AN: Sorry it took so long. Hopefully, this chapter will be satisfactory.

Warnings: Possible OOC and grammar and spelling mistakes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or American McGee's Alice.

Chapter 2: And Officially Starts Because of Several Impatient People

May 11th, 2002 10:00 PM- The Witwicky's House

"In a Wonderland they lie,

Dreaming as the days go by,

Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream–

Lingering in the golden gleam–

Life, what is it but a dream?"

"The End," Judy said as she closed the book Through the Looking Glass.

"Again! Again!" a seven-year-old Alice exclaimed.

"Again? This is the second time I've read it to you today. Aren't you tired of this book already? Every night I either read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or this book to you." Judy placed the book on the bedside next to Alice's bed and stood up. Alice pouted at her mother and shook her head.

"Nope! They're my favorite books," she declared with a cheeky grin. "Pretty please? Just one more time," she pleaded. Judy simply shook her head, smiling fondly at her.

"You need to sleep," Judy stated. "Now lie down, close your eyes, and sleep." Alice's pout grew. She opened her mouth, but closed it when her mom gave her a firm look. Alice grumbled as she lay down on her bed and picked up her stuffed white rabbit.

"'Night mom," she mumbled into her toy as she hugged it close to her.

"Goodnight sweetheart." Judy closed the lights and gently closed the door. Alice snuggled into her bed and laid there waiting to fall asleep. Her fingers twitched as she longed to open her lamp and read the book herself, but she knew her mother would somehow know about her late night reading activity. And like every other time, Judy would reprimand her the next morning.

At least she still had her dreams to look forward to. Shortly after her mother had first read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to her when she was around two years old, she had dreams about Alice Liddell's journey to Wonderland.

Sometimes her dreams were like a movie, where she was able to see everything as if she was a bystander. Other times, it was like she was Alice Liddell herself exploring Wonderland. Whenever she was a bystander in her dreams, Liddell's face was always blurry. Which was strange since she was able to clearly see the faces of everyone else. All she knew was that Alice looked very familiar and that she had dark hair.

There was not a blonde strand of hair in sight even though Disney's Alice was blonde. The dark hair wasn't the only difference. Liddell's outfit was also somewhat different from her Disney counterpart. It was a darker blue and there were these two strange signs on the pockets of the apron. She wore long black boots with buckles and straps on them and wore a necklace with what seemed like a horseshoe. Overall, it was very different from the Alice portrayed in the Disney movie.

No matter what body she was in, she could feel every emotion Liddell felt and hear every thought Liddell had. However, as a bystander, she had the liberty of exploring her surroundings and having a closer look on the various items instead of just having a 360° view from Liddell's head if she were in Liddell's body.

But her dreams weren't always about Wonderland. It was only recently that her dreams consisted of events not described in the books. Before, her dreams were reruns of each other, repeating over and over again, but now she had dreams of a happy family who could only be the Liddell family and of interactions in Wonderland that weren't mentioned in the books.

Alice frowned. While she loved thinking her dreams, right now it was preventing her from sleeping. She huffed and shut her eyes tightly, willing herself to go to sleep. It only took several minutes for her breathing to even out and for her dreams to begin.

Unknown to her though, several pairs of eyes were watching her sleep. Anyone who saw the floating figures of the abnormal beings would have rubbed their eyes in disbelief, gawked when they didn't disappear, and then faint or go into shock A whispered discussion started when they all saw her body relax.

"So we all agree?" a regal woman in white asked. She turned to look at her companions and saw them all nod their heads.

"Do proceed. It's best not to be late for anything, especially for something as important as Alice's return," a small white rabbit wearing a black top hat and a red coat rushed out. He eyes kept darting to the pocket watch on his right paw.

A tall green man smiled in excitement. "Oh, best not be late for tea. Life is so dull without it. I mean, have you seen her life right now? Not even a drop of tea anywhere! We'll have to fix that won't we March Hare, Dormouse?" He nudged the two beings floating on either side of him. On his left was a giant brown hare that wore a pair of circular spectacles and a red checkered vest over a long white shirt. On his right was a giant brown mouse. The only odd thing about this mouse, other than his height, was the giant iron gear jutting out from his back. Both beings nodded their heads in agreement.

"The sooner this is done, the sooner we can rectify this atrocity," the March Hare declared. Unlike his green companion, he had a Scottish accent instead of a British one.

"I think we left the kettle on," giggled the Dormouse. He had been swaying as though he was drunk since he first appeared. From time to time, he even hiccuped and small bubbles escaped from his mouth.

"Oh it would be nice to have someone fetch me some Pig Snouts. The light has such a horrible effect on my alabaster skin," a woman in pigtails sighed.

"Silence," a woman in a red, tattered dress snapped. "Enough talking. We've discussed this beforehand and I am tired of all this stalling. I have other, more important matters to attend to."

"As much as it pains me to say this, her Majesty is right. Let's get the night over with. The sooner this is done, the sooner we can have Alice back," said the Cheshire Cat. "If you will Caterpillar."

"Are you all finally done?" the Caterpillar, who was really a butterfly, asked with an eyebrow raised. Some opened their mouth to comment, but Caterpillar simply continued to speak, ignoring them. "Good. Let's begin." He took a deep breath from his opium pipe and released it slowly. Glittering smoke of various colors flew out, seeped through the small crack between the window and the windowsill, and gathered around Alice's head. The smoke curled and gathered into a large ball. It stayed in that shape for a second before dispersing and covering her entire body, but the amount of smoke above her head was denser than the smoke above the rest of her body. Alice coughed as the smoke submerged into her body, but did not wake up. Instead, her eyebrows furrowed as she grew more restless.

"Let's go," the Caterpillar said, turning away from Alice. As he started to fade, he said to the others, "Our part is done. Now all we have to do is wait. Rabbit, Cat, remember your duty as guardians and guides to Alice in the real world."

"As if we would forget," the Cat sneered at Caterpillar while the Rabbit scowled.

"I know. Just a reminder to the both of you. There is no need to be so offended." Caterpillar chuckled before completely fading away. The Cat's sneer and the Rabbit's scowl vanished at that. The others decided to follow his lead and before long, everyone was gone leaving Alice to her upsetting dreams.

While the others had gone on their merry way, Alice's dreams had taken a dark turn once the smoke had completely disappeared. No longer was she celebrating an unbirthday with the Mad Hatter and his friends, but now she watched puzzled as the Hatter told her to wake up. He kept screaming "Fire! Fire!" She understood once she "woke up." Liddell's house was burning around her.

This was one of those dreams where she was Liddell herself. She watched as her body moved on its own and listened as Liddell cried out to her family. She had no control whatsoever because this was only a dream. While others may say that they had some control over their dreams, she never did.

If she had any control over her dreams, she would have tried to help Liddell or at least comfort her. Instead, all she could do was cry when Liddell's family was burned alive (Wake up Lizzie, wake up! Open the door. Why is it locked? Lizzie? Lizzie!), tilt her head in confusion when she saw a half-man, half-horse hiding in the trees (A centaur? In Oxford?!), and watch as Liddell was sent to a nearby hospital (Why did this happen? Why, why, why, why, why?!).

When Liddell was transferred to a place called Rutledge Asylum, Alice cringed and winced at every sound that she heard. The sounds consisted of screams and deranged laughter that was heard from nearly every locked door. Apparently, an asylum was where all the insane people went. She had seen mental hospitals before, but only in cartoons. However, this asylum was absolutely terrifying and completely different from the mental hospitals on TV!

Since first arriving at the asylum, she had been separated from Liddell's body. It wasn't the first time this kind of change had happened so she wasn't disoriented at all. While normally she would have skipped off and gone exploring, this time she made sure to stick very close to Liddell's prone body. She was practically glued to Liddell's side. Alice's normally abundant curiosity had dwindled to a very small grain. She had absolutely no desire whatsoever to explore this dark and terrible place.

A nurse escorted Liddell down a dirty, dank, and dimly lit corridor. The nurse had no face and wore a dirty nurse's outfit. Liddell sat on a wheelchair and stared blankly into space. With every passing moment and every step forward, the screams seemed to get worse. Alice covered her ears, but didn't dare close her eyes. Instead, she kept her eyes on Liddell's prone body. She did not want to end up lost and suffer through the screams.

After what seemed like forever, the nurse finally stopped in front of a door. The nurse opened the door, rolled Liddell's wheelchair in, and placed Liddell's body onto the bed. She left shortly afterwards.

Alice watched the back of the nurse as she closed the door to Liddell's new room. She heard the click that signified that the door was now locked. Thankfully, the screams were now muffled. Alice went over to Liddell's bed and sat at the very edge. While her body was intangible and therefore wouldn't bother Liddell or anything at all, it was both very rude and weird to sit on someone's body without his/her permission.

Liddell hadn't moved even once throughout the whole trip. Not even one little twitch despite the horrid screams that echoed off the walls. Alice focused her attention on Liddell's face. For the first time in five years, she was able to see Liddell's face. Well, only one clear definite feature–her eyes. Now that there were no distractions, Alice could now actually pay close attention to Liddell's eyes.

Liddell's eyes were emerald green, the same color as hers Alice noted. But Liddell's eyes were glazed and dull, as if she was dead inside. Alice felt an involuntary chill crawl up her spine. She tentatively reached out her hand with her pointer finger stretched outwards to poke Liddell's face. Absently, she wondered if her hand would go straight through. Her hand shook more violently as the distance between Liddell's face and her pointer finger lessened.

Alice? Wake up Alice.

Alice whirled around tense and worried. The last time she heard those words was at the beginning of the dream. In her opinion, it was a hundred years too early for her to be in another burning house.

Her surroundings began to blur as the voice echoed around her. She opened her eyes to see her mother's worried face above her.

"Alice are you alright? You were tossing and turning in your bed," Judy asked, her concern audible in her voice.

"I'm fine Mom. It was just a bad dream," Alice said as she sat up using her elbows to push herself up. Her motions were slow and her arms trembled a bit. It felt like her body had no energy whatsoever to do anything. Once she fully sat up, her hands went to her head, rubbing her temples to soothe her throbbing head. Her hands slowed as she noticed the cold sweat and goosebumps on her arms.

'So you really do wake up in cold sweat after a nightmare. And here I thought that my classmates were just exaggerating.' Alice thought. She never experienced this when she had nightmares before. Usually she just wake up tired and with a headache.

She blinked in surprise as she felt a warm hand on her forehead. For a moment there she had forgotten about her mom's presence. She looked up to her mom and shot her a smile to reassure her. Judy gave a small smile back then bit her bottom lip.

"What was it about?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just fire. I don't really remember it," Alice shrugged not really sure why she lied. There was a small voice in the back of her head telling her to lie, but really, it didn't make sense to lie about her nightmare. It was only a dream, right?

"Well, go get ready. It's almost time for school. I'll make a cup of hot chocolate to soothe you and give you some energy."

Alice perked up, her eyes wide with excitement. "Really?" she demanded.

"Mm-hm." Alice quickly shoved her blanket off her and slipped on her slippers, her lethargy and nightmare long forgotten. She then ran out of her room and into the bathroom. Yelps were heard as she nearly collided with Sam who was just leaving the bathroom. Alice mumbled a short and rushed apology before slamming the bathroom door closed.

Sam blinked after her in confusion. 'What just happened?' he wondered.

Judy looked on slowly shaking her head with a fond smile. "That girl." Sam poked his head into Alice's room looking around the room to see what could have made his sister go nuts. His eyes landed on his mom and he fully entered the room. Surely his mom would know what's going on with Alice. After all, she practically knew everything.

"Hey Mom, what's up with Alice?"

"She had a nightmare. I promised to make her some hot chocolate to help her." Sam brightened.

"Do I get a cup too?" Judy looked at him with an eyebrow lifted in amusement.

"Did you have a nightmare."

"Uh...No, but does that really matter? I mean, is it fair that only one person gets to drink hot chocolate while everyone else has to look on and go green with envy?"

The corner of Judy's lips lifted a bit, but she tried her best to look unconvinced. "When did you learn the word envy?"

"At school. There's this really smart girl in my class and she told everyone what it meant when we came across it while the teacher was reading a book to us."

Judy sighed, but her eyes showed that she was clearly amused. "I guess its only fair."

"Yes!" Sam hissed before running out of the room. "Chocolatey goodness, here I come!" Joyous cheers could be heard as he went to down the stairs and into the kitchen. Judy was only a few steps behind him and giggled at her children's excitement.

Kids these days. Mention anything about giving them something sweet and they'll start jumping around like monkeys. It was absolutely frustrating at times, but always adorable in retrospect. It was also a good way to get them to actually listen and follow an adult's words.

Ron lowered his newspaper a bit and raised an eyebrow at Sam's excitement.

"I promised him hot chocolate," Judy explained. "Alice had a nightmare so I told her that I would make a cup for her. You know how she gets when she gets something sweet for breakfast. Sam found out about it after Alice nearly crashed into him. He asked and I agreed."

"What was her nightmare about?"

"She doesn't really remember it. All she remembers is fire."

Ron nodded and went back to his newspaper. Four minutes later, Alice ran into the kitchen and quickly sat on her chair. Judy placed a cup of hot chocolate in front of Sam and Alice. Both immediately took a large sip and sighed in pleasure. The chocolate tasted heavenly; it wasn't too hot and wasn't too sweet. It had a rich taste and was creamy.

"Thanks Mom," they chorused. Judy giggled and inwardly cooed at the adorable expressions on their faces.

"You're welcome," she said as she placed a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of everyone. Sam and Alice reluctantly placed their cups of hot chocolate down and started to eat. Everyone ate in silence with the clanking of metal against glass as the only sound. It didn't take long for everyone to finish eating and start cleaning up.

"So Alice, I heard that you had a nightmare," Ron said. Alice stopped wiping her dish clean and turned to her father. The others stopped as well and turned to watch the spectacle.

"What about it?"

"What was it about? I heard that you don't remember much of it, but what do you remember?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just something about fire. It was probably a candle or something," Alice shrugged.

"A candle," Ron said slowly in disbelief, "a candle gave you a nightmare." The other two occupants of the room shared his expression.

"A candle could be involved," Alice defended. She could understand their disbelief since it did sound ridiculous that a candle made her wake up in cold sweat. "I didn't say that the nightmare was about a candle only that there may have been a candle in it. Anyway, it's nothing serious." She huffed as she turned back to wiping her dish.

Ron raised an eyebrow and sighed, dropping the subject since he knew that his daughter would say no more on the subject. The rest of the morning went by peacefully. Well, as peacefully as it could with Sam teasing Alice for being afraid of a big, bad candle and Alice trying to wipe that stupid grin off Sam's face. Before long, it was time for the kids to go to school.

"Bye Mom," they said as Alice chased Sam out of the door and into their father's car.

"Have a nice day at school! And stop teasing your sister Sam!" Judy yelled. "Kids," she said in amusement.

Alice threw herself onto her bed and groaned into her pillow. It had been a week since that nightmare; a long, miserable week that didn't seem to end. Since the first day she had the dream, she had episodes at random points of the day. The episodes were all flashbacks of Liddell's life. Luckily, her episodes mainly occurred during recess. Never had Alice been happier with the fact that she didn't really have friends since her "friends" were more classmates than friends. But even her classmates were starting to notice her strange behavior.

Not only did she have to deal with random flashbacks that lasted for who knows how long, she also had to deal with nightmares every time she fell asleep. She didn't have any bags under her eyes since she could never wake up from her nightmare unless someone wakes her up or the dream decides to end. Instead, it just left her tired and covered in cold sweat. Overall, it left her in a bad mood for the entire week.

The only good thing that came out of this was that her mother made hot chocolate every morning now. Her family was understandably concern for her, but she managed to stop them from taking her to the doctor by insisting that she was fine and putting a large smile on her face. They weren't really convinced by her smile, but they also knew how stubborn she was. They settled with coddling her a bit.

With all the flashbacks and nightmares, Alice had been able to piece together bits and pieces of Liddell's life at the Asylum. Suffice to say, it was a miracle that she didn't wake up screaming. The things she saw, the things she heard, the screams, the decapitation, the destruction and conquest of Wonderland by the Red Queen. She shuddered at the reminder. Wonderland had become a hellish place and Liddell had not fared any better. She had truly become insane and had fought her way through Wonderland to regain her sanity. But there was still gaps in Liddell's life like if she actually won and if she did, what happened after her victory?

"When will this end?" Alice muttered, hugging the pillow close to her chest and curling around it. "Why am I the one getting these dreams?" Her eyes prickled as she came close to just breaking down from all the built up frustration. She took several deep breaths to calm herself. She closed her eyes to take a small nap while hoping that maybe this time her nap won't be disrupted by any more nightmares.

"Because you're Alice," a deep, baritone, and obviously male voice with a strangely familiar accent said.

Alice eyes snapped wide open and fell off the bed with a yelp. "Ow..." she said, rubbing her butt.

"Are you alright Alice?" another voice–also male–asked. This time the voice was not as deep as the first speaker, but shared the same accent.

She turned to the bed where the voices originated. "I'm fine..." she trailed off. She stared wide eyed at the two creatures on her bed, gaping because she recognized them. Before her were the Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit. To be specific, in her room were two creatures from the nightmares that tormented her for an entire week!

The Cheshire Cat looked exactly like how he did in her recent dreams; mangy, skeletal, and very intimidating. However, the White Rabbit was different. He didn't have that mangy look. Instead, he look like he did in her old dreams; a cute, fluffy, gigantic white rabbit in a waistcoat. While their presence should have made her faint, especially with the Cat's appearance, she felt oddly comforted by it instead. It felt as if some empty hole in her heart that she was unaware of was slightly filled.

An awkward silence enveloped the room as Alice remained sitting on the floor, gaping like an idiot at the two supposedly fictional characters. 'I'm dreaming right?' Alice thought, feeling as though she might faint. 'That's right. I'm probably having one of my episodes again. It's only a matter of time before this episode ends and the two things will disappear.'

"Are you going to just sit there like an idiot?" the Cat ask, looking down at her from his perch. "You're probably thinking that you're dreaming right now aren't you?" He was clearly mocking her now. "Sorry to disappoint you, but you're not. This is all very real Alice."

Alice felt a brief flash of irritation towards the Cat. His mocking eyes and grin were getting on her nerves. Her irritation was quickly replaced by confusion. How had he known what she was thinking? Last she checked, the Cheshire Cat could not read minds.

"I'm not reading your mind. Your face says it all and I know you so well. It's easy to predict what you're thinking, especially at such a young age."

"Now, now Cat," Rabbit admonished, "stop teasing the poor dear. This must be very surprising for Alice. After all, she doesn't remember everything yet."

"Wait? What?" Alice asked. "Are you the ones behind the nightmares I had for the past week?"

"Not nightmares, memories," the Cat purred. "And not directly. Caterpillar did all the work. We just watched."

"But why?" Alice whispered.

"Because you're Alice," the Rabbit said, tilting his head.

"I know–" Alice began.

"No you don't know," the Rabbit gently said. "You're not just Alice Witwicky, you're also Alice Liddell."

"...Alice Liddell.," she said, staring blankly at him. "As in Alice Liddell, the girl who traveled to Wonderland because she followed you. The fictional girl Lewis Carroll wrote about. That Alice Liddell?"

"Yes that Alice Liddell. You're her reincarnation."

"...Reincarnation?"

"Alice Liddell died and was reborn many years later as you," the Cat said in a bored manner. "Alice Liddell and Alice Witwicky are one and the same, soul-wise anyway."

"But why are you here? Why now?"

"Because you have been missed. Wonderland has never been the same without you and so we came to get you back."

Alice continued to stare blankly at them, trying to comprehend what was going on. If she was correct, apparently her dreams were her memories from another lifetime and her past was literally coming back to get her back. This situation was too confusing for her. Some part of her knew that he was telling the truth, but what was a seven-year-old suppose to do in this sort of situation?

"Anyways," the Cat continued, "you were already remembering your previous life. We, or should I say Caterpillar, just sped things up."

The Rabbit coughed. "Admittedly, we were all getting a bit impatient. No one knew how long it would take for you to remember enough to visit us or even call us so we took matters to our own hands, or in some cases, paws."

Again, Alice just continued to stare blankly at them. The Cat yawned.

"I think we wasted enough time. I say we should start the final step," the Cat's grin widened in anticipation. "After that, I'm sure all your questions will be answered. Well, at least most of it. If you will, Rabbit."

Alice's eyes widened in alarm. "Wait! Wha–"

The Rabbit lifted a paw up. On it was a pile of colorful, glowing powder. He breathed in and gently blew. The sand flew and hit Alice in the face, disappearing on contact. Alice's eyes rolled up and she hit the floor with a thud.

"How long will this take again?" the Rabbit asked.

The Cat shrugged. "Don't know. Now if you need me, I'll be taking a nap." The Rabbit simply sighed and sat on the bed. It was pointless to wake the Cat up from his nap. It usually ended with the poor sap being attacked by ridiculously sharp claws. The only exception was Alice and right now she was out of commission. He decided to watch over Alice until she woke up. He had nothing better to do anyway.

AN: And I'll end it there. I originally planned to make this longer, but decided not to. Chapter 3 will take some time to finish since I will probably focus a bit more on my other story. Not to mention that I have to practically force myself to write. Hopefully it won't take over a year to write it. Remember to review.