Jefferson felt a cold chill sweep over him as he entered through the mirror. He felt like he was walking under an ice cold waterfall even though he was completely dry.

Odd, he never felt that before…or had he just forgotten?

Regina stepped through with him and Jefferson knew that now they were truly bound. He had to protect her now or he was going to drag another dead woman back through the mirror.

He looked down at the cobblestones for a second…it'd been four years but if he looked close enough, he thought he could see his wife's bloodstains.

But that might be his imagination.

Jefferson felt the terror building in his chest as he remembered everything he'd gone through all the more vividly now that he was standing here.

His wife died…three miles south of here…

He heard something above the mushroom and he glanced up to see a giant caterpillar.

Oh gods, how ridiculous.

He made his gaze stone and stared ahead while Regina stared up at it in bewilderment. They had a mission. Grab something and come back and enjoy the life his little girl was meant to have. That was all. They were not here to sightsee at this abomination of a world.

"I hate Wonderland," he hissed and pulled Regina forward.

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Regina found what she was looking for. An object in a vault at the center of the maze just as the guards found them. Jefferson had worked to the point of exhaustion for the past four years and his body was in the best shape it had ever been. Running was no problem. Making sure Regina kept up with him in those heels…now that was the real challenge.

"The Looking Glass!" he cried out, "There it is!"

He started forward and only stopped when he realized Regina wasn't with him. He turned to see that she was over at the mushroom.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, "We can't stop now. We got to get out of here!"

"There's something I Need to do first," Regina snapped and broke off a piece of the mushroom, "A little snack."

Oh gods, they weren't here for a picnic! Their safety was literally a few feet away, "Are you mad? Do you know what the food here does?"

"I'm well aware," she muttered. She bent down with the open box and placed the mushroom inside. Gods, they could do this when they got over! The food would still work!

He watched as purple smoke emerged from the box and an older man appeared. Some sort of….servant or something…

"Daddy," Regina sobbed and wrapped her arms around him.

Jefferson felt his stomach clench as the truth of the situation began to dawn on him, "This is what she took from you? Your father?"

"The Queen of Hearts has always seen me as a threat," Regina explained, "So, she wanted some leverage. I got it back."

She endangered his life for this?! She kept this from him and there was only one reason that she would do that and that was to betray him.

Gods, he daughter was waiting for him.

"You knew only two can go through the hat," he started, completely stunned, "Which is why you didn't tell me about your father."

"IT was the only way to make sure you'd help me," Regina told him simply.

Jefferson had to stop them. He had to get there first…if he hurried then he'd be taking one of them with him…whichever one he wasn't sure. But he had to get through because if he didn't then he would be left.

The ground closed around his feet and solidified and he couldn't move.

Panic slammed in his chest and he struggled against the ground, "WAIT! WAIT! Wait, please! My daughter….my Grace…she's…she's waiting for me. I promised her. I'd….be home for tea."

It was weak and pathetic but he couldn't even comprehend the idea that he would be missing out on her life if he was left behind. HE would be killed here! And she would never know what happened to him. She lost her mother four years ago and she was just recovering from that and she was going to lose him too!

Gods, was this even because she knew what he did all those years ago or was she just angry that he had found happiness where she had not?

"A promise which you have now broken," Regina sneered, "If you truly cared for your daughter, you never would've left her in the first place. You were right Jefferson. You don't abandon family."

But he was doing it so she could have a life…he returned to this life that he now loathed so that she would be secure. Wasn't that enough proof that he loved her.

They turned to walk through the looking glass and he felt that panic return. This was the only portal he knew of the Wonderland….and unless Regina sent someone through it then he'd never see his home again, "NO!"

And then they were gone and portal turned back into glass.

"No….," he whispered.

He heard someone behind him…several someone's but he no longer cared. He just stared at the now closed portal…his own reflection and he truly looked at himself.

His daughter had no mother because of him and now she would have no father….

Because he thought his daughter would need material goods over him…

Because he trusted her of all people.

He just…stared at himself as the despair overrode any logical thinking. He barely paid attention to the man that came up beside him, "Take him to the Queen!"

He didn't struggle because there was no point. He just…let them drag him away.

His wife died here…maybe it was logical that he die here as well.

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Eventually the guards got tired of dragging him and forced him to walk to his execution. They forced him through the gate of the palace and walked him down a long narrow…bridge or something with no guardrails and a long drop. Everyone that surrounded the Queen stood around with unexpressive faces and wore masks but it was the Queen herself that kept his attention. Her face was covered…and she had some sort of horn in her hand that she spoke through. It was attention grabbing and he supposed that was the point. It wouldn't be the first time royalty used things like this to detach themselves and appear larger than life.

The knave spoke after listening to her, "Her Majesty says she knows you're responsible for helping to steal from her."

"The Queen," Jefferson started to defend himself, "She tricked me-."

The Queen of Hearts grew angry at that and he tensed.

"That. Woman's. Name," the Knave bit each word, "Is Regina. There is only one Queen. The Queen of Hearts."

Despite expecting to die, Jefferson tried to appeal to her, "Yes, of course…my apologies. Now please…."

The Queen spoke again through the Knave, "Her majesty wishes to know how you got to this world. How did you come to Wonderland?"

Jefferson knew it would be a very dangerous thing to reveal his daughter's existence but by now he was desperate, "If I tell you, will you let me go home to my daughter?"

The Queen spoke again and this time…he heard her, "Off with his head."

The executioner immediately stepped forward and Jefferson's eyes widened when he saw the axe. He stood rooted to the spot…mostly because of fear but there was wish to preserve his dignity as well. No matter how fast he ran, he wasn't getting away from this one. If he joined Karenina (and he believed he deserved this for abandoning his daughter anyway), He was going to do so without any more cowardice.

The Guard swung and in a panic he closed his eyes. He felt a horrible pain his neck but he didn't cry out. He wouldn't give them that.

And he waited for….nothing? The afterlife?

But other than a pain his neck and someone gripping his hair, he felt nothing. He opened his eyes and stared down at his….headless body. This was impossible. This was just his brain still having some activity. Death would come in a couple of minutes.

It didn't.

"I'm alive?" he exclaimed and then gave a more panicked cry when he realized he still had his voice, "I'm alive!"

How was this possible? Surely a world that was inside out and upside down like this one would have some rules in it!

The Knave spoke again, "If you wish your body back, then answer. How did you get here?"

He struggled for words in his terror…he should be dead. He WOULD be dead if not for…whatever it was that was keeping him breathing and speaking….even though that was beyond impossible, "The…the…the hat. My hat! We used my hat."

"Where's the hat now?" The Knave demanded.

"She took it," Jefferson said and then clarified, "Regina."

"If all you require to travel to your homeland is this magic hat, then surely, you could make another."

But Jefferson didn't know if he could….he had given power to the hat once…years ago when he was fifteen and he turned his hat into a portal by accident. That was when he was young and his magic was…plentiful. But now he was a man that was thirty-one now…the magic that he could've had 16 years ago was feeble and neglected. He wasn't sure he could build another one that worked when the first one only worked by chance.

"I can't," he told them, "A hat without magic is just a hat. It won't work."

"Then, there's your task," the Knave sneered, "Get it to work."