9. The Death of Alice

"Grace…? Are you playing hide and seek with Lewis again?" Jefferson whispered as he crawled after his three year old daughter in the early hours of the morning. He glanced back up at the large bed in which Alice was still sleeping soundly and then continued crawling in his daughter's small steps. "Where did you go?"

A giggle sounded from within the closet and a wide grin spread on the man's face as he pretended to search for his young daughter beneath the table and the chairs. He heard the giggle increase as he lifted a vase with bright lilies and scratched his head when he couldn't find her beneath it.

"Could she be… In here!" Jefferson whispered as he pulled open the closet door and pulled out his fair, little girl who held Lewis in her gentle grasp. Grace squealed in delight as her father swung her around and then quieted when he signed for her to be silent.

"Quiet, dear…" he whispered. "Your mother is still sleeping."

"I want to see!" Grace mock-whispered and her father immediately carried his child over to the bed as per her instructions. She snuck beneath the covers and put the rabbit on the covers beside her as Jefferson crawled onto the bed and wrapped an arm around his daughter. Together, the two of them beheld the peacefully sleeping Alice.

"She's beautiful…" Grace whispered and reached out to move a loose strand of long, wavy hair that rested across her mother's face.

Jefferson nodded and kissed his daughter's chubby cheek. "Yes, she is. As are you, Grace."


Alice wrapped her grey cardigan closer around her thin frame as she walked down the main road in the small town. A strong wind blew at her and she shivered from the cold that snuck its way into her very core. She gazed ahead and her eyes were drawn to the familiar figure on the other side of the road. For a second she froze in place before her mind alerted her of the dangers of remaining where she was. Without thinking, Alice threw herself into the closest building, the library, to hide.

She walked further in between the bookshelfs and gazed out through the window to the other side of the road where the young girl walked with her school bag thrown lazily across one shoulder. The girl stopped on the corner right across from the library and gazed both left and right before she sat down on a bench to wait.

Alice's heart constricted as she reached out a hand and pressed it against the window. She wished her simple gesture could bring her closer to the child who did not know she stood there, hidden in the shadows.

Suddenly a throat cleared in the room behind her and the blonde woman jumped. She turned and saw the familiar face of the brunette beauty who had entered her story the other day. The woman was dressed in a chic, short dress and high heels as a kind, yet hesitant smile played on her fair features.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"That's alright," Alice breathed as her heart settled down within her chest. "You're… Belle, right? I suppose I owe you an apology for the way I treated you the other day."

Belle shrugged and smiled kindly. "That's fine. I'm sure you had your reasons…"

"I'm Alice," the woman held out a hand and Belle eagerly shook it. "And please, forgive me. Ever since the curse lifted, I've been slightly… paranoid."

"You're not the only one," Belle smiled reassuringly and stepped over to Alice's side. The two women gazed out at the girl on the bench for a short while as silence hung in the air. At length, Belle slowly turned to her new friend and asked, "… Do you know her? The girl, I mean."

Alice nodded and inhaled as she admitted, "She is… was my daughter back home. Grace… She's beautiful, isn't she?"

A lone tear fell from her eyes and trickled down her pale cheek. The admission had been hard for her and Alice quickly wiped at the wet path down her face. Belle wordlessly handed her a tissue and the blonde woman accepted it with a frail thank you.

"I'm guessing you're not out there with her because the two of you are kept apart in this world for some reason?" The brunette asked tentatively. "Even now when the curse is broken?"

Alice sniffled and nodded as she gazed at Grace. In that second, the person she had been awaiting arrived and the woman watched as Jefferson sat down by his daughter's side. There was still a look of apprehension and confusion in his pale eyes but he managed to smile down at Grace nonetheless. The latter happily threw her arms around his neck in a loving embrace and the man's features turned relieved as if all was well again with the world.

Alice sighed and turned from the heartwarming scene for it did nothing but break her own beating heart which had been carefully repaired several times in the past. She was certain her heart would not make it for long if she was not left to her lonely existence once more. At least far from all of it, she could deal with her own pain and pretend it was weaker and more insigificant than it truly was.

"Some deals transcended the curse," she whispered at last in response to the earlier question..

"A deal?" Belle frowned and pondered the woman's choice of words. "You're not saying that you…?"

Alice simply nodded as the beauty's words faded unfinished. With a frail, broken voice, she explained what she had for a long time kept hidden, "I struck a deal with Rumpelstiltskin to save my husband… and I can never be with my husband or daughter again because of it."


"Will you pour me some more tea, darling?" Alice asked and her warm eyes shone with happiness at her daughter who sat on the other side of the table. The four year old skipped from her chair with the empty tea pot in hand and pretended to refil her mother's empty cup. Alice thanked her child and then proceeded to take a sip of the makebelieve beverage.

Grace, meanwhile, walked over to the third seat and proceeded to refil Lewis' cup also as the rabbit munched on a carrot and payed her little heed. The small girl patted the soft rabbit before returning to her seat.

"You make excellent tea," Alice said admiredly. "You must tell me your secret, Grace."

Grace pretended to be hurt by this request. "A master tea maker never reveals her secrets."

The mother repressed a grin when suddenly the door opened and Jefferson stepped inside. His eyes were vacant and the woman immediately sent her daughter into the backyard to play with the white rabbit.

When they were left alone, Alice helped her husband to a chair and as he sat down, she knelt by his side. "Jefferson? What is it? Please, tell me what's wrong!"

"He's back… I don't understand. He left us alone for such a long time… why is he back now?" Jefferson's confusion was almost matched by his despair. "I never understood why he left us alone, but I understand even less why he has returned."

"Who?" Alice asked with a despairing frown. A part of her, however, already knew the answer and dreaded it like the plague. Still, there was nothing to be done to avoid the truth.

"Rumpelstiltskin, of course. He says he has work for me. What do I do, Alice?" His pale eyes shone with honest fear as he sank further into his seat. "What can I do? I have to work for him…"

...


Alice rushed through the forest as her mind rebelled. Not long after Jefferson had told her the news, she had excused herself and hurried to find Rumpelstiltskin. Her husband had still been so distressed that he had not noticed her sudden departure.

Now, as she was almost atop the mount where she had met the Dark One years ago, one thought alone sped through her mind. There could be only one reason why Rumpelstiltskin was back now.

She reached the top of the hill and breathed hard as she gazed across the distance. As she had feared, the dark monster already waited for her on the other end. As he noticed her, Rumpelstiltskin pushed away from a tree and stepped closer into the small clearing.

"I knew you'd find me," he cooed with a wicked grin.

The blonde woman ignored the darkness in his gaze as she furiously crossed the distance between them with a loud, "You said you wouldn't employ Jefferson again!"

"And I won't… if you fulfil your end of our deal."

Alice vigorously shook her head. She'd come at last to the inevitable crossroad of her destiny and she had to follow through with the choice she had already made. Despite this knowledge, the thought frighetened her and she pleaded, "Give me more time with my family! My daughter is still so young! Whatever you wish of me, can't it wait? Please!"

The Dark One merely shook his head as if her heartbreak did not touch the frost around his heart even the slightest. "Sorry, deary! A deal is a deal and I've come for my payment. If you refuse, I'll have to go back on my end of the deal."

The blonde woman eyed her foe with disbelief in her wide, frightened gaze. "…How can anyone be so cruel?"

"Well, it was sort of in the job description," Rumpelstiltskin shrugged his shoulders in an innocent air as he stepped closer into her personal space.

"I'm just asking for a little more time…" the woman pleaded meekly.

"I've given you four years, that's more than enough. Time's up," he said laughtily and then his attitude changed into one more suitable for business. "Your offer, last time, of giving me anything you could give me was more than a little enticing, I admit…"

Alice frowned as she beheld the curious, dark man before her. "Why? I don't see what you possibly want with me. There's nothing I can offer you; no gold or power… no matter how much I wish him free from your grasp. Wishing isn't enough with you, is it?"

"No," the man agreed. "However… You're not quite telling the truth, are you, deary? I know your family. The powers of magic in your blood. You're keeping quite the secret, aren't you?"

Alice simply shook her head as she denied his claim, "I'm not who you think I am."

"I concur. You're more powerful than that."

"I don't have any powers. I told you. I'm nobody," she said and held her ground.

"… True. But you didn't use to be 'nobody'," Rumpelstiltskin pressed on and there was an evil twinkle in his unsettling gaze.

At last, the blonde woman sighed in defeat. He wouldn't let her off the hook, no matter how hard she denied it now. She could run no more. With a slow voice, she admitted, "That was a long time ago. I've turned from that path."

"As far as I heard, it wasn't voluntary," glee shone in his eyes at the confession he'd finally received. It seemed he deemed it to be a cause for celebration, though the woman couldn't for the life of her read the intentions behind this.

Alice shrugged. "It was for the best. I'm happier now. Losing my powers gave me a chance to change… I'm doing good now."

"But it doesn't change the fact that the magic is still in your blood," Rumpelstitskin said as he placed his calloused hands on her slim shoulders. For a second it seemed he attempted to sense the magic within her but soon his hands fell away. "Somewhere deep inside."

Alice huffed, "You should know that's not the case. And even if it was, I don't want it anymore."

"We agree then," Rumpelstiltskin's dark grin grew as if a second mighty victory had just been won. "I don't want your magic released in our realms either."

The woman frowned as a worried tingle entered the back of her mind. With fury and fear in her words, she hissed, "What are you suggesting?! Stop playing games and speak out loud. What do you really want from me?"

"You want to know my terms? It's simple. I want you to leave this realm," Rumpelstiltskin paused and let his words sink in before he went in for the kill, "Oh, and you can never look upon your dear husband or child again."

Despair was the only thing that remained on her features now that both anger and confusion had been abruptly torn asunder. Alice wet her lips and tested her voice, "…What?"

"These are my terms. If I am never to meddle with the Hatter… neither are you. No real contact can be made with him by either of us."

Alice shook her head frantically. "That's unfair!"

Rumpelstiltskin shrugged tiredly. "It's a deal, dear. It can hardly be unfair… It's just not in your favor."

"You can't take me away from them! I love them! They need me… think of my daughter, please!"

"Those are my terms. Remember, you told me I could ask for anything. This is what I have chosen. …Oh, and don't worry about the details, dear Alice. I'm going to help you escape into another realm, one you know he will never set foot in again."

Fear gripped the woman tightly as she took a step back from the man. He didn't need to say the word outloud for she read it plainly in his malicious gaze. "…I don't want to go back! I managed to escape… I will not go there again!"

"You must. A deal is a deal! Or would you like to make our deal undone?"

Alice shook her head with a ferver. "No! There's no going back. …Promise me that you will never sway Jefferson's mind ever again. I will go if you do. As long as you are aware that if you ever do anything to my husband or daughter, I will find a way back and I will make you pay. I was once powerful, I can be it again."

"Yes, yes!" Rumpelstitskin waved his hand as if bored by her words. "I've heard your warning but there is no need to fret! I don't break my deals."

"Then I will accept your terms…" Alice said and with that felt she had determined her destiny and locked away her fate. All would fall to ruin for her now, but it would be worth it if it kept her family safe and sound. There was no room to hesitate or question the decision made. She could but do and be done with it.

"There is one thing, however. If you simply send me to Wonderland, Jefferson will never stop looking for me and will eventually find me. For obvious reasons, that's something neither you nor I can deal with. …My sudden disappearance needs to be one that leaves no doubt in his mind that I will never return."

"Oh, deary," the Dark One grinned. "That's right in my field of expertise… I told you. Don't worry about the details. I have it all sorted out."


Jefferson opened the large door to the library with a mild frown. Belle, Rumpelstiltskin's beloved girlfriend, had walked over to Jefferson and Grace as the two had been chatting out on a bench. The brunette had come with a strange proposition for him; She had offered to take his daughter for a cup of hot cocoa at Granny's while he settled some business in her library. She'd given him no further explanation to this odd suggestion.

And Jefferson had always thought she was sane when she was locked away in the asylum… Perhaps he was wrong.

As the man walked further into the library, he glanced between the bookshelfs for anything to explain his presence there today. As he reached the corner in the back, the man paused.

With her back against a shelf, with her eyes downcast, stood Alice and her shoulders were slumped as if she had lost all strength. Jefferson grimaced as he wasn't sure whether to yell or walk away. At the moment, the latter option seemed most alluring.

"Please don't tell Grace I left her because I didn't love her anymore…" her fragile voice stopped him from taking door number two.

Jefferson shrugged his eyebrows. He wasn't in the mood for this curious woman to misbehave anymore. She'd shunned him three times already, it didn't make any sense why she had decided to change the tables on him all the sudden. "Okay… Why? It's the truth, isn't it?"

"It's not! You think this is my choice?!" the woman suddenly exploded and in her ocean-colored eyes danced a wild hurricane as she raised her gaze to lock with his at last. It seemed the strength she had lost had not been to fight but rather to withhold the truth. "These were his terms!"

Tension settled in the air like a thick fog as Jefferson's scrambled thoughts tugged on his mind in every direction at once. The silence was deafening as the man finally managed a weak, "…'Terms'? What did you do, Alice?"

Her eyes widened as she realized her little slip of the tongue and the woman closed her eyes tight. Jefferson couldn't understand the pain that flashed across her face with her sudden grimace. "I can't discuss this with you, I've already said too much."

The man shook his head in plain disagreement. "You haven't said enough."

"You don't understand-"

"Rumpelstiltskin," Jefferson breathed as realization hit him like a punch to the face. "This is his doing?"

"I can't-"

"You made a deal with him?!" the man hollered as he moved from one clarity to another. Fury blinded him from both logic and sense and without waiting for an answer, Jefferson turned on his heel and rushed out of the library.


"Hey, Grace!" Henry called as the girl entered the café and headed towards him where he sat in one of the booths. Behind her, Belle entered and she looked about at the people in the small café. In the same booth as Henry sat Emma, Mary Margaret and David, apparently enjoining a family lunch to celebrate their recent reunion.

Belle's eyes, however, were soon drawn from the happy family as she saw the familiar figure on one of the red bar stools and walked over to him. Gold smiled warmly at her as she sat down beside him.

"I got your message, Belle. What did you want to see me about?" the man asked.

"Listen…I…" the brunette wasn't quite sure how to address the issue she'd just learned about. As she tried to find the right words, the door to Granny's café suddenly flew open with a bang as Jefferson stepped inside.

The man's mads gaze immediately found Gold and with a threatening hand, Jefferson pointed at him. "You. We need to talk. Now!"

"What's this about?" Gold asked in mock-confusion.

"It's alright, I know this man!" Belle defended the furious Hatter. "That's why I wanted to see you, Gold. I had to ask… why did you separate them?"

Gold frowned and shrugged as he stood from the seat and leaned on his cane. "Belle, I can't answer-"

Jefferson crossed the short distance with two large strides and grabbed hold of Gold's collar. He pulled the other man close to his face as he asked in blind rage, "I'll ask you the same question your darling here just asked… though I fear I'll do it with less finess."

Without another word of warning, Jefferson suddenly lifted his foe and threw him heavily on top of the counter as if he weighed nothing more than a child. Ruby gasped and stepped back as several glasses, along with Gold's cane, tumbled to the floor and broke by her feet.

"Daddy!" Grace called, but her worried shout fell on deaf ears.

"Why?!" Jefferson hollered as he held the other man down. "You ruined me!"

"Hey!" Emma called as she rushed forward to break up the fight. David helped pull Jefferson off of the smaller man. The prince could still feel Jefferson's muscles tense as if preparing to strike again, much like a cat on the prowl.

"Calm down!" David urged the mad man and Jefferson shrugged out of his grip.

The man walked back and forth a couple of steps as his glare remained on Gold. His anger was almost touchable as it simmered in the air between them all. At last, Jefferson turned his gaze to Emma who stood with one foot before Mr Gold to protect him as he smoothed the wrinkles in his suit.

"This is between Gold and I… Stay out of this, Ms Swan!"

"Actually," Gold began as he received his cane from Ruby and once more leaned on it as if he had no care in the world. His face was impassive and it was plain he had fully recollected himself after the sudden attack. "There's nothing between you and I that must be cleared."

"You took her from me!" Jefferson once more pointed his finger at the sneaky man and was just about to lunge for him once more when David's hands shot up to hold him in place. "I thought she died by your hands, but it was all a lie! How could you lie to me?"

"Woah, woah…" Emma held up her hands in a sign for both men to calm down. She glanced from Mr Gold to the furious Hatter before her. "How about we take this from the start, shall we? Who died?"

"My wife!" Jefferson growled.

...


"Had enough time to ponder my proposition? It's time to return to your work, isn't it… Hatter?" Rumpelstiltskin asked as he walked into the backyard where Jefferson was about to chop some firewood for the cottage. The other man dropped the axe to the ground and then glanced behind him at his house. He knew Grace was having a nap with Lewis, but still he had hoped this encounter would be held far from home in order to protect his family.

Jefferson sighed as he took a step towards the Dark One. "Do I have any choice?"

"Jefferson, don't!" Alice voice cried from the backdoor and he heard it slam shut as she ran over to him. She gripped his arm tight and her wide eyes pleaded with him to stay. "You don't have to do this… Please, don't work for him."

"Now, now… Don't listen to your wife, Hatter," the Dark One said as the twinkle in his eyes turned impatient. "You know you have no choice."

"There is always a choice!" the blonde woman shouted and her seering gaze bore into their enemy as she stepped in front of her husband. "Listen, Jefferson… We've talked about this. Please. Don't. …For Grace."

"My patience is wearing thin…" Rumpelstiltskin's sing-song voice stood in stark contrast to the dark meaning of his words.

Jefferson looked into the pleading eyes of his beloved and inhaled deeply. She was right, things had to end. "You heard my wife. I can't return to your services."

"Excuse me?" a storm seemed to build up in the Dark One as something dangerous flashed in his eyes. "Are you… ending our acquaintance? Are you attempting to deny me this?"

The Hatter nodded as he stretched tall in an attempt to seem as convinced as he wasn't. "Yes."

"You can't be serious…?" Rumplestiltskin asked with a grimace.

"I am…"

"But we've had a business agreement for years, Hatter," the Dark One spoke as he took one step closer to the man and his wife. "You can't just stop working for me. As you are well aware. There are consequences to every choice we make. If this is your choice… I'm afraid there's only one thing for me to do."

As Rumpelstitskin finished, he held out his open palm and before either Alice or Jefferson could react, a knife shimmered into his hand by use of purple mist. As soon as it took soldid form, the Dark One hurled the weapon through the air. Jefferson had no time to act or react as he saw the knife hit his wife square in the chest. Alice staggered and fell back against her husband's frame as her breaths came in short gasps.

"No, no… Please, no," the man muttered as he sank down to the ground with his fading wife in his arms. He held her torso close to his as he pressed a hand to the bleeding wound on her chest. The dagger protruded from her heart and he already saw her skin turn pale as the front of her dress turned red. "Alice, stay with me… Don't leave us. I'll fix this… Just, plea-"

"D-don't…" Alice gasped in a frail voice as the blood oozed from the wound. "Live, Jefferson… Tell Grace… I…"

Her struggling words died on her lips as she fell limp in the man's trembling arms. As he pleaded with her, Jefferson gently shook her shoulders but to no avail. He couldn't wake his beloved wife and her unseeing eyes gazed up at him through the emptiness of death. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he pulled her body closer to his own. Jefferson didn't even bother to control his sobs as he realized he had been robbed from his life in one, sweeping motion. What had been so hard to obtain had been so easily lost, and he knew he would never find it again.

"I told you… you shouldn't have refused," Rumplestiltskin interrupted the moment with his ignorant words. "Well? Will you kindly work for me now?"

"… It's over," Jefferson whispered with a voice that was entirely void of strength. One of his hands gently patted his wife's hair as he leaned his forehead against his own.

"Come again?" Rumpelstiltskin asked with a frown.

Jefferson's voice was frail as he looked up at his former employer and repeated, "It's over, Rumpelstiltskin. I won't do this anymore and it doesn't matter what you threaten me with. You've taken my wife from me… I can't continue working for you. Consider this my official retirement. I'm done travelling between worlds. I'm going to put my hat away. For good. Do you hear me? You can tell Regina and everyone else that I'm out of the game."

The Dark One's grin was wide as he nodded. "If you say so, Hatter."

"No …It's just Jefferson now."

...


Further into the forest, Alice gazed down at the events that transpired in her backyard. It had felt weird seeing the duplicate of her that Rumpelstiltskin had created by using a strand of her hair, and that emotion had ten-folded when she had seen the other version of her meet such a grim fate. The blonde woman raised a hand to her chest as if this could stop her heart from breaking and leaned heavily against a tree trunk.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered as her thoughts reached out to her husband. "Please take care of our child. You'll be fine one day…"

"Let's cut the saddened monologue short, shall we?" Rumpelstiltskin whispered into her ear and she jumped in surprise.

Alice dried her tears as she turned around to face him. "So it's done…?"

"Oh, yes," the Dark One smirked. "He's done. Let's not waste any more time." with those words, he grabbed hold of her sleeve and for a second Alice was consumed in a think mist. When the mist cleared, she realized he had transported them to another forest, one she knew very well.

As the full impact of her decision hit her mind, she held her breath in despair as she followed Rumpelstiltskin past rows and rows of trees. He at last stopped and Alice hesitantly walked up to join him.

Together, the two of them gazed at the dark tree before them. The bottom of its trunk was blown away and the blackened ashes were the only evidence that remained from the display of power that once had transpired there. Deep in the hole in the tree, Alice saw a sparkle of purple meet her eyes.

"Down you go again, Alice," Rumpelstitskin whispered as he tugged on the woman's sleeve. She reluctantly stepped towards the tree on heavy legs as her thoughts reached out to her husband and child one last time. Silently, she hoped they could forgive her for her choice and that all would be worth it. They would never know the truth, but maybe it was for the best after all. Her life was over, but theirs could truly begin now that they had a chance at life in peace.

"Send my best to the Queen of Hearts," Rumpelstiltskin whispered as the dark grin widened on his face.

With those as the parting words, Alice drew a shuddering breath and stepped into the tree.


As she crawled out from the rabbit hole, the woman sat on the muddy ground and gazed about her at the forest in the familiar, curious kingdom. Wonderland. How she hated this world and all in it. From a distance, she heard the sounds of soldiers on patrol in the dark woods and closed her eyes tight.

A lone tear rolled from the corner of her eyes as Alice mourned the loss of the happy life she had lived and would never see again.


To be continued.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Leave a review if you want to let me know what you think!