Chapter 10: I know that every time one door closes, another door opens, but why do these hallways have to be so dark?

Hatter did his best to lessen their shock as the flamingo crashed into the lake, but he and Alice were still aggressively thrown off the aircraft as they impacted with the surface. It was disorienting in the murky lake water, and he struggled to find up for a moment as he was turned around by the temporary currents caused by their crash. In the end, he relied on an old trick he'd heard about back when he first started using his smuggling boat. Unable to see properly, Hatter held his hand in front of his face and felt which direction the bubbles he released went. Once up was up, he swam as hard as he could till he finally broke the surface and took in a large gulp of air. Alice had watched him emerge and was relived to see he was alright. Hatter was just as pleased that they'd both survived the crash, and began looking around for the other flamingos. They hadn't seen or heard Harry and Charlie's aircraft get hit, but that didn't mean it hadn't happened. The only movement they could see though was a pinkish looking object that was attempting to land on the shore some distance from them. Figuring a Suit would know how to operate a flamingo, or at least would have been waiting around to shoot them again, Hatter assumed it was the rest of their group and told Alice as much. She nodded and the pair began swimming to the nearest shore. They would have to walk a short distance once on land, but walking seemed like the lesser of the two evils to both of them. Alice, since she'd already swam quite a distance over a day ago when she'd fallen out of the Scarab and Hatter, because it was just bloody tiring.

Once on land, the pair took a moment to catch their breath before moving on as they sat in silence on the shore. Surprisingly, it was Alice that spoke up first, "So, you really think that's Harry and Charlie over there." She inclined her head to the left where they'd seen the flamingo landing.

Hatter nodded, "Positive. I'd bet my last hat on it really." Alice apparently found something about this statement amusing as she was smiling at him now, and he stood before offering her the hand not currently holding said hat to help herstand up, which she accepted. "We should really make our way over," he stated, "I don't see the other Suits, but we're sitting ducks out here for any reinforcements that might come our way." Alice concurred and they began to walk at a moderate pace. They hadn't traveled more than a few feet when Hatter spoke up again, "You never did tell me what happened with the ring you know."

Alice glanced at him, "It's safe."

"I'm assuming we both agree on the term safe, as not including, being in the Queen's grasp yeah?" Hatter questioned matter-of-factly.

"You probably wouldn't have found me alive if it was," she bitingly retorted.

He nodded at the logic in that but repeated his inquiry, "So where is it then?"

"I told you," she insisted as she walked a bit faster, "It's safe. Why do you need to know where it is?"

Hatter was flabbergasted at Alice's stubborn refusal to tell him the ring's location, when the most likely reasoning suddenly occurred to him. "You still don't trust me. I… I've just risked my life, and Harry's, to rescue you! And after everything else I've helped you with as well, you still don't trust me?!" Sure things hadn't started out quite so innocently with them, but it hurt more than he cared to admit that that seemed to be the case still.

Alice struggled with her answer as her pace slowed. "I trust that you're trying to help me…but I know you're trying to do what's best for Wonderland as well. You said as much last night." She stopped and turned to look at him, and he could see the sincerity in her eyes. "You've proven you're a man of integrity, and I respect and appreciate that. But I can't tell you where it is. Not yet," she informed him, and while it still stung that she didn't trust him, the 'yet' in her answer did deflate his ire quite a bit. She continued, "Not until I've used it to help save my father."

Well, he certainly hadn't been expecting that bit of information. Hatter furrowed his brow in confusion. "Your father?"

She pulled a bulky metal watch from her dress pocket. "Jack slipped this to me at the casino. I remember this watch. It was my father's. He even had his initials put on the back. R, H. Robert Hamilton. The date's even stuck on the exact time when he disappeared over ten years ago." Alice stared fondly at the watch as she spoke this, and Hatter's heart went out to her. Truly, it did. He knew what it was like to lose family and cling to hope like that, but he also knew too much about how the world worked not to take note of the timing of it all.

"And how do you know Jack's not lying to you?" he calmly pointed out, "I'm sure you told him about your father, yeah?"

He watched as the emotions filtered across her face as she contemplated the possibility before shaking her head. "No," she stubbornly refuted, "He took a big risk passing this to me in front of the Queen. Why would he do that if it wasn't important?"

"Oh, I don't know," he shot back, "Because it's all a trap and he knew you'd bring him the ring if he did? Jack lied to you about everything. What's to stop him from doing it again?"

Alice turned around and resumed walking at a faster pace, and he quickly followed behind. "He had his reasons, I mean; you didn't see how Jack acted. He's trying to help me, I know it."

"Now wait just a mo," Hatter gently grabbed her arm and spun her to face him again, "Let's just think about this. He took the ring from his mother. He gave it to you. Why?" Hatter's voice increased in intensity as he tried to get through to her, "It made you a target Alice. Why are you defending him?!"

"No, he didn't know I'd follow him when he left the ring with me," she insisted adamantly, "I'm the one that screwed up by bringing the ring here!"

"And he blames you for that?" he quickly retaliated.

"No!" Alice immediately stated before looking uncertain and then turned to start walking again, "At least…I don't think so."

Sensing a crack in her blind spot about Jack, Hatter tried his argument from another angle, "Why was he even using a fake name when he met you?"

"He…he was hiding from them," she meekly offered.

"Why?" Hatter continued to press, "Why bother going through all that work if he's innocent?"

"I don't know!" she finally yelled at him as she stood still once more, and Hatter knew he'd finally gotten through her stubbornness. The two remained silent as he let her come to terms with this new view point of what was very likely her former boyfriend now, and waited for her to speak first. "He's engaged you know," Alice informed him after only a minute of silence, "to a Duchess." The feeling of betrayal from this news was clearly visible in her eyes and it gave him a whole new reason to continue to dislike Jack. The bloke had had an amazing woman like Alice and he'd just tossed her aside.

Hatter kept himself from outright scowling, but some of his ire leaked out. "So he's been two timing you then."

Alice weakly scoffed, "Actually, I'm pretty sure I'm the other woman in all this mess."

"And now, all of a sudden," Hatter tersely continued, "He tells you your father is in the casino after all this time. Does that not seem like a strange coincidence to you?" It was clear that this hadn't occurred to her before and she stared at him while she considered the possibility. Hatter knew he was missing something though, even with all she's just told him. Some small piece of information about this whole situation Alice was in, but Hatter knew a con when he saw one and this business with Jack Heart reeked of a con gone bad. Hopefully it would be enough just to get Alice to see it as well.

"Hatter!"

The two spun around to see Harry running towards them, with Charlie following at a slower pace as he would momentarily stop to catch his breath. Hatter was so pleased to see his young cousin was unharmed, that he pushed aside his conversation with Alice as he quickly bent down and met the lad in a fierce hug. "I'm so glad you're alright," Harry stated as he pulled back to grin at Hatter.

"Yes," Charlie panted as he finally caught up, "I was just about to insist we search the water when the young squire noticed you." He embraced Alice in what was clearly an awkward hug on her part, and she quickly tried to pull back from him after a few pats on the back.

Hatter stood back up as he spoke. "So that was you trying to land the flamingo then, yeah?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah, I almost crashed it into a tree a few times, but once I got it to turn off, it just sorta dropped."

"What about those guys chasing us?" Alice questioned, "What happened to them?"

"With an exceptional plan devised by the lad," Charlie promptly filled in, "I was able to swiftly dispatch those vile men who sought to harm you, Lady Alice. Sust as I had so sworn to do." The old knight then attempted to bend at the waist into a low bow, but got stuck as he tried to straighten his back and stand up. Alice smirked and quirked an eyebrow at the sight, while Harry was kind enough to help right him.

Hatter put his hat back on finally -thought it still felt a bit damp- and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder before guiding him towards the forest. "Right. Well we can talk more about this once we're elsewhere. We should really get off this beach before they come back with more Suits looking for us." The pair hadn't made it more than twenty feet when Alice spoke up.

"No."

He stopped and spun on his heal to face her. "No?" he questioned. They'd just rescued the woman and she had the gall to try and boss them around?

She'd already placed the watch back in her pocket and was fiddling idly with her hands as she looked at them. "Listen guys… I'm really grateful for what you did. You know, getting me out of the casino, but I have to go back." Charlie groaned and rolled his eyes while Hatter looked displeased.

"What could you possibly want to go back there for?" Harry questioned, "You're not still worried about the Prince, are you?"

"No," she shook her head, "It's not about him." She smiled bitterly, "I know Jack's fine, but it is about something he's trying to help me with."

Hatter frowned, "I still don't think you can trust anything he says. It sounds to me like he's using you."

Alice sighed and looked at the ground, "Maybe he is, and maybe you're right." The shock of her calmly agreeing threw Hatter off and he gaped at her slightly. "But don't you see," she looked pleadingly up at him, "I have to try Hatter. He's my father. My family. You said it yourself yesterday." She glanced down at Harry, "Do I really need any other reason than the possibility that he could be trapped here as well? What kind of daughter would I be if I didn't at least try?" She was looking back at him now with a vulnerability that he had yet to see on this strong and vibrant woman's face. She'd always been so fierce and willful that to see her like this…just seemed wrong. Hatter immediately knew he couldn't deny her this request. It was no less than what he'd risk to save Harry, and Alice obviously knew that.

Hatter sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Alright," he stated and held the same hand up to stop her as she tried to say something, "I'll help you try and find your father, but we try my way first. I'll sneak back into the city, and make contact with the Resistance."

Alice scoffed, "Yeah, I've met those guys and last I checked, they wanted your head on a silver platter."

"Like I've said, that was one arm of the Resistance," he objected, "Even Harry can tell you Dodo's off his rocker. Give me a chance to get in contact with the head of the organization. I know he'll want to help us."

"You know him?" she asked slightly surprised and skeptical.

"Yes," Hatter quickly answered. Her lips pursed and she raised an eyebrow at him. "Ok, no," he revised, "Not exactly, but no one knows his true identity. He goes by a code name; Caterpillar." She wasn't objecting yet so he continued, "Give me few hours. I'll sneak back into the city," he looked down then at Harry and gave him a pointed glance, "alone, and I'll make contact with them. If I'm not back by night fall, then we can try it your way, yeah?"

Her expression led him to believe she was considering it, while Harry was glaring at him. He hunched down to get on eye level with his cousin, "It's not any different than when I've asked you to watch the shop for me, yeah?" he stated, "I'm not planning on leaving you with Alice. We already discussed that." He glanced over to see her looking questioningly at him, but he quickly turned back to Harry, "But it'll be hard enough for me to get in and out all by my lonesome, and I won't risk one of Dodo's men grabbing you just to get to me. He already tired to kill me once, and I won't let him lay a finger on you. I promise that I'll be back." He spoke this last part to Alice as much as Harry.

Harry sighed in defeat as he stuck his hands in his trouser pockets. "Well…I suppose someone has to keep an eye on her anyway. She might try and run off again when no one's looking, yeah?"

Alice gapped at Harry, no doubt feeling upset at being slighted by a kid, while Hatter gave a chuckle as he straightened up. "Too right, Little Potter," he grinned before becoming serious once more, "You two head back with Charlie to his encampment, and I'll meet you there when I get back." The old knight had been silently observing the conversation the entire time and just smiled politely while agreeing to lead them safely back to his home. With a nod and a wave, Hatter began sprinting off towards where Harry had landed the Flying Flamingo. The lad hadn't said it was damaged by his landing and if he could use it, then that would take a good hour or more off his potential time. Worst case scenario he'd have to take his smuggling boat… supposing that the Suits left it intact.

It wasn't until after he reached the machine that he realized he'd forgotten to ask Harry how he turned it off earlier. Hatter brushed off his concern though. If a ten year old could figure it out, then it couldn't be too difficult.

The trip back to Charlie's home took much longer by foot, but not quite as long as Alice was expecting. Looking back on it, she decided that it was due to the fact that she kept up a conversation with Harry -and sometimes Charlie as well- the entire way. She'd started by asking the boy if he knew who Hatter would be trying to contact and was surprised when Harry told her his cousin would attempt to find Dormie. The short man had struck her as being quite odd when she'd first entered the Tea Shop -what with his abrupt waking and falling right back asleep- but after everything else she'd seen and encountered during her stay in Wonderland, a narcoleptic seemed rather tame. Not to mention one of the last people she'd have suspected as being a member of the Resistance.

Alice was also informed about how Harry had overheard her and Hatter talking last night, and the confrontation that ensued between the cousins before they had come to her rescue. It explained Hatter's parting remarks, and also lightened her worries. Even though it meant the kid would be in potential danger, she wouldn't be taking part in splitting up a family. Thinking of family however only reminded her of her father, and the possible horrors he'd been subjected to in Wonderland, so she asked Harry to tell her more about himself. Like many people, Harry didn't find his day to day life to be very exciting, but enjoyed telling her about his growing magical skills, lessons with Hatter, and any other tidbits he thought were interesting. He told her very little about his life before living with his cousin though; which only confirmed for her what Hatter had been alluding to about the kid's abusive past.

Charlie was quick to interject his thoughts about any subjects they touched upon as well, though they were far and few between when Harry wasn't talking about magic. The old knight sheepishly admitted that since he lived so far from the city, much of the events that happened there went beyond his notice. He made up for this though by regaling the two with stories about how life in the Checkerboard Kingdom was in his youth. The delight these brought them was tainted later for Alice however when Charlie had time with her alone at his camp.

Harry had gone off to practice some of his magic, and Alice had made him promise not to wonder too far after he said he did best in private. She'd pulled out her father's watch and was just gazing at it while she thought of everything it could mean, when Charlie had interrupted her thoughts with a question about how old she was when her father left. When she informed him she was only ten like Harry, he told her about his appointment as a squire to the real White Knight when he was Harry's age as well, and how he'd survived by hiding for three days over 150 years ago when the Queen of Heart's armies came. The knight managed a pitiful smile as he complimented Harry for having such bravery in him already at such a young age to take part in Alice's rescue.

It was heart wrenching for Alice to hear about how Charlie struggled with his guilt while he buried all those poor people at such a young age. And that ever since, he'd just been hoping and waiting until his moment of redemption came; when he could prove to the ghosts of his past that he was more than a cowardly young boy. Her arrival was apparently the moment he'd been waiting for. Alice didn't have the heart to tell him that her presence in his world was most likely by chance, and wouldn't be remembered. Not after all he'd done to help her. She'd spared a glance at the purple coat that was right where she'd left it once he'd finished his story, and thought about its hidden contents. That little piece of jewelry had caused so much pain and death in this world that her demands and problems with it began to seem petty by comparison. Needing some time alone to think about things and work out some tension before Hatter returned, she excused herself from Charlie's company after letting him know where he could find her if need be.

Knowing it wouldn't be practical to land in the heart of the city, Hatter decided to make for the docks. The lack of buildings proved quite useful when it came time to try and land the flamingo anyway, though he prided himself on not coming close to crashing into anything. Taking Harry's remarks into account, he hovered over a pile of burlap sacks that he hoped contained something soft inside, before hitting the big red button again and shutting the engine off. The Flying Flamingo dropped like a stone onto the sacks below, which made crunching noises upon impact. Hatter promptly disentangled himself from the machine before making his way into the city. His preferred contact would be Dormie but he wasn't completely sure where he'd find the man. Harry hadn't known what happened to any of the employees after he'd fled, but with most of the man's belongings at the Tea Shop, Hatter decided it was as good a place as any to start his search.

Once outside of his shop, a quick survey of the area showed there weren't any Suits hanging about, and he made his way carefully through the broken doors. The inside was in even worse shape then the shop front. Bottles of Emotion Tea normally on display were either broken or missing, and the tables were overturned, with some smashed to pieces. His very expensive electric signs that showed the most recent sales and popularity of different teas had smashed bulbs or been torn down completely. Large chucks of the grass covered floor had been ripped up and cut out as well. He could only imagine what his office must look like if the main room was this bad. There was no way he'd be able to repair this kind of damage. Not with all the above average chaos going on that Alice's appearance had caused anyway. Movement down the back corridor caught his eye and Hatter quickly moved behind a nearby pillar as he waited for whoever it was to come out. His right hand clenched into a fist as he prepared to jump them, when the intruder stepped into the light.

"Dormie," Hatter called as he stepped out from behind his hiding spot.

Startled by the sound of his name, the narcoleptic man jumped and looked around before quickly spotting him. "Hatter!" he exclaimed, sounding a touch relieved, "You're alright! Did Harry get to you? I've been real worried."

Keeping an eye out for any surprises, Hatter slowly walked towards the little man. "Harry and I are just fine. How are you and the others fairing?"

Dormie idly played with his hands, "Oh, well, most of 'em got out of here quick like, once the Suits chased after Harry. Did you know Dodo's out for your head?"

Hatter exhaled, "Yeah, he informed me up close and personal; which is why I need you to get a message to Caterpillar for me."

"Caterpillar?" Dormie's eyes widened, "Is it about the Alice of Legend?"

"What've you been hearing about exactly?" he furrowed his brow in suspicion. He'd been very discreet about whom he told Alice's name, but maybe Dormie'd heard it from Dodo.

"You kidding?" Dormie skeptically replied, "The whole city's buzzin' about the Alice of Legend being back! After those Suits went chasing after you yesterday, Ratty practically told all of Wonderland that you were helping the Alice of Legend."

This just confirmed what he'd seen the other day when the Suits were questioning the rat catcher really. It did make him wonder why they let Ratty live though if he knew such important information. "Well, I didn't come all the way here to confirm or deny any rumors," Hatter stated, "Now can you deliver a message for me or not?"

Dormie nodded vigorously, "Yeah sure, whatever you need Hatter."

"Tell Caterpillar that we still have what they want, and we're ready to make a deal," he informed the little man. It was vague enough that Dormie wouldn't know he was talking about the stone, but specific enough that the Resistance would surely know what he was referring to. Thankfully, Dormie didn't press for more information and promptly left out the front entrance to complete his mission. Knowing it would take some time before Dormie came back, Hatter decided to take stock of the damage caused to the rest of his shop; holding out hope that maybe a few of his nicer hats in the hidden loft had survived the carnage.

As far as Alice could figure, it had only been about three hours since Hatter had left, and the tension in her stomach just continued to grow as the sun started to sink. The hill she'd chosen to be alone on had a nice view of the dilapidated Kingdom, but she wasn't in the mood to look at it. Performing some exercises hadn't distracted her like she'd hoped, and thoughts of her father and the state of Wonderland kept running through her mind along with the growing fear of 'if'. And it was the 'ifs' that were the worst. What if Hatter never made it back? What if her father had been killed because she'd escaped? What if there was some big secret as to why Jack had dated her and it hadn't just been chance? The scariest of all these was…What if the Resistance wouldn't help and she was stuck here?

Alice shook her head in an attempt to clear all the negative thoughts once more as she tired to focus on staying positive. Worrying about things outside of her control wouldn't help her any. Judo had taught her that you had to know your limits and accept them in order to work ahead. For some reason that reminded her of something from that strange dream she'd had last night about the day her father had disappeared on her. Something about a cat? It was hovering on the outskirts of her mind, and she could sense that she could almost grasp it. Movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention away from it however, and she turned to get a better look. Her heart gave a flutter of relief as Hatter's familiar form began making its way up the hill towards her. It was short lived though as she realized he'd be bringing news of what the Resistance had to say.

He stopped and stared at her for a moment, and she idly rubbed her hands over her bare arms to try and sooth her nerves and chase away the cold, then strode the remaining distance until he was right in front of her. "Its good news," he smiled breathlessly, "The Resistance wants to help. They're sending a special agent to come and meet us." He huffed and chuckled slightly as he tried to catch his breath, "That's a… that's quite a steep hill you picked, yeah?"

Alice found herself smiling back easily. "Yeah, I was feeling a little tense and normally I'd go to the studio to work out, but I don't think you have those here in Wonderland, much less out in the woods." His confused look was all the conformation she needed on that ,so she shook her head dismissively, "Don't worry about it. How long until he gets here?"

Hatter placed his hands on his hips and exhaled. "Those guys can move pretty fast when they need to. Not sure what they'll be using to get out here, but I'd say anywhere between an hour and full dark tonight we should expect company." His gazed turned to take in the view of the lost city and his smile turned into a more serious expression.

It wasn't hard to guess what he could be thinking about. "You're going to join them aren't you?" she asked, though she also suspected she already knew the answer.

"You know I have to try," he confirmed as he continued to stare, "Dodo was right when he told you'd I'd been playing both sides. I never really thought about it that way until Harry came along, and by then I'd been living that way for so long…" Hatter sighed and closed his eyes before looking back at Alice, "Harry almost had me convinced once you know. Just abandon the shop and go full on with the Resistance."

"Why didn't you?" Alice questioned with honest curiosity. Her experiences with him had shown her that he was a good man at the core, and the idea that he could be something other than a conman if he had the chance was a comforting one for some reason.

He shrugged indifferently, "Wasn't feasible really. I'd worked myself into that role too well by then. If I'd joined the Resistance, like he wanted, I wouldn't have been any more useful than Owl or Duck are now. Just a bit of muscle that would be good in a pinch and two more mouths to feed on an already limited supply."

Alice smiled, "Well, for what it's worth, I'm kinda glad you didn't. Otherwise we'd have never met."

Hatter grinned back at her. "Suppose you got a point there. And what a right shame that'd be eh?"

She grinned back at him as she continued, "Well that right hook of yours is pretty useful in a pinch."

Harry had moved closer to Charlie's encampment after he'd told Hatter where Alice went off to. His cousin had said he wanted Charlie to be able to get to him in the event of any possible danger, but seeing as how the old knight was snoring away on his cloth hammock, Harry didn't quite see how that was probable. When they'd first arrived back here, Harry had begged off to go practice some magic away from the two adults. Charlie had seemed keen on showing him some of things he knew, but so far the old knight had only shown a talent for predictions and the like, so Harry had told him he was in the middle of a different ability right now, and hadn't wanted to get confused.

Truthfully he hadn't tried anything new since he'd perfected enlarging his shirt -which was still ruined from his escape- and he was hoping to find some sort of magical skill his ancestor had used that would allow him to be more helpful in any future fights. Sure he'd set that one Suit on fire this morning, but after seeing Hatter and Alice fight them hand to hand, he felt like he was lacking in skills he could use as effectively in a battle.

He still hadn't found anything useful by the time Hatter had come back, which was why he didn't mind lounging on Charlie's bed when he'd been ordered to move in closer. Hatter had also told Harry that the Resistance was willing to help, but he wanted everyone around so he didn't have to tell the news over and over again.

Much as it had earlier that morning, Charlie's strange warning invention stirred to life before finally rattling the cage of one of the crows. Knowing it couldn't be Hatter or Alice since they'd not gone far; Harry was immediately on alert and promptly closed his book. Charlie had fallen out of his hammock -with a stuffed animal still in his grasp- at the noise and promptly stood up to inspect the bird. "That's the West Wall," he stated before making a nervous moan and dashing off to grab his sword and armor most likely. Apparently the knight hadn't noticed Harry was still there, and Harry quickly decided that that was a good thing as he moved off the bed to take up a more secluded vantage point. He'd do as Hatter asked and let Charlie handle things first, but if the old man needed his help…he'd be ready.

Hatter and Alice continued to have a pleasant conversation on the hill that verged on flirting before he suggested they head back to the encampment so they could let Charlie and Harry know to expect someone from the Resistance. They hadn't spoken about the Resistance while they'd talked just now, and having them mentioned brought Alice's thought back to where they had been before Hatter had shown up. Her silence or body language must have been telling though, as Hatter grasped her gently and stopped her just at the edge of the clearing of Charlie's home.

"What's the matter?" he asked and she turned to fully face him.

As she looked in his eyes and saw his concern clearly visible, it moved her and caused her stomach to flutter. "What'll happen to me?" she questioned and his gaze held some confusion now as well, "If the Resistance can't help me, and I get stuck here in Wonderland. What'll I do?" The anxiety caused by that thought welled up like a lump in her throat as she looked in Hatter's eyes. This man had quickly become her primary support system in this world, and she had no delusions that she wouldn't have made it this far with out him. Alice thought she'd had him pegged from their initial meeting as a conman and found that while he was certainly secretive and cunning… there was so much more to him as well.

She watched as Hatter's eyes softened with understanding as he stepped closer to her and placed a hand on her other arm. "Then I'll make sure you're ok," he softly informed her.

Alice allowed herself to really take in all of his face for what felt like the first time. He couldn't be much older than her, but he still had boyish good looks that were watered down by the five o'clock shadow of facial hair he kept. It should have made him look scruffy and unkempt, but Alice decided there was a rugged attractiveness to instead. Her hand had grabbed the front of his jacket at some point during her inspection, while one of his wandered up to hover near her face.

He licked his lips and Alice felt her eyes were immediately drawn to them as some part of her brain registered how much closer they seemed now. "I think your luck's beginning to change," he whispered. His breath felt warm on her face and it smelt slightly of peppermint. She pulled herself closer to him and wetted her own lips subconsciously, as she closed her eyes and wondered if he tasted the same as he smelled. A soft pressure at the base of her neck brought her the last few inches, and her mouth finally connected with his. It was a light, tentative meeting of lips with only a small amount of pressure behind it, but filled with endearment. They barely separated for but a moment almost as soon as they had touched, before joining once more with a bit more intensity. Hatter's lips were soft and a touched chapped from all his running around today, but Alice found she didn't care much as she tilted her head to kiss him better.

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Alice suddenly realized what she was doing and leapt back from Hatter.

What had just happened? Her eyes widened in shock as her hand flew up to cover mouth. "I'm sorry! I didn't…I mean…" Words failed her as Hatter stared at her with a confused expression on his face as he straightened up. She'd just kissed this man after not even being more or less single for almost a full day. What kind of person was she? Was she just projecting on to him after all the pain that Jack had caused her? Alice felt just as confused as the man before her looked. Her treacherous tongue however made a swipe of her lips and collected the taste of peppermint off them before she could think to stop it.

A crunching of leaves sounded from her left and Alice quickly turned to see what caused it; eager to have a distraction to keep herself from having to think about what had just happened. Harry was walking towards them with a smile on his face, though he raised an eyebrow questioningly as well as he looked back and forth between the two of them. Alice wondered if he'd seen what had just happened, and was relieved when he didn't comment on it.

"I was wondering when you two would get back," Harry remarked, "Me and Charlie caught some poncey Suit a few minutes ago trying to sneak in. I figured you might want to interrogate him." Hatter exchanged a glance with Alice that she couldn't read before smiling at Harry and telling him to lead the way.

Posted March 19, 2010
Edited June 10, 2014