Author's Note: Sorry this will not be as complete of a chapter as I had hoped. R/L got in the way this past week putting a stop to updates. I promise I have an answer for Alice in time and the next chapter is the one I have been itching to write since I started. Thank you for sticking with this!

P.S. I own nothing except for the uber naughty thoughts of Tarrant which plague my sleep patterns ;-)

Chapter 4

Alex sat at his desk, wondering just what the hell had gone on in Alice's room. In one day he had not seen a once semi-stable patient degrade in mental health so quickly. From her hysterics over whatever ash she got on her hands, the young woman had began babbling madly about Wonderland and fire and then ceased to speak. She mentally moved inwards and refused to respond.

Wonderland, as in Alice in Wonderland, he figured; A child's story which she placed herself into, though it simply did not fit the profile of her mental state when he took her case. Though it would make some sense of the drawings hanging on her room walls; she was creating her own Wonderland. Alex could have kicked himself for not seeing her room sooner. Sometimes the personal sanctuary of a patient spoke louder than any counselling sessions.

His hands swept across the front of the two files he still had sitting on his desk. With this new revelation, did he even want to look at these folders anymore? Did he want to dive into her madness as well by even entertaining the idea?

Alex looked around his own sparsely decorated office. Behind him was a bookshelf with the mandatory family photo from his high school graduation and text books. The rest of the room...said nothing about him. And he figured that since he came here with nothing other than ghosts, that this was the room that suited him. Painted in blue, the walls had no paintings and only one small window overlooking the parking lot.

Grabbing the top file from the 40's, Alex took a deep breath and opened the flap, ready for what he already knew he would find inside. Albeit the woman in the photo was at least 10 years older, but Alex had spent enough time with her to know. They were the same blue eyes looking up at him, looking lost and lonely and wanting anyone to hear her out.

Alice Kingsley either had distinct heritage or was telling the truth.

In the white halls of Marmoreal, Mirana the White Queen welcomed her newcomers to her potions room. She was already preparing for what they would need to finally bring Alice back to Underland, away from Time's influence.

"I will not bore you with the details," she said in greeting to Tarrant as he stood in front of her, expecting an immediate answer. "I have been able to locate when in her world Alice is. The importance is to keep Time otherwise occupied while we escort her to Underland."

"Given the chance, my lady," Tarrant responded in a voice which was soft and menacing at the same time, "I will gladly stop Time altogether." One hand moved to the hilt of his sword which was visible at his jacket's edge, ready to fight and ready to take down his nemesis once and for all. The other betrayed his worry as his bandaged fingers clenched and unclenched, keeping a time of their own.

Mirana nodded, but held a hand up to stop him while she added herbs to a pot in front of her. "There is no doubt that there will be a moment we will have to face that Tarrant. For now I need you here with me. My Knights have gone to the sand's edge of the Outlands to surround where we believe Time has moved to. This leaves Marmoreal defenceless for her return."

Mallymkun scrambled to the top of the table Mirana was working while Thackery held back from teh group, momentarily entranced by his reflection in the back of his spoon. "You highness," Mallymkun said, moving forward, "it would be my pleasure to fight for the protection of your kingdom."

Mirana smiled at her smallest of soldiers knowing she was as formidable as her bravest of knights. "I thank you. Tarrant, we're ready. Nivens and Chess are at my Looking Glass. We will be able to get Alice through from there."

The White Queen leaned back as she added the last of the ingredients to her spell and cast it off, certain this time it would work. This time she would heal all of their hearts.

In the Outlands, Time stood in his study, a large room filled with clocks, sundials and hourglasses. Here he controlled everything. Upperland. Underland. Everything in between. His own palace, one made of the strongest of stones, stood high above the desert sand, cast no shadows on the ground below. There the sun stood high, always at noon. The palace was shaped like an hourglass with the base housing his throne room and chambers and the top his study and Great Room.

Time was at his whim and will. When he felt like slowing a mortal's workday down, he would, simply to please himself out of boredom. He would speed up a special moment between two lovers simply to take that time away. Oh he did so much to spite others. But his greatest endeavour was that of the Hightopp and his Champion.

He had watched Alice destroy the Jabberwocky and save Underland from the Red Queen's rule. Not that Iracebeth had any rule over Time, so her banishment was nothing more than a new neighbour. But what had intrigued him was seeing Hightopp's reaction to the girl's departure. In that moment, which he played over again and again, he saw his nemesis' heart sink. Oh certainly the girl said she was going to come back and Time did not doubt she was going to keep her word. But it was that one moment that set Time's plan into action.

And now it was going to come to an end. He was tired of moving Alice around. Mirana and Hightopp spent too much time finding her and were close on more than one occasion. Now it was time to finish this and bring the Hightopp to his knees. Alice would simply have to die.

In that moment and in that thought Time felt a shift in Underland. A strong magic was being used and could only have one source. The White Queen was going to attempt to take his token once again. Time raced out of his study, heading to his Great Room. It was there that he controlled the very essence and balance of these worlds.

The Great Room was of the finest polished stone which seemed to have no seam from floor to wall to ceiling. The ceiling itself opened up to the sky and from that opening a pendulum hung, rocking back and forth, keeping time to the second. It was from here that Time controlled lives and worlds, the passing of days, seasons and age.

It was from here he felt the first rocking explosion outside. He did not need to look outside to know that row after row of perfect chess pieces marched into the Outlands towards his hold. Time moved towards the pendulum with quick steps, already calling upon the time and place where Alice was. "Try, Mirana. You will fail yet again."