AN: My apologies for the ridiculously long update time... between writers block and a major other writing project to complete, it just took forever to create this chapter. It isn't perfect, but hope it was worth the wait.
Enjoy. And please review. I will try to speed up my updates, I promise.
...
Hatter would have hidden away in his room until it was time to go home, but Edith would have none of that. He had emerged in the morning, and Edith had allowed him to make a phone call to Alice from her sitting room. Afterward, he had thanked her and retreated back to his room, where he had spent most of the day watching the world pass by through the window, and avoiding doors.
By dinnertime, Edith sought him out. "Was starting to think you'd gone back to Wonderland," she stated.
Hatter laughed ruefully. "S'what I'm trying not to do," he had replied. Alice was worried, when she had talked to him, that one or both of them would end up back in Wonderland before he got home, and he'd felt increasingly unsettled after the phone call, and remaining in his room had seemed like the best course of action.
It had taken some convincing, but Edith had managed to coax him into coming down to the pub to meet the other Wonderlanders. "You have no idea how excited they were when they found out who's here," she told him.
Hatter, however, felt a little apprehensive. The Looking Glass had never been widely accessible, other then to those allied to the Queen – White Rabbit agents, a few Cards, and a handful of useful contacts. The Resistance had, on occasion, managed to get some of their people through, but far less frequently. Which meant that most of the displaced Wonderlanders had likely worked for the Queen he had helped depose.
And as such, the warm reception and sudden celebrity caught him completely off guard, despite what Edith had told him. There was a small group of Wonderlanders at a table in the back corner of the pub, chatting and drinking pints of beer. When Edith had introduced him, he had quickly become the center of attention.
Within moments, they had made room for him at the table, someone had purchased him a pint of rather thick looking dark beer, and they were peppering him with questions, mostly surrounding the New Alice of Legend, though it quickly became rather clear that he was considered to be somewhat of a legend himself.
Hatter had warmed quickly, once he had overcome his initial shock and apprehension, and found himself actually enjoying the camaraderie. These people were so much more unguarded and lively then he ever remembered Wonderlanders being, especially Cards.
However, the beer, he decided, was definitely an acquired taste. He wasn't much of a beer drinker at best, and this tasted different and was far stronger then anything he had tried in New York. And it was warm. He had downed a few mouthfuls, fighting not to show his distaste and failing, much to the humor of several of his companions.
But as the night wore on, Hatter found himself becoming increasingly aware of someone else. The man was sitting alone at the next table, close enough to listen and watch, but not participate. He was obviously a Wonderlander and a suit. Unlike Hatter's companions for the evening, who had swapped out their Wonderland garb for regular street clothes, he clung to his Spade-emblazoned jacket like a shield. And throughout the night, he kept shooting dark glances in Hatter's direction, leaving Hatter feeling very unsettled.
But he stayed silent... until one of Hatter's companions, the only woman of the group, called him a hero.
"Easy to be a hero when you get to leave right after," he snarled, glaring directly at Hatter, "leaving the mess for everyone else to clean up while you get your happy ending." He slid his chair sharply back, and Hatter tensed, his right hand forming a defensive fist under the table.
But the Spade did not advance, just stood there glowering. "Do you really think overthrowing the Queen fixed Wonderland?" He watched his words sink in, sobering the mood of the others at the table, before turning his burning gaze on Hatter again. Hatter tried not to flinch as the tirade continued. "Hell, do you even know what Wonderland is like anymore? How badly it's falling apart?"
He turned to leave, but turned back to spit out one last barb. "Tell me, hero. Would you even care about Wonderland now if it wasn't starting to affect your precious world?"
The Spade's words had cast a pall over the evening, and Hatter couldn't quite shake them from his mind, even as he tried to sleep later that night.
It wasn't that he was unaware of what Wonderland was like, now that the Queen and the tea were gone. Jack had visited, initially fairly frequently, and updated Hatter and Alice on what was going on in Wonderland – the unrest, the lack of hope, the extreme poverty. And he had tried to help – assisting Jack in acquiring supplies, and helping him to track down anyone who breached the looking glass.
But he couldn't quite shake a twinge of... guilt. He did have a good life in this world. A life he couldn't have even dreamed about when he was living in Wonderland. He had a nice apartment and hot showers every morning. Food of every description was always readily available. He had been able to stop constantly looking over his shoulder and to truly sleep. And he was amazed at how quickly he had become accustomed to all of that.
…
It was far too early in the morning. Alice squashed her pillow over her face, trying to drown out the clanging of pots and the boisterous hey nonny nonnys coming from the kitchen. It had been her wake-up call for the last three mornings, and it seemed to be getting earlier each time.
She lifted the pillow enough to look at the clock before slamming it back down over her face. 6:12 AM.
"Can't you make breakfast quietly?" she moaned into her pillow. As if in reply, Charlie's singing grew even more boisterous. Grumbling, Alice threw back her covers and threw on her robe before making her way down the hall.
She couldn't help but feel sorry for Jack, not being shielded from the racket by even a door. But when she reached the main room, Jack was nowhere to be seen. Charlie, on the other hand, surrounded by almost every pot and pan they owned, was happily cooking something akin to scrambled eggs in the kitchen.
His face lit up when he saw Alice stumble into the main room. "JustAlice! You're up!" He practically bounded over to her, bearing a steaming cup of something that Alice could only hope was coffee.
"Not much choice," she grumbled under her breath, but Charlie didn't seem to notice as he pushed the mug into her hands and rushed back to the kitchen to stir the eggs.
"Breakfast is almost ready," he called out cheerily. "Shan't be long."
Alice took a sip from the mug, and was grateful to find that, not only was it coffee, but coffee done exactly as she liked it. Charlie had mastered the various kitchen appliances in very short order, and his breakfasts did not disappoint, even if they did occur at an ungodly hour of the morning.
Yawning, Alice perched herself on the arm of the couch, and looked around the small apartment again. "Where's Jack?" she asked finally.
She wasn't sure that Charlie had even heard her. He barely looked up from the stove. "Hmm?"
"Where's Jack?" she repeated. She glanced down the hall, but the bathroom door was ajar, so he wasn't in there.
She wondered if he had gotten tired of Charlie's snoring and gone to a hotel for the night. Or maybe he had just gone somewhere to think. He had become increasingly morose in the past couple of days, and spent more and more time on his own. She knew he was blaming himself for everything that was happening and worrying about how Wonderland was faring in his absense. And missing Charlotte. She understood the last one. And she was so thankful that by tonight Hatter would be back home. Provided he didn't walk through another door.
Charlie gave a cry of delight, and pulled the frying pan off the burner with a flourish, and began dividing the eggs onto two plates. Not three.
Alice frowned slightly before asking a third time. "Charlie, where is Jack?"
Charlie looked up from the plates, a surprised look on his face. "He's gone home of course." He picked up the two plates and set them onto the table, with an overly bright, "Breakfast's ready."
"Wait, what do you mean he's gone home?" Alice stared at Charlie as she approached the table. "You mean, he went back to Wonderland?"
Charlie looked at her in surprise. "He has a kingdom to rule," he stated, matter-of-factly. "He oughtn't to have been dallying about over here in the first place." He lifted a forkful of eggs. "Tuck in."
Alice couldn't help but feel a little relieved, even through her apprehension. "When?" she asked. "And how?"
"Through a door of course." Charlie shoveled a large bite of eggs into his mouth, and chewed for a long moment, as Alice continued to look at him, more questions in her eyes. Swallowing, Charlie gave an exaggerated sigh, before continuing. "He was worried about getting back, so I told him that door there..." he waved his hand in the general direction of the front door, "... would take him back."
Alice was gaping at him now. "How did you know that?" she demanded, with such intensity that Charlie looked startled and almost a little afraid for a moment.
"Well... I'm a knight," he stated.
Alice was starting to get excited now. "So, you can tell when a door is..." She paused for a moment, trying to find the right words. "... when a door is a rabbit-hole?"
…
"Please don't make a scene."
Alice may as well have saved her breath. This was Charlie, after all. Even in the very plain trousers and button-down shirt she had bought him, he still stood out.
And with his very vocal, very jubilant astonishment at every new thing he saw, she knew that the airport was the last place she ought to have been taking him. Her mind flew back to his reaction to the flamingos in Wonderland, and she wondered just how much more she could expect when he saw an actual plane.
But Charlie's apparent ability to predict rabbit-hole doors was invaluable to her, and he had already given her forewarning once. The last thing she wanted to do was end up in Wonderland, now that Hatter was just about back where he belonged.
But even with Charlie there, charging recklessly through doors, without much of a thought, she still found herself pausing at each and every door, as ridiculous and paranoid as it made her look. Charlie was well ahead of her in seconds, loudly proclaiming his awe of everything around him.
They reached the gate that Hatter would come through with plenty of time before his plane even landed. Alice knew that she might regret it, but she took Charlie over to the large windows overlooking the tarmac and let him watch the planes coming in. As expected, he was extremely excited by this, and drew a lot of strange looks from the others in the waiting area, but this time Alice ignored them. She remembered when she was little, her mother taking her to the airport to wait for her father's plane. She had been so excited, watching the planes take off and land, all the while looking for the one that carried her dad.
It was nearly an hour later that she saw him. He was paused, just before a set of double sliding-glass doors leading out into the waiting area. He looked exhausted and just a bit nervous, but when he saw Alice and Charlie, his face broke into a wide grin, and he rushed through the final barriers, ducked under the railing and gathered Alice into a tight embrace, kissing every exposed inch of skin he could find.
Alice drew back slightly before crushing her lips to his, only stopping once her breath ran out and Charlie's very vocal protests and a few wolf-whistles from others in the crowd broke through her happy haze.
Charlie looked absolutely scandalized, and didn't seem to know whether to hug Hatter or cuff him for his "inappropriate" behavior.
Alice linked her fingers with Hatter's as they made their way back through the airport toward the car park. Neither said much, and barely listened to Charlie's incessant chatter. Both were just relieved to be back together, and longing to get back to the apartment for some alone time.
"The sooner we get home the better," Hatter stated tiredly, as they stepped through the main door...
…