FOURTEEN
Give Him a Chance, for Heaven's Sake

"You hear that?" Alice had turned around, toward the sound of the singing.

"I don't believe it." He said, because he hadn't held much hope for an old knight in armor swimming well over a hundred feet.

When they found him, Charlie had already removed his armor, set up a camp fire, and had the pieces of his clothes drying on sticks. Hatter didn't know how long they'd been arguing, but he didn't think it had been that long.

Alice rushed forward, hugging Charlie tightly. "I was just about to go back in the water and look for you again." He said as he returned the hug. And he held her there until it grew rather awkward. Hatter could hear Alice giving quick comments of 'yep' and 'okay' as Charlie patted her back for the third time. Hatter fought the urge to laugh at her discomfort.

"How'd you get ashore with all that armor on?" Hatter asked when they finally broke apart.

"I'm a knight." Charlie answered, as that was always the answer with him.

With Charlie there, there was less of a motivation to continue their previous argument. Hatter flipped his hat back onto his still soaking hair. "We should get off this beach before we get spotted."

"No."

He halted in his tracks and spun around. "No?" Annoyed was an understatement. What did she have to protest this time? That Jack would keep the Suits from spotting them with his super powers? That he'd order his mother to call off the search for the most important object in Wonderland? Fat chance.

"Listen guys I'm really grateful for what you did…getting me out of the Casino, but I have to go back." Even Charlie let out a groan.

"Why are you still hooked on Jack?"

"I told you, he was trying to help me."

"Really? Cause it sounds to me like he was usin' ya."

"And you're not?" And there it was. He swallowed his next words, knowing they'd only fall on deaf ears.

"Don't you care what's happenin' here? All the people's lives who are getting ripped apart by the Queen?"

"I do, I'm one of them—"

"Then give the Resistance a chance." He pleaded, because he knew his best bet to keep her with him, to get her to trust him, was if he got her what she wanted his way.

"I met those guys already." She raised her hands and backed away, obviously remembering the whole 'nearly getting shot' thing. Water under the bridge.

"One arm of the organization that was. We get to the top man, he'll help us." He helped me, a boy who'd conned him and lied, but he still fixed my arm when I might have lost it otherwise. Hatter may not have held much esteem for certain members of the Resistance. Dodo, came to mind. They had never gotten on very well. But he had always had respect, almost adoration, for the leader. The man responsible for healing his right arm and making it much improved, if he was honest.

"You know him?"

"Yes." He answered immediately. "No. Not exactly. Nobody knows his true identity, but he goes by a code name…Caterpillar." She didn't immediately start hollering at him, so he decided it was safe to continue. "Give me a few hours. I'll slip back into the city and I'll make contact. You can...you can stay with Charlie in the fortress, you'll be safe there. If I'm not back by nightfall…do it your way."

Alice considered. And she took her sweet time with it, too. Hatter was standing near Charlie, not able to stomach just watching her stand there, deciding whether or not she should give him that chance. Finally, Alice joined him by the fire.

"Okay." She said stiffly.

Hatter nodded. "Okay." And they were both thinking along the same lines. She was telling him she would give him a chance and he was replying that he wouldn't let her down. Somehow, they both understood.

Now decided, he hesitated. "I'll…I'll see you and Charlie off first. My boat's in the same direction."

She nodded. "Yeah."

Then Hatter looked at Charlie. "Have you noticed he's more often with armor off than on?" Alice caught a laugh in her fist, almost snorting beside him, and he grinned. Without taking his eyes off Alice, he spoke to Charlie. "Hey, White Knight."

Charlie turned stiffly.

"How 'bout we get dressed now? We're too exposed out here." Alice didn't seem to notice his staring, and her lips were quirked at the corners as Charlie began to dress. Hide it all she wanted, Hatter knew he'd made her laugh.

They made it back to the forest without detection. Once under cover, Hatter's nerves settled. They kept the lake in their sights, so that Hatter could find his boat and get back to the city faster. Charlie, who apparently had a special whistle for the horses, had used it and claimed they'd find them shortly.

"They do always turn up eventually." Charlie had mumbled. Hatter shook his head and then he noticed Alice smiling at him.

"What?" Hatter asked, genuinely confused but loving that her smile was directed at him.

Now she shook her head. "Nothing."

"That smile's not nothing." He laughed, "Come on. What is it?"

She eyed him and then glanced back at Charlie. "Just looks like someone's growing a bit fond of a certain knight…"

Hatter adopted an offended look. "I'm not growing fond of anyone."

"I see how you look at him." She teased. "Don't deny it. You like Charlie."

"I-I, he's alright. Okay?" He defended.

"Ah, so I was right? It was a good idea to go with him." She bit at her tongue as she peered slyly over her shoulder. All the confidence of someone rubbing victory in the face of their opponent. And it was incredibly sexy.

He smirked. "It's about your only good idea, so I'll let you have this one."

She stopped walking and lightly punched him in the shoulder. "Don't forget I can kick your ass."

"Oh, really?"

"Of course I could. I teach children who could kick your ass."

His jaw fell open. "You teach children to fight people?"

"In self defense. Yes." She replied quickly.

He shook his head, his voice filled with loads of feigned disbelief. "Unbelievable. Do you show 'em how to steal from old ladies at gunpoint, too?" In his defense, he'd never heard of self-defense classes or martial arts. And teasing her was incredibly fun.

She pushed him. "You know I don't mean it like that."

"I'm…I'm speechless. Do their parents know or are you picking 'em off the streets?" He could no longer keep his face straight when she pushed him hard into a tree. They were both laughing when he regained his footing. It felt good to laugh. He'd needed to laugh after the past day and a half. It felt even better to be sharing that laugh with Alice. Felt…almost natural. As if he did this every day, when, in reality, he couldn't remember the last time he had shared a sincere laugh with anyone. In the Queen's world everything came in a bottle, even laughter.

Hatter thought he saw his boat as they rounded another set of thick trees. He directed them toward it and then noticed the top few branches had been cleared away. "Looks like we're not the first ones back here."

Alice looked, noticing the boat now. "Is it still safe to use?"

He shrugged. "I guess we'll find out." They walked toward it, Hatter sliding down the steep bank. He removed the rest of the leaves and branches. After he stepped inside the boat, he spun around, trying to tell if anything was amiss. "Everything looks to be in order. I suppose."

"Why would they just leave it there?" She asked as she slid down and grabbed onto a tree to keep from falling too quickly.

Hatter looked up, "Probably didn't expect us to make it back." That told him wonders about that Rabbit Maniac's confidence. Which didn't bode well for them. Hopefully, he wouldn't be reassigned now that Alice was on the loose again.

Alice watched him sit down and he had just put his hand on the key when he stopped. She rubbed at her arms, her damp clothes making her shiver. Hatter sighed. "You should get back to Charlie before you catch a cold." When she didn't move to leave, he added, "I'll be back as soon as I can. Shouldn't take too long, the Resistance can work fast when properly motivated."

"You mean the ring?"

His shoulders fell. "I won't let them take it without your permission. But it might be the only way I can make a deal interesting enough to get you your father…if that's okay with you?"

She raised her eyebrows. "You're asking now?"

He frowned. "Yes. I am. I told you I'm on your side. I just want to help, that's all. Now, can I use the ring to negotiate for your father?"

"I don't have it with me."

He figured as much. "But can I use it to make a deal? I promise, I'll only do it on your terms. They have to get you to your father and then get you home. Anything else and I walk. We'll find another way in."

She cocked her head. "Is it back to 'we' now?"

"It's always been 'we.' Until I get you home…until you're safe back in your world that's just how it's going to be." His eyes flickered. He felt self-conscious…like he might be assuming too much. But she didn't look unhappy about it.

Alice nodded.

He went to start the boat, but Alice had spoken up again. "Oh, and…"

Their eyes met.

"Thank you. For coming after me."

The boat started. "I told you, getting you home is all I care about."

She didn't respond before he was driving away. He didn't look back either. It was too risky. Leaving her standing there, in the hands of Charlie, it was hard to persuade himself to accept she'd be safe until he got back.

Sunlight reflected into his eyes and he had to squint, but it was quiet. At least, it gave him some time to sit and just think. He hadn't had the chance to do much of that since yesterday. Yesterday morning those thoughts might have been about his shop. About what he was going to do with himself without it. Yesterday evening he'd have thought about how to get back in the Resistance's good graces. How he could be of real help for once in his life. But today, now, he wasn't thinking about any of that. His only thought was of the girl on the shore and how, try as he might, he couldn't think about anything else.

He could freely admit that he was fond of Alice. It was plain enough, even to him. He liked when they laughed and he even enjoyed when they argued. Life wasn't simple with her, but she had been exactly what he needed. His life was different now, he was different. And he had her to thank for that. So as he steered down the back alleys of the city and began to park his boat, he had thought of little else but Alice. And because he was rather dense about the whole thing, he hadn't actually decided what his position was when it came to her. The jealously, the admiration, the protectiveness, even the dream, could not make the simple truth click in his head. So he exited that boat, now moving quickly so he could head off Dormie, ignorant to the fact that his exact feelings on the subject of Alice were still completely unidentified.

A/N: First, I just bought the DVD and was very surprised that the entire movie is filled with little added bits here and there. I had been using Netflix until now and didn't know about all those little extras. I'm not going to go back, but I'll be including them from now on. Second, my mind was sort of wandering as I wrote this. I couldn't quite get my thoughts to focus, but I hope that didn't show too much. The next few parts are going to have a lot of added stuff, so they might take longer to post. I should still be doing at least one upload a day, though. Thank you for reading and a special thank you to those that have favorited, alerted, or reviewed. It makes my day to see any of those in my email. ^_^ Until the next chapter...