I have taken a slight break from the world of fanfiction, but upon seeing "Alice" I am back! I read Alice in Wonderland over the summer and immediately was intrigued by this strange world. I was more than happy to see Syfy's take on it.

Summary: A week in Wonderland is an hour in Alice's world. So what exactly happened in the time that Hatter was not there? What will happen next? What were Hatter's plans after he found Alice? (Syfy) Alice/Hatter.

Chapter 1

There were a few difficulties when it came to traveling between Wonderland and the mortal world. It was a little bit like jet-lag. Everything was all messed up. In one world it could be Friday, and the next it be Tuesday. The fall was also one that wasn't quite pleasant. One would wake up a bit dizzy and confused for a few moments. This was usually because they didn't know what was going on. They would come back to their senses just moments later.

This is why Alice was confused as she woke up in the hospital bed. An hour her mother had said. This meant that in the mortal world, she was only gone for an hour. Her entire life had changed in just one, mere hour. Alice felt her heart grow heavy, it was almost as if the last "hour" had never happened.

The drive back from the hospital to their apartment was a short one. Her mother rattled on about how much she was worried, and how thankful she was for there to be a kind construction worker.

Alice's mother found it strange that she had brought up her father. Yes, the topic did come up during dinner, but she didn't realize that Alice would think so much about it. Part of her was very worried for her daughter, the other part was joyous that Alice had finally come to the fact that her father wasn't coming back from wherever he disappeared to.

It took Alice two days to get back into the swing of things. She had put away all remembrances of her father, all but one little picture. She put this picture on the dresser in her room. It was one of her blowing bubbles while sitting on a bench in her father's lap. Alice smiled as she placed the picture on the dresser and put the box of other items in her closet far away from her reach.

She was just finished packing up her last box when her mother came into the room. Of course, her mother was curious, but her thoughts were cut off when she heard the doorbell ring.

It was scary for Alice's mother. Apparently this "David" was a construction worker and had found Alice lying on the cold cement. According to her mother, "David" notified a hospital and brought her to safety. Alice found this entire situation to be quite confusing, but she decided not to think too deeply into it.

"Alice? Come meet David."

Alice finished folding her map and put it with the rest of her old memories. She walked slowly towards the front door. She wasn't really in any hurry. There was a part of her that was really happy to be home. But this part was really only happy because of her mother. The other part, the sometimes more dominant one, longed to go back to Wonderland, back to Hatter.

Her mother wondered where Jack was. He seemed to disappear completely. When she asked Alice about this, all Alice could say was that it didn't work out and that he went back home to "England". Although her mother didn't admit it, she knew that Jack just wasn't the one.

But when her mother met "David" she felt like there could be something there. She never really was a matchmaker, but sometimes she just had a gut feeling.

When Alice looked up from playing with her fingers, she was more than pleasantly surprised to see the familiar face.

"Hatter!"

Alice's mother watched as Alice ran up to "David" and threw her arms around him. She was very confused as to how these two knew each other. "David" told her mother that he had just moved to the neighborhood and construction was the only job he could find on such short notice.

She watched as the two whispered sweet words to one another. They pulled away from their second, no third kiss. Alice's mother cleared her throat, which caused Alice to turn her head.

"Oh…mom, this is my uh…"

Her mother raised her eyebrow as Alice seemed to be at a loss for words. She looked back at Hatter but he was also at a loss for words.

"Why don't we talk about this over a cup of tea? David, do you like tea?"

A wide smile came across Hatter's face. "I love tea."

--

[Back in Wonderland]

Hatter didn't know what to do. He literally watched as his heart fell into a mirror, a portal to another world. And he did absolutely nothing to stop her.

"Why am I such a daft fool?" Hatter mumbled to himself.

He sat at the edge of a cut down tree while Charlie was chanting. While Jack had offered Charlie and Hatter to stay in the other castle (because the Queen of Hearts had many castles, not just the casino), they both declined this offer. Charlie said that he needed to be in the woods in case there was ever any danger. Hatter stayed with Charlie because it was the only part of Alice he had left.

Hatter held the royal purple jacket in his hands. It was a bittersweet moment, Alice giving Hatter back the jacket. He was happy to have the jacket to remember her. Her scent still lingered on it. But part of him really wanted her to keep it. The thought of her forgetting him lingered in the back of his brain. Surely, if she kept this jacket, she wouldn't forget him. This token would be completely memorable.

"Why do you look so down Mr. Hatter?"

Hatter raised his eyebrows as Charlie stood over him with a skeptic look on his face. "I just let her jump into that mirror. Can you believe that?"

"Ah, we are talking about Alice of Legend. I was curious as to why didn't go after her!"

"She made it very clear that Wonderland is not the place for her."

Charlie moved and sat down on a fallen log. He took his armor off, which let him have more room to move around. The sun was setting and the temperature was dropping. They both knew that they would have to go back to the fire soon.

"Why do you say that?"

"She said that she had enough of Wonderland for a lifetime. How more obvious could she have been?"

Charlie sat up straighter from his position on the log. He was still completely exhausted from his large battle. "Did you make it clear that she was welcome to stay?"

Hatter's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember exactly the words he used. The more he thought about it, the more he regretted them. "I-I guess I wasn't exactly friendly when she talked about coming back. But she said-"

"Oh rubbish what she said! I heard the conversation. You made it seem like you did not want her to come back."

Hatter stood up. This wasn't exactly his ideal conversation. "How else could I have put it without seeming like a fool?"

"Aha! I knew it. The heart is most foolish when it is in love Mr. Hatter."

Hatter looked back at the jacket in his hands. While he hadn't spoken the words out load, he knew exactly what his emotions were. Charlie was feeling quite proud of himself for figuring everything out.

Hatter was about to walk back, but he decided that there was no getting around it. He was at a moment where he simply did not know what to do. So he sat back down. He figured that Charlie was old, he must have all sorts of wisdom stuck in his mind.

"I don't know what to do, Charlie! I made such a horrible mistake. Of course I would make such a mistake," Hatter started mumbling to himself. "I didn't extend a proper invitation and now I may never see her again. Even if I went into her world, I wouldn't know where to find her. I don't know where she lives! I don't know how to get around in her world. She's never coming back and that's all my fault."

Hatter shook his head. "I should have gone with her, just like I said I would on that boat."

"What boat?"

"It doesn't matter now."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Hatter was trying to think about what he was going to do now. Charlie was trying to figure out a way to make everything right. He missed Alice quite dearly and wanted to make Hatter happy once again.

An idea sparked in Charlie's mind. "We need to build a house."

"A house?"

Charlie stood up very precariously. His back was hurting him and he was getting quite weak. "Yes, a house. Or at least a cottage. Something substantial."

Charlie started looking around for all types of wood. Hatter shook his head at Charlie. He knew that the man wouldn't be able to concentrate on this subject for more than a few minutes.

"Alright Charlie. You build yourself a cottage while I get some sleep."

"Yes, sleep. You need your sleep Mr. Hatter! We have a lot of work to do in the morning. I will start collecting the wood, you sleep. We will take turns. Very good idea."

Hatter rolled his eyes as he made his way back to the campsite. Charlie went the other war.

-

"And then we put this piece right here. Oh, but we need this type of wood to keep the house water resistant. Yes…this is going quite well. Ah- Hatter! You have woken up. Good heavens, I need some strong hands."

Hatter rubbed his eyes from his spot on the cold ground. It wasn't uncomfortable, for he had gotten used to it. What did shock him was the fact that a sort of skeleton of a house was being build a few yards away from him.

"What is he doing?" Hatter asked himself.

He stood up, the purple jacket falling to the ground as he did so. He quickly picked it up from its spot on the ground and hung it on a tree branch. After he did this, he walked over to the "house" and looked at Charlie, who was putting various logs into a pile.

"Charlie? What in heavens name are you doing?"

"Did I not tell you? I'm building a house of course."

Hatter saw the bags forming around Charlie's eyes. He closed his eyes and shook his head. He didn't think that Charlie was actually serious about building a house. "Charlie, you need to get some rest. I'll finish with the house and you get some sleep okay?"

Charlie walked over to Hatter and handed him a stack of very light logs. "If you insist Mr. Hatter! But might I ask, do you know what you are doing?"

Hatter sighed. "I have built a house before. Not on my own, but I think I will be able to manage for a few hours. Don't worry about it. You just get some sleep."

Charlie bowed once before heading back to his own sleeping spot. Hatter didn't exactly want to build a house, but he knew that he would need to get his mind off of…everything.

So, he started building the house just as Charlie asked him to.

-

Two weeks went by in Wonderland. Hatter had started to go into somewhat of a depression. Yes, he ate. But he rarely ever slept. He spent all hours of the day working on that house. He still wasn't even so sure as to why he did it. Charlie never really gave him a straight answer, he was always very broad about the entire situation.

Another week went by, and the house was not yet done, but it was getting there. Usually a house would take much longer to build, months, even years with a big crew of people. But Charlie and Hatter were doing excellent work.

It was only when Hatter seemed to go further into his depression that Charlie finally put step B of his plan into action.

"Mr. Hatter."

Hatter looked up from his part of the house to listen to what Charlie had to say. "What is it Charlie?"

"I can finish this house on my own. But it has already been three weeks! You must get back to Alice before it gets to be too late."

"What are you talking about? Why are we building a house?"

Charlie walked up to Hatter and put his hands on his shoulders. "We musn't let Alice of Legend sleep on the ground! She needs a house."

A little light bulb suddenly lit up in Hatter's brain. And while he was completely nervous about the entire situation, he still knew exactly what he had to do.

Two hours later, and he was on Charlie's horse, heading towards Jack Heart's castle.

-

"It is nice to see you again Hatter. I hope the journey here was not a very long one."

Hatter shook his head quickly. He wanted to have as little conversation with the prince as possible. "It was only a little over a day sir. But I assume you know why I came."

Jack smiled. "Yes of course. I am quite surprised that you haven't come to me sooner."

"Yes, well, I had some things to take care of."

Jack got off of his spot on his throne and walked towards Hatter. "I am a little curious as to what your plan was going to be when you got to the other world. Surely you can't go dressed in that."

Hatter's head fell down a little bit in embarrassment. This was exactly why he didn't want to go to Alice's world through Jack.

"I…"

"Of course I would be more than willing to let you have a few of my belongings from the other world. I still have quite a few articles of clothing and we appear to be about the same size. Money will not be much of an issue. I just need you to understand that if you do decide to come back, you cannot bring Alice back with you."

This comment surprised Hatter. "Why not?"

Jack let out a little sigh as he walked around a table located in the throne room. "We have stopped the intake of oysters into this world. While I will always accept Alice with open arms, it isn't safe. There are still some people out there that are taking oysters into this world and taking their emotions. An underground scientist was able to recreate the exact experiments going on in the casino. We have been doing everything we can to stop this, but there are many underground makeshift casinos out there. If you brought Alice back, she would be in severe danger."

Hatter shook his head and stepped forward. "But how are they able to get the oysters through the looking glass? You must have security of some sort surrounding it."

"Apparently there is another sort of portal to get to Alice's world. We still have not been able to find it. Anyways, as long as you don't bring Alice back, I think that everything will be fine. Follow me and I will give you proper instructions."

Hatter nodded his head in silence. He did want to bring Alice back to his home, but if this was his only option to get back to Alice, he had no other choice.

--

[Back in Alice's World]

"You mean it's been three weeks in Wonderland? It's only been two days here," whispered Alice.

Alice had explained to her mother that "David" was an old boyfriend. They were only together for a few days, which is why Alice never bothered to tell anyone. She seemed to believe this story entirely and invited him to stay for dinner. He accepted the invitation gratefully.

After dinner Alice's mother went off to sleep, leaving Alice and Hatter to sit on the couch.

"Give or take a few days. The timing is different here than it is in Wonderland. That's why it was almost as if you were gone for a mere hour."

"Why didn't you come sooner?"

"Charlie wanted to build a ho-" Hatter stopped himself. He wasn't planning on telling Alice that she wasn't supposed to go back to Wonderland. He told her that he went to her world and planned on staying there forever with her. This way Alice would be safe and he would still get the "happily ever after" of a children's book.

"I mean, Charlie. He needed someone to make sure he was all right. Once he convinced me that he was okay, I asked Jack for some assistance to get me to you. But it doesn't matter, I'm here now."

This caused a huge smile to appear on Alice's face. She leaned forward and gave Hatter a gentle, yet passionate kiss on the lips. "Yes, yes you are."

Hatter deepened the kiss. He hated lying to Alice, but he knew that it was only for her own safety. If she knew what was going on back in Wonderland, she would definitely want to try to put a stop to it. He wasn't willing to risk that.

Hatter planned on never letting Alice seeing Wonderland again, but Alice had other plans.

Comments? Suggestions? I'm not so sure if I am going to continue the story. Any thoughts?

Thanks for reading!

- Morine