Sorry guys, I tried uploading this file for a few days but I was having some problems. I hope you enjoy ;D.

"He what?!" Alice snapped at the girl in front of her. It was midday and the trio of Alice, Noah, and the Duchess had ridden for quite a bit of time before they finally arrived at the camp. Alice had hoped that she'd be able to rush into Hatter's arms, to make sure that was he well and whole, but as it turned out was he wasn't there. Hardly anyone was. Most of the able bodied men and women had headed off to the ancient Kingdom and apparently Hatter decided to try and save her.

"I'm sorry miss," the girl whispered quietly in reply, avoiding the older woman's gaze.

"No," Alice sighed while she ran her fingers through her knotted hair. She and the girl were alone because Noah had taken a semi conscious Duchess into one of the tents while Alice got the info. "No, its not your fault…do you know when he left?"

"Just before dark last night-"

"Sarah!" a little boy called before the girl could say anymore. It seemed that the only people that were left in the camp were the small children and those who were just old enough to shoulder the responsibility of caring for them.

"I'm sorry, I've gotta go."

"Oh no problem. Thanks for talking to me." Alice replied as she watched the girl walk away from her. What the hell am I gonna do?

**************

"Are you alright?" the green eyed man asked her as he helped into the bed.

The Duchess was far from alright. Her body ached, she felt ill, and her clothes were disgusting but she didn't have the strength at the moment to do anything about it. Not wanting to complain she said, "Yeah, I'm fine." with a shaky voice.

"Are you sure I can-"

"Its okay. I'll just…sleep, sleep is fine for now….Thank you for helping me." she started as she wrapped the blankets around herself. The bed wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was still a bed. She couldn't help but notice that the strange man sat next to her once she was settled.

"It was nothing." he replied with a blush, "Not after what you've done for me."

She paused for a second as she scrutinized his face, "Do I know you?…What's your name?"

"Noah…you ah, you helped me out once."

"I'm sorry. I'm rubbish with faces."

Noah looked a little disappointed as he muttered a simple "Its fine…not that important anyway."

"Ummm," the Duchess started before stopping to think about what she was about to ask, "Have you seen…I mean…is Jack- The King nearby? Its just that…well after what happened I think I should talk to him." She hated herself for even thinking about the man after the events that had taken place, but love isn't something that you can easily shake.

"Oh, ah no he's not…apparently everyone went off on some sort of grand mission….I guess I'll be meeting up with them eventually….Can I, can I ask you something?" he asked, his voice unsure. The Duchess had no idea what his question would be but she allowed him to ask it, "What's your name?"

"Excuse me?" the Duchess questioned in return, she couldn't help being taken off guard.

"The Duchess is a title, not a name. I figured…I mean you have to have one-"

"Its Sophia," she replied as she once again looked him over. The fact that he was absolutely adorable didn't go unrecognized.

"Well, Sophia," he started as he got to his feet, saying each syllable of her name as if it meant something much more than it should, "I'll just leave you to it then."

When he put his back to her she felt as if she was losing something, "Wait,"

"Yeah" he said as he turned to face her.

"…Thank you. Really."

"You're welcome." he replied before he stepped outside leaving the Duchess alone with her thoughts.

*************

"Noah!" Alice shouted as she raced to his side the moment he stepped out of the Duchess's tent with a glazed look on his face.

"Wha-"

"We have to go back!" she continued to shout frantically even though she was standing right next to him.

He glanced at the tent as if it were a hospital room before replying quietly, "Would you keep your voice down?!"

"I'm sorry, but he's gone to save me and I'm not there. He's gonna get himself killed and it'll be my fault."

"Stop. Breathe." Noah said firmly causing her to take a second, "Now what's going on?"

"Evidently Hatter rode off last night. He went off to rescue me, I guess, and now we have to go get him back."

"We? Since when did this," he waved his hand back and forth between them, "Become we?" At that moment he reminded Alice way too much of Hatter.

"Since I can't ride a horse…fast without almost killing myself, and you're the only one here, above the age of twelve, that can….I need your help."

"No, you need me to drag you off on a suicide mission….A suicide mission that'll probably end up getting me killed. Is this a regular thing with you?"

"I guess it is. Now will you help me?"

"If I don't…?"

"I'll kick your ass." Alice replied with a nod.

"Well, when you put it like that."

**************

It was about 3 o'clock, by no one's exact time, when Hatter and Charlie lent against a couple of trees for another short break. Hatter knew that they both needed to rest, but they couldn't risk it. Once word got out that they were missing the forest would be flooded with her men.

"Just five minutes Charlie." Hatter muttered catching his breath as he slid to the tree's base. He didn't know how much longer he could go on dragging the two of them.

"Go, harbinger. Hand me a club and I shall fend for myself." Charlie said simply and this wasn't the first time he had spoken those words since they had been on the run.

"I ain't leavin' ya here Charlie."

"There's no point in both of us dying."

"There's no point in either of us dyin' old man." Hatter attached the last part to the sentence for old times sake. The two men just sat, breathing for a moment, until Hatter decided to ask Charlie a question that had been bugging him for a while. "Charlie, what's with…ya know, the whole mystic thing?"

"You mean my ability to peer it to the vastness of the great beyond?"

"Yeah, sure."

Charlie took a shallow breath before answering, "They preferred experimenting on the young. Preferably on the children from the lower class families. "

"Experimentin' with what?"

"Something they never should have taken to begin with."

At that moment something clicked in Hatter's head, "You was dosed with Eyre blood as a child weren't you?"

"I see that you have been well informed on the past in my absence….Yes, the blood of the Eyre has given me certain 'gifts', though I would call them cruses."

"Well," Hatter sighed as he got to his feet, he really didn't have an appropriate reaction for this piece of information, not with everything else that was already crashing around in his head. He held out his hand to the white haired man before continuing, "I guess we're in the same boat there mate."

Once Charlie was up right Hatter tried to put his arms into position, but the old man was reluctant in accepting his help. All Hatter could do was follow as Charlie began walking on his own.

****************

Two hours, plus an irritatingly slow horse, were enough to put Alice on edge. "Can't you make this thing go any faster?!"

"What do you want me to do, strap a motor to its romp? I'm sure that'll attract some helpful attention." Noah replied as he glanced at her from his shoulder. It wasn't hard to guess that Noah was feeling pretty much the exact same way that she was…but for different reasons…like say Alice in general.

"I don't know! What I do know is that we aren't going to be able to help Hatter if we never actually show up."

"Yeah well, we aren't going to get anywhere if you kill my horse."

"I can run faster than this!"

"What's stopping you?!"

Alice let what a heavy frustrated breath before continuing, "Fine, stop this thing and let me off."

"You're joking…?"

"No, actually, I'm not….Look, I probably shouldn't've dragged you into this anyway. It seems that I have a tendency of doing that to people when I come here."

"Alice I-"

"Would you please just stop the horse?" Alice replied her voice resigned.

"Yeah, he's got to drink and there's a stream nearby." Noah responded as he pulled on the reigns indicating to the horse that he should stop. Quickly Alice slipped of the back. She took a moment to steady herself after the long ride while Noah led his horse to the small stream in front of them. Once her legs were functional, Alice began walking on her own.

"Ummm, this might not be the best time, but…ah yeah, you're going the wrong way." Noah said as he came up behind her. It wasn't hard for her to guess that he had tied his brown horse to some tree out in the middle of nowhere.

Alice halted and turned to him with a deadly look on her face, "Which way?"

Noah backed off before answering, "You don't really want to go straight…its kinda more diagonal from here."

"Thank you." she replied, her voice staccato before she moved in the direction that he had indicated.

"So," Noah started as he followed her, "You're really gonna try doin' this on your own then?"

"Yes,"

"You're sure that you don't want my help?"

"Yes, you're free to go."

"How much trouble do you reckon I'll be in when I tell the King that I left you wondering out here by yourself?"

"Look, I don't know…just don't tell him." Alice said while she stepped over a large twig, a moment later Noah did the same.

"Are you suggesting that I lie to the King of Wonderland?…Or that I go back and threaten the lives of all the children that saw you at camp?"

"…Oh…I sort of forgot about them. Just tell him I knocked you out or something. Jack'll believe it I swear, I've done it to him plenty of times."

"Alice are you even listening to me?…If you go off on your own out here and people know that I just left you or didn't go chasing after you…do you even understand what would happen? It doesn't matter what you've decided at this point, I'm coming with you."

"Then would you shut up." Alice whispered as she stopped walking, "I think I heard something."

There was some rustling, a loud CRACK!! of a large twig snapping, before Noah pushed Alice into a nearby tree to get her out of sight. Slowly, Alice watched as he pulled his grandfather's gem studded dagger out of it's sheath. Up close it looked a lot more like a small sword than a dagger.

Silently, he placed his finger to his lips telling her to keep quiet, as if she hadn't already figured that out for herself. Noah made his way around the other side of the tree and disappeared. Closing her eyes, Alice listened to the crinkle of his foot falls and to the opposing sound of something moving in their direction.

A second later the noises were replaced by the sound of a struggle. Realizing that there couldn't possibly be that many opponents, Alice moved out from behind the tree and went to help Noah.

When she came upon the sight of Noah on top of the prone form of a disheveled looking man in the middle of a clearing, her heart nearly stopped. Rushing forward, she called out to Noah, who in the heat of the moment didn't even seem to realize who he was attacking. Luckily, she was able to push him off the man on the ground before Noah could plunge his raised dagger into the man's heart.

Alice didn't even hear Noah's voice as she spoke, "Hatter," she whispered relief filling her words while tears formed in her eyes.

"Alice?" he mumbled back as he tried to sit up, with her help. Once his torso was upright he looked into her eyes, took her face in his hands, and didn't stop the motion until their lips connected. Breaking away for a moment he whispered "Finally" just like he did the first time they kissed, before locking their lips together once again.

Alice wrapped her arms around his neck and they both refused to let go of the other as the kiss grew heady and passionate… at least that was until Alice felt something strange. Pulling away, she looked down at her shirt and noticed that in some places it was soaked through with blood.

"You're hurt." she said simply before she gently touched her hands to the buttons on his shirt.

"Its not s'bad…" he replied as he picked up his hat that now lay beside him because of the struggle and held it in his hand.

Once she got his green button down open she was able to get a better look at the long gashes that littered his chest. Her breathing hitched to the point where she could barely speak as she asked Noah to go get his medical kit, but before he could oblige Hatter spoke.

"Charlie…I left him a little ways back…things seemed safe enough."

"No problem." Noah said as he nodded in return before heading back to his horse.

"You're okay?" Hatter mumbled a minute or so after the other man left.

"Me? I'm fine." she replied as he brought his fingers to her face to wipe away a tear.

"I'm so sorry…I tried gettin' to you sooner, but Jack-"

"Hatter, I'm fine…its you that you have to worry about at the moment."

"Whose that then?" he asked his voice sounding a bit suspicious.

"His name's Noah, he's Jack's messenger. He found the Duchess and I after that witch let us go."

"…She said," he started before he turned his face away from hers, "She said that you lost faith in me."

The words barely registered to Alice especially because at that moment Noah appeared on his horse. He handed her the first aid kit, a canteen, and he also laid down a blanket and helped her get Hatter onto it before he rode off to look for Charlie.

"What?" Alice questioned while she looked over the various supplies in the box. She was trying to find the ointment and those butterfly stitch things that Noah had used for the Duchess the night before. The moment she found what she had been looking for she forced Hatter to lay back and started working on his wounds.

"She said that you lost faith in me…I wouldn't blame you if you did." he sighed and hissed the moment she poured a little water on his chest.

"You're kidding….Hatter I haven't lost faith in you, you idiot." she muttered as she busied herself with some cotton swabs. Alice couldn't help but wish that at the moment she was looking at his toned chest under better conditions.

"Insults at a time like this." he whispered sarcastically as she rubbed the ointment on his skin.

"She's completely cracked, why would you believe or even consider anything she said?"

Hatter could only half laugh at her words and she was becoming very aware that there was important information that he wasn't sharing. A few minutes passed as she worked before Hatter said anything. "Alice-" he started, but before he could finish Noah returned with a pretty angry looking Charlie who had his arms wrapped around the younger man's chest.

Noah jumped off the horse and helped the old man down. Neither spoke for an awkward moment and Alice would've been amused if Charlie hadn't looked the way he did. Laying down another blanket the two able bodied people helped him onto it.

Both sighed after they finished their work and a moment later Noah turned to her and said, "We have to camp here. At least for the night."

"I know." she replied knowing that her old companions needed rest of some kind.

"I'll look for fire wood, but I don't know how long we can keep it going. I know we haven't met anything yet, but a fire will be really noticeable in the dark….I'll try finding some food. Just stay here." once he finished he walked over to his horse, tied him to a tree, and walked off into the trees.

Alice wasn't quite sure about what to do with herself and she didn't want to bother either of them with conversation at the moment. So, she decided she'd try to make her two men as comfortable as she could with what little she had to work with.

Together again :).