"No way."
Alice stops short behind him, her feet rooted to the safety of solid ground.
Hatter glances behind him but she isn't there, at least not where he expects her to be. He turns to face her.
"Problem?"
"There's absolutely no way that I'm crossing that thing." She shakes her head. "No."
"It's a bridge."
"It's a death trap."
"Alice, this thing has been around for centuries." He shakes the ropes from side to side as if to prove it's structural integrity. Alice snorts.
"Yes and I'm sure her majesty has been keeping up with the city's infrastructure."
Hatter shrugs. "I could carry you." She follows his hands as he makes a vague hefting motion that would definitely end in her demise.
"How could that possibly be any safer?"
"It'd be faster." He mumbles.
They stare at each other. When it's clear she isn't crossing the bridge on her own, Hatter turns his eyes to the sky and takes a deep breath. He carefully crosses the bridge until he's standing next to her again. With no regard for personal space, he intertwines his fingers with hers and all but dashes across the rickety wooden planks, Alice fearfully in tow. Her stomach drops and she's surely in shock by the time she reaches the other side. Hatter flinches, just a little, at the fury burning in her eyes.
She yanks her hand from his and stomps away, her heart pounding in her chest. Hatter follows, shrugging sheepishly. Mission accomplished, he thinks.
Author's Note: Finally! And that only took my 3 years. But hey, almost there!