I do not own Syfy's Alice.

But we've already been through that, yeah?

Bloody Maddening

Those That Care Drive Me Mad

Over the next several weeks I did all I could not to think of Alice.

Wandered from task to task.

Assisted the noble Prince-now-King Jack in disposing of the Tea stores of his mafia-slated family.

Wasn't such a bad guy, to be honest. Just . . . him.

Still, he tried.

"Alice didn't choose me at the Looking Glass, Hatter."

Didn't ask.

"She said she wanted something else."

Yeah. Home. Normalcy. Buildings on the ground.

And following my lack of response, he spoke no more of it until our work had come to an end.

"Hatter . . ."

I didn't even let him get started.

"Oh blimey, look at that, I'm late for tea."

And scurried off like Dormy on a cheese run.

Speakin' of me consciously challenged mate, found it celebratin' with the rest of the Resistance at the Hospital of Dreams.

"You did it, boss! You did it!"

I patted its shoulder.

"With your help, Dorms."

It grinned proudly under its gender baffling moustache.

"Aw, I didn't do nothing!"

Then the excitement overwhelmed it and it fell asleep standing up.

That Dorms, me own little fainting goat.

I eased it down into a nearby chair and it started with a snort, twitching and mumbling about unbirthdays.

I couldn't resist a dry chuckle as I made sure it was well balanced on the chair before moving on.

Because there was more work to be done and more Alice to try to forget.

Assisted in the tracking and capture of Dee and Dum. Gave them a little Truth Room taste of their of own medicine.

Which for one of them, apparently consisted of pink and lavender dancing parasols.

And on the subject of oddities . . .

Finally met Caterpillar. Wasn't he a marvel?

"So you are the Oyster's Hatter."

A mild statement that brooked no argument. So I didn't bother to offer one.

"And how did you find her emotions?"

I studied the sky, the crumbling buildings, his mystifying robe.

Anything to buy a second of time to fabricate a safe answer.

"Intoxicating," I finally admitted rather more honestly than I'd intended.

He nodded, seeming fetched upon me as an object of curious interest.

"And how do you plan to manage their effect on you when you follow her through the Looking Glass?"

I stubbornly sidestepped an oncoming blush.

"I'm not following her through the Looking Glass."

He smiled wryly.

"All the same, it would behoove you to consider yourself before you do."

Patted me elbow and moved on to engage Charlie in a no doubt fascinating conversation regarding the Oracle and toenail readings.

Ran into Dodo. Wasn't the hardest thing. He always has been a being whose presence takes up more physical space than his actual girth warrants.

"Hatter."

"Dodo."

Seemed slightly irritated to find me still breathing. And not even a little dismembered.

"Heard about your Oyster. Gone home, has she?"

I nodded with a poorly executed casual air.

"Without you? Pity. Pegged you for smarter, Hatter."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't know you cared, Dodo."

He smirked.

"Oh, I don't," he replied smarmily. "It'll tear out Owl's heart though. She's a big softie."

Don't think that would've been a comfort had she shot me.

And we carefully moved on from one another.

Better remember to warn Jack about him. Got his eye on the Stone still, I wager.

So me life was kept fairly busy. By me responsibilities and those needy citizens of Wonderland.

But not busy enough to escape being miserable living and breathing without me lovely, stubborn, Oyster Alice.

Oh, I tried to move on, wish her well and tuck her away.

Didn't work.

She was in me every pore, every thought, every dream.

Charlie didn't help either. He chased me everywhere, demanding to be told why I hadn't confessed me undying . . .

Hey, that was private, you wanker!

. . . love for Alice and pursued her through the looking glass.

Bloody maddening, he was. Bloke just did not know when to quit.

Eveybody seemed to care about her. And me. And us. Together. Apparently we'd made a bit more of a spectacle at the Looking Glass than I'd realized. I'd been so lost and flailing that I hadn't noticed it at the time.

But now, people cared. Now. When she was gone.

But they seemed to care because of what she had done for them and Wonderland. And me own small part in helping her.

Admirable enough, to be sure.

But Charlie.

Charlie simply cared. With all his mad little heart he cared. With a focus more narrow then the eye of a needle, he cared.

About Alice. Because she was simply just Alice. And me, to a slightly lesser extent. Because I was me.

And he was relentless.

"Dear boy, you must go after her, she pines for you there, just on the other side! She awaits you! The Oracle hath told me so!"

I gave him The Look. The 'I'm calling you on your Bandersnatch droppings' Look.

He held me gaze adamantly before finally relenting.

"Do you care for the girl, Hatter?"

More than tea itself, Charlie.

I didn't have to reply. Me silence was enough. He nodded and spoke quietly, much unlike his usual warbling.

"Then go to her, lad. Speak the truth and let her decide."

What if she doesn't want me?

"Of course she will, Hatter. She already does. And you know it."

As I said, bloody maddening he was.

No matter how many times I fumbled to explain that she belonged in her world and I in mine, he wouldn't listen.

No matter how many times I attempted to make sense of the fact that she couldn't stay and I couldn't leave, he turned a deaf ear.

Her mother, her only remaining steadfast in her world, needed to know her daughter was safe and returned, unlike so many Oysters in times past who would be lost forever to their loved ones.

She had never come here for me anyway, had she? Jack, it had always been Jack. Even in the end at the Looking Glass , she had wrapped her arms around him tighter than me.

But Charlie was determined.

And so 'round and 'round we went. Over and over again.

You belong together, he said. You and Alice. She never looked at him the way she looked you . She only left because she must and without you because you did not open your mouth and speak from your heart, you idiotic childish boy! Go after her!

As I said, bloody maddening, he was.

Took me forever to listen too.

If she hadn't haunted my waking and sleeping dreams every day and night, I might have held out a lot longer than I did before I followed her.

But probably not a helluva lot.

I mean, she was Alice after all. And I, the Hatter, was hopelessly in love her.

And it was bloody maddening, to be honest.

Yeah, they wore me down right well, they did.

Last chapter coming up. Appreciate all the reads from everyone. And the reviews, DinahRay and Ontherun246.