The bell rang cheerily. "My favorite customer!" Hatter chirped, setting down the canister he'd been refilling and coming from around the counter to take Alice's hand.

"You're just saying that because she's your girlfriend," his co-worker pointed out with a smirk. "Alice never actually buys anything."

"Still doesn't mean she can't be my favorite customer, Jenny." He beamed and leaned down to sneak a quick kiss, deftly dodging her punch because public displays of affection still made her a little self-conscious. "Are you ready to go, love?"

"Ready." Work at the judo club never actually felt like work, but as far as she was concerned, this was the best part of her day.

They struck out arm-in-arm. It was a routine for them – Hatter would leave first to open up at the tea shop, then Alice would stop by after her last class so that he could finish his shift and they could walk home together.

He settled so easily into life outside of Wonderland, and he explained why after strolling home one day and astonishing her by saying that he'd found a job. "Our people have been coming here a long time, Alice. There are those who know how to move around here very, very well." He'd shrugged. "And Jack – excuse me, King Jack – owed me a boon."

She can barely wrap her head around the fact that Jack was a prince. Now that he's a king…well. Let's just say that she would have been a terrible queen.

Alice was happier now. She was heartbroken over losing her dad not once, but twice, but at least she had closure now. He never would have left of his own free will. She might have lost Jack too, but he had never been hers to begin with.

Hatter, on the other hand…

Sometimes it was hard to believe, if she hadn't seen everything play out in front of her own eyes. He believed her, believed in her, and came back for her, again and again. It was something that she no longer questioned and simply believed. Her mom was understandably bewildered by their relationship, especially when Hatter moved in almost immediately.

"I'm happy for you, Alice, I really am," Carol told her when she made the announcement. "But darling, I'm confused. You were just with Jack. Don't you think this is moving a little too fast?"

Alice sympathized, she really did. But how could she tell her mom that she'd fallen through a mirror into another world and helped save it, over the span of a few days rather than the mere hours that had passed on Earth? That she'd gone in chasing one man but found another, one she knew would never break her heart?

Oh, and that they'd faced down jabberwocks, drugged teas, and a queen who wanted nothing more than to watch everything burn?

Yeah. Her mom would have her committed. So she'd made up a story about going to find Jack, about them talking it out and realizing they weren't meant to be. About Hatter finding her, how he'd been a former student at the club, and offered to buy her tea. How they'd reconnected and talked for hours and that was it, really.

She knew her mom still had her doubts, but they'd slowly faded over the last few weeks.

As for Alice? She knew Hatter wasn't going anywhere.

Still. She couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was missing. It's wasn't something between them, it was something bigger. Wonderland was strange, Wonderland was frightening, but it had tugged at something inside her. Home was great, but Wonderland had made her feel alive.

And she was starting to dream of it.

She dreamed of forests – not the ones she and Hatter stumbled through, but deeper, denser ones. Older ones, where the trees were so big you would need ten people to span the circumference of the trunk, and so ancient they'd seen the rise and fall of civilization after civilization. She dreamt of golden eyes piercing the darkness of the forests, leading her deeper and deeper, closer to the sounds of wingbeats and sibilant hisses.

Every dream ended the same way: bursting out of the trees and onto a wide, flat plain, where a pyramid stretched up to the sky like the ones she'd seen in Belize on a Spring Break long ago.

What did it mean?

"Alice?" Hatter squeezed her hand lightly. "You've gone far away."

As far as Wonderland, she thought. She hadn't thought to tell him about the dreams before, thinking that they would simply go away as time passed and Wonderland faded from her thoughts. Instead they persisted, to the point where she dreamed of that strange place far more than anything else.

Hatter might not know what to make of her dreams, but she had to tell him. Alice opened her mouth, only to watch as Hatter stiffened, his grip tightening on her hand. "It can't be," he murmured, and then tugged her across the street.

"Hatter, what-" The words died in her throat as he came to a stop in front of the café across the street from their apartment. Or rather, the woman sitting at one of the outside tables of the café.

Blood-red nails tipped a pair of sunglasses down, revealing icy-pale eyes that Alice remembered far too well. "It's about time you noticed me," the Duchess drawled. "I thought I was going to have to knock on your door and that would have been unspeakably awkward."

"And this isn't awkward at all," Hatter replied sarcastically. "What do you want?"

"A conversation, that's all." Duchess motioned at the chairs. "Please, join me."

Hatter stood his ground and Alice…Alice couldn't get over how normal Duchess looked. Well, not normal. She attracted attention with her slightest movement, but out of those ridiculous Wonderland clothes she still seemed to fit, like she was a native New Yorker rather than a citizen of a place that shouldn't exist. "Why should we?"

"Because Jack asked me to. Wonderland, it seems, has need of you two once more."

"I don't believe you," Alice burst out, so entirely off-balance that she couldn't quite remember which way was up anymore.

Duchess only sighed. "Of course you don't. But I can assure you, Alice, that I wanted nothing more than to leave you and Hatter here, and out of our matters." She waved her hand between the two of them, and around at the city itself. "The Other Side is a charming enough place, but it is not mine. Now, if you would sit? I have much to tell you."

Hatter turned towards Alice. As he spoke, his lips brushed the shell of her ear, his breath warm. It didn't do much to settle her nerves, but it was something. "I suppose we won't lose anything by hearing her out, love. What do you think?"

She didn't want to. She really didn't want to. That chapter on Wonderland was closed, but perhaps she'd been kidding herself. Hatter was remarkable and she had helped take down a corrupt queen. That made them something in the eyes of the people there, she supposed. "I suppose. But I'm going to need a dirty chai. Two espresso shots. Please?"

His grin flashed. "Of course, love. Sit. I'll be right back." He sent Duchess a pointed glance before disappearing inside the café. Alice remained on her feet for one beat, then two, before finally settling into one of the chairs at Duchess' table. They regarded one another for one long moment, sizing each other up in a way that was not dissimilar to their first meeting in the Hearts Casino.

"Why you?" Alice winced. She really had not meant to say that.

Duchess sighed and tilted her head to the side. "Because there is no quarrel between us, Alice."

"Because I have Hatter and you have Jack?"

The other woman's lips twisted just the slightest bit, wry and mocking in turn. Her eyes were hidden behind mirrored lenses, concealing everything in a way that Alice found immensely frustrating. "I never had Jack."

"He was your fiancé."

Her smile was still there, but suddenly it was full of broken edges. "Did it matter?" Alice flinched, and tone of the other woman's laughter was not nice at all. "I don't blame you, Alice – oh, I did at first when his mother brought you before me, but much time has passed. Jack and I have come to an understanding."

Her tone was so cold and clinical. Alice wondered if the woman before her had been on the teas so long that her emotions were permanently dampened. "But you're still his fiancée, Hatter told me."

"I have a very specialized skill set, darling Alice. Jack needs them. Nothing more, nothing less." There was nothing but absolute certainty in those words, but beneath it was a certain bleakness that seemed to leap across the table and seize Alice by the throat. Perhaps she needed to revise that initial assessment. Duchess did seem to have emotions – they were just buried very, very deep.

The cheerful jangling of the door chime signaled Hatter's return. "Now. One dirty chai for Alice, two espresso shots. One yerba mate for me, and a London Fog for our dear Duchess here." The Duchess' eyebrow quirked briefly but she accepted the drink placed in front of her. "Excellent, I see you two are playing nice. Why don't you tell us more of your story, Duchess?"

"Wonderland is on the brink of war," she said abruptly, with not even a token attempt at easing them into the news. "Lucan Spade has violated the pact of Wonderland's houses and allied himself with Quox and Merry Land. It will not be long before they march on us from the north and south. He has also sought to destroy any hope of Wonderland allying with the O.Z. by attempting to orchestrate a coup there, as well as taking their ambassador hostage."

Hatter sucked in a surprised breath and brought his mug of tea down to the table. Alice, in the meantime, was reeling from the implication that Wonderland was not the only country beyond the mirror. "Lucan Spade should have been a Heart," he muttered. "Are you telling me Wonderland is also at war with the O.Z., then?"

"We could have been. But Queen Lavender was ever so surprising and sent us her heir, instead."

This time, he swore under his breath. "Jack let the Witch into Wonderland?"

"The Princess Azkadellia arrived unannounced. She has struck a bargain and is on our side, for now."

"Then why don't you use her? She almost threw the entire world into darkness, surely she can take on Quox and Merry Land."

Duchess just gave him a bored look. "I have seen the princess in action and though her power is nothing to be underestimated, I do not believe that even she can take on both countries at once."

"Hi, my name is Alice and I have no idea what you're talking about." Everything was flying so far over her head that she had no frame of reference for them, which was saying something considering all the fumbling blind she'd done in Wonderland. "Witch? The O.Z.? Someone had better start explaining."

"While you're at it, perhaps you should tell Alice something of the founding of Wonderland." Duchess sounded supremely bored, but she sniffed her London Fog and took a deep drink, seemingly satisfied. "I promise that it is relevant."

Alice felt as though she was listening to some sort of high fantasy novel as Hatter explained everything as succinctly as he could. Magic was real past the mirror, more so in other countries than Wonderland. The O.Z.'s royal line boasted the strongest of the magic-users, the most recent of which had deposed her mother and tried to plunge the entire world into darkness.

And as for Wonderland, there was more to the houses than she had ever dreamed of. How Adalric the Glorious because the first King of Diamonds, with Mirana the Fair as his Queen. The revelation about dragons was not so surprising after all this and after all, she had seen a jabberwock. "Is that enough, or must I say more?" Hatter inquired, turning back to Duchess.

"Elise Club has investigated the Diamond City on behalf of your friend the White Knight." Alice jolted at the mention of Charlie. Hatter had told her about Charlie's few days in Jack's court before he returned to his city, happy to spend the rest of his days there with a title that was now truly his. "She believes that gryphons were the final members of the treaty alongside humans and dragons. She also discovered a prophecy." From her bag she retrieved a folded piece of paper and slid it across the table. "That is the reason why I've come for you."

Alice leaned over Hatter's shoulder to read, her eyebrows climbing higher and higher with each line of text. "'And all must enter into the fight,'" she read aloud. "Are you serious? You believe this?"

"It is not my place to believe or not."

The sounds Hatter made was loud and rude. "I'm fairly certain it is your place, but you were overruled."

Duchess removed her glasses and placed them on the table. "And yet I am here."

"What does Jack want us to do?" Alice waved at the paper. "Find dragons?"

"Gryphons, actually. According to Elisa Club, champions must enter the Jade Forests in order to convince them to return." Every word that escaped her mouth seemed to pain her and suddenly Alice realized the magnitude of this moment. Not in regards to this quest Jack seemed to want them to fulfill, but to what Duchess was putting aside in order to deliver this message. She clearly considered this a fool's errand, but she was doing it for the man she claimed was her fiancé in name only. Hell, she was delivering this to her fiancé's ex-fiancée.

"He wants us to find the Temple of Amakek."

"I'm not going to ask how you know of that myth, but yes."

Alice was hopelessly lost, but all Hatter did was lift one shoulder, his expression pragmatic. "Sometimes there was nothing else to do in the tea shop. Here, they make us do more, like actually converse with customors. Brew tea samples. Inventory."

The line between the Duchess' brows was the only thing that indicated her impatience. "That is beside the point. If you've heard of gryphons and this temple, then perhaps you also know that there will probably be some sort of task or test. That is what Elisa Club is speculating, in any case."

"And Jack wants us to do it," Alice finished. "What – does he expect us to just pack up and leave? I have a job and a family here. Hatter has a job here!" She was lucky the first time, with the weird temporal difference between home and Wonderland that only left her missing for a day. What if this took longer? How could they explain that?

"That is simply a sacrifice you would have to make, should you decide to do this." Duchess rose to her feet. "And now I give you that time. I expect an answer by tomorrow morning, and if the answer is yes then you must be ready to go by noon. I have already been away from Wonderland for too long. I'm at the Plaza. Margot Delacoeur."

With that she was gone, melting into the New York City crowd like mist. Alice felt like she'd been run over by a truck and she hunched over, rubbing her temples.

"What a fascinating woman," Hatter commented. "A lot of twists and turns, that one. Did you notice that her alias contains the French word for 'heart'?"

"How do you know French?"

"Marie-Philippe at the shop. She's been teaching me, says it's good for wooing you."

"How would Duchess know French?" That came out belligerent, with a touch of petulance, but she'd just had so much thrown at her that it felt justified.

Evidently Hatter agreed because he got to his feet, his hand gentle beneath her elbow as he helped her up as well. "Come on, love. Let's go home and we'll talk about it, yeah?"

"Sure." Her answer was faint, but Hatter at least was solid beside her as she entwined their fingers. She had honestly thought they were finished with Wonderland, but Wonderland, it seemed, was not finished with them.

Dinner was something of a subdued affair, despite both of their attempts to pretend otherwise. Alice wished that she could write everything off as madness, but madness had taken on new meaning ever since Wonderland.

Still. Even with her experience, everything laid out before them still felt too big. Too much like the unknown.

Yet...there was something inside of her that yearned towards it. She had spent most of her life trying to pinpoint all the places in the world her father could have gone, but she'd never actually traveled to them. New York had been her safety blanket, her place to hide, and all she'd wanted while she was in Wonderland was to go back. And she thought she'd been happy to be back.

Now Alice had to wonder. Was she simply craving that comfort and security blanket once more? Did she really need it? Or had Wonderland shown her a part of herself that she hadn't known existed? A part of her that was brave, adventurous, and capable of amazing things?

"Alice. Alice, darling. Are you with me, love?"

It struck Alice, how he seemed like he didn't have a care in the world, sipping happily at his after-dinner tea ("Fukamushi Shizuoka, lovely green!"). But she knew him. It still astounded her how well she knew him, after so little time together. He was still thinking about what Duchess said. "I'm thinking, Hatter. Aren't you?"

"The Duchess has certainly given us much to mull over." His expression was thoughtful as he regarded her over his tea. "Care to share your thoughts?"

It wasn't quite a stab in the dark, but she had to know. "Tell me the truth, Hatter. You've been bored here."

He placed his saucer down slowly, shaking his head. "Alice. Believe me when I say there is nothing boring about your world."

"But it's not the same as Wonderland," she insisted.

"Nothing is the same as Wonderland." It was a simple statement of truth, nothing more and nothing less. Hatter stood and made his way around the table to kneel at her feet. "But my home is with you, Alice. I am with you for however long you want me."

She exhaled slowly and reached out to cup his cheek. She still had no idea what she'd done to deserve this man and his unflinching loyalty. No matter how many times she expected him to disappear on her, he never did. Hell, he'd come back for her so many times already. He'd come here, to a world he didn't know, just for her.

The least she could do was the same for him. "You're my home too, Hatter." She pressed her forehead to his, inhaling deeply as his fingers tightened around hers.

"All right then," he breathed. "So then we make this decision together." He placed a quick kiss to her lips before settling back into his seat.

"Do you think she's telling the truth? About everyone being in trouble?"

Hatter exhaled slowly. He reached for his tea again and took a long, contemplative sip. It drove Alice nuts when he did this, but there was no rushing him. Sometimes he would just talk in circles in order to teach her patience. "I think that the Duchess will do anything for Jack Heart. What affects Wonderland affects him, and then her. So yes, I think she's telling the truth."

She tilted her head to the side, intrigued. "You sympathize with her. Why?"

Hatter shrugged. "We understand each other, Alice. They breed us broken in Wonderland. The Duchess, though…she is a special type of broken. Agents of the queen usually are, and she was...is the best."

"How do you know so much about her?"

He smiled crookedly. "I know it seems as though I was right behind you, but I wasn't. I was still in Wonderland for some time. You learn things."

Alice shook her head. She didn't really want to unpack that at this time. "What about the rest of it? Magic and gryphons and champions? Wonderland was insane but it didn't have magic."

That made him chuckle. "The OZ's witch in Wonderland. That alone is worth the journey back, I think. They say she made the suns stand still, you know."

"Hatter."

He grinned and patted her hand. "As your Shakespeare said, 'There are more things in heaven and earth.'"

"How do you know – you know what, never mind. But tell me more about this mission. This Temple of Amakek."

"You know, I didn't really remember that until Duchess brought it up. I'd completely forgotten about it. Anyway, the idea is that the old houses allied with dragons and gryphons. Gryphons lived in the rainforests to the south. These are old forests, Alice, older than anything you saw while you were there. They say the trees are so large that you'd need ten people holding hands to get around the trunks. The temple is buried in those forests – Alice? Alice love, what's wrong?"

Hatter's hand on her cheek broke her out of her reverie and Alice realized that she was trembling. Somehow she knew, she just knew that the place Hatter spoke of was one and the same with the place she'd been dreaming about. Somehow she managed to stammer that out. "I was going to tell you, I swear, but I wasn't even sure it was Wonderland. And now I know."

"And that alone is reason to go back," he muttered, looking somewhat pale himself. "Cheshire is smiling, and that's not necessarily a good thing."

Hatter had told her all about Wonderland's trickster of a god. "First prophecies, then portents."

"We don't have to go. We can always say no."

Looking into his eyes, she knew how much he meant it. No matter how intrigued he was, no matter what pull he felt for his home, he would stay if she said the word. Alice knew he wouldn't be disappointed, but would she be disappointed in herself for running away from all this? For staying in her safe place? How could she ignore a call for help?

And could she really ignore her dreams? The answer was obvious. "I'm in, if only so I can get some answers. But only if you're with me."

"I'm always with you, no matter what." Despite everything his eyes danced and Alice knew – he wanted this. He wanted Wonderland and this adventure, as absurd as it sounded.

And God help her, so did she. "So, how do we do this? Tell everyone we're going on vacation? Somewhere off-grid, so we don't have to worry about getting in touch?"

"I'm sure the Duchess has something prepared, but it is probably similar."

"Okay." She nodded. "And after we see her tomorrow, we're going to Eddie Bauer or something."

"Oh?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I've trampled through Wonderland's forests in regular clothes once before, and I say never again. Especially if we're going into deeper forest."

"Whatever you say, love." Suddenly, Hatter was on his feet, whooping, and swinging her into his arms. "We're going back to Wonderland!"

The mirror looked the same. The difference, Alice thought, adjusting her backpack, was in herself. The first time she'd simply fallen through, completely unprepared. The second time, she'd only thought of going home.

Now, she was seeking something else entirely.

"You look ridiculous, both you," Duchess sniffed. While Alice and Hatter looked ready to go mountaineering, she would not have looked out of place in a boardroom, in a dress colorblocked in cream and red. Her luggage, Alice noticed, was Louis Vuitton. She had to admit that she was baffled. Suites at the Plaza, designer clothes and luggage, ready-made aliases – just what did Wonderland agents do over here, anyway?

"We're going to be in the forest and I'd rather be prepared," Alice replied.

"It's your choice." But as all three of them prepared to step through the mirror together, the Duchess caught her eye. "Thank you for doing this."

Alice blinked, a little thrown by her sincerity. "Well, I'd be a pretty crappy Alice of Legend if I didn't come back and help out, right?"

"Hero-types," she muttered. "I think you will get along with the Princess."

"Then let's get on with it, shall we?" Hatter offered them both his arms. Alice took it with a smile, and the Duchess a look of disdain (but only after he pouted at her).

Together, they stepped through the mirror.

Please review!

Whew. That was another long lag, I apologize, but at least it wasn't three years?

The original iteration of this chapter had more...shenanigans, I would say. I had this vague idea of putting Az and Jeb along for the ride, but could never come up with a reason for them to go along too. Besides, if you want the job done and done right, you send Duchess, which is what ended up happening anyway.

Apologies to poptate for steaming ahead and posting this without a proper beta. Therefore all mistakes are most certainly mine.

As always, my tumblr handle is somanyfandomssolittletime if you want to hang out!