London 1875

The pocket watch swung in front of her eyes, side to side, slow and steady. She was supposed to fall under the spell, succumb to the hypnosis, but the only thing she was falling into was boredom. She noticed the intricate etchings in the gold metal, the soft ticks of the little hand counting time, the small crack in the clock's face that showed its travel through age.

"Now…focus, Alice," the man before her urged in a soft voice. "You are floating…weightless…"

Alice sighed but went along with it. She felt her breath slow, heard her heart thud softly in the back of her mind, her eyelids felt heavy as she watched the swinging pocket watch. Images flashed through her mind like photographs. She saw herself in the park with Lizzie, dangling from a tree branch while her sister read and chided her for tearing her stockings. She saw her parents sitting before the fire place in the drawing room, mother enjoying herself a cup of tea while father smoked his pipe and fiddled with his papers.

Then came brief flashes of the night of the fire. Dinah, her cat, screeched and slid through the bedroom window, glancing back at Alice with glowing yellow eyes as if to say, 'follow me.' She felt the heat of the flames even though they weren't near her door. Almost softly she could hear her parents screaming, shrieking in agony while she escaped through the window out of harm's way.

Alice screamed and smacked the swinging pocket watch away from her. Realizing her sudden outburst, she clamped her fingers over her eyes and rubbed. "Oh…I'm sorry," she whispered. "Sorry…"

Dr. Bumby sighed in frustration but tucked the pocket watch into his breast pocket. "You have made an improvement from the last session," he said simply, turning away to gather a pot of tea. "What did you see this time?"

"Nothing different," Alice muttered. "Just a centaur setting my house ablaze." She stood to her feet and swiped at the ruffled apron she wore. "I thought I was done with these hallucinations," she moaned. "Why am I still having them?"

"Memory is a curse more often than a blessing," Bumby told her.

Alice arched a thin brow at him and watched as he poured himself a cup. "You think the centaur setting my house on fire is a memory? Doctor, even I find that mad."

Bumby gave her a small chuckle and wagged a finger at her. "No, not the centaur. The fire, your family dying, those are memories, Alice. Those actually happened. There was no centaur, that is your hallucination. Your Wonderland while in Rutledge, that is your hallucination." He sat back in his chair and took a sip from his cup. "I know we've only been trying this hypnotherapy for a few weeks, but I'd like to keep trying, Alice."

"Yes, of course, doctor," Alice grumbled in defeat. "Whatever you think is best."

"Sometimes repressing one's memories are what is best," Bumby insisted. "Some memories are good while others simply bring us anguish and misery, and at times it is best to simply forget it. Lock it away in the back corners of your mind and let go, live life. The cost of forgetting is high."

Alice had made her way to window while the good doctor spoke, her green eyes focusing on the other orphaned children playing in the courtyard. She had heard of some of them forgetting their pasts and starting anew, and it made sense for her to do the same, but for some reason she would not let go of the pain her memories caused her, or her gentle hallucinations of her Wonderland. Something deep inside her fought tooth and nail for her to try to remember everything. Her mind and memories were a puzzle, the pieces scattered about in places she couldn't find. Some she knew were right in front of her, but cobwebs of uncertainty concealed the truth from her.

"Would you care for some tea before our session is over, Alice?" Bumby asked, his bony fingers setting down an already filled cup.

Alice turned to face him, her eyes widening as she saw a ghostly image flashing on top of him. It was Bumby, but his eyes were deep black holes and dangling from his mouth was a sickening oily and black tongue. Wrapped around his fingers were strings attached to the tea cup like a marionette, and sprouting from his back were two long doll arms.

Yet, as soon as the image appeared, it vanished. Alice shook her head at the offer. "I only take tea with friends," she stated.

Bumby looked from her to the cup with an emotion Alice couldn't quite place, and she quickly regretted her words in case they had angered him. "Very well," Bumby said. "Then let us cut this session short, shall we?" He sat back into his chair and adjusted his glasses. "Now, before our next session, I need you to grab those pills from me from the high street chemist. And tell Charlie I will see him now. Good day, Alice."

Alice retreated from the room. Her emotions were caught in a struggle between fear at being dismissed for offending him, and relief from getting out of that room. She found Charlie with a few other boys, building up blocks and then knocking it down in gales of laughter.

"Oh look," one of the boys said with a sneer. "It's Alice, doctor's favorite."

"Already?" another one giggled. "The little hand on the clock hasn't reached the six yet. Did he finish too quickly this time?"

"Do your knees hurt?"

Alice grabbed one by the ear and twisted it. These children ranged from ages eight to eleven, yet their minds were tainted and foul nearly as bad as the pimps that would roam the street looking for new 'merchandise.' "That's enough out of you," Alice snarled as she roughly shoved the boy down upon the other two. She looked to the fourth boy, Charlie, who hadn't said a word since she approached. "I'm running an errand for Dr. Bumby," she told him. "So your session for the day will begin a tad earlier than normal. Now, go see him."

Charlie obediently jumped up. "It's my turn to forget now, Alice!" he said excitedly as he ran down the hall.

Storybrooke Present Day

Alice was doodling on some sketch paper she had found when the knock came at her door. Not one for expecting many visitors, she frowned and shoved the paper and pencil from her. The knocking became louder and more insistent.

"Alright, alright!" Alice groaned. She pulled herself from her chair and pulled open the door. The face greeting her winced when she hissed in anger. "You!"

She readied to slam the door but Jefferson held up his hands, smacking them against the wood and pushing it forward. "Wait!" he yelled, grunting as they both began a war of shoving the door against each other. "Alice, stop! Please, listen to me!"

Alice curled her lips in a snarl but stepped aside, her face offering no sympathy as Jefferson fell flat on his face from still pushing. A tiny smile formed as she watched him grumble in pain and pull himself to his feet. "What are you doing here, Hatter?"

Jefferson stood and briefly limped to lean against the counter. "Mr. Gold sent me," he said.

Alice closed the door behind her and cocked her head at him. "Mr. Gold?" she huffed. "Really. And what does Mr. Gold want with me?"

"He wants you to watch over Belle while he's gone." He massaged his palm while he spoke.

"Gone?"

"He's leaving town," Jefferson said. "Going on his own little adventure with the savior."

Alice narrowed her eyes as she tried to understand. "Alright, but why would I need to watch over Belle? She's a grown woman she can take care of herself. I highly doubt she needs a caretaker while her lover is out of town."

Jefferson shrugged his shoulders and pursed his lips, raised his brows and widened his eyes as he made a gesture with his hands. "Well…that's the thing. She was in an accident…"

Alice immediately turned and grabbed her coat. "Tell me on the way there."

"As you know this town is under a curse. We cannot leave, we cannot cross the border or else we revert back to our cursed selves and forget everything," Jefferson told her as they exited her apartment. "Mr. Gold found a way to leave without forgetting but right now it only works on him. And since the savior is not from our town, she can leave with him."

"Where is he going?"

"To find his son."

Alice glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. "Do these town inhabitants have a habit of losing their children or is it just you two?"

Jefferson chewed the inside of his cheek and rolled his eyes at her stinging remark. "Anyways…Belle was in an accident and fell over the town border."

Alice stopped in her tracks. "So she doesn't know who she is?"

"No. She's back to her old life as an occupant of Storybrooke's mental asylum. And since Gold doesn't trust the Charming family, he'd rather have you watch over her. After all, you are the only one who knows who she is…in a manner of speaking."

Belle mockingly laughed and threw her hands up in the air. "And I suppose you think me crazy as well," she accused.

Greg shook his head. "No! No, I don't…because I saw it too."

Belle's brows knitted together as she stared at the man sitting in front of her. She had only been in the hospital for about a day, and this man she had never seen before was the first one to say he actually believed her.

Quick footsteps came into her room and Belle drew her eyes to the heavily breathing young woman who hung onto the door frame Her blue eyes widened and she opened her mouth in an excited cry. "Alice!" she wailed.

"Lizzie!" Alice stepped forward but stopped abruptly when she took notice of the man sitting on Belle's bed. Her stance changed to near threatening and the man looked as if he would piss himself. "Who are you?" Alice demanded.

While Greg stammered, Belle waved her hands. "Alice, Alice it's alright! This is Greg, he's a patient here."

Alice looked back at Belle. "A patient?" she asked, then shook her shoulders. "Or…a patient."

"The regular kind," Belle answered. "He was driving the car during the accident."

Alice sucked in a breath as she remembered Jefferson telling her about someone from the human world—her world—literally crashing into town. "Right. Well, Greg, you can leave now." She hiked her thumb towards the door and moved aside for him to leave. She watched him get up from the bed and cast a worried glance to Belle before he exited. Alice let out a breath and set down a bag before she sat down beside Belle. "How're you feeling?" she asked gently.

Belle's eyes began to water. "Everyone here treats me like I'm nuts!" she cried. "But I know what I saw!"

Alice held up her hands and tried to calm her down. "Shh….it's ok! I'm sure you know what you saw, Lizzie, but I don't. I wasn't there. So…what did happen?"

"I…I'm not sure. One minute I'm being released from the asylum by that man…"

"Jefferson."

"Yes! That was his name. He told me to find Mr. Gold…and I found him…we went for a drive…and then, the next thing I know I'm in the street bleeding, there's a car accident and Mr. Gold is standing above me…with…fire in his hands!"

Alice nodded as she listened to Belle speak.

Belle ran her fingers through her hair and sniffled. "I try to tell people that, but they just call me 'Belle' and load me up on sedatives. They won't listen to me!"

"They drug you?" When Belle nodded Alice sighed and reached behind her to pick up the bag she had set down. "Put these on," she said. "We're leaving."

Belle opened the bag and looked at the clothes inside. "What…are these mine?"

"Yes. I grabbed them from our apartment for you before I came here."

"What? 'Our' apartment?"

Alice nodded and began to pull out the clothes for her. "Yes. After Jefferson set you free, he came for me. You and I, we lived together for a little while. You had your own apartment and you let me stay there…just until I got my bearings. I still had my key, so I grabbed some clothes for you on my way here."

Belle frowned. "What? We lived…wait a minute…" She looked at the clothes and took a shirt into her hands. "A woman came to me today and said that we were friends and had been for a while…how much time happened between us getting out of the hospital and my accident?"

Alice took a breath and pressed her lips together. "It's been…several weeks. A little over two months, maybe? I haven't really kept track of time."

"Two months?" Belle gasped. "Why don't I remember any of this?"

"I don't know…but we'll figure this out, Lizzie. Now, get dressed."

"But, they wouldn't let me leave."

Alice got up and moved her hair over her shoulder. "Are you in pain right now?"

"Well…no."

"Anything broken?" Alice asked.

"No."

"Are you pregnant?"

"No!"

Alice shrugged. "Then I see no reason for you to stay here." She closed the door and kept her back turned to give Belle privacy while she dressed.

"So…where are we going?" Belle asked as she pulled on a simple black ankle-length skirt.

"You could stay at my place," Alice said. "Just until we get things figured out."

"You keep saying that," Belle sighed. "What things need to be figured out?"

Alice shrugged. "Not sure, but we'll figure that out too when we get to it. All I know is that you've spent enough time in this damned hospital, and it's high time you get out of it. Done?" Alice turned and helped Belle into her jacket.

The door opened and Alice glanced over her shoulder to see a nurse with a cart. The nurse gasped and paused at the threshold. "Oh! I didn't realize she was having company."

Belle took one look at the nurse and instantly stiffened. Alice saw the fear and rage in her eyes and tried to hold onto her as Belle tried to wriggle away. "That's her," she breathed. "She's the one who always comes in a sedates me. She puts it in the food too. She thinks I'm crazy!" she hissed.

Alice looked back at the nurse and watched her as she began to prepare a plate for Belle. "I'm afraid you'll have to come back later," the nurse said. "It's time for her to eat."

"Actually," Alice snapped. "She's not going to be staying here any longer. I'm taking her home."

The nurse looked up from the food and scoffed. "That's up to the doctors, not you," she said haughtily before tending back to the food.

Alice gently pushed Belle from her and gave her an assuring nod. "Just a minute." She walked over to the nurse and stood on the other side of the food cart. "Enough of this," she muttered in voice low enough where only the nurse could hear. "This…pretending that you're a real nurse. You and I both know that you no longer have any power over either of us."

"She has reverted to her cursed self," the nurse responded. "She must be treated."

"By constant sedation? You do know who she is, don't you? And I'm sure you're well aware of what will happen to you when Rumplestiltskin—the man who is madly in love with her—finds out that you're idea of 'treating' her for the past twenty-eight years and for the time he's out of town, is by drugging her." Alice grinned as the nurse looked up at her with wide eyes and audible swallow. "The only thing wrong with her is that she doesn't know who she is and everyone around her is lying. When she gets her memories back or when Rumplestiltskin returns, whichever comes first, he will not be pleased in the least with the way his beloved is being treated in his absence."

The nurse shook her head so hard the large curls atop her head bounced. "I'm…I'm just a nurse," she said.

"No you're not," Alice said between clenched teeth. "You're a prison warden. Now, step aside. We're leaving."

"I can't!"

Alice sighed and shook her head. "Don't make me hurt you," she groaned. When the nurse tried to step around her towards Belle, Alice gripped the edges of the cart and flipped it over, crashing the food onto the ground and splattering it against the nurse. "Stay away from her!"

The nurse screamed and threatened to call security.

"And what are you going to tell them?" Alice shouted, lunging at her and shoving her against the wall. "You are keeping her hostage here yet again. You knowingly held her here for twenty-eight years, you can't have her anymore." Alice released the nurse and grabbed Belle's hand. "Let's go."

"Can…can you really do that?" Belle asked as Alice led her out of the hospital.

"She can't do anything, Lizzie," Alice told her.

"So…we're going back to your place then?"

"Unless you want to go to yours? I still have a key to the place."

Belle shook her head and swiped the hair that blew into her face. "Actually, I was wondering if maybe we could get something to eat? That girl who came to see me earlier mentioned a diner called Grannies and said that I always had pancakes and ice tea and…well, that sounds absolutely divine right now."

Alice smiled. "Of course. Grannies it is."