Howdy, sorry that it took me a bit to update. Holiday/Finals madness I guess, plus the added annoyance of having to write a chapter that you know isn't going to be the best but it has to get you from point A to point B. Reviews are welcome, hopefully they're good ones lol.

...Everything was burning.

Death filled the town around him.

"William," his mother yelled as she took him by the shoulders, "You need to run!"

"But I'm not leaving without you!"

"You don't understand. They cannot find you! Now go!" his mother snapped as she shoved him toward the forest.

At his mother's command, the 13 year old Hatter ran as fast as his legs would carry him into the dense trees.

Worried about what would happen, Hatter found a hidden place where he could witness the events around him.

He watched as his mother picked up a sword with skill as she went against foe after foe. Many of them fell at her feet until at last they became too much for her. Two men took hold of her arms and held her in place as if waiting for someone.

Hatter could not see who it was that his mother spoke to, but he could see as pain filled her body. Hatter watched as seconds later his mother fell to the ground at the feet of the men that held her.

"No, no, no," Hatter whispered to himself as tears came to his eyes. He had to dig his nails into the damp soil to keep himself from bolting out of his hiding place until the men that had ransacked his town were gone. Once they were all out of sight, Hatter ran, fell to his knees by his mother's side, and lifted her into his arms.

"Mum, mum!" he yelled as he shook her slightly, "Hey, please wake up mum?!"

"Will," she whispered as she looked at him through half closed lids. Hatter couldn't understand it, there wasn't a mark on her, but she was dying. "Run, Will…run and don't ever stop. Leave me and don't ever come back here."

"No mum, come on you're coming with me." Hatter said though he knew it wasn't true.

"I…love you….and I'm…so …sorry," she struggled to whisper to him as a moment later she took her last breath.

*******************

"No!" Hatter awoke with a start. It seemed that he had fallen asleep for an hour or so while waiting for Alice to wake up. He instantly knew that through his dreams he had woken a bit louder than he should've. He could hear people on the other side of the curtain talking about how he shouldn't be there and about how security would be up in a few minutes.

Fantastic, Hatter thought to himself as he rubbed his face. With a sigh, he stood and made to go to the opening in the curtain, but before he got there he looked down at Alice.

She looked so small, almost nothing like the strong fighter he had known in Wonderland. Even then, despite her fears, she was a force to be reckoned with. As he looked down at her in that moment he knew that he would give anything for her to be up and around. If she would just open her eyes he'd be the happiest man in both worlds.

Hatter leaned over her, breathed her in, kissed her gently on the forehead, and exited beyond the curtain.

"Ummm, Hi." he said as nonchalantly as he could to the nurse that was staring at him with her mouth wide open, "I'm just, ahh, gonna…go, now."

As Hatter turned to walk out of the room he spotted to security guards waiting for him. The moment he left Alice's room they each took him by an arm. "Hey, hey, hey. I said I was goin' there's no need to be physical about it." he replied to their nonverbal message as he pulled his arms from their grasps.

"Excuse me?!" a woman's out of breath voice yelled when she almost bumped into them.

"Can we do something for you mama?" one of Hatter new best friends asked the disheveled looking woman.

"Yes, ummm I'm looking for my daughter, Alice Hamilton. I was told that she was brought in about an hour ago."

"You're gonna want to go to that reception desk-"

"Actually, she's in the room right over there." Hatter said with a small smile at Alice's mother.

Carol looked at Hatter with gratitude and a little shock, "Thanks. Do I , do I know you?"

"No-no you don't." Hatter replied before he started to walk away.

"Wait," Carol said as she grabbed his arm, "Someone mentioned…Are you the construction worker?"

Hatter let out a small sigh of relief. After years of fearing any type of discovery while in Wonderland, he was glad that in this instance discovery could help him, "Yeah, yes I am, the construction worker."

Hatter was taken off guard when Carol hugged him with all her might. "Thank you so much for finding her." When she released him, Hatter noticed that the security guards just walked away.

"You're Welcome, Mrs.-"

"Just call me Carol." she replied with a laugh, "Where are you going? Come on and visit her with me. I'm sure she'll want to thank you when she wakes up."

"I really can't. I kinda need to get settled meself. Could you by any chance tell me how to get to Market Street?" Hatter said. He wanted to stay more than anything, but he didn't want to freak her out and he was sure that if she woke up and saw him sitting there with her mother, well she'd be pretty freaked out.

"No, I can't sorry. Its funny, Alice told me that her boyfriend lives in an apartment on that street…"

"Oh really." Hatter replied with a nervous laugh, "Small world."

"Yeah. I wonder if she ever, you know what never mind. Look here's my number, please just call me when your free," she talked as she pulled a small piece of paper out of her purse and started writing on it, "And we'll have a thank you dinner or something."

Hatter took the paper, regretting the fact that he did actually have to leave. He had hoped that Alice would've woken up while he was there with her, but now he didn't want to risk staying if she woke up muttering something about him that would cause her mother to put her in an institution.

"Ah, thanks. I'll do that."

"Again, thank you so much. You have no idea how scared I was when she never came home….Can I ask, what's your name?"

"David," Hatter replied, once again letting the unfamiliar name fall from his lips.

Carol smiled once more before saying goodbye and entering her daughter's room. Hatter stood for a few seconds just staring at the door until, with a weary shrug, he walked away from the one place he wanted to be and into a new unknown world.