I adore the Alice miniseries and their rendition of Hatter. I even enjoy Hatter and Alice as a couple whereas I have never pictured it previously because it was... creepy. So, I'm going to give this a shot. Hopefully, people enjoy it.

Current song: "Hurricane" - 30 Seconds to Mars

No matter how many time that you told me you wanted to leave
No matter how many breaths you took, you still couldn't breathe
No matter how many nights did you lie awake to the sound of the poison rain
Where did you go?
Where did you go?
Where did you go?

"Y'know, you could always visit my world. You might like it."

"Yeah!" He smiled, but his eyes were screaming something different. And then it was gone, replaced by the mask to which she had grown so accustomed. "We could...we could do pizza."

No, this was wrong. Wasn't it?

"And...lots of other things." She waited for a reaction. There was more, wasn't there? A brief moment of silence. Neither of them noticed the scientist until he was grabbing her arm.

"Alice, please?" The man motioned toward the looking glass and began to drag her along.

"Really? I was just..." She looked back as his words died, hoping for something. Anything. He looked upset, those beautiful brown eyes bright with something again. She was wrong, wasn't she? He really did want her to go home. She looked at her reflection in the glass and then at his. He had stepped forward, but still...nothing.

"Just force yourself to breathe."

A shove and her adventure had ended the same way it had begun: a vortex of clouds and colors.

Alice laid her keys and the mail on the table and removed her coat, scanning the living room for any sign that her mother was home. "Mom?" She flipped through a few of the letters before discarding them a second time. "Mom, you home?" No answer. She headed down the hall with a heavy sigh and opened the door to her room. She gathered a change of clothes and then a towel from the hallway closet before disappearing into the bathroom.

The hot water was a Godsend to tired, aching muscles. She nearly moaned in relief as the tension was washed away. Leaning back her head, she closed her eyes.

"Then I'll make sure you're okay."

She could hear him as if he were standing right there with her, but it was always the same when she opened her eyes. She felt that familiar twinge in her stomach, the hurt still lingering even four months later. She had honestly thought he would come through after her but her heart still battled her mind, begging her to remember the events as real and not the side effect of a concussion. Maybe she was dreaming, imagining it all. No. She had found closure. She knew of her father's fate. The wound was still fresh, it still stung. Wonderland was real. Jack was real. And Hatter... Hatter was real.

"Alice, are you home?"

The brunette shook her head, angrily wiping at her eyes. "Yea, mom! In the shower!" She sniffed, biting her lip and reining in her emotions. "Be right out," she added, a little more quietly. A few minutes later, she emerged in her pajamas, towel drying her hair while granting her mother a ghost of a smile. "How was work?"

"Just another day." Carol answered, watching Alice collapse onto the couch. She had noticed a change in her daughter since the day she had been found in that warehouse. Alice always had a spark in her, it's what drew people to her. It was why her students loved her. Alice had gone back to teaching Judo, but there was no passion. It was nine to five and nothing more. Then she would sit in her room and read or just stare out the window. That spark was diminishing and, try as she might, Carol couldn't understand why. She thought back to Alice waking the hospital, how she had immediately cried and admitted her father was gone. Carol took a deep breath. "How are you feeling?"

Alice absently smiled while she fiddled with the tag on the side of her towel. "You ask me that everyday, mom. It's been months." She sat back and looked toward the window. "I'm fine."

Carol still wasn't buying it. Licking her lips, she began to chop up the vegetables for dinner, hesitating a few more times before speaking. "We should move." Alice turned to her, brown drawn up in question. "I think it would be good for us."

"Are you serious?" Was it anger she felt bubbling inside her? Fear? She wasn't sure, but she continued, "you can't be serious. Everything we know is here." 'The mirror is here.' She closed her eyes and pushed that thought aside. "Just... why?"

Carol placed the knife on the counter and wiped her hands on a towel before taking a seat next to Alice. "Like starting over. No more... searching. No more hurting." Carol placed a hand on Alice's cheek when her blue eyes began to sparkle with unshed tears. "Just picking up the pieces and moving on, like you said when you packed up that box." She smiled, hopeful, and waited for her daughter's response.

Alice lowered her gaze to her lap. What if Hatter came through and she wasn't there?

"You want me to stay?" She smiled, waiting with bated breath for his next words.

"Heeeell no!" He even leaned back to place emphasis on the words. "No, you..." His expression sobered. "I think you should go home."

After a few more moments and several tears, Alice nodded.

"Yeah?" Carol beamed.

"Yeah." She allowed her mother to embrace her, but she would never allow her to know the true meaning behind her tears. Somehow, she knew that Carol knew that, as well.

And so Alice cried.

Everything was so... unfamiliar. This world, this time, these Oysters. He was careful to stay in the shadows. He would easily be singled out and his success was critical to the survival of his world. His friends. He had never pictured himself on the other side of the looking glass like this... In fact, he had never pictured himself on the other side of the looking glass at all.

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

He paused, closing his eyes momentarily. He needed direction.

There.

His head snapped toward the small apartment building and, without a sound, he entered and climbed the stairs. This was it, there was no doubt. He could feel her presence, her aura on the other side of the door and took a moment to place his hand on the cool surface. Determination renewed, he pulled the note from his satchel, holding it over his heart for a beat before sliding it under the door.

He retreated, guided by the pull of the looking glass, and never looked back. He had to trust that the words would be enough:

The clockwork's not ticking properly

TBC -

Tell me, would you kill to save a life?
Tell me, would you kill to prove you're right?
Crash, crash, burn
Let it all burn
This hurricane is chasing us all underground