I've been sitting on this for a while, the ending just took forever to work on. So I hope you enjoy this. R&R please!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN (though for once I do not have a problem with the ending.)
A devil, he thought bitterly, was a deceiver, a tempter, a charlatan, poison in the life of an innocent. He'd seen plenty of devils in his shop, but he'd never once made a deal with one. That all changed with her, everything had changed with her.
He was about to make a deal with Alice's devil. He had no other options. Days ofter she'd traveled back through the looking glass, he knew he couldn't be without her. And Jack, the cheat, the user, the deceiver had granted him and audience.
"Why have you come to me?" Already comfortable on his new throne, Jack didn't even stand to greet his guest. The new throne room was not far from the looking glass, in fact, only two floors above it.
"I need entrance to the looking glass, your majesty." He tried to be formal, and failed. If there was something Hatter wasn't, that was it."
"To see Alice, no doubt." Jack did get up now, stood in front of his rival with a cool, disinterested look. "Listen, the looking glass is not to be used whenever we feel like it. There is no going back and forth like it's our own private toy."
"Then let me go and I won't come back." He didn't care if he ever saw Wonderland again. Now that the queen was no longer in power, there was nothing left for him here.
"It's not that simple. The looking glass has an effect on an oyster's memory. She won't remember you or anything about this place beyond a foggy dream she can't recall." Jack tried to look as sincerely apologetic but Hatter wasn't buying it. He knew Alice better than that. She could never forget him, or charlie, or any of the people she'd met here.
"I'll take my chances." She was worth risking it, whether he was right or not. This was Alice they were talking about. Alice, who'd convinced him to follow her without ever once actually asking, who'd taken all of Wonderland with fewer questions then she should have had.
"Well, I won't." Jack walked away, going nowhere in particular. He needed Hatter to stay, because in his mind if he couldn't have Alice, neither could Hatter. "You have nothing she needs, you don't even know if she loves you or if you were a means to an end. Face it, you don't know her."
Hatter's eyes met his in a rage he hadn't known he had before he met Alice with her innocent naive eyes and confusing logic. How dare he. After everything he put her through, he had no right to talk about her like that. Didn't know her? He knew enough. It was Jack who didn't know her. "I know you better than you do, I'd stake my life on that."
"Alright." Jack had been planning this, Hatter could see that now. He'd been working him around to saying that. "I've been getting pressure to throw you in jail for tea trafficking. So here's what I'll do. I'll let you travel through the looking glass, with an escort. If she remembers you and wants you in her life, I'll grant you a reprieve and allow you to stay. If she doesn't want you or know you, my escort will bring you back here to serve out your sentence. You will never be able to make another journey through the looking glass. Agreed?"
Always willing to take a challenge and make a bet, Hatter couldn't pass up this opportunity. "Agreed."
Hatter turned to leave, it killed him to have to wait even the minutes it wold take him to reach the looking glass. He was already halfway to the door when Jack spoke. "If she takes you and things don't work out, there's no coming back. You'll be stuck in the real world forever."
Hatter grinned, tipped his hat. "No worries, I have all confidence in the world that we'll do just fine."
That was a lie, Hatter thought as he walked to the looking glass room. He was staking a lot on a slim to none chance. After all, she'd had a choice between him and Jack before. She'd picked Jack. Hatter smiled a little, Jack wasn't even an option this time.
But what if, the small voice in the back of his head reminded him. What if she still didn't want him. She'd never asked him to go with her, it'd been his idea in the first place. Sure, she'd said he could visit, but visiting was different than staying. Would she want him to stay?
Absently he started making back up plans, he could run for it, but he wouldn't make it very far before the suits caught him. So he'd end up in prison, that wouldn't be so bad. He had connections even there. Like he'd once told Alice, one of the privileges of, formerly, running a tea shop.
He heard footsteps behind him, turned to look at the club who now followed him. "You must be his majesty's pet." The man said nothing, but Hatter recognized him. It had come out quickly that while they were not selling emotions anymore, the house of cards was still standing. With Jack in charge, Hatter doubted much would change.
She was the first thing in his mind when he stepped through the glass. The second was that it was dark and cold. The man stepped out behind him. Something fell beside him onto the concrete, Hatter picked up the flash light and helmet that had landed practically on his feet. There was a large hole in the ceiling and several more in the floor in front of him. This building was a wreck.
He took his own hat off, and put the hard hat on when small bits of rubble fell yet again. Cautiously he continued forward. And he heard the small noise before his escort did. He turned the flashlight down into the hole. What he saw there had his heart jumping to his throat. Alice was laying there, unmoving.
He took off, barely managing to find the stairwell without getting killed. Her eyes opened a little when he flashed the light on her. When he scooped her up, her head lolled over so that she could meet his eyes. "Hatter."
Panic took over as he carried her out. "Wake up, Alice, stay with me. Just wake up, darling."
But she didn't wake up again.
He was in a hotel room, pacing back and forth. He had a feeling the escort was reporting back, but he'd be back just in time to see what was what. All he wanted was for the phone to ring, he wanted to know she was alright. Even if she did turn him away, what was important now was that she was alright.
When the phone rang, he practically leaped for it. They didn't have phones in Wonderland, no, but he'd been through the looking glass two or three times. But he'd never felt the need to use one, not until now. "Hello?"
"Is this David? The construction worker?" An older woman spoke briskly, though her voice was shaking slightly.
"Yeah, that's me." He sat down on the bed.
"This is Caroline Hamilton." As if he didn't already know that. "I wanted to let you know that Alice is awake and doing well. I am so grateful that you were there and found her when you did."
He swallowed hard, she was going to be alright, everything would be fine. "I'm glad I was there. Actually, I was wondering, and I know this is unusual, if I could come see her. I'd like to see her alive and well, just to see it for myself."
"Of course," She didn't seem to think it was an awkward thing to ask, in fact, she seemed eager. "She'll be back home in the morning, why don't I just give you the address?"
He smiled, breathed easy now. "That'd be great."
He was standing outside her door, just gathering the courage to knock. Now was his last chance, he could turn around and make a break for it. He could hide out in her world, always being close to her but never being able to see her. Certainly Jack would post a guard when he heard, and Hatter would never be able to return.
What was he talking about? This was what he wanted. She was the only thing that was important. And he wasn't lying on the phone. He needed to see that she was as alright as her mother claimed. So swallowing his fears, he knocked on the door.
He pulled away, kept her within arms length. He could still feel her on his lips, could see nothing but her. "Why did you follow me?" She asked breathlessly.
"I couldn't say goodbye." He shrugged, as honestly as he always had.
"Good." She clung to him still, never wanting to let go. She'd regretted her decision to leave since she woke up. It had been a quick wake up call. She was majorly in love with him. That was all there was to it. "I'm not ever going to let you say goodbye again."
And that, Hatter knew, was the end of it. He'd made a deal with Alice's devil because he loved her like he'd never loved another person in his life. And he'd do it all over again, from the moment she walked into his tea shop and changed his life, just to be right here with her, forever.