Beyond the Looking Glass

Chapter Two


"I missed you…"

There were a thousand different scenarios he'd envisioned for their reuniting – most of which included a kiss in some form, admittedly – but this wasn't one of them. He'd been warned about guys making a good impression on Oyster mothers. It was important. Half devouring her daughter's face right in front of her didn't seem like it was the best of his ideas, but how was he to be prepared for the tidal wave of emotions that hit him the minute Alice ran into his arms and hugged him?

For all the bad points most Oyster's had, the ability to feel so deeply was something Hatter had found intriguing. In Wonderland, all emotions were fairly even, rising and falling minimally but never enough to really make a difference. They were pale diluted reflections of the things Oysters possessed (which is why those abominations for 'tea' had been so ruddy popular) and when he was near Alice…well, he felt it. He felt the drastic rises and falls in his own emotions and they soared higher then the sky when she touched him, so warm and soft and he'd just wanted one simple touch to those lips

The abashed look on his face once he pulled away wasn't entirely feigned, still facing Alice rather then her mother. It was comforting that he wasn't the only one who looked a bit shocked by the intensity in that kiss, her face the image of surprise once she realized what they'd done. Neither of them had been very touchy feely in Wonderland, more due to her reticence then anything from his side of things.

"Alice?" It was both a reprimand and question, clearly heard and understood as his Alice winced, as if struck, and grinned a shy smile that made him want to split into a wide grin of his own.

God, she was so adorable sometimes.

"Mom…I can explain that," she told her, dislodging herself from his arms and keeping a discrete distance that made him want to pout. He already ached for the feel of her in his arms, though it was nothing he didn't logically understand. Couldn't go off and jump her every time in the presence of her mum. Even in Wonderland, there were rules about such things.

"I'd love to hear it." There was reprimand, censure, and curiousness in Carol's tone, and Hatter had to remind himself that, according to Abby, barely a day had passed since she'd met Jack. Oyster women just didn't jump in their affections that quickly, though he was baffled as to why not. Wonderland women did it all the time. It was just a matter of course to trade up in relationships for money, knowledge, power…whatever it was that tickled your fancy. He'd always done so in what relationships he'd had for knowledge and some measure of political power…money was just an added bonus if it was included since its value was decidedly less then the value Oysters put on it.

"This is not the first time we've met," he tried to explain, ignoring the dry looks both women shot him. No more wondering about where Alice got that look from. "We've a mutual acquaintance in Jack…Chase. Met a few times, sort of a meet-the-friends-of-the-bloke brunch type thing, and struck up a friendship of sorts."

Whether Carol believed this or not, he couldn't say, though Hatter suspected not. Still, she went with it, looking at her daughter rather pointedly. "Really? You never mentioned it to me. I thought you said Jack didn't seem to have many friends."

"He doesn't," Alice agreed. "Just Hatter and one or two others that I know of."

"So you and David are acquainted," Carol murmured, still staring that unnerving stare at them both like they were errant little children suspected of playing with fire. "What happened last night then? Last I knew you were just going to take a break with Jack, yet today…" She stared at him pointedly now. "…Today you're jumping into David's arms like a long lost love."

"When I ran after Jack, I saw him down an alley," Alice began, casting a brief glance towards him out of the corner of her eye. "He was on the phone with a woman – his fiancée." She paused here, visibly recalling the pain that piece of information must've caused her when she first found out, and Hatter mentally added it to the list of things he needed to punch Jack Heart in the face for.

He saw the story play out in his mind even before he piped up, picking it up to spin it so it blended with his own. The words formed easily on his tongue, though a part of him really disliked lying so blatantly to Alice's mother. Lying to good, honest people had never left a good taste in his mouth, after all. "I ran into her then – she'd run blindly into the building while I was heading back to the site to get my phone." He held up the tiny portable cell Abby had tossed at him (literally) before he'd left. "We talked a bit, I tried to calm her some, and I kind of…slipped out that I fancied her." Hatter shrugged with his most self-depreciating smile on his face. "Never could be accused of having the best timing ever for those sorts of things. When we got up to leave, she knocked into one of the beams."

Dutifully, Alice touched the goose egg on her head that the fall from the mirror had caused. "Really bad timing," she agreed with a completely straight expression. "Honestly, he's always been nice to me – nicer then I deserved a lot of times." Her voice dipped in real emotion and Hatter warmed as he raised a hand to take one of her own, caressing the back of hers with his thumb. It was an action Carol did not miss, though she didn't make any sign of having noticed. "I told him we could take it slow and see…" Rather half heartedly, he thought with an amused twitch of his lip, she turned and gave him the evil eye. "Though that was certainly not slow."

"I was overcome by the glow of your presence, dear Alice." Hatter didn't bother hiding his grinning smile this time, going low in a sweeping bow at her. His hat fell from his head and rolled down his arm to his hand, finishing the effect as Carol Hamilton's lips quirked in unabashed amusement. The slightly suffocating fog that had been descending around them all lifted, and Hatter breathed a mental sigh of relief.

"He's certainly a charmer with pretty words," she murmured, shaking her head with a smile.

Alice breathed a sigh too, squeezing his hand once. "You have no idea, mom. No idea."


Dinner passed uneventfully, though it was more like an informal inquisition if he were honest. Carol Hamilton was a charming hostess, all gentle smiles and comforting radiance, but had a way of asking questions that would put Mad March to shame. Hatter kept his answers as truthful as possible, and he really didn't have to lie for most of them. He really didn't remember his parents and really had spent the majority of his youth on the city streets with a rag tag group of fellow orphans that eventually dwindled to just him and one other. Alice seemed intently interested in it all, which made him a little nervous, but he tried to ignore that for later.

They had all the time in the world to get to know each other now.

By the end of the night, as Carol stood to retreat, he was surprised to receive a warm hug from her – one he returned after the initial surprise ebbed away. Hatter waited until she'd disappeared into her room to fall back onto the couch, arms spread out along the back and a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding coming out in a long whoosh.

"Your mum is a mite intimidatin', Alice."

"She likes you," she admitted, standing behind him so that she was looking down into his face, a sort of wondering expression on her own. She touched his face with her own, gentle as a feather.

Hatter closed his eyes and breathed contentedly, "That feels good." He shivered slightly when he hand drifted down from his cheek to his neck and the slope of his shoulder, inordinately pleased by the feather soft sensations the movements created along his skin. Opening his eyes, he smiled slightly when he noted the close proximity their faces were in and reached up to close that distance…

Until the stupid phone in his pocket vibrated, bleated out a loud blaring of trumpets noise, and made him leap a good two feet in the air.

Snapping a curse in Wonderland's ancient tongue that no one even knew anymore (and something he only knew from years of childhood boredom and a wealth of ancient tomes in the Great Library at his disposal), Hatter almost chucked the evil thing out the open window of the apartment before deciding better of it. Flipping it open, he had to press a few buttons (with a little help from a very amused Alice) before he managed to pull up the text message thing that had interrupted their otherwise perfect moment.

"Hope you survived," he read out loud, "Key to apartment is inside the mailbox. Wake me up when you get back and die." Hatter made a noise and closed the phone with a grunt. "It's like my childhood all over again. Next thing you know Dodo will be randomly popping up to thrash me for doing things his spies let him know I've done." He paused and looked out the nearest window, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. He didn't see anyone, but then, members of the Resistance typically weren't ever seen. Not the good ones, anyway. And Dodo had always sent the good ones to keep an eye on him.

"You're staying with someone?" Alice asked, surprised.

"Jack and the Resistance had an old pal of mine who's been living in your world here help me get acclimated to life in this world. Same one who helped Jack when he first came." He'd also been a royal pain in the ass about being taught things, if even half of what Abby had told him last night were true. It had earned Wonderland's current monarch a wide array of nicknames, 'Pampered Princeling' being one of the nicer ones. "I'm going to be staying with her until I learn enough to be on my own, then I'll take over Jack's former apartment." It rankled to use anything of his, but Hatter was comforted by the fact that he'd barely used the place and that he could model it to his own style before he moved in.

"…Her?" Alice's voice dropped an octave and Hatter looked up when he realized it was not a happy sound. "You're staying with a woman?"

Oh hell, he thought. Me and my big mouth.


Well, that was delightful fun. Hatter managed to get interrupted in a nice little moment with Alice by his phone (Come on, I know lots of people had to have that happen once or twice), interrogated by Carol, and stick his foot in his mouth all in one chapter. Lol. I LOVE Hatter. He is too much fun to torture...I mean PLAY with. Not so much Abby here, aside from some brief references. This really is Hatter-centric since it's more his time to shine.

As always, PLEASE review. Even if this is more of a fun thing for me to write (As I rewatch Alice on a perpetual loop on my PS2), I really do want feedback.

Next chapter: Hatter gets to see why it's a bad idea having a best mate who's a girl (and knows a lot of embarrassing things) and the object of his affections (who is just a tad bit jealous) together in the same room.