Once Upon a Time and characters belong to their respective writers and abc.
Alice Liddell belongs to American McGee, Spicy Horse, EA etc...

In Storybrooke

Jefferson gaped up at the petite woman who had hit him with enough force to knock him onto his ass. His breathing came out in short, hard, pants as he watched her loom over him. Her grin slowly melted into a silent snarl. When she made no move to attack him again, he slowly stood to his feet. His eyes darted behind her to where Gold stood with Belle half behind his shoulder. Gold's eyes were narrowed as he watched the scene before him, a small smirk caught between curiosity and amusement played on his lips.

Alice relaxed her stance and crossed her arms over her breasts. "Hello, Hatter," she said in a light and airy voice that did not match the sternness of her face.

"Alice," he breathed. "You…you remember who I am? And…what I did…" he muttered the last part. His mind raced with thoughts and emotions that flew by so quickly he couldn't really pinpoint exactly what he felt. When had her memory kicked in? Why had—no…HOW had it returned? "I understand no apology will ever make it right, Alice…but I did it—"

"To find your daughter," Alice said mockingly. "Yes, I remember the story you gave me. And albeit heinous, I can't say that your actions are fully without merit. But…you must understand why I'm still cross with you."

"Alice…"

"And where is this precious daughter, Hatter?" Alice held out her hands and twisted left and right at her waist as if searching for her. When obviously no daughter was to be seen, she turned back to Jefferson with simulated surprise. "No child?"

"Alice…" he began again.

She waved away any words he might have had with a frenzied wave of her hands. "No!" she snapped, her voice suddenly cracking as her throat threatened to close with tears. "No. You had me trapped…in Wonderland! All for your own selfish, righteous desires of course…but then—"She held one finger in the air as her eyes flashed and her nostrils flared. "—You locked me up in some asylum beneath a hospital in this world!" Alice took a step towards him and jabbed her finger into his chest, making him back up against the wall. "Having me trapped in one world not enough for you, Hatter?"

Belle watched the scene unfold before her, unsure of exactly how to feel. She focused on the young woman before her, and her breath hitched as a wave of recognition washed over her. "Alice?" she whispered. "Is that you?"

Alice lifted her burning gaze from Jefferson. Her eyes softened to a tiny smile and she let out a small breath of acknowledgement. "You," she whispered. "You were let out as well?" Then her smile vanished and she turned back at Jefferson who had now brought himself up to his feet. "That's why!" she hissed. "That's why you didn't come for me until today? Because you were there for her?" Tears brimmed her eyes and threatened to fall, but she willed them to stay put. "You only came for me because you were already there for her…and the time seemed convenient!"

Jefferson shook his head and tried to hold out a hand for her. "No, no Alice…that's not true."

She stepped back from him. "Then why didn't you come for me before? I was in there for twenty-eight years!"

"I fucking got you out of Wonderland!" Jefferson roared, the sudden ferocity of his outburst forcing Alice to snap her mouth shut and just stare at him. With a groan he rubbed his temple and leaned against the wall. "I broke the hat's rule," he muttered. "For you. So you could live."

In Fairy Tale Land

It had been weeks since Jefferson had fallen into Regina's prison. For the first week she would come to his cell once a day and just stand on the other side of the barred door, her beautiful red lips up in a twisted smirk as she awaited his answer on how he escaped Wonderland.

"Really, it's such a simple question, Jefferson," she would say. "I simply don't understand why you won't answer me." She leaned forward a bit closer, wrapping her slim fingers around one bar. "Tell me how you escaped, and I'll return you to your daughter. You've been gone nearly a year, Jefferson, I know she misses you terribly."

Jefferson moved his head ever so slightly. "A year?" he whispered. "Has it really been that long?"

"Nearly," Regina repeated. "Not quite. So tell me…how did you get out?"

Instead of answering he just lowered his head into his hands, ignoring every question and every threat. Inwardly he begged Grace for forgiveness, for he couldn't return to her just yet…not when he had condemned another woman to death because of that damned hat and its magic. When he would refuse to answer her, Regina would send in her minions to bind him down, and flog him until his skin bled. Yet even with her abuse and torture, he refused her an answer.

Soon her daily visits scattered to every other day, to three times a week, until finally it dwindled down to just one visit if even at all.

He wasn't the only one she would come to visit, he would hear her traipse to another cell further down from his, and he would hear her arrogant voice conversing with a female. He couldn't tell what they would argue about, but it always ended with Regina slamming the cell door shut and storming off.

Then that fateful day arrived—her last visit in this world. She arrived to his cell and yanked open the door. When he turned his head to her he frowned in confusion. She was dressed in another elaborate and glamorous dress, and she was pulling on her gloves as if in a hurry.

"Why, Regina," he said, his voice hoarse and jeering. "Finally you have decided to grace me with your lovely presence. To what do I owe the honor?"

Her lips coiled up in a scowl as she made one final tug on her glove. "I have more important matters to attend to than you for today," she snapped. "I just came to inform you that I am enacting the most powerful curse this world has ever seen. Finally the last piece of the puzzle has been put into place and the curse can begin."

His frown deepened and he slowly stood to his feet. "A curse? What for?"

"It doesn't concern you," she told him. "We will be taken to a world where there will be no happy endings other than my own. Everything here will be depleted. Any life you had hoped to have with your cherished daughter is now gone." She grinned at the turmoil that writhed upon his face. "Your Grace? She will remember nothing. She will walk right by you and know nothing of who you are or what you are to her. You will be just another face in the crowd to her." Regina took a step closer to her and stabbed a finger into his chest. "But you, Jefferson? You will have the privilege of remembering everything." She chuckled when his jaw dropped open and his eyes widened. "And there won't be one damned thing you can do about it." With a menacing laugh she shoved him away and exited the cell.

"No!" Jefferson shouted. "NO! You can't! Regina!" He lunged at her, only to fall through the black mist she left behind. Her taunting laughter loomed around him, pounding within his head and wrapping around him like snakes. With a broken wail he slammed his fist into the ground.

His assault came to a pause when he felt the stone floor rattle beneath him. Thunder crashed and boomed outside the castle, and he lifted himself onto his feet to reach the window. "What in the…" His breath caught in his throat as the dark clouds encircled the palace, lighting exploding within it like a beating pulse. The floor continued to shake violently, nearly knocking him back off his feet. The walls soon joined with the vicious rattling, pieces of it crumbling off like pebbles. Jefferson swore and ran down the hall. The guards were gone; he presumed they went off with Regina to wherever it was she went.

He wasn't sure where he was even running to, he didn't even know the way out of her domain. He had been to her palace before, sure, but he had never been locking in the dungeon before. Out of a pure guess he assumed he was in the bottom of the palace, and searched desperately for a staircase leading up. When he found one he scrambled his way up, tripping a few times over his feet and sloppy footing. He burst through to a landing that seemed familiar and frantically headed towards what he had hoped was a hallway leading to an exiting door. When he reached the end of the hall and it was nothing but a solid wall covered with rattling sconces and tapestries. He punched the wall in despair and swore at the top of his lungs.

The castle was disintegrating, the walls crumbling down more like sand rather than pebbles now. Jefferson's pounds violent pounds against the wall slowed down to tired and defeated thumps that just slid down the length. It was over, her curse was fast approaching, and her castle was the first to go with it. He turned to face the impending dark clouds with a sad half smile. She had won…for the time being, she was the victor. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, gripping tightly at the roots as he awaited the curse to envelope him. With a pained groan he glanced over to the side, his eyes widening as they landed upon the open door across from him. It was the same room he had stumbled into when he fell from the hat. He hurried into it and out of habit he turned the lock behind him.

His hat was perched upon a scrolled mantle as if it were some trophy. Jefferson picked it up gingerly between his fingers and flipped it over so he could look deep into it. "Alice…" he breathed. She was still in there. What would happen to her? This world will vanish, Regina had said…but somehow taken into another one where memories would be erased but people here would continue living there. He swallowed a lump that formed in his throat. But what about the people trapped in a world within a world?

In desperation he fisted the hat's brim and crouched down. "Alice," he whispered again, screwing his eyes tight as he tried to picture her face. He saw her large green eyes, widened by shock and a sheen of wetness over them in near heartache. Her long black hair clung to her body in stains of red, her tiny mouth open in an earth-shattering cry.

Jefferson squeezed his eyes even tighter as he inwardly wished to see her again. It was bad enough he tricked the girl, he couldn't let her be lost in a void between worlds because of this curse. His eyes shot open as he felt the material beneath his fingers grow warm.

"What's happening?" The hat glowed beneath his touch, jumping and shaking in his grasp. "Alice?" he breathed. The thought that sprang to his mind seemed mad, even to him. He shoved his hand down into the hat, sucking in a sharp breath as his hand sank in deep as if there were no bottom. He couldn't tell if it was in his head or if it came from the hat, but he swore he heard her raspy voice. Inside the hat he wiggled his hand, his breath coming out in pants as he felt a small breeze kiss his flesh.

The portal? It had opened?

"Alice?" he said. "Alice!" The door behind him burst open, splintering into large wooden stakes that crashed into the walls. Around him debris from the decaying castle began to swirl, encircling him like a cyclone. He glanced over his shoulder to watch the castle fragments fly around him. He was about to rise to his feet when a hand firmly clamped onto his wrist. He shot back towards the hat, his eyes wide as sweat began to brim his brow. The grasp around his wrist tightened and he fought with all his might to pull back. "Come on…come on!" he grunted. He pulled back far enough to see the hand he was hauling out. His eyes bulged at the sight of it. With another low grunt he pulled further, his breath coming faster from the strain of his muscles and the display of the deep cuts and scratches along the length of her arm.

He had her in his grip, he had her. He kept his grip on her as the ominous clouds enveloped him.