It was strange being home again. After spending several days in Wonderland it was quite a shock to find that she had barely been gone an hour in her own world. She couldn't be sure exactly how long, as she hadn't woken up until many hours later, apparently in the hospital. Then it all came back to her in a rush, everything she had left behind in Wonderland. She had found her father again only to lose him forever in the same day.

In some ways it was freeing to know that he never meant to leave them, that he loved her up until his very last moment. But it wasn't the same as having him back with her, and she still mourned that loss along with her mother, letting out the tears she has been holding back for ten years.

And then there was Hatter…She had hoped he might ask her to stay, or even offer to come with her again. But he just stood there, not saying a single word as the Looking Glass technician pushed her through. And even though he's still alive she knew in that moment that she'd never see him again.


But somehow Hatter is standing in her doorway now, looking so completely normal that she doesn't know whether to laugh or cry in response. She suddenly feels like Dorothy, waking up to find that all of her wonderful friends from Oz are just the people that she sees everyday in Kansas. Or apparently in this case, some random construction worker named David who's somehow found his way into her dreams. But then as he catches sight of her his mouth quirks into that familiar grin and she knows it's really Hatter standing in front of her. An answering grin lights up her own face as she runs to throw her arms around him once again.

"Hatter!" Alice should probably worry that she practically leapt at the man but he's hugging her back just as tightly.

"Finally," he breathes into her shoulder, sending a delightful wave of shivers through her body. She pulls back only a scant few inches to face him, reluctant to let him go again.

"You have no idea how how happy I am to see you."

The awed look on Hatter's face has her reconsidering her words. She suddenly realizes that while it's only been a few hours for her since waking up back in her world, for Hatter it's been much longer. Even if Hatter had jumped through the Looking Glass immediately after her he would have just found her lying by the mirror unconscious. She can tell by his expression that it's been a long night of worrying he'd found her only to lose her again. But he hadn't lost her, and now here they both were, finally. So when Hatter leans into her she meets his lips without a single hesitation.

"I missed you," he whispers against her mouth as she tugs at his collar to kiss him again. This kiss has been a long time coming, but Hatter's lips caress her own as if they have all the time in the world. And considering all that they have been through together it's almost an irresistible luxury to lose herself in the feeling of Hatter pressed against her like this. But all too soon she's brought back to reality by the sound of her mother's voice.

"So I take it you two know each other?"

Alice suddenly realizes how this must look. From her mother's perspective, Jack had just proposed last night, and now here she was kissing some strange man in front of her. There is really no way of explaining what actually happened in between without sounding crazy. Thankfully, a very sheepish Hatter steps up to try, taking Alice's hand in his own as he turns towards the older woman.

"Well you see the thing is…yes. Old friends, me and Alice. Just wasn't sure if she had ever talked about me before so I didn't mention it last night." Alice wants to kiss him again for that quick bit of thinking, but clearly her mother isn't quite as impressed with his response.

"And you just happened to be in the neighborhood?" Oh this is bad, Alice thinks. There weren't a lot of believable answers for why Hatter might just happen upon her while she was unconscious in some random building, and most of plausible scenarios would paint Hatter in a pretty terrible light. She can feel Hatter tense a little beside her as he realizes the same thing.

"I called him!" She interjects, too quickly and too loudly. "After the thing with Jack, I needed a friend, and so I called Ha..David and he must have arrived just after I bumped my head." She's grateful for Hatter's steady hand as he grasps her own trembling fingers - she's never been good at hiding things from her mother, and it's making her jittery. But the truth would be even harder to explain right now.

Thankfully, her mother seems to accept the not-really-so-far-from-the-truth version of events, and Alice finally relaxes into Hatter's side. His thumb is gently stroking the back of her hand and with that small crisis averted all she can think about is how much she wants to be kissing him again. But her mother is still right there, and she's still looking at them strangely.

"Well then David, how about you stay for dinner and tell me all about how you two met?"

Alice jumps in to answer. "Mom, we'd love to stay, but I sort of promised Hatter we were going to…"

"Get pizza." Hatter interrupts, and she can almost hear the implied wink in his voice.

"Yes, we're going to go grab some pizza…and talk." Even to her own mind 'talk' suddenly sounds like a euphemism for 'kiss some more elsewhere'. She can almost feel herself reverting to the teenager she never was, making excuses to her mother in order to sneak off with some boy. Well, not some boy. Hatter. A necessary distinction, though not really the point right now. "Raincheck on dinner?"

They're let off with a final look from her mother that manages to convey just how much she's not buying this explanation, while at the same time looking oddly pleased at the turn of events. She imagines her mother has probably been waiting years for the chance to tease her about something like this, though Alice can't find it in herself to mind. She'll let her mom have her fun, she certainly deserves it. But right now she really just wants to have Hatter to herself. So with a quick goodbye she's dragging Hatter out the door and away from any well-meaning prying. Only to realize that wandering the streets is not exactly the private venue she imagined for their talk. Or 'talk'. But it's not as though there's that many places she can take him, unless they want to hang out in the back of the karate studio.

"So I guess we should actually go get pizza and talk for a bit?" The suggestion sounds even sillier now but it's all she's got.

"To be honest, traveling by Looking Glass has sort of killed my appetite for the foreseeable future, but I could do with a cup of tea. The real kind, that is." He's quick to add.

"I'm sure we can find a place that serves around here somewhere." She's not much for tea, herself - especially after the Queen's Tea - but she tries to think of somewhere that might have it.

"Well there is always my place."

"You have a place?"

"Yeah, just a few blocks away, I'll show you." His smile is making her think this was his real plan all along, though she's still stuck on the idea of him having a place. It's only been a day or so since they returned, and she can only imagine he's staying in some seedy hotel that doesn't ask too many questions. Still, she lets him lead her down several streets she's never traveled before to wherever he's currently staying in her world.

"Here we are, then." Hatter holds out his free arm in a sweeping gesture towards the building in front of them. It's not exactly the seedy hotel she pictured - or a hotel at all - but the building before her has certainly seen better days. She thinks to herself that it actually reminds her a bit of some of the buildings in Wonderland, though thankfully this one seems to be firmly on the ground. The staircase within is old and winding, and probably not entirely safe, but she's happy they're not chancing the birdcage elevator instead (she didn't even know those still existed!). Hatter leads her up to the third floor before producing a key with an excited grin, unlocking the apartment and steering her through the doorway.

Inside, it's like stepping into another century. The room is very well kept but it feels ancient. The windows are all heavily draped and most of the room's lighting is coming from the half dozen lamps that Hatter is rushing to turn on. She sees now that the walls are darkly papered in golds and greens, the pattern clashing horribly with that of the carpeting - not to mention with the ridiculous array of antique furniture that's been made to fit in the tiny room. Handmade doilies cover most of the surfaces. It almost looks like a Victorian dollhouse that's been scaled up to human size, and Alice is afraid to touch anything in the apartment for fear of breaking something.

"What d'ya think of it?" Hatter has snuck up behind her to watch her take it all in.

"It's not exactly what I was expecting…" was the most diplomatic response she can think of. "How did you even find this place?"

"Some old bird was renting it. Wanted to go live with her son and new granddaughter in a place called Florida." The way he says 'Florida' is probably how she would have said the word 'Jabberwocky' just a few short days ago, with a tone of complete disbelief.

"How'd you even afford it?" The apartment is certainly very nice if more than a little old-fashioned, and even in this part of town real estate is pretty expensive.

"Still so suspicious, eh? Well it turns out a few bits of coin from our world are worth quite a bit of paper in yours. It's entirely on the up and up."

"And so she let you move in, just like that?" She doesn't doubt he's telling her the truth, even if it does sound crazy, but she knows there has to be more to it than that.

"Well I have have mentioned there was this girl…" His cheeky tone suggests he not really upset at all her questions.

"Oh really?" She teases back over her shoulder, still wandering around looking at the odds and ends that have been left behind.

"And perhaps I may have given her enough to cover an entire year's rent, plus the help of a rather handsome and strapping young lad in helping her move out."

"At least we know she wasn't entirely senile, though I have no idea where you found a handsome young man to help her pack…" She can't help herself, it feels wonderful to finally be able to laugh like this.

"Oi! I'll show you handsome!" It's not a particularly witty comeback, but he's grabbing her hand to spin her back into his arms, and she lets herself be drawn back into another kiss. Taking advantage of the playful mood, she nips at Hatter's lower lip, enjoying the rumbling chuckle she gets in response. But drawing her tongue across the same spot earns a full-fledged moan, and she can feel the mood shift a little between them. Hatter kisses her more firmly now, bringing up his free hand to cup the back of her head while the other tightens around her. Alice returns with equal fervor until they're both out of breath. Hatter finally pulls back to deliver a small kiss to the tip of her nose, an oddly cute gesture that belies his earlier passion.

"So I take it you approve of my new lodgings?" His tone is teasing, but his expression is hopeful.

"A bit old-fashioned maybe, but I think it suits you," the cocky grin returns to his face at this, "and it certainly beats sleeping out in the ruins."

"Ha! And you haven't even seen the best part!"

Hatter draws her over to a large glass cabinet in the corner, filled to the brim with all manner of teacups and saucers. There's not a single matching set to be found, or even a common theme. Each cup is individually quite beautiful, though as a whole it is quite a cacophony of shapes and colors. A sort of beautiful chaos, just like her Hatter.

"I think this is the real reason the old bird let me have the place. She had to leave most of her collection here and I promised they'd be in good hands. There's dozens more in the cupboards too, along with some very nice tea. Shall I put the kettle on for us?" Alice can only nod in response as he dashes to the kitchen, her chest pleasantly tight at the domesticity of it all. How easily Hatter could take her into home, his life, referring to them as an "us" so casually. Though considering he jumped into a strange new world just to find her, maybe this the rest of it really was easy for him.

It had never come easily to her, letting people in. Not since her father had left. But Hatter had a way of chipping away at her defenses and working himself into all the cracks until there was no getting rid of him. If she hadn't been pushed through the Looking Glass before, she's not sure even sure she could have really gone without him. And she knows she can't let him go now. Even having him in another room is to great a distance right now.

Alice finds herself following Hatter into the kitchen just as he turning up the flames beneath an ornate kettle. She cross the room swiftly to kiss him again with a new urgency, and is met with equal intensity from Hatter. Her hands move up to grip at his neatened hair, mussing it back to its wild state once again. She can feel him almost purring against her as she alternates tugging at the strands and running her fingers through the newly disheveled locks. His own hands reach for her waist, dipping beneath her top to run along the bare skin of her lower back before grasping her more firmly into him. Alice continues pressing them back until Hatter bumps into the counter, and takes advantage of the surprised gasp he makes to sweep her tongue against his own, a gesture he eagerly returns. Their kiss stretches on for long moments until the kettle is loudly whistling beside them.

"Care for some tea then?" Hatter chuckles at the awkward interruption, trying to gain back some of his composure as he scrambles to turn off the stove. But Alice isn't ready to let him get it back just yet.

"It will keep." As far as lines go, it's a little opaque. But the way Hatter's mouth falls open a little and his eyes darken, she knows he understands her.

"Well then, how about we finish the tour?" It comes out a little breathlessly, and despite the obvious double meaning Hatter is offering her a real smile instead of his usual clever grin. She answers with a smile of her own and allows him to finally lead her to the bedroom.