"Harbinger, stop pretending you don't love her." Charlie watched as Hatter paced back and forth, his hat gripped tightly in his hand, outside the looking glass hall. Alice had only been gone five minutes, and Jack was working to send the others back. The neat thing about the looking glass is that not only could you choose the where, but also the when to send them back. For Alice, only an hour in her world should have passed. "Tell me I'm wrong."

"I feel like I can't breathe," Hatter spoke frantically. "Which is mad, because I obviously can, and—oh God, what if I screw this up? I don't want to screw this up." He stopped suddenly, running a hand through his hair in frustration, making it even more unkempt. His heart felt the loss of her so quickly, breaking at the cracks. Hatter had promised himself long ago he would never give his heart to another, and what did he do? He gave it to a woman with serious trust issues who lived in a completely different world—literally.

Charlie had had it. "Enough, Harbinger! I've had enough. Do you love her?"

"Yes!" Hatter exclaimed. "And it scares the hell outta me."

"Then you know what to do," the white knight told him. "Now, pull yourself together, march through those doors, and demand you be sent to Alice of Legend. She needs you."

But does she want me, Hatter thought. No. Not one more negative thought. He said nothing, but the determination in his eyes was apparent as he settled his hat atop his head and walked right up to the doors, pushing them open a bit too roughly. Charlie was right behind him. The room had quieted down, and—

"People are staring," he whispered. "Go on, Harbinger."

Hatter looked back at the unexpected friend he had made along the way. "Why are you whispering?" Charlie shrugged in response.

"Are you just going to stand there, Hatter, or is there something you'd like to tell me?" Jack's voice echoed throughout the hall. His haughtiness made Hatter's blood boil.

"As a matter of fact, yes, there is," he told Wonderland's newest king. "I'm going through to find Alice. And don't try and stop me, because—"

"Okay."

Hatter's brows drew in confusion. "Okay? You're not gonna try and put up a fight on this?"

"No," Jack replied. "I even took the liberty to gather everything you'll need to survive in her world." He held out what appeared to be a dossier.

Hesitantly, Hatter accepted the manila envelope, wondering why in the world Jack was allowing this—hell, he was encouraging him to go after Alice. "I thought you wanted her to be your queen."

"I did—I do, but she rejected my proposal," Jack explained. "And though I am not fond of you, for some unknown reason, you are who she wants. We'll have the time set to just after she comes through the mirror so you won't have to search for her."

Hatter took a look around, noticing Charlie's encouraging looks, gesturing for him to go already. The looking glass operator set it in motion, and Hatter took a deep breath. Force yourself to breathe. He walked up the few steps leading to the glass, picturing Alice in his mind. Before the technician could push him through, he jumped.

Oh God, what have I done? Alice Hamilton landed hard on the concrete, tears springing to her eyes. She was so angry with herself for leaving the man she loved without telling him so. Turning back toward the mirror, she touched a palm to it, the solid cold glass beneath her. "Take me back," she cried. "Take! Me! Back!" She punctuated each word with a slap of her hand against the mirror.

The walls she had up crumbled so easily when Hatter came into her life. She didn't care that she only met him yesterday. The fact of the matter was, she had fallen in love with him. He had somehow stolen her heart with such ease, it frightened her, but not as much as the thought of never seeing him again. Beneath her fingers, she felt the glass become permeable, and she quickly scrambled away from it, unsure of what was about to come through.

Alice half hid behind one of the pillars, peeking enough just to watch someone tumble right out of the looking glass. It was so dark, she couldn't make out who it was, but something had slid toward her, hitting her hand. She looked down, her breath stolen away at the sight of Hatter's porkpie hat grasped between her fingers. He was here…in her world. The thought scared and excited her all at once.

"Blimey!" he exclaimed. "Talk about a crash landing."

Her heart fluttered at the sound of his voice. Alice attempted to stifle her laugh, but it slipped out all the same.

"Who's there? And—hey, where's my hat?" Hatter was up on his feet now, searching for whomever the voice belonged to. "Alice? Where are you, luv?"

She began to step out from behind the pillar, his hat in her hand, when she ran right into him. Gasping from the sudden contact, Alice gripped his arms, seeing his face clearly. "Hatter!" He smiled softly, wrapping her up in his arms.

"Finally," he breathed out.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," she spoke sweetly, holding onto him for dear life. They looked at each other then, pulling away just enough for their eyes to meet. Hatter pressed his lips to her own, breathing life into her with every touch.

He broke the kiss just for a moment. "I missed you." Without missing a beat, they met in the middle, bringing their lips together again. Slowly, their tongues entwined with one another. Time seemed to have frozen as they stood there, lost within one another.

Alice hesitantly parted from him, needing to breathe in some air. She was only now aware of how much of a mess she looked.

Hatter pinched his face in concern, noticing the track marks of tears on her face. "You're not hurt, are ya?" He watched as she wiped her hands over her face to rid herself of the tears that clung to her skin.

"N—no, I'm fine," Alice assured him. "You're here. I'm fine." It occurred to Hatter that she had been crying over him before he arrived in her world. She really did feel the same as he did. Relief washed over him at this realization, though he supposed that kiss should have told him just that. Her old fears crept up, leading her to ask something she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer to. "How long are you staying?"

Hatter took her hand in his, his thumb softly stroking the back of it. "As long as you want me to."

"You're staying?" It came out as a broken whisper. A hint of a smile appeared on her face. Alice couldn't believe it. Hatter actually left Wonderland behind for her. She never asked him to—she would have stayed there with him if that was what he wanted, but his 'hell no' was answer enough. He wanted to be here with her instead.

"I am," he assured her. "And before you try to argue your way out of this, no, I am not going to resent you for leaving Wonderland behind. I wanted to start anew in your world…with you. This was my choice."

Alice smiled softly. This man she had only known for a couple of days knew her better than most of the people she had known for years. Despite her reservations about serious relationships, Alice was a romantic deep down inside. She had always loved the idea of it, but at the time, that's all it was: an idea. But, right now, getting lost in Hatter's deep brown eyes, she knew this was it. Taking his hand in hers, she led him back to her apartment. Her mom would probably freak out, but that could be easily handled. Alice knew for a fact this time that this one was different from all the rest.