slid her hands over the hot skin of his back and shoulders. With shaky hands, he unbuttoned her shirt and pushed her bra aside so he could see and taste her.

Hatter's dark eyes widened at the sight of her beautiful pale skin and perfectly shaped breasts. He looked into her eyes to say, "Alice, you are so lovely. You make me feel like a teenager with his first lover." He lowered his head to nuzzle her as she closed her eyes in ecstasy.

They were both so lost in each other that neither heard Dormouse scamper into the room, until he called out "Hatter, we need more of the black tea…" When Dormouse heard a muffled "NOT NOW" from the vicinity of the couch, he circled around without missing a step and trotted back out of the office.

At the first sound of Dormy's voice, Hatter had gathered Alice to him, shielding her body from view. When he heard Dormy leave, he sat up looking both unhappy at the interruption and apologetic, "Sorry, love. I got carried away."

Alice laughed at Hatter's look of annoyance and sat up to straighten her clothes. He grinned back at her then became serious when he realized their afternoon was almost over. He took both her hands in his and locked eyes with her, as he said, "Alice… I want to come to your world and be with you. Would you like that?"

She smiled and love shined in her eyes as she answered, "Yes, I'd like that very much, but I still live in my mom's home. We wouldn't have much privacy," she warned.

"I'll get a place to live and I'll court you as you deserve to be courted," he said with growing excitement. "I can start another tea shop in your world and still oversee this one."

"That sounds wonderful," she said happily.

"Let me walk you back to the mirror. I can get everything organized in about a week, so I should be able to follow you through the glass in about an hour - your time," he calculated.

When they were in front of the mirror, Hatter hugged her tightly not wanting to let go. "When you get home, tell your mom you're dating someone new and we're going out for dinner. Feel free to make Jack sound horrible," he whispered as he nibbled her ear. "Meet me at the mirror in an hour."

"O.K., but hurry. I'm really hungry," she said before she kissed him fiercely and stepped toward the glass.

Her kiss told Hatter that she was hungry for him, but he couldn't help teasing her a bit.

The last thing she heard as she stepped through the mirror was Hatter's laughing voice calling after her, "we'll do pizza!"

She smiled to herself as she joyfully replied, "and lots of other things!"

xxxx

Make-out session on the couch… oh, joy! This is probably the raciest thing I have ever posted and I'm a bit nervous. Please leave a review/comment while I go drink some ice water.