(A/N)

I am sorry about the wait and I hope that it was worth it, as usual; please reveiw, it just makes me write faster. ENJOY!

Alice couldn't hold in her excitement as she wrote a rather extensive letter to Ilosovic explaining what Tarrant had told her and about the party that evening. Even though she had gotten better at using a quill, there were still large splotches of ink on the page, or smears from when she had accidently brushed the paper. Sitting back to admire her handy work or lack there of, one question seemed to pop up out of nowhere: How was Alice going to deliver the letter when it's the Knave who finds her?

With a long and exhausted sigh, Alice leant back against the chair, ran her fingers through her hair and brought a piece forward to study it. Before she had come to Underland, Alice had wanted to colour her hair, but with her white hair she seemed to fit in perfectly with the other residence of the White castle. Unfortunately that was the problem; Alice hated fitting in and going by the rules, she loved standing out and breaking rules, but only for what she believed in not something silly. She had wanted blue streaks put in her hair, possibly accompanied by pink, but that hadn't been decided yet and probably never will be; Alice loathed the fact that she was in Underland.

After everything she had worked for; school, jobs, an apprenticeship and even the hard feelings she had for half of her family had been worked out. But for what, to sit in an oversized castle, looking for criminals and going to birthday parties with animals? None of the above were even on the list of lifetime goals Alice had or on the one she didn't have; they just didn't exist. At least they never used to, but deep down inside Alice hoped that this was real and that the friends she had made were for life, but that small nagging part of her brain still clung to the hope that at any moment she would wake up in a hospital surrounded by her real friends and family. They would probably tell her that she was hit by a car on her way home from work and had been hallucinating even since.

'Why me?' may be a line from the movies, but it was all she could think, why did I have to be chosen? And if it was so easy for her (a hairdresser with no training in battle of any kind), why couldn't Mirana just send out some troops to look for these so called criminals? The troops seemed to do just fine by themselves finding Iracebeth, so why can't she? Because she's afraid, that's why. She's afraid that if it all doesn't work out that she'll hold the blame and that's why they need Alice; because she's the scapegoat, the fall guy, the one that the fingers will be pointing at if things suddenly take a turn for the worst.

Alice sighed again and looked at the Bandersnatch, the cogs in her head began turning until they made a little light globe blink into life. There it was; the answer to her original question, the Bandersnatch was how that letter was going to be delivered. Quickly stuffing the letter into an envelope, Alice almost dove at the sleeping beast before she decided that taking a less aggressive approach would probably end less violently. Alice gently poked the Bandersnatch's shoulder until his eyes blinked open; she stepped back as he released a toothy yawn.

"Do you still have the scent of Ilosovic Stayne?" She asked, not really expecting anything in return.

The large creature nodded slowly and Alice's stomach did a small back flip.

"Could you please take this to him and nothing else; no biting, scratching, growling, hissing, nudging or anything else that could make me hurt you, okay?" And although it was a lot to process, the Bandersnatch nodded again before taking the piece of paper in his mouth and leaving the castle grounds.

The clock behind her chimed three o'clock and caused Alice to almost just out of her skin; she mentally cursed the clock for having such a loud bell. After the abrupt interruption the room quickly filled with an over powering silence that seemed to linger for quite some time. Somewhere, behind all of Alice's current thoughts, a little voice was telling her that the phone will ring at any moment and she will be forced to listen to her friend, Kat, explain how her and her boyfriend had had another fight. Unfortunately this was impossible and Alice knew it, not only did Underland not have phones from what she understood of her existing problem, years if not decades may have passed while she has been away.

Salty tears stung Alice's eyes and although she tried desperately to blink them back, but they began to flow regardless. A few strands of white hair fell in front of Alice's face as she bowed her head to wipe away the tears; she hated crying. Alice couldn't cry like the movie stars, she became all blotchy and her nose got blocked; it wasn't a pretty sight so she tried not to do it in public. Slowly but surely she walked into the bathroom to wash her face to try and look presentable.

It seemed to take an eternity for the Bandersnatch to return and Alice nearly dove at him when he did, only to stop herself; still not to sure about the animals habits or how aggressive it could be.

"So, what did he say?" Alice didn't hide her excitement.

The Bandersnatch shrugged, turned around and laid himself down. Alice's mouth dropped and her eyes bulged from her head, threatening to fall out completely.

"What do you mean you don't know? Didn't he say anything? Did you even wait for an answer? I'm gonna kill yo…" Alice paused mid-rant and took a closer look at the Bandersnatch's tail which had been cheekily flicking back and forth the whole time.

Bracing herself for the worst reaction to what she was about to do, Alice pounced on the creatures tail, grabbed the object that was on the end of it and leapt backward. When her breathing slowed and her heartbeat resumed its normal pace, Alice studied the thing she had just risked death to get and for a moment she couldn't understand what it was. After twisting and turning it Alice made the connection; it was a corsage and beautiful one at that. It was a magnificent, wild looking rose with black tinges to its deep red colouring; the band was made of black lace and tied into a bow.

"It's beautiful." Alice was gobsmacked as she made her way around the Bandersnatch to face him, "Does this mean he'll come?"

She waited patiently for the beast to answer and after a couple of agonising minutes he nodded followed by a flinch as Alice gave a girly squeal. She bounced all the way to the bathroom where stood in front of the mirror and did a little dance of joy. She carefully placed the corsage on the bench and looked in every cupboard until she found what she was looking for; makeup. Although it wasn't the makeup she was used to, Alice could still work out what was what, even with no mascara.

Alice set everything up on the bench in the order it would be used, old habits die hard, and stood with her hands on her hips analysing each object and its place. Deciding that all was well, Alice begun to undress when the clock chimed five causing her to jump and slip. She didn't fall far, but the loud crack that came from her wrist and the scream that escaped her lips told Alice that she had just broken something.

Biting down on her bottom lip, Alice held back another scream as she stood up; luckily she was still largely dressed despite a few buttons on her shirt. Alice focused on her breathing while clutching her wrist to her chest; she made her way back into the main room to find the Bandersnatch looking very concerned. He walked forward and gently nudged Alice's legs, she smiled through the unwanted tears. Careful not to bump her wrist, Alice climbed onto the Bandersnatch's back, holding on with her right hand to keep balance.

"Does Tarrant Hightop have a room here in the castle?" She asked.

The beast nodded and left the room at a much slower pace; Alice noticed that when the Bandersnatch walked his shoulders stayed quite level, making it easier for her to stay on without falling. They went through three corridors and only down one flight of stairs before they reached a door. Cautiously, the Bandersnatch raised its paw and lightly scratched on the wooden door; moments later it opened to a confused Hatter.

"Alice, what are you doing here?" Tarrant asked, "I mean, not that I don't enjoy your company, but I thought you would be getting ready for the party."

"I was, but then I sort of hurt myself." Alice went to move her hand only to give a small cry.

"Oh dear," Tarrant ran to her side and helped her off of the Bandersnatch, "Is it broken?"

"I think so." Alice felt slightly embarrassed at how she had broken her wrist and would probably get someone to remove the clock from her room as soon as possible.

The Hatter escorted Alice inside and sat her on a chair next to his sewing desk and raced of into what Alice suspected to be his bathroom. A few minutes later he emerged from the room and came back to her side with an odd looking bottle and as he got closer Alice realised it was in the shape of a bone. Tarrant twisted the top of the bone which came off like a lid and he squirted a small amount of cream into his hand.

"Give me your wrist." Tarrant demanded and Alice complied.

She bit her lip again as the Hatter began to rub the cream into her wrist, the pain was almost unbearable and a few times Alice let out quiet screams of agony. Even with Alice's little complaints, Tarrant continued to work and once he was finished he stood up and wiped his hands on his pants.

"There you go, that will stop it swelling and it should speed up the whole fixing thing." He waved his hands at Alice's wrist as he spoke, "It will still be sore, but it will be usable just try not to knock it."

Tarrant smiled wildly at the young girl and even though she felt thankful she also felt extremely embarrassed.

"Some champion I am." Alice frowned, "I can't even get dressed without breaking something."

The Hatter could see that Alice was upset, but it still didn't stop the fact that what she had said was funny and he tried to suppress the giggle that was about to erupt. Alice looked up to see Tarrant holding back his mad laughter.

"What are you lookin' at?" She questioned, but that was the last straw.

Tarrant could no longer hold back and he began laughing uncontrollably; and even though she felt extremely embarrassed, Alice couldn't help but laugh as well. The pair ended up rolling on the floor in silent hysteria for at least half an hour before the young female realised that she need to get ready for Thackery's birthday party.

Once she caught her breath, Alice helped the Mad Hatter to his feet and brushed off her jeans before bidding him goodbye.

"Alice, before you go," Tarrant stopped at the door, looking up at Alice as she mounted to Bandersnatch, "May I ask who this so called 'friend' is? I mean, I didn't think you had actually made any friends yet."

"You will find out tonight," Alice said, "And I hope you'll be on you best behaviour."

With this, both Alice and the Bandersnatch rode back to her rooms so that she could get ready for the nights entertainment. Although, after her little accident, the white haired girl had only a very limited time to get ready and the only thing that seemed to hold her back was doing up her dress. Beautiful though it was, it was quite the challenge to do up the laces. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Alice jumped, although not as badly as she had done when the clock chimed.

Using her broken hand to keep her dress from falling down Alice open the door with the other only to be carefully pushed out the way and the door slammed shut. A tall figure had pushed his way into the room and was now breathing heavily.

"Ilosovic, what's wrong?" Alice asked, still trying to do up her dress.

"This place is swarming with guards; it was quite difficult to get here without being spotted. I don't even know why I agreed to this, I must be crazy." Stayne's eye darted around the room, almost as if he expected a guard to jump out of nowhere and capture him.

"I couldn't be more interested, but a little help would be nice." Alice turned around and held out the ribbons to her dress.

Cautiously taking them in hand, Ilosovic began to tighten them and tie them into a neat bow. After he finished, the Knave's hand glided up to her shoulders to gently turn Alice around and for a moment he remained gobsmacked. His eye looked up and down at the young woman in front of him and whatever his previous statement was now melted away as a new desire bubbled to the surface.

Ilosovic felt his cheeks grow hotter, his pants tighten slightly and his stomach knot with anticipation. All of these were cleverly covered by his expressionless face, unfortunately his eye shone with excitement and it didn't go unnoticed.

"So, my plan was to wait til just after six before we made our move, trying to get to the hall before then could be hard, sound like a plan?" Alice questioned, trying to get the Knave's attention.

"You look beautiful tonight." This was all that Stayne could answer with.

"Thank you, but did you hear what I said?" Alice insisted.

"Something about something being hard. Do we have to do this? I quite like it here in your room, it's so… secluded." The Knave's voice was low and seductive when he spoke, sending shivers down the young girls spine.

"Yeah, I bet you like it being so secluded," Alice tried hard not to roll her eyes, but the things that Ilosovic was saying seemed to ignite a small flame in the pit of her stomach and even Alice questioned herself about having to go to the party or just staying here with tall, dark and handsome.

During their moment of silence, Alice took in Ilosovic's appearance. He stood slightly taller than usual instead of slouching to meet her gaze; the tuxedo he was wearing was beautifully tailored and in his front pocket sat a rose like the one on Alice's corsage. They both stood there staring at each other completely speechless; time must have been on their side because it seemed to stop the second Stayne stooped down and caught Alice's lips with his own. Slowly they parted and Alice watched as the Knave's expression dropped.

"This isn't going to work, it's impossible." His gaze dropped but Alice extended her arm and forced him to face her.

"Only if you believe it is." The young woman's smile was contagious, "Now, if I'm correct the Queen will announce the party to be officially started at five minutes past six and we will enter soon after that. Do you remember the plan?"

"I stand there and look handsome while you speak because anything I say could be taken the wrong way." Ilosovic stated with a robotic sound to his voice, "And by the way, you really need to work on your penmanship, I could barely decipher your letter when I first received it."

Alice's cheek became red and she felt slightly light headed, but one quick kiss from the man in front of her had her soaring on cloud nine; ready for anything. Their time was upon them and with one last breath and wish of good luck, the pair made their way to the main dining hall where the party was being held.

"I'm still not sure that this is going to work." They stopped out the front of the doors leading into the hall.

"Ilosovic Stayne, I am risking a lot here to get your voice heard, a little confidence what be greatly appreciated." Alice's gaze was locked in front of her, but she saw him nod in the corner of her eye, "It's now or never."

With this the doors were swung open and a heavy silence filled the room, the only sounds that followed was a gasp from Mirana and Thackery dropping him spoon.

(A/N)

CLIFFHANGER! Thank to everyone who has reveiwed or favourited this story, it means a lot and I do wish for it to continue. The next chapter will be up really soon... Well as soon as I can, things on this end are starting to build up and things such as school work do in fact come first. But I'll try. Thank You.