A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews! I hope you all enjoy this chapter…I know it probably moves quick, but the fic itself isn't supposed to be very long to begin with…I estimate prolly 10-15 chapters, depending on the events in between…but anywho, please enjoy! Reviews are loved!

You've changed…

David leaned back against the bar, sipping his tea as he watched the people dance. He wasn't much of an Alcohol drinker, in fact he drank alcohol rarely, but when he did it was usually something with some kind of Liquor or some form of Wine when he was in the mood for it. He detested beer…he felt grossed out just by watching March slam down beer after beer without a second thought. 'Just like an Irishman…' he thought to himself as he finished off the last of his tea, then proceeded to clean his cup. His foot tapped involuntarily to the wonderful swing jazz erupting around the room from the equally wonderful band that graced his stage. It was almost impossible for him to be in a bad mood with this kind of music.

He returned to the counter and leaned against it, smiling at the group of people on the dance floor. His eyes scanned over the wide room, from the band, to the dancers, to those sitting in their chairs drinking martinis and chatting it up with friends or even strangers. It truly was incredible what this kind of music and atmosphere did to people.

His eyes continued their journey over the room, over every smiling face, every tapping foot, every set of snapping fingers. Everyone seemed so happy! Well…almost everyone.

His dark eyes fell on a couple in the far corner as the smile disappeared from his face. The man was making gestures as though he were yelling at the woman infront of him. Usually, Women would retaliate and put the outspoken man back in their place, but this one didn't…her eyes remained averted, her hands wringing themselves in her jacket nervously. Something wasn't right…

Curiosity finally got the best of him and he made his way out of the Bar area, leaving it in the care of March as he walked towards the arguing couple. As he got closer, he could hear the mans voice roar, "Is this the way you thank me?! After everything I've done?!!"

Her, "I'm sorry…but its not my fault…"

Him, "Bullshit its not your fault! Its always your fault! Every time has been your fault!"

Her, "Its not my fault, Jack…Maybe if you weren't so rough all the time then-"

In an instant, his hand cracked hard against her face, sending her to the ground. David's heart surged in his chest in pure fury. How dare any man lay his hand on a woman that way! With a growl, he bolted forward, "Hey!" But before the man called Jack could respond, David placed himself in between them and took the man called Jack by the collar, throwing him up against the wall with enough force to make his own fedora fly off his head. "What do you think youre doing, huh?! What the hell kind of bullshit is that youre pulling?! And in MY club?! I think not!" He roared, eyes aflame with anger.

The tall, blonde man squirmed under his hold, "Mind your own business, you filthy Brit!" Ugh, the stench of alcohol on his breath was nauseating.

David slammed Jack's head against the wall, "I'm trying to run a business here, I'll not have you striking down women on my property nor in my presence!"

"Whats it to you anyways! Its none of your concern! You have no place stepping into peoples personal matters!"

They had already begun to draw too much attention, but at this point, David could care less. He threw Jack to the ground, not once releasing his collar, his arm pressed hard against the filthy creature's throat, "You've brought it onto my territory therefore it IS my business. You WILL leave this place the moment I release you, and if you so much as glance at the lady on your way out I'll have you arrested faster than you can blink DO YOU HEAR!?!"

Jack only growled. With a final push, David released him and stood, keeping himself in between the drunken man and the sobbing girl on the floor. Jack stood and, without complaint, left. The crowd that had gathered around them started to murmur to themselves about the situation but David ignored it…there was another matter to attend to.

He turned and kneeled beside the woman who sat there on the ground, sobbing, her hair blocking her face from view. "Hey, You ok?" He said gently, reaching out for her shoulder but the moment he touched her, she flinched. "No no, please, its ok. I'm not going to hurt you…," He said to her, his hand finally coming to rest on her shoulder, "Are you injured?" She looked up at him, moving her long, dark hair away to reveal her dear streaked face, accompanied by a bleeding lip and nose. "Oh, god no…come on," He stood and reached down to her, helping her up, "Lets get you cleaned up, yah?" He slipped his arm around her shaking shoulders, making his way through the collected crowd and towards one of the bathrooms.

"Here, get yourself cleaned up ok? I'll wait for you here," He said with a soft voice, giving her a light nudge in the right direction. "Thank you," She responded shakily as she entered the bathroom.

The bathroom was very well lit, she could see the damage in full as she looked at herself in the mirror now. Her hair, once picked up nicely, was strewn, her makeup was running, and there was blood dripping from her mouth and nose.

She quickly began to wash her face. It was no use trying to put makeup back on now, her night was already ruined enough as it is…but then again, when was the last time she had a good night? Especially with that monster of a man…

She started to fix her hair when her breath suddenly hitched in her throat…

Her neck, which once sported an intricate chain, was bare!

She dropped her hair and quickly started to feel if it fell down her shirt or got locked in with her pants, or if it fell on the floor…nothing…

In a panic, she ran out of the bathroom, taking David's wrists roughly, "Did you see a chain fall off of me earlier?!"

Caught off guard by her sudden energy, he simply responded "uuuhhh…"

"Its white gold," she explained, "very thin…Please, help me find it…that necklace is everything to me."

"Uh," He said again, still a little taken by the outburst, "o-ok…come along."

Their search began, their eyes kept glued to the ground as they looked. Seriously, how hard was it to find a shiny thing amidst a dark floor? Apparently not hard at all, for no less than a minute into their search, the woman released a loud sigh of pure relief. "Oh thank god," He heard her say as he looked up from the ground. Her back was turned to him, but her hands were fumbling to clip a thin necklace around her equally thin neck. "Here," David said, reaching out to replace her hands with his own, clipping the thing together almost effortlessly. "All is well in the world now, I trust?" He said with a laugh.

"Thank you so much," She said turning to him, "You have no idea how much this little thing means to me…If I would have lost it, I don't know what I would have done…" Her hands moved away from her necklace and David's heart nearly stopped.

There, hanging from her neck, was a pendant in the all-too-familiar shape of a top hat.

'Oh my god…no no it cant be,' he thought to himself. He could see the world blurring around him. He didn't know what to say, think, or feel…he was just a breathless lump….a paperweight. His mind began to race…

Was it her? Oh god was it really her? Only one way to find out…

"Actually…I think I do have an idea," He said, trying to sustain the excitement in his voice as he reached into his shirt, pulling out his own chain with its Raven pendant.

The girl's eyes widened at the sight. "W-where did you get that?" She asked, her voice as shaky as the hand that reached out to take a hold of the pendant.

"I believe it was you who gave it to me…"

She started to back away, "no, no this has to be some kind of trick…this isn't real…I'm dreaming…this isn't real…"

David reached out and took her shoulders, his excited eyes locking with her confused ice blue ones, "Alice…"

She looked up at him, shock radiating from her vibrant blue eyes.

He knew those eyes…he knew them all too well…

'Its her! Oh my god its her!' "Alice…its me...Its David."" He said, but she backed away from him.

"No, no it cant be. Its…..its been so long…I…" She was mumbling nonsense now. Was it really him? After so many years, Has he finally come for her like he promised? No…no he found her here on accident, he didn't know who she was…This wasn't him…

But that necklace…

Tears were streaming down her face as she forced herself to look at him, "w-who are you, really?"

David felt his smile fall. She really didn't believe it was him…she didn't want to believe. "Its me, Alice…its Da- err…Hatter. Its Hatter. Remember?" He responded, wanting so much for her to remember him. It killed him inside that she didn't recognize him, but he was determined to remind her.

Without another moments hesitation, Alice flung herself into his arms and began to sob. David, too, felt tears roll down his cheeks as he held her. "Finally," He whispered into her hair, more to himself than to her.

"Oh Hatter!" She sobbed into his shoulder, "You have no Idea how happy I am to see you."

David held her a little tighter, "oh I do, love, I do…I've missed you so much." He pulled away from her, but kept his hands at her waist, His eyes serious as they gazed into hers, "Alice what has happened to you? Who was that…that Creature who dared lay his hand on you?"

Alice looked away from him as shame began to arise within her…so much shame that she dared not look into her old friends caring eyes, "I think we should talk alone…Away from crowds."David didn't think twice as he slipped his arm protectively around her, leading her through the crowd towards the back door. On his way, he stopped to ask March to cover him for the remainder of the evening.

David led her out the back door towards his car upon which Alice sat on the hood to take the weight off of her aching feet, having worn uncomfortable heels that night. David watched her as she rubbed the discomfort from her feet, still in shock and disbelief that she was actually here. His mind began to flash back and forth between the present and the past…

One second she was a young teenage girl, laughing in his arms as he held her close and stole kisses from her, and the next she was an adult woman sitting on the hood of his car.

God, how long had it been? Ten years?

He was twenty four now, and he had been only fourteen when they parted…that made her twenty three years old. Yes, she was a year younger than he was, he almost forgot about that.

He smiled and reached out, brushing is fingers against her arm, but the second he made contact she jumped and he pulled his hand away rapidly. "I'm sorry," He said quickly, "I didn't mean to startle you. Are you okay?" Alice, shivering slightly, repositioned herself on the hood of his car, zipping her jacket up a little more, "I'm ok…" Her voice was as shaky as she was. David frowned and stepped closer to her, "Alice, whats happened to you?" Alice didn't meet his gaze, "Its been ten years, David…People change." The use of his real name stung him a bit…just a while ago she was calling him by the nickname she had so affectionately given him, but he didn't let it bother him as much as it normally would have. Something was wrong with Alice…and he was determined to find out.

"No," He said, reaching out to her again and placing his hand on her back. She didn't jump this time, but he did feel her tense up slightly, "People don't just change, Alice."

She looked up at him, tears welling up in her eyes. He couldn't bear the sight of her tears, he never had…she had always been so strong willed, so confident, and looking at her now, it was almost as if this were a completely different woman.

"David, I've been so afraid…I still am…That man, his name is Jack. He's my boyfriend," She looked away, trying to hide the shame in her eyes, "I…I met him about five years ago. It was fine for a while, but a year or so in, I got pregnant and miscarried," She felt David tense beside her but continued her story nonetheless, "It was after that that he started getting violent with me. For a while it was just words, but as the years passed he started getting physical. He hit me tonight because I miscarried again…for the third time…But its not my fault! If he wasn't so violent with me all the time, it would never have happened again, but even though I try to tell him this, he still blames it on me! That its MY fault!" Alice started to cry, "David he treats me like I'm scum! Like I'm unfit to be human! Like I'm some kind of possession of his! He doesn't listen to me, he doesn't respect me…if he wants Sex and I refuse him, he rapes me until I turn purple and beg his forgiveness. He's put cigarettes out on me, hes drugged me just so he and his friends could take advantage of me..." She buried her face in her hands as she sobbed, "He threatens to hunt down and kill my family If I leave him…I have no job, no car, no friends…nothing, David. I don't have anything…"

David wiped away a tear from his eye that threatened to fall and knelt down infront of her, gently taking her wrists and pulling them away from her face so she could see him. Despite the inhuman anger and hatred boiling within him for the thing she called her boyfriend, He still managed to give her a gentle smile. "Alice," He said softly, "I know, its been a very long while since weve last spoken or seen eachother, and I know this is way too sudden…but I want you to come stay with me." "Oh god, David, No…please don't," Alice protested but David silenced her with a finger on her lips, "Shh, please. Let me finish." He stood up so that he was eye level with her, "After what you told me, you think I'm going to want you to go back with him? Alice, I'm offering you an opportunity to get back on your feet. Stay with me for a while, I will help you find a job, we will get you a car, a cell phone, your own place to stay…"

Alice averted her eyes and shook her head, "David, no, I cant take advantage of you like that…I don't even know you that well anymore."

"I'm still the same guy, Alice." He said with a smile, "Please…Even after all these years, I care very deeply about you and I don't ever want to see you hurt…I want to help you."

Alice looked up into his eyes so full of the same love and caring as before…she remembered that gaze all too well, it had always made her blush and smile, but not this time. She looked away from him again, "What about-" "You needn't worry about Jack anymore, Love. First things first, were going to go straight to the police and have his arse behind bars where it belongs…You can some home with me tonight, and tomorrow, we go out first thing in the morning to pick out a whole new wardrobe for ya!" David said to her enthusiastically. Alices eyes widened at his last statement, "A whole new what?! Oh god, David, please no, you don't need to do this."

He cocked his eyebrow, "Who said I needed to do anything? I'm doing this of me own free will, love."

"But spending all that money on me?? I cant do that to you!"

"don't worry about it! I can afford it, trust me. Have you SEEN the car I drive? I paid for it in cash!" He gestured towards the brand new sleek black BMW she was sitting on. She looked down at the car, eyes wide then jumped off as if she had done something terrible by sitting on it. David laughed at this, slipping his arm around her shoulders, "And besides! I haven't had a reason to 'splurge' in quite some time, and what better way to spend unused money than by giving an old friend a hand, yah?"

David could tell it had been an extremely long while since anyone had fussed over her and she clearly wasn't used to it. She was still trying to protest when David gently took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. "Alice," He said, his voice soft again, "I'm sorry…but no matter what you say, I'm not going to let you go home to that monster of a man. I'm not going to let you continue living the life of a dog. You deserve so much better than that, and although I wont be able to give you everything you deserve, I want to at least help get you back on your feet. Youre my friend, I care about you. If I didn't, I wouldn't have continued wearing this after so many years," He brushed his fingers over his chain and Alice looked down at the Raven pendant, already losing its color after so many years of wearing, but despite its appearance, he still wore it proudly. "Please Alice…" He said, barely above a whisper, "Let me help you…"

Alice looked into his pleading eyes, so sincere. She cared about him too, she knew that well…It was his memory and the promise that he would come back for her someday that kept her away from the edge of suicide. In his eyes, she saw a message that he did not speak aloud…'Let me take care of you, like I've always wanted to.' As kids, during times of tension, they would speak to eachother through their eyes, and even after so many years, she could still read his gaze just as easily as before. She knew he could see the battle going on inside her…should she stay or should she go? Which pathway should she take?

She stared at David for a moment longer before sighing and moving closer, slipping her arms around his waist in a gentle embrace, "Alright…I trust you."