I (sadly) do not own any of these characters

A/N: First fan fiction, but I simply couldn't get the idea out of my head. Enjoy! And review too?

Hatter had no idea how the fight had really started. He'd been bantering playfully with Alice, arguing about something inconsequential, but that wasn't anything unusual for them. With two very strong personalities, they had quarreled often in the few months since they'd been reunited. And these arguments usually ended with a smile and a kiss. Nothing to worry about.

Not this one though. Hatter hadn't noticed when the conversation had taken a dangerous turn, but he did notice when it turned into a fight. Alice had become angry and upset with no explanation. When he was honest with himself, Hatter admitted that he could have seen the outburst coming had he been paying closer attention. But by this point she had already stormed out of his apartment and slammed the door behind her. With a sigh, Hatter threw himself down on the sofa.

Alice's words were still ringing in his ears. "You've stopped on me!" she'd shouted. The sentence had frozen Hatter where he stood, completely confused. Before he could ask what the hell Alice was talking about, she continued. "You've stopped trying to get closer to me, Hatter. I know that I've had my trust issues, but you don't even try any more!"

Here she had paused, finally giving Hatter the chance to speak. "What the HELL are you talking about, Alice?" The question had come out harsher than he had intended, but he didn't really care at the moment. "I'm still here, aren't I? You don't see me leaving you! I'm trying my best to make you happy. What more do you want?"

"I need you to fight for me." Once again Alice's words surprised Hatter. "I need to know that you're doing more than just not leaving. That's no guarantee that you won't. I need to know… I need to know that your heart's really in it. I feel like you're holding out on me." Hatter had been unable to find a response to her and in the silence she had left.

Now that he had thought about what Alice said about him, he realized she was right. He loved her more than himself, but he had stopped trying to find out who this lovely, aggravating, and surprising person called Alice Hamilton really was. They'd reached a comfortable stage, and Hatter had just… stopped. And as for letting Alice get under his skin… She said that she had trust issues. But the wall he had built around himself made hers look like a charming white picket fence. Alice had gotten farther inside it than any other person, but she was still pretty near the periphery.

Of course, Hatter wasn't ready to say any of this to Alice yet. But he had to get out of the apartment. He grabbed his tan leather jacket and hat that he'd worn the last time he was in Wonderland and took off, striding down the street without really thinking about where he was going. The city was a good place to take a walk if you needed to blow off some steam. Nobody ever seemed to notice if you looked angry because, frankly, most of the pedestrians looked that way. But within a few minutes Hatter found himself outside the abandoned building that housed the Looking Glass. He sighed, realizing what his subconscious already knew.

Checking first to make sure no one was around, Hatter walked back to the looking glass and jumped through. Moments later, he emerged in Wonderland. He turned around and glanced at the mirror, marveling at how much easier the transition had been this trip through the looking glass. His thoughts were quickly cut short by a sword pressed against the small of his back. Hatter cursed himself for not thinking about security stationed at the mirror. This was not going well.

"State your name and intention, traveler!" Hatter relaxed. The voice that shouted the challenge was wonderfully familiar. He'd forgotten whom Jack had placed as the head of the mirror guard.

"Charlie, it's me!" Hatter quickly said, turning around to see his friend.

The White Knight immediately lowered his sword and clapped Hatter on the shoulder. He grinned before responding. "By the king, it is you! Harbinger, what are you doing back in Wonderland?" However, confusion swept over his face and the smile began to fade. "And without the Lady Alice?"

Hatter rolled his eyes. He really didn't need the questioning right now. "We had a fight-" he began but was cut off by the knight's sword in his face again.

"Do NOT tell me that you are abandoning Alice of Legend!" Charlie shouted.

"No! Look Charlie, I just needed to pop back here and collect a few things left in my shop." The last thing he needed was an angry rant from the knight. "We were using the time to get over the argument." The knight looked suspicious but lowered his weapon anyway.

"Hurry then, harbinger. You should not leave her alone in that world." Hatter certainly agreed with him on that one.

"I'll be back in less than an hour, Charlie."

Once he got to his shop, Hatter warily made his way back to his office. There'd been looters in the front rooms where tea had been sold, but that was to be expected. Luckily, he found his office relatively untouched, if a bit dusty. But Hatter crossed the room, stopping in front of his desk.

Which he promptly shoved aside. He knelt on the ground where it had been and pulled a pocketknife out of his jacket. Looking at it again, he realized it was the same one he'd threatened to cut the ex-queen's finger off with. Smiling to himself a little, he set to work cutting a large square out of the lawn.

Pulling the grass back revealed a neat hole in the floor. Hatter reached in and pulled out a small, ornately carved wooden box. Carefully placing it in his inner jacket pocket, he also pulled out a largish book covered in what appeared to be lavender velvet. Scooping up the book, Hatter stood up and made to leave his office. He paused at the door, gazing at his office one last time. Strangely, he felt no real pain in leaving it. Hatter had a new life now… if only he could keep from screwing it up.

Remembering how time tended to run a bit differently in Wonderland from Alice's world, Hatter lost no time in getting back to the mirror. Charlie nodded when he was Hatter burst back into the mirror room at almost a run.

"Well done, harbinger! Now quickly, return to Lady Alice!" After a short pause he added, "And do tell the young lady that I miss her!" Hatter grinned as he stepped through the Looking Glass and disappeared.

When Hatter stepped from the building onto the sidewalk, he glanced up at the sky. Judging from the position of the sun, he had to have been gone a few hours. But otherwise, everything seemed the same – weather, cars parked on the street. Luckily the time difference hadn't been days this time. Hatter hurried back to his apartment, deciding to ring up Alice as soon as he got there.

But when Hatter reached the steps leading up to his door, he found Alice already waiting there. She was sitting on the steps, clutching her knees and crying. As soon as she saw Hatter however, she jumped up and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck. The pair stumbled a step back, causing Hatter to drop the book in his hand. Not that he noticed right then.

"I was so angry when I left, I just stormed out. When I calmed down I realized that I needed to come back here and talk to you calmly this time. But then I got here and you weren't here and I though – I thought- " Alice stopped, her voice choking up with fear.

Hatter took a step back so he could look at her properly. "What, love? Did you think I had left you?" He hadn't counted on Alice coming back to the loft so quickly.

Alice looked back at him with wide brown eyes before telling him. "I thought that I'd driven you back to Wonderland." Alice's face was so vulnerable as she admitted her fear that Hatter couldn't help but wrap his arms around her and crush her body against his.

"You couldn't do anything to drive me away from you, Alice. Now, love, I did make a quick trip through the looking glass, but that was only to retrieve this." As he finished, Hatter pulled out the box that was in his pocket.

Confusion flitted across Alice's features. "What? What is that?" Hatter simply handed her the box and waited for her to open it. She did so hesitantly, but caught her breath as soon as she saw what it contained. A single pendant attached to a delicate silver chain rested on black velvet inside the box. It was an enamel circle with a detailed blue rose in the middle of a raspberry red background. A vine dotted with brilliant green leaves ran in a circle just around the edge.

"Oh, Hatter, it's beautiful," Alice breathed. "But … where did you get it?"

Hatter gave her a lopsided grin. He was relieved that she loved it. "It's been in my family for ages, but the last person to own it was my mother. I think she would want you to have it. After all, I certainly have no use for it myself." Alice laughed a little and closed the lid.

"Thank you, Hatter." She leaned forward and gently kissed him. With a little difficulty, Hatter pulled back again.

He scooped the velvet book off the steps and sat down, pulling Alice down next to him. "Listen," he began, unsure of how to proceed but going on anyway, "you were absolutely right." Alice began to protest, but Hatter stopped her with a finger across her lips. "No, let me finish. I had grown comfortable with where we were, and frankly, I was scared to push it. I didn't want to push you too far and make you run or even scare you off with my own past. So, I decided to hide it instead." Hatter paused and began playing with Alice's hand. "But you see, I can't let that happen to us. I guess what I'm saying is that yes, I'll fight for you, Alice. I'll always be pursuing you. And I won't hold out on you, love."

Unable to think of anything to say, Alice instead brushed her lips over Hatter's cheek. "I don't need you to convince me any more, Hatter." He smiled and kissed Alice again, more deeply this time, savoring in the moment.

They broke away after a minute or two, realizing that the street wasn't the best place to start making out with each other. Standing up, Alice saw the book.

"Hatter, what is that?"

"Family photo album. Thought you might like to see my life before we met." Hatter then looped his arm around her waist and walked up the steps to his apartment.

Alice thought that was something she would like to see quite a bit.

The End