Disclaimer: I do not own the Syfy movie Alice, nor do I claim to own it's characters. This story is strictly for enjoyment purposes so please no one sue me! I do, however, own a Casablanca poster, a vase of lavender flowers and a Youth Bible!

A/N Well… this was a long time coming :L Sorry for the wait, but as well as having a bad case of Writer's Block my life has suddenly turned so hectic I've barely even seen my computer recently. To make up for it, I bring you TWO chapters together!

So I've decided that this story is going to be in several parts. Part One backtracks, so you Andrew Lee Potts fans will see lots of Hatter and what's happening in Wonderland. Part Two - which shouldn't be long in coming - will pick up from after the Prologue. Hope that clears it up :)

In the meantime, sit back, enjoy and keep reviewing (you don't know how much those reviews mean to me!) *sniff*

PART ONE: The 32 Days

Chapter One

That first day had been very hard.

Hatter watched Alice being escorted from him and pushed through the Looking-Glass with a heavy heart. Well, that's it, he thought sadly, she's gone. What was left for him now? At least Alice had a home to return to. A Mother who was waiting for her. What did Hatter have? A destroyed shop, a stuck up King to serve and a resistance leader out for his blood. Well, at least there might be something in his shop that he could salvage.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Charlie, who had suddenly appeared at his side, muttering something about his 'Alice of Legend'. Hatter nodded his head and mumbled 'yep' for a while, his eyes drifting off to the ceiling -along with his thoughts.

"Her presence shall be greatly missed throughout this wondrous land", Charlie was saying. "But I am sure she knows", he straightened up, his stance changing so abruptly it grabbed Hatter's attention once more. "That shall she ever be in need of my help, she need only to ask for it. And I shall come riding in to save her".

Hatter rolled his eyes. If there was any situation that involved Alice needing help he was sure she could handle it by herself. After all, it was only her world, how dangerous could it be? Then again, she did seem to be a kind of magnet for danger.

"Ahem".

Hatter's spine went rigid.

"Ah!" Charlie crowed diligently beside him. "Your Majesty".

Slowly, Hatter turned on his heel to face Jack. Don't expect me to bow to you, you snobby-girl-stealing-well-dressed-prick, Hatter informed him mentally.

"Excuse me, Charlie", Jack said pleasantly. "But I was wondering if I might have a word with Hatter. Alone".

"Of course, Your Highness".

Charlie bowed formally, retreating backwards until he came very close to crashing into a nearby girl Oyster who squealed and scuttled away just in time.

"Charlie", Jack called after him. "I will have need of a new leader for my army. Someone to train them up and keep them in order. Would you be willing to take the job?"

Charlie paused looking flabbergasted. He opened his mouth several times without saying anything, setting his whiskers jerking. Hatter shifted uneasily. Of course Jack would be able to win him around with great jobs and nice words. He scowled. That's probably how he won Alice too.

"Your Majesty, it would be an honour", Charlie said, bowing once again.

Once he had retreated far enough, Jack turned his attention to Hatter. Neither of them were smiling.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Jack asked.

"I don't think that's any of your business", Hatter answered, grimacing internally.

"I'd be very pleased to offer you a job once we've rebuilt the palace", said Jack, looking anything but pleased.

"Thanks, but I'm me own man really".

Jack looked him up and down like he was disgusted with him "So", he said. "You lead her along all this time and then you don't go after her?"

"I? No - I… what?"

"Alice" Jack enunciated. "You just let her go".

"But", Hatter's eyes were becoming wide. "It was you she wanted!"

"Don't be ridiculous, you know she turned me down", it looked like it was hard for him to admit to it.

Hatter was very confused. "But, I, she, you two…" he struggled, waving his arms about in attempt to show his befuddlement. "She hugged you!" he finally burst out.

Jack rolled his eyes. "She was saying goodbye, you idiot".

Hatter drew himself up furiously, but Jack pressed on before he could be insulted back.

"She told me she wanted something else. I assumed she meant you".

Hatter stared at him for a few moments, the realisation taking a while to dawn on him.

("You want me to stay?")

("Hell no!")

Hatter closed his eyes. "I am an idiot".

"Yes, I completely agree. But it's not me you should be telling".

Hatter opened his eyes to look at Jack. The taller man stood with one eyebrow raised. Waiting.

"Can I…" Hatter gestured towards the large mirror, trying hard to be polite. "Use the Looking-Glass?"

"Of course. But you'd better hurry".

Hatter didn't wait to say goodbye. He barely managed to mutter 'thanks' before he'd turned and dashed headfirst at the mirror. The same Oyster Charlie had nearly knocked into was about to climb through and she stepped aside just in time to avoid colliding with Hatter. He threw himself into the glass, which rippled and bounced.

He had travelled through the Looking-Glass before, but the feeling was one you could never get used to. He knew he was yelling out as he fell, but the sound was compressed and all he could hear was the rushing in his ears. Lights streamed past him too quickly to see, and then suddenly he was crashing out onto hard concrete.

He cursed and reached for his hat, which had fallen off. Stuffing it back on his head he pressed his fingers into his ears to try and rid them of the leftover ringing sensation. He was back on his feet and dusting himself off when a light suddenly shone on him.

"Alice?" a worried voice called out.

"Uh, no", he called back.

The figure holding the light came closer and he saw it was a woman. She lowered her torch and sighed, pushing her short reddish hair back with a shaky hand.

"Have you seen a girl?" she asked desperately. "Dark hair, blue dress? She's not a child, but she's missing".

"Alice?" Hatter whispered.

The woman's eyes widened. "Yes, how did you know?"

"Uh… you called it out, just now".

"Oh, yes", she still looked suspicious, but Hatter could see she was also frightened. "I'm sorry to have bothered you".

"No, that's fine", he said quickly. "Let me help you look for her. How long has she been missing?"

"She left home an hour ago".

An hour? Thought Hatter. Boy, time moves slowly in this place. The two of them rounded the corner and spotted a man by the fire stairs. He wore several layers of old, dirty clothing and was clutching a bottle of whiskey to his chest. The red head approached him wearily.

"Excuse me, have you seen a dark haired girl in a blue dress?"

Hatter glanced back towards the Looking-Glass, where he's dropped his hat. There was a small gap between the wall the mirror rested on and the building beside it. So small it would be hard to call it an alley. While the woman tried to get a coherent answer from the drunk, Hatter gently removed the torch from her hand and started towards the little walkway.

He shone the torch through the gap and started. Alice lay on the ground, looking unharmed but unconscious.

"She's over here!" Hatter called out.

He bent over her, gently removing a stray piece of hair from her cheek. Her Mother - Hatter had pretty much guessed this was who the woman was - hurried over in her high heels, kneeling quickly and pulling Alice onto her lap.

"Alice? Sweetie? Can you hear me?"

Alice lay still in her arms, unresponsive.

"We should get her to a hospital", Hatter said worriedly.

"We?" Carol looked at him quizzically.

"Oh, I mean… you", he gritted his teeth, wishing there was some way he could talk her into taking him.

Then they both saw something very strange. Still in a state of sleep, Alice's hand had twitched upwards and her pale fingers suddenly closed tightly around the front of Hatter's shirt. Gently - ever so gently - Hatter took her wrist and tugged on it. Her hand refused to let go.

He looked back up at Carol who was staring at him with her mouth open.

"Well", she said slowly. "I guess that means you're coming too"