Hi guys, thanks so much for the comments. I would like to once again point out that I do not own anything. Also, I had trouble coming up with this chapter. I hope it reads well :).


Colored clouds and lights flash past him as Hatter plummeted through the portal and with the panic of falling he forgot the pale man's main instruction, Breathe.

You'd think they'd warn people a bit more before pushing them to certain death.

He felt as though he had been falling forever when he finally landed on solid ground. Hard solid ground. He quickly became grateful for the hard hat. If he hadn't been wearing it, Hatter would've received one nasty concussion.

"Ow," he groaned upward as he laid sprawled on his back. For a few minutes all he could do was lay in place and breathe in all the air that his lungs would allow.

After what felt like hours, Hatter got to his feet. His eyes searched for any sign of Alice in the damp building that was home to Earth's Looking Glass. With the way Jack spoke to him earlier, he assumed that she couldn't have gone far.

He knew he was right once he spotted her blue clad form a few feet from where he stood. Wasting no time, he went to her. Kneeing down, he noticed that she hadn't been as lucky in landing as he had. Knowing he shouldn't panic and that he shouldn't try to shake her, Hatter lifted Alice into his arms as gently as he could.

"Alice," he whispered, without knowing why, as he cradled her. He really didn't know what to do or where to go. Alice clearly needed some sort of medical attention.

Wait, Hatter could hear the sound of foot steps that was coming from somewhere in the building.

What should I do? Are they a friend or an enemy?, he asked himself as he pulled Alice closer to his chest. Even in such a dismal situation, being close to Alice, holding her was slowing filing back in the hole that she had left so quickly.

As the foot steps began to fade Hatter did the only thing that he could think of. Almost without realizing it, he choose to mimic the voice of an oyster that he had helped out a while back, "She's over here!" he yelled even though he wasn't entirely sure if this person had been looking for her. He gently laid Alice back down and stood so he didn't look strange holding her whenever this person decided to show.

Hatter had only to wait about a minute before he spotted someone coming towards him.

"Who the hell are you?!" the man shouted as he shined a flashlight in Hatter's eyes, "And what did you do to her?!"

"Nothin'! I didn't do anythin' to her, I swear. I just found her like this. Look she's hurt we have to get her to a hospital." Hatter replied, slipping back into his normal accent with his hands in the air.

The man didn't seem to completely believe Hatter, but he couldn't deny that something had to be done for the girl. "Alright," he said as he pulled something off his belt, "I'll call an ambulance, but you, you just stay where I can see you."

Hatter nodded and went to sit near Alice, but before he could the man said, "Not by the girl." and not wanting to cause any trouble Hatter regretfully moved away from her.

The man talked on what Hatter assumed was a phone or walkie-talkie for a few minutes before looking to Hatter once more. "What are you two doing here anyway?"

Hatter could only think of one thing to say, but given that it was obviously late he doubted its believability, "I was looking for a job."

"At this time of night?"

"Yeah," Hatter sighed through his nerves, "See I just got done with work and I was hoping I could catch someone in charge of this site before they left for the night, but all I ended up doing was finding her."

Despite his misgivings, the man seemed to believe Hatter, he bent down, looked Alice over, and said, "Good thing you did too, she doesn't look so hot. I wonder if anyone's been lookin' for her, pretty girl like that's gotta have someone out there. What's your name?"

She's got someone right here, "Wait, you mean you weren't lookin' for her?"

"No, I didn't know what I'd be finding exactly. Someone reported a disturbance and, well here I am." the man sighed and walked toward Hatter, who could now see the young man's uniform. He was a police officer. "Again, what's your name?"

Damn it, "D-David, David Hatter." he quickly replied, as he remembered the name that Jack had put on all the paper work that was provided the envelop he had given Hatter.

"Can I see some ID?"

"ID?…Oh my ah ID." Hatter mumbled as he searched the inner pockets of the costume jacket that he was wearing. He pulled out the plastic card with his fake name and picture on it and handed it to the cop.

Hatter could hear the ambulance siren as the officer looked him over once more before handing him back the card. They stood in silence for a few minutes before the EMTs walked in the room with a stretcher and their equipment. After they did, whatever it is that they do, they lifted her onto the stretcher and rolled her out of the room. Hatter followed them to the vehicle that he took to be the ambulance.

Once they lifted her inside, Hatter wasted no time in trying to follow, but one of the EMTs stopped him.

"Hold on sir," she said with her hand on his chest, " Are you this woman's spouse or an immediate family member?"

"What? N-No."

"Then I'm sorry, you can't ride with us." she replied as Hatter was forced back on to the concrete.

"Well, how will I know if she's okay?!" Hatter asked. He was worried that he would never find her again if they drove off without him.

"Frankly sir, I don't know and I don't really care." the woman said as she closed the doors.

Hatter could only stand and watch as they drove off with Alice to who knows where.

"Look," the cop sighed, causing Hatter to jump because he had forgotten that the young man was even there. "They'll probably take her to Mercy Hospital. If you want I'll drop you off."

"That would be extremely helpful, thanks." Hatter replied as he was led to the officer's squad car. "Can I ask you your name?"

"Oh, Officer Paul McGrady. And I would appreciate it if you didn't mention this to anyone? Its basically my first night on patrol and well, I could get into a lot of trouble for doin' this."

"No problem, Officer McGrady." Hatter replied with a smile and he sat in the passenger seat.

When Paul finally settled in and started the drive he asked Hatter one simple question, "So, where are you from anyway? I haven't heard your accent around here before."

Hatter sighed, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."