A/N: Hello, everyone. I am new to the Alice fanfiction world. This is just a short one shot to one of my favorite scenes in the two part series. I hope you like enough to review and/or favorite it. I'm no good with writing what words would look like if spoken with a British accent, so please use your imagination for Hatter's speech.

What, the hell, was wrong with these people?

Her heart stopped.

This city would be the death of her, she just knew it. Backing into the ladder behind her, she refused to let it go, gripping the metal siding with all her might. She hadn't expected to look down and see a fifty foot drop just inches from where her feet stood. Vertigo hit her full force as everything began to spin. She tightened her hold on the bar, her hand turning whiter than it already was.

"What's the matter?"

His voice distracted her for a moment—and only a moment—enough for her clear her mind to form words, but not enough to turn her attention away from the edge.

"I got a thing about heights," she said, her breathing coming in shallow. She let out a short nervous chuckle and glanced over just in time to see him leaning over to take a look at the sheer drop for himself. Don't do that, her mind screamed, but she chose different words to voice. She didn't want to startle him and, unintentionally, make him lose his footing. "Why couldn't you guys build this city on the ground?"

She hated this. She felt vulnerable. She was a black belt, for goodness sake, but she couldn't get over this fear.

Deep breaths, Alice. Take big. Deep. Breaths.

"Look at me," he said, trying to sound demanding.

She couldn't break her gaze with the non-existent ground. She was too afraid to look away. Afraid that if she did, what piece of solid floor that was there would disappear and she would fall to her death.

"Alice." His voice was softer this time.

Taking another breath, she brought her attention away from the ledge and to his face. He was waiting for something. Glancing down, she saw his hand outstretched towards her.

It is said, by giving someone your hand to hold, you are entrusting your safety—your life—within that person. That's what he wanted in that moment. He wanted her to know that she could trust him to guide her safely across the narrow ledge.

Trust had been a big issue in her life since her father's disappearance a little more than a decade ago and this man in front of her was the last person she could think to trust, but what choice did she have. Slowly, she took her hand off of the ladder and placed it in his. Sky blue connected with chocolate brown as their eyes met.

His face softened when he saw how scared she really was. "Try not to look down. Okay?"

She took a deep breath before allowing him to lead her away from the ladder.

From that point on, her life was under his protection.

From that point on, he did everything he could to make sure she was safe.

Despite the fact that she still could not completely trust him—at least until the very end—he still put his own life on the line to save hers time and time again. He had become her guardian angel all throughout her journey and it had all started from that first bout of trust that she had given to him. Her well-being, her life was in his hands.