(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 4

Introducing Hatter to her world really did go almost as smoothly as Alice hoped. The fundamentals were the same. The people of Wonderland mostly looked like human beings, and so the people here were not so very shocking. The cars intrigued Hatter. When you came from world of horses, boats, and flying flamingos, Alice supposed they were intriguing vehicles. All the time they were walking around the city, with her pointing out the sights to him, Hatter just kept staring at the cars, commenting on the colours and shapes. Alice had the strangest feeling that just as soon as he had the means he would want some flashy sports car or similar. The idea of it gave her the giggles.

"Y'know you have to have a licence to drive a car here," she explained to him, as they continued down the street hand-in-hand.

"Ah, now that I might already have covered," he grinned back at her, pulling a wallet from his back pocket and handing it to her. "Good old King Jack said those were all the documents I'd need for this world, as far as he knew anyway."

Alice stopped walking and let go of Hatter's hand. She was mindful of them being in public view as she thumbed through the contents of his wallet, ever more worried when she realised there was an impressive bundle of cash inside. She pulled Hatter with her into the mouth of the nearest alley and continued to look. Lo and behold, there was a birth certificate, a driver's licence, even a passport that proclaimed Hatter to be dual heritage - British and American. Then there was the money, at least five hundred dollars in cash, and a debit card for a bank account too.

"How did... How did Jack do all this?" she asked, staring at the picture on the driver's licence a moment longer then up to meet the eyes of Hatter himself.

"He's got contacts here," her boyfriend shrugged. "I didn't ask too many questions, Alice, I was just grateful for the help to get here. You know how much I missed you."

There was such sincerity when he spoke. Alice never wondered for a moment if Hatter was playing her or anything, not even back in Wonderland. She put a level of trust in him from the get go and that had only increased over time. Maybe that made her a fool in some way, but so far he hadn't let her down, not once.

"I do," she nodded as she handed back his wallet, complete with all its cards and papers, and encouraged him to put it away out of sight.

They continued on walking, headed nowhere in particular right now. Alice's hand slid easily back into Hatter's own as they went. It just felt like the most natural thing in the world, even though she never really thought of herself as the hand-holding type before. A lot of things about Alice had changed in the past few days, and she didn't regret a single one of them.

Hatter stopped walking so suddenly, and without warning, he nearly pulled Alice over as she attempted to keep walking. Turning suddenly, she stared at him oddly a moment, then followed his own gaze to the restaurant they were now stood in front of. The sign above the door proclaimed 'Mario's Pizzeria'. Alice was smiling when she met Hatter's eyes then and found his expression to be exactly the same.

"Shall we then?" he asked, taking off his hat and practically bowing as he ushered her towards the door.

"We shall then," Alice agreed as she stepped inside.

Honestly, it probably wasn't the nicest restaurant she ever visited, and the food probably wouldn't be all that great, but that didn't matter. This was symbolic for Alice and Hatter. Besides it had been a long time since breakfast, and that had been awkward at best.

Alice had woken to realise she and Hatter had fallen asleep on the couch together. As she opened her eyes, she found her mother stood by the door watching them, and immediately blushed a rosy red. They were all adults here, and she was almost certain her mom wasn't judging, but it didn't make her any the less embarrassed. Surely anyone would be when caught practically in bed with their boyfriend by their mother of all people. Nothing was said, but after an elbow in the ribs, Hatter came to as well and looked equally as awkward about the whole situation. Alice had never seen him look so oddly nervous as he was right then. Clearly her mother was way more scary than Suits and assassins. That just made her smile, knowing that their relationship clearly meant more to him than anything. As if he hadn't proven it already, he had given up his whole life, his whole world to be with Alice. She was still reeling from that even now.

"What?" asked Hatter when he caught her staring intently at him from across the table.

Mozzarella was dangling unnoticed from his chin, and his mouth was pretty much full of pizza. It ought to be gross, but Alice couldn't help thinking how cute he was, even in this moment.

"C'mere," she said, leaning across, paper napkin in hand to help clean him up.

"Oh, sorry," he said, feeling dumb, making a big deal of wiping his own face even when she'd already done it.

"So, what do you think of pizza?" she asked then, contemplating her own slice before taking another bite - it was actually pretty good considering the state of the eatery.

"Not bad actually," Hatter considered. "I mean, it's no barbecued borogove, and the chef is no White Knight, but yeah, I have a feeling I could get used to this," he smiled.

Alice had a feeling they weren't just talking about pizza anymore.

It was getting late in the day and Alice felt like she and Hatter must have walked miles, but she hadn't a mind to care. Their adventures in Wonderland had proved to her that she was capable of so much more than she ever realised. Walking around the city she knew best was nothing compared to scaling buildings, fighting Jabberwockys, and bringing down a crooked monarchy. Hatter didn't seem at all concerned about the late hour or the fact he had no idea where he was. He had to trust her and love her just as much as he said to be here like this. That created a warm glow inside of Alice that she never knew until she met Hatter.

"One last stop, then we should head home," she noted as they came to a halt on the sidewalk.

"Here?" asked Hatter, turning left and right to look, failing to see anything impressive.

"Not exactly here," Alice smirked, pulling on his hand as she headed into the nearest building.

The elevator was a surprise to had no idea that they made them so small in this world, or why they didn't seem to go all that fast, though the braking system worked a lot better, he would confess. When they stepped out of the boxy little room, Hatter was amazed by the view.

"Here we are, the highest spot in town," Alice smiled as she led Hatter out of the elevator and towards the huge glass windows.

The whole city was laid out at Hatter's feet and it was overwhelming. The buildings were not so very different to Wonderland, but better kept and most people stuck to the ground rather than the heights he was well used to. It was then he remembered how Alice's only fear in Wonderland had been that very thing, the precipice they seemed to be continually on, one way or another. She had brought him here in spite of that, to show him this view. That was more amazing to him than the outlook itself.

"You don't mind being up here?" he checked, his hand at her shoulder, pulling her closer.

"No," she shook her head definitely and smiled up at him a moment. "I know I told you I'm not great with heights, but this always felt okay, like I was stable, not going to fall," she sighed as she looked back out of the window.

Her head dropped into Hatter's shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her back.

"Besides, these days I know when I fall have someone to catch me. That makes a big difference."

Hatter smiled at that, but didn't say a word, just kissed the top of her head and looked out at the bustling town below their feet, this new world he must learn to be a part of somehow. It wasn't so big an ask, when he already knew exactly where he belonged, and it was right here with Alice.

"Y'know, I could go all over the world, to any other world that comes along," she smiled then. "I don't think anything would look as beautiful as this view."

"Agreed," said Hatter softly.

Alice knew before she ever looked up that he wasn't staring at the horizon when he said that. His eyes met hers, and then he was leaning down to kiss her breath away. It didn't get better than this.

It was late when Alice and Hatter returned home. Carol asked them if they'd had a nice time seeing the sights and all. Hatter politely replied that it had been amazing and that he was now very tired and ready for bed. He and Alice made a huge point of parting company to their separate rooms, making her mother smile. When she followed Alice into her bedroom and closed the door, her daughter really wasn't sure if she was suddenly going to get an anti-Hatter speech, or just the advanced refresher of the birds and the bees.

"I think we need to have a talk" said Carol, fingers lacing and unlacing as she stood there by the bedroom door. "About your father."

Alice really hadn't seen that coming at all, and it must've showed on her face. For a second she was shocked, but immediately after that she was frowning with worry. She really wasn't sure how Carol would take the news that she had seen her own father die in Wonderland. So far, her mother had been pretty cool with the concept of that place, but this was a whole other deal.

"When you came back, you said something, at the hospital," Carol recalled as she and Alice sat down together on the edge of the bed. "You said your father was really gone…"

Her looks and tone were questioning though she hadn't directly asked anything yet. Alice's eyes went to the floor, tears forming as she even contemplated speaking of her father's death. It was so fresh and raw. Even though she had closure now, the image of Dad falling to the ground before her, bleeding, dying, it would be forever burned into her mind.

"They took him away," she forced out, her voice to soft to her own ears. "He was brain-washed, trapped… but in the end, he remembered me," she smiled sadly as she looked up and met her mother's eyes. "He remembered and he was sorry, and then… then he saved my life. He sacrificed himself... for me."

Tears overcame her at the confession, the pain of loss ripping through her body in a way there just hadn't been time for in the moment when it happened. Carol wrapped her arms around her daughter, as she had in the hospital, and allowed her to sob. There had been a brief bout of tears before, but this was far beyond a minor upset. Alice was grieving, letting out all her pain, and Carol joined her when she realised that what she had suspected for a while now was true.

It was some comfort to know that Robert hadn't left them by choice, or stayed away on purpose. It was better knowing where he was, and that he was at peace now, but it still hurt to know he was gone.

In the next room, Hatter was sure he could hear crying and it tore at his heart. He had a good idea that the ladies of the Hamilton family had just discussed Carpenter's demise, and he felt sick knowing they were in such pain because of his world. Hatter vowed there and then to help them through their struggle, his beautiful Alice and her dear mother too. They were his family now, as he would be theirs. It was time for them all to move forward from their losses and tragedy, start life anew in this world beyond Wonderland. He had no doubt that given time they would be just fine.

To Be Continued...