Hello again, here is my second attempt at an Alice fic. Once again, I am very excited for Tim Burton's adaptation (especially so since Johnny Depp will be in it), and my excitement has been slowly channeling itself into a series of experiments regarding Alice x Hatter concepts.

I have also been replaying American McGee's Alice game (very good, highly recommend it, it still scares me even though I'm an adult now) and it's been throwing me more inspiration than I know what to do with.

The ultimate result is this bit of fan fiction, which will hopefully extend for a dozen chapters if my schoolwork doesn't kill me before then. And of course please grant me some leeway with it, I've not seen the film, I don't know the particular details of the plot or of the characters themselves. I've read that the Hatter's attire is supposed to reflect his mood so I've made his suit magical—it has the ability to change colors. The Cheshire Cat is a mix of the Burton and McGee Cat—clever and a bit cynical.

And so begins my attempt at an Alice fic, starting at what I presume to be the end of the 2010 film. Enjoy, and reviews are most certainly welcome!

I didn't particularly like the way he looked at me. Wide green eyes sunken in a white face and lips quivering as if he was swallowing every few moments. Perhaps a side effect of the "mad" title? Or maybe he had picked up the habit from drinking too much tea. I couldn't find the words to ask, nor did I find it particularly proper to.

But really, it wasn't the fact his face was as white as a sheet and his eyes were following mine, it was the fact that he seemed so…stricken. Anxiety wasn't the right word as the wide eyes always gave that effect, nor was remorse quite right. Deep down I would have guessed he was terrified about something.

But he was looking at me.

I didn't want to know why he looked so fearful. It was breaking my heart that he looked on the verge of tears. It was then I heard a choke and a sob. It took another moment and two silent tears sliding down his face for me to realize those were my desperate cries and not his.

The scream shocked me to life. Suddenly everything was clear as day and I was sobbing, "Hatter….Hatter please…"

Lips once pressed to a thin line quivered. "Alice?" he asked in a timid voice. My crying drowned him out. I turned away, shutting my eyes and hiding from the white room the Hatter and I sat in.

"Alice, please," he prodded lightly.

I couldn't face him, just as I presumed it took every ounce of courage in him to stay beside me. For though I could not feel it, I suspected there was something horribly wrong with me by the way his eyes had followed me so. I couldn't face that face while I remembered how he had been so willing and ready to fight for my mortality and I had stood aside like a pathetic damsel.

The Hatter wielded a regal sword, a grimace painted to his usually lively face. He had pushed past me briskly as the Knave stepped forward, standing far taller and his sword leagues more menacing (probably because he knew just how to wield it, while I feared any blade in the Hatter's hand). I had fallen to the way side, my knees buckling beneath my dress as I stumbled to the ground. The Cat appeared not long after the Hatter and the Knave began to duel. He'd whispered something to me that I soon forgot and then I found myself shaking with the most tremendous fright. The Hatter's blade had been flung out of his hand and he too had staggered backwards, sitting helplessly before the Knave with a sword tip pressed to his throat.

"No!"

"Dear girl this is not a wise idea—" said the Cat.

"Please, sir Knave. Please--!" The sword jerked forward and I saw the Hatter gasp. "I would think you of all people should understand—" I was babbling.

His dark eye cut across the field to me. I felt that if it were any other circumstance that I would have froze under his cold gaze.

"I love him," I spoke defiantly.

The Knave's hand shook. My words had hexed him. The Hatter was motionless before him, but his eyes were on me and I wouldn't meet them.

"Sir Knave of Hearts, you cannot destroy love, can you?" I was coming to my feet once again.

"Alice!" the Cat hissed.

From the corner of my eye I could see the Hatter's shabby clothes dying themselves a deep red. With the Knave's eye on me, he hadn't seen his opponent reaching for his sword. He barked in fury when the blade pierced his side. Inside, I smiled at the Hatter's cunning wit. Externally, however, a look of deep disapproval had painted my face as I crossed my arms.

"How dare you?" I called.

"Girl, your day will come," he snarled. The anger those black eyes seeped shook me to the core. I couldn't help a shriek when the Knave turned and lunged at the Hatter again—this time grabbing him around the throat and giving him quite a shake before shoving him aside.

Some time passed in which my head swam and I couldn't remember much of anything, no conversation nor the feeling of my scraped knees. The Cat chattered darkly behind the two of us as the Hatter led the way back into the grove, back into the twisted forest that would eventually lead us to the Queen's abode. At some point my senses returned, as I remember our conversation very profoundly.

"Alice."

I made a small sound of acknowledgement and turned my eye to the Hatter.

"You saved me," he murmured. He did not face me as we climbed over broken branches and brambles, although he offered a hand over a particularly large fallen tree. "You shan't do that any more," he continued lowly.

"But Hatter—that Knave was going to kill you and I couldn't let it happen!"

"I appreciate your bravery, Alice, but you mustn't put your neck out like that anymore. Your life is far more valuable than mine."

Initially I was shocked at his lucidness. But that thought quickly passed as I protested, "It most certainly is not. You are a dear friend and that's what friends do for one and other."

He suddenly stopped and swiveled to face me. I nearly ran into him, I had been following so closely. "No, Alice."

I began shouting. "Then why? Why am I so important? Why is it that everyone treats me like a flower or something to be broken?" I took a breath. "Why were you so anxious to meet me?"

He glanced aside a moment and then replied, "The Queen."

"What?" I spat.

"You must defeat the Queen. You are the only one who can."

I took a step back and blinked furiously.

"We cannot save this place on our own. It is linked to you and therefore you are the only one who can drive the irreversible stake into the Queen's heart."

"We have tried," the Cat was suddenly speaking again. "The mark of our last attempt is on his face and in his eyes. On the Hare as well."

I looked between the two and felt an immense sinking feeling with the disappearance of the Cat's grin and the total lack of emotion from the Hatter. I glanced his face again—seeing the brilliant green of his eyes that were now a bit darker, the orange hair that stood out in stark contrast and the unnatural white complexion. Suddenly my mouth dropped open. I shook my head and looked to the Cat again.

"But I… He's a hatter…"

"Your suspicions spell the truth, girl."

I looked to my feet, unable to say so.

"We were so close. But everything went to the dogs when the Red Queen poisoned him," the Cat sighed.

Only a second of silence resonated before the Hatter chimed, "Come along now, dear, we mustn't be late." Suddenly the man was gone. It was the Hatter speaking now.

The visions faded away as blackness overtook my eyes. I squeezed them tight as a silky voice purred right beside my ear, "He was willing to die for you, as it would give meaning to his efforts."