Description: I always thought the movie Alice ended far too soon. I wanted to explore more of Wonderland, so I thought what would happen if one event happened differently and what new events would happen because of it. I hope you all enjoy and of course I don't own anything pertaining to the mini series Alice, darn...

Hatter glanced around the corner and saw at least a dozen Suits leading Alice out of the Hospital of Dreams. He felt his heart tighten at seeing her captured. She had left him for Jack, yes, but… Oh, he just couldn't get her out of his head. Somehow he knew Jack was going to lead her right into this trap and if Jack wasn't man enough to save her, he would have to. Jack didn't deserve her. He threw her into this mess after all and lent no helping hand thus far. Alice had to come to him for help after all, what did that say about how much Jack had done to protect her.

Jack didn't deserve her, but did he? He wanted her, but why would she want him? She had a Prince. If they got out of this she might be Queen. Why would she choose a homeless, prospectless looser like him when she could have that? She would never choose him, he knew this, yet he knew he could never abandon her. She needed him even if she would never say so, and he needed her. In some strange way he was glad he met her, even if he was now homeless and being hunted by both sides. At least he was doing something. Even if the resistance didn't realize it he was fighting for them. He had to try, and he was tried of working for his enemies and pretending. She made him realize who he really wanted to be, and even if he wasn't the ideal person she would have guide and protect her in this world, he tried and that was all he could do, and that was enough.

Then he saw them lead Jack out as well. At least Jack hadn't organized the trap. Then again he had never gotten either himself or Alice captured under his watch. It hurt him inside that she trusted this guy who had done nothing but get her into trouble, and done nothing to help her out of it. And she liked him. What was this emotion and how did it control her so that she would forgive Jack of anything. This emotion, and she gave it all to Jack, and left none for him. Where was her trust and like for him when all he ever did was help and save her. He felt it for her, she had come back for him, didn't leave him behind, didn't push him aside, let him help. Oh, how he felt it for her, but she didn't have to return his feelings. Just so long as she acknowledged him, that was enough and he would fight another Jabberwocky for her if it meant she would be safe again. Well, he didn't have to fight a Jabberwocky, but the dozen Suits that stood between them might as well have been that enormous ugly monster.

"Black day…" Charlie muttered beside him. Then he saw Mad March exit the building and take the lead. That creepy homicidal maniac who might have been a little more pleasant when he was alive the first time. Alas, why did things always have to get worse, not better? With their leader at the helm the group began to march. It was time.

"Okay… Okay…" He said almost to himself as he gathered his courage. Then he remembered the odd man at his side who had less. "I know there are a lot of Suits out there but if we let them get to the Casino there are going to be a whole lot more. We have to take them now." Charlie nodded in agreement although he didn't look to assured in the matter.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. We've got surprise on our side, and we've got horses." The old man mumbled in agreement. "You see the bottleneck over there? If I go in swinging and keep the Suits busy for a few seconds that might give you just enough time to get in there, grab Alice, and gallop away." It was a suicide mission for him, but if it meant Alice was safe, he would do it. For her, he would do it for her.

"Bottleneck? Swinging?" Charlie mumbled in confusion.

"I'm going to need a sword." He said looking at him expectantly.

The old Knight looked down and mumbled something that sounded like, "No," and "I can't." Oh, he really didn't need this right now. He needed him to cooperate. He needed him to be brave. He couldn't save Alice on his own.

"Come on Charlie. Do it for Alice. Think how proud and excited she'll be seeing a real Knight in full glory. Be a true Knight, Charlie. Help me rescue her. I can't do it by myself. Please help me." He couldn't believe he was admitting that to this old man who always tried to one up him at every turn. But, if it was what it took he had to say it. He needed his help.

Charlie looked more reassured at this but not quite one hundred percent like he would have preferred. "Alright Harbinger, but I cannot relinquish my sword."

"Why not?"

"I am a Knight."

He signed. This was no time to argue. Let the old man have his sword he wouldn't use. So long as he rescued Alice, he would be eternally grateful. But he needed a weapon and they were running out of time. "Come on." He mumbled to Charlie and on their way back to the horses he picked up a large metal bar that was bent just at the end. It wasn't the ideal weapon, but he would have to make due. So long as they got Alice out of there nothing else matter. For her, he kept telling himself and somehow the words justified his self-sacrifice. For her, he thought again. For her.

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If she just closed her eyes tight enough she would wake up in her bed. This was all just a terrible terrible dream, Alice told herself. She opened her eyes to the dreary Wonderland city. A city that was higher than it was wide. So high, she was so high up and the ground beneath her feet so thin. She felt a great pressure suddenly on her lungs as she began to have a panic attack.

Everything was wrong. Everything she knew was wrong. Everything she had hoped for was now smashed. Jack didn't really love her, she had just been his objective all along. He had strung her along with his false smiles and words. He said his love was still true but she couldn't believe him. There were too many lies. Too many to bear.

She didn't know why but she longed for Hatter, wished he was here. For all she tried not to like him she did. Why did she abandon him for Jack? He had rescued her once when she had abandoned him, she couldn't hope he would do it again. He had stood by her through so much and she hadn't appreciated him the way she should have. She should have trusted him, should have appreciated what he had done and given up for her. Who was she? Nothing special. She had managed to loose everything in two days. Her home. Her boyfriend. The man who she had just met yet protected her better than the people she knew and thought she trusted. The ring that was her only ticket out of this mad world. She had found her father, but she couldn't save him so he might as well still be lost to her. It would have been less painful.

She wished it were earlier today. She wished she had never come here. She should have just stayed in the forest with Hatter and Charlie. She should have taken Hatter's advice and just forgotten about Jack. She wished she hadn't given so much of herself to finding him when he didn't even need rescuing. She longed for the forest where she could have helped Hatter fight with the resistance like he longed to do. Or just simply live in the forest forever within Charlie's fortress with just her two boys as company. It was all comparable to this pain and the inevitable death that awaited her when they returned to the Casino.

The Suits before her started marching and she had no choice but to follow them. This sombre walk to her doom. They hadn't walked very far when the Suits before her stopped and she looked up to see a large brown horse before she recognized it bore a rider she was even happier to see.

Hatter raised the large metal bar in his hand and hit the nearest Suit that had advanced toward him. He was not alone though in his attempt as Charlie road in after him and scattered the Suits even more. She gaped in awe at how well Charlie wielded his sword against the Suits. The man might be nuts but he surely is a Knight after all.

It took her a few moments to stop gaping and pull her arm away from the Suit holding her and karate chop him in the neck and give him a swift kick to the guts just to make sure he was down. She made her way to her nearest brave hero which just happened to be Hatter who was managing to hold his own against the swarm of Suits gathered around him. A few Suits stood in her way but she easily took them down for nothing was going to stand in between her and Hatter. Not this time. She had stood in the way too long and made the wrong choices. Not anymore.

The last obstacle in her way was the largest for Hatter was nearly surrounded by Suits though somehow he managed to remain on his horse. She prayed for a miracle, for nothing else would be able to get her to him without either one or both of them being captured and that was the last thing she wanted. Then her wish was granted and Guinevere was spooked by the commotion and reared up on her hind legs. Hatter somehow managed to hold on and the Suits around him scattered for fear of being trampled. The horse eventually regained her footing and began to gallop off of her own will but Hatter pulled her reins hard forcing her to stop and turn. Alice ran to him calling his name and he turned in her direction.

"Alice!" He called to her as she ran to him. He leaned over and held out his hand for her that she grabbed the moment it was within reach. He gripped her hand and pulled her up and onto the back of his horse. As soon as she settled herself and wrapped her arms tightly around his waste he pulled on the reins turning the horse in the direction they were to leave by. "Charlie! Time to go!" He called out before they began to move. Without waiting for a reply he spurred the horse on hard so that she galloped quickly away, tossing his weapon at a group of Suits as they fled the clearing.

She looked around herself and immediately became frightened. How did they ever manage to get a horse up so high in the city, especially when the walkways we're hardly large enough for her to walk on? The horse was running right on the very edge. One stray hoof and they would fall, fall… She clung to Hatter even tighter and began to silently weep out of fear and all of the other emotions that were bubbling up inside of her from mere moments ago. But this was not the time to cry, this was their get away, and whose to know if they we're safe yet? And what about Charlie? 'Pull yourself together,' she thought to herself. 'Trust Alice. The big T. Trust him, he's never let you down before.' She pushed her fears out of her mind and forced herself to look away from the edge and close her eyes. 'Trust, it will be over soon, you'll be okay,' she kept telling herself in almost a chant.

They road at this high speed for what seemed like ever with her body gosling against Hatters. They slowed every once in awhile to take a turn but then they picked up speed again. She keep her eyes held shut the whole time, not daring to look. Eventually Hatter pulled the reins brining their horse to a much slower pace, almost a trot and she finally opened her eyes. They we're now on the outskirts of the woods, far away from the city. He had done it. They we're safe. Her hero.

Before she had time to worry about him, Charlie road up beside them and Hatter pulled the reins so that their horse stopped. "Nice job Charlie. You're a true Knight after all." Hatter said as Charlie stopped beside them.

"Why, thank you," Charlie said with a smile on his face as he realized he had done a good job. Then he realized who was praising him and quickly added, "Harbinger," at the end, retaining his superiority he felt to Hatter and not the brothers in arms Alice saw them as. But she did catch another small smile cross Charlie's lips even after he tried to conceal it. "I brought along the net to conceal our return to the fortress. I'll attach it to Lancelot if you give me a moment." Charlie said dismounting.

"That is a good idea." Hatter replied. "Alice, you've been awful quiet." He said but she didn't reply. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She managed to reply not sounded as upset as she felt. Then she felt Hatter's hand on hers. He gently took one of her hands from his chest that she was still grasping hard. She eased her hold on him when she realized she was still clinging to him so tightly. She let him hold her hand gently, and she felt the comfort he was trying to give her, yet she refused to release the hold she had on him with her other hand. Holding onto him was more comfort to her than his hand. This way she knew he was still here, still solid and wouldn't blow away with the next heavy wind. "It's going to be okay Alice. You're with me now." He said giving her hand a little reassuring squeeze. He was right. It was going to be okay, simply because she was with him, and she cursed that it took her so long to realize that.

Hatter let go of her hand when Charlie remounted and without a word nudged the horse forward to begin their long trek back through the woods to fortress.

She hadn't realized how tired she was until the constant motion of the horse and Charlie's favourite song began to lull her to sleep. She refused to sleep though but just rested her head against Hatter's back, enjoying just being with her two boys whom she had longed for mere moments ago. She couldn't deny either what comfort she took in being so close to Hatter. She felt so safe with him. He had saved her yet again which she had done nothing in her eyes to deserve his relentless loyalty. Despite she was grateful and no longer longed to be away from him.

Her idle mind began wondering again to the Hospital of Dreams. She now knew what people meant when they said ignorance is bliss. She wondered if they bottled those emotions too. She could go for a nice shot of ignorance right now. Anything was better than the feeling that she was about to start crying any moment. And that's how the queen controlled people. Reel them in with one emotion they long to have and soon there addicted to every emotion. Hatter was defiantly against this world of instant gratification, but she wondered how many emotions he had tried. What it felt like. Just how addicting were they? How did he resist? What emotions did he long to have instantly? She realized that she knew so little about him. He knew so much about her and she so little of him. She felt that she was going to be spending a lot more time with him soon enough, she would ask him then. All these questions and so many more.

They reached the edge of the ancient city and Charlie dismounted quickly and called back as he hurried off towards the throne room. "Tie up the horses will you Harbinger. I feel like we should feast tonight to celebrate the return of Just Alice."

"Yes Charlie," Hatter answered dismounting and then reaching up to her and giving her a hand down. He smiled at her brightly until he got his first good look at her, and his face feel. "You've been crying. What's wrong?"

As soon as he mentioned it she felt the dam break behind her eyes and tears began to fall down her cheeks. He took a step towards her but she closed the gap between them as she threw herself into his arms crying, "oh, Hatter!"

He held onto her tightly as she cried into his chest. She didn't know what was wrong with her. Earlier today she would never have even let Hatter see her cry let alone in his arms, but now all she wanted was his warm arms to comfort all her losses. He was perhaps the only thing she could rely on in this crazy place, the only person she could trust anymore. He proved to her again and again that he would protect her, even when she ran away from him and got herself into trouble, he was right there. Now she believed him, trusted him, why hadn't she before?

She cried for a long time and he held her, gently rocking her back and forth and stroking her back, giving her every kind of comfort he could when he didn't exactly know what was wrong. When she finally managed to stop crying she slowly pulled away from him, almost afraid of how much she had just opened herself up to him, and what his reaction would be.

He looked kindly into her eyes like he was waiting for her to tell him something, but she didn't so he was forced to ask. "What happened in the hospital?"

"I saw my dad."

"So they do have your dad. Well, that's good isn't it?"

"He didn't remember me." She said beginning to cry again, but she had at least some control over herself. "When I was ten he disappeared. They took him and made him work for the queen. They did something to his mind so he would forget us. He drains the Oysters, Hatter. It's because of him all of this is happening, and he… he didn't even recognize me. He's too loyal to the queen, and he wouldn't even believe me. I thought maybe… maybe he was about to but then we got ambushed by the Suits." Without meaning to she began silently crying again.

"Don't cry." He said whipping the tears off her cheeks, but it was of no use for they were just replaced with fresh. "Hey, at least you know Jack wasn't lying, eh?" He said trying anything to cheer her up, even if it was something that clearly caused him pain from the way he said Jack's name. "That's good isn't it?" He asked as she looked away from him when he mentioned Jack.

"Jack…" She began and she felt new tears brimming in her eyes. "Jack was only interested in me because of who my dad is. That's the only reason he dated me. He said he still loves me and that that wasn't an act but I don't know how I can believe him. After everything he's lied about and finding out who he really is…"

"I wouldn't believe him. He's untrustworthy." He said letting his true feelings come out. His words stung slightly and he could see that. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry he lied to you. I know how much you like him."

"Liked him. I don't like him anymore. Not after all of this." Hatter smiled despite himself. He caught himself quickly and stopped but not before she saw. "And Jack has the ring, which I'm sure his mother has confiscated by now. I've lost my chance. There's no way for me to get back home now. I'm stuck here, forever…" She said crying afresh yet again. At these words though Hatter's expression creased and he immediately took her in his arms again. She stopped crying quickly this time as she began running out of tears but he continued holding onto her. "Why did you come after me, when I left you for Jack?"

"I couldn't let you go off with him unprotected. I knew he was playing at something. I just knew it and I didn't want you to get hurt. I failed though."

"How?" She asked pulling away from him.

"Unless I'm mistaken you're not crying because you're happy to see me. Jack hurt you. I shouldn't have let him take you without me. You wanted me to go, I should have tried harder. Refused to let you go without me. I should have been there for you."

"There's nothing you could have done to stop it. Jack was playing me a long time ago and you couldn't have made my Dad remember me."

"You needed me though. You wanted me to be there with you, I shouldn't have let you go." He said taking her hands. She could see small tears brimming in his eyes that she knew if she enquired about he would deny.

"Jack wouldn't have let you come."

"How do we know? If I had just tried…"

"You would have been arrested with the rest of us and we would be in separate cells at the Casino instead of here now. You probably saved my life Hatter. I'm eternally grateful to you. I thought about you when I was captured and I realized how ungrateful I've been considering everything you've done for me."

"Well…" He said with a slight pompous smile that he didn't actually mean which made her smile. "It doesn't matter, don't worry about it. Water under the bridge."

"It matter's to me, because… I like you. I like you and I don't want to hurt you." He stared at her blankly not knowing what to think or say. "Did you mean what you said before?"

"Hum?" He murmured coming out of his trance.

"It indeed looks like I'm stuck here. You promised before to look after me. Did you mean it?"

"Of course I did, and I will. If there is any way to get you home I will find it. If not then I will keep you here, safe, with me." He gently brushed a strand of hair out of her face, gazing into her eyes. "Do you trust me now?"

"Yes." That was all the answer he needed. His eyes kept darting from her lips to her eyes as he slowly neared her. He sought permission in her eyes and didn't see any protest there so he slowly lowered his lips onto hers where they connected softly like they should have that first time. She was very thankful for no interruptions this time and she got to feel his smooth lips move against her own as they kissed sweetly. It was just the two of them and the still twilight air. They heard not a sound but the soft noise of their lips moving against each others as they kissed passionately, feeling each others souls through their lips.

Alice had never had a kiss like this before. She felt so much desire and passion behind his lips that she never wanted the kiss to end. This was one wish though that her fairy Godmother did not grant and they eventually parted as slowly as the approach to the kiss with Hatter stealing small pecks as she backed away.

His eyes were clouded when he looked at her. It was a look she had never seen a man give her before. She would have called it love if she weren't so afraid of calling it that. She was afraid of the words that would come spilling out of his mouth is she stayed there any longer, so she gave him a quick peck on the cheek before saying, "Charlie's probably wondering where we are." He stared at her somewhat blankly as his mind tried to catch up with her words. "Don't forget to tie up the horses."

She whipped the tears stains from her face the best she could as she made her way back to camp leaving Hatter standing there thunderstruck.