Once Upon a Time and characters belong to abc & respected writers/creators.

Alice Liddell belongs to American McGee, Spicy Horse, EA etc.

A/N: On a totally random note, the husband and I have decided to go as American McGee's Alice & Once Upon a Time's Jefferson for Denver's Comic Con next year. Yay! I was very surprised he mentioned it because he doesn't know I've written this. The conversation was: "Hey, I'm thinking about going as American McGee's Alice next year." And he said, "Cool. I'll go as Jefferson." Anyways, I was excited…onward!


When the dust settled and the clouds began to fade into nothing but mere mist, Jefferson lifted his head and gaped at the world around him. Surrounding him were tall trees and shrubbery of all sizes. "Nothing has changed," he whispered. He simply was now outside rather than inside Regina's palace. "Where has she sent me?" Me? No…us!

He looked down to the form that remained in his arms. Her head had fallen back, exposing her elegantly long and pale throat. His heart lurched for a moment and he instinctively felt for a pulse. When he felt the tiny thump beat against the pads of his fingertips, he released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Carefully he stood to his feet, taking her up further into his arms. Back in their world, he hadn't pulled her fully out when the curse devoured them, he was eternally grateful that in this world, it was all of her and not just her gashed up arm. He had to take her somewhere, somewhere he could get her wounds tended to.

Jefferson minded his footing as he walked through this forest he had landed in. Her dark hair spilled over his arm and glinted beneath the sun's rays. He was so shocked yet relieved she hadn't yet awakened from his jarring movements and heavy footsteps. It was a blessing really, he couldn't even begin to imagine what he would say to her if she had happened to wake up in his arms. He finally reached what he could only guess was the end of the woods, and when he saw the building ahead he nearly dropped down to his knees in wonder.

The structure stood tall and looming, hardly any windows at all against its faces. It was high and domineering like a palace yet was so plain and simple looking. As he came closer he noticed it was not made of brick or wood or marble, but some kind of concoction that made it hard and study like marble, but not as smooth and instead rough and gritty. "What is this?"

A small noise coming from the building caught his attention and he lifted his head. With Alice still in his clutches, he headed towards the sound. As he came around the corner of the building he realized the noises were voices. He came across a door that looked unlike any other he had ever seen. It was smooth and cool to the touch. It was opened just barely a crack, and he nudged it open with his shoulder to make his way in.

The hallway he found himself in was narrow, he glanced back at the metal stair case he had just came down and swallowed. This place…it seemed to be a chamber of sorts but made with materials he didn't recognize, or materials that were not usually readily available for such large amounts as in a building. "What is this place?" Jefferson whispered to himself. He clutched Alice to him tighter and wandered down another corridor. He came across doors sporadically spaced out, and he squinted in wonder as he came across one with a small window in it. He peered in through the small space and gasped when he saw that there was a figure in there. A person, he couldn't tell the gender because they were huddled up against the corner, was sitting on a cot with their feet stretched out in front of them. So these doors led to rooms, they were small and very plain and probably not the most comfortable…but they were indeed rooms.

Jefferson backed away and searched for a room that was unoccupied. He came across one with the door wide open and no one inside. It was dark, no light within, not even from the tiny slant of a window that was stationed near the ceiling. The only light that crept into the room was from one of the lights from the hallway…but that wasn't saying much. He set Alice upon the cot and smoothed the hair from her face.

At his touch she started to stir. He hissed in a scared breath as she began to open her eyes. She groaned a bit, tried to sit up but he kept her down and told her to remain calm so he could clean and dress her wounds.

"What…what's going on?" she whispered. "Who are you?" She strained her eyes and felt with her fingertips to find his face. "I can barely see you," she said. Her fingers brushed over his cheeks, causing him to clamp his mouth shut and swallow the lump that had risen in his throat. One hand sank beneath the long thick curls upon his head that were matted with sweat while the other roamed over his chin. Her breath came faster in almost a near panic. "Who are you?" she repeated.

She didn't remember him. The curse had affected her as well…and as Regina had sworn, he'd be the one to remember everything. "A friend," he said. He removed her hands from and felt around her arms, inwardly swearing when she winced at his touch upon her wounds. "Stay here, Alice," he told her, gently cupping her hands beneath his. "I'll be right back. I just need to find something for your wounds and then we'll figure out where to go from here."

"No!" she cried, wrapping her grip back around his neck. "Please," she begged, her voice pitch nearly shrill with panic. "Please don't leave me here!"

When he gently pulled her hands from him the flesh of her fingertips brushed over the raised meat of the scar that wrapped around his throat. Her breath hitched and she felt around more. "What…what is this?"

Jefferson completely removed her hands from him and placed them over her chest. "Alice," he repeated. "Please, just stay here. I'll return in a moment, but first I have to figure out where we are." He heard her make a small noise of protest and he gently pressed her down. "I will come back for you," he told her. "Just stay here."

He closed the door behind him as made a mental note of the number that hung against the wall by the room's door. "Ten-oh-six," he reminded himself as he made his way through the halls. He came across many rooms similar to the one he put Alice in, not all of them were filled of course, but when he peeked through the windows on some he would see someone huddled in the corner like the first room he had come across. "Are they ill?" he quietly wondered. So, it seemed to be some kind of hospice or shelter for the wounded. Wonderful, he had brought her to the right place.

The more he wandered through the halls the more he became confused. He originally had one thought in his head, but it soon became flooded with several others. He suddenly found himself in a room where five minutes ago he wouldn't have recognized a thing, but now the objects before him were familiar and their purpose clear. When he originally was looking for cloth and a bucket of water to use to cleanse her wounds, he found himself reaching into the medicine cabinet and pulling out the correct antiseptic, gauze, and bandages anyone in the modern world would have instinctively searched for. With the items in hand he paused for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut tightly and shaking his head, as if trying to awake from a dream. "Wait a minute," he whispered. "How do I know what these are?" He whirled around and gaped at the walls around him. Crisp and white and stifling, just like any other nurse's office. But then, he had never seen one before…how did he know what it was and what to look for? The objects around him were the same. At first glance he could instantly name what they were and what their use was…but if he thought about it a moment longer he couldn't remember how or when he knew that.

Jefferson glanced down at the items in his arms and gaped at the words that stood out to him. "Hydrogen peroxide? Neosporin?" For a brief moment they sounded like spells…but a small voice that sounded very much like his own buzzed and instantly he knew what they were for. "What is going on?"

The medicine and gauze fell from his arms as he grasped his pounding head. How did he know what these things were when he only just came across them a minute ago? How was he even able to pronounce them correctly? The actions of him in Regina's castle swirled in his brain, still fresh and daunting as it had only happened no less than perhaps an hour ago…but with the room he was in now with its alien yet so suddenly familiar appearance and instant knowledge of everything that filled said room, the instances in Regina's castle felt as if it had happened centuries ago.

A pained wail escaped Jefferson's lips and he stumbled backward into the desk. His head was pulsing, feeling so thick and full as if it would burst. "The curse," he choked out. "She said I'd remember everything." He tried to compose himself as he gathered up the items. "And now she has me remembering everything for this world." He clutched the items to his chest and hurried out the door.

He heard her scream before he reached the hallway. "Alice…shit!" He dropped everything and ran towards her room. When he reached the hallway where her room resided, he carefully poked his head around the corner. He felt the blood drain from his face as he saw a figure standing in front of her door. She had her arms crossed over her breasts and stood with her spine straight and tall as an arrow. Even with her back towards him he knew her. She could cut her hair and change her clothing, but she still emanated the same raw power and energy that was Regina.

Jefferson kept his back against the wall, and inwardly swore as he tried to figure out his next move. He glanced up and noticed the big round security mirror hanging on the corner, aiming straight down so the hallway and all its guests were in view. He swallowed and stayed close to the wall, periodically glancing left and right to see if any more orderlies were coming.

"Well?" Regina snapped. "Who is she?"

"I haven't the faintest idea," said the head nurse, running a finger over the large flip of a curl that sprouted from her scalp. "We had left this door open for the scheduled routine cleaning and when we approached we saw that it was closed. When we unlocked the door we found her and she began screaming and attacking."

Regina turned her head back towards the room. "Is she secured?" she asked one of the orderlies.

"Yes, Madam Mayor."

With a prim nod, she entered the room. Alice was bound in a strait-jacket and was plopped down in a metal chair as if she were a prisoner in an interrogation. She was whimpering in fear and kept avoiding Regina's scrutinizing stare.

Regina gently moved a strand of black hair from Alice's face and forced her to look at her. "What is your name?" she asked, her voice soft yet commanding.

With a shuddering cry Alice pulled her chin from Regina's fingertips. "Alice," she whispered.

"What are you doing here Alice? How did you get in?"

"I…I don't know. I just woke up and I was here," she answered, pushing herself back into the metal chair as far as she could so as to put as much distance between her and the woman as possible. "Please, I don't even know where I am!"

Regina took note of the blue dress she wore, the small spots of red that seeped through the white sleeves of the strait-jacket, the tears in her black and white striped stockings, and the ripped buckles of her boots. "Alice, has someone attacked you?"

Alice just shook her head and cringed further back into the chair. "I don't know!" she cried, her voice bubbling in near hysteria. "I can't remember!" She struggled against her restraints, causing her to rock back and forth in her seat. When Regina stepped back away from her, Alice broke away from the chair and sprang to her feet. Even with her arms bound, she swung her arms to the side, slamming Regina back with her elbow. She maneuvered between the two orderlies, swinging out her feet into their shins and kneecaps to knock them down, and broke out into the hallway.

The head nurse gasped and reached for her walkie-talkie to call for backup. With a growl Alice thrust herself forward, slamming her shoulder into the nurse's middle and smacking her into the wall. As the nurse collapsed to the ground, her mouth open in gaping breaths from the wind knocked out of her, Alice hastily made her way down the hallway.

Jefferson saw her and came around the corner. The blasted girl—she was going the wrong way! "Alice!" he shouted.

She stopped dead in her tracks and whirled around.

But the two orderlies emerged from her room and tackled her down before she could even catch a glimpse of the man who had called her name. Jefferson winced, a voice inside yelling at him to go forward and help her, but there he remained, hiding behind the corner and watching as they pinned her down. One clamped a chubby hand over her shrieking mouth as the other prepped a sedative.

Regina finally came out of the room, her hand holding the jaw that had the unfortunate luck of colliding with Alice's elbow. She came around the screaming girl, circling her as she watched as the man ripped away part of her dress to reveal an open canvas of skin before stabbing in the needle. Regina panted from the adrenaline and rubbed her jaw with the back of her hand.

The sedative ran its course, the rabid screams that came from Alice's lips slowly died down into desperate pleads and whimpers, her thrashing legs curled up beneath her in submit, she became nothing but a puddle of defeat.

"What shall we do with her?" asked the head nurse, gently sweeping aside Alice's hair from the girl's face.

Regina straightened her blouse and simply looked at the nurse. "Put her back in the room. Until we find out who she is and what she's doing here, we'll have to keep her here for safe-keeping. We know her first name so she's not entirely a Jane Doe, but I will personally ask around if anyone is missing an Alice in their family." She nodded to the orderlies. "Put her on the bed, we'll have some nurses come in to clean her up in a moment."

Jefferson swore beneath his breath and made his way back to the office. He rushed through the file cabinets to search for a patient record sheet and hastily filled it out.

Name: Alice Liddell

Age: 19

Family: Deceased

History: Post traumatic stress disorder due to family's unsolved murder. Suffers survivor's guilt, leading up to extreme self-loathing and suicidal tendencies. Has made a breakthrough in the past.

He wrote in what he could and slipped it into a manila folder labeled with the room number 10-06 and left it atop the filing cabinet. He grabbed a men's scrubs uniform from the closet and quickly buttoned it over his clothes. With quick looks out the door and down the hallways to the corner security mirrors, he broke through and escaped the asylum. His heart bled as he thought of Alice practically bound and gagged in yet another mental ward, but things were different now. This world was completely different.

He had to leave her there for now…and come up with a way to get her out another day.