Major shout out to RainbowsArePretty for guessing what the first one-shot was based off! Sorry it's taken me this long to give you props.

This was a long one.

Thank you to everyone who's reviewed/favorited/alerted this story. You keep me writing!

Just a note on chronology - these aren't in any particular order. A lot of the earlier ones (and the ones after) actually probably occur after this.

"Marry me, Alice."

She's definitely not expecting that.

Hatter stands in front of her, completely soaked, his suit sticking to his body. He doesn't even know where his favorite hat is and doesn't particularly care right now.

Alice's mascara has run making her feel completely ridiculous. One of her heels already broke in half, and to top it all off, she's spent most of the night furiously angry.

The evening had gone completely wrong from the start. The restaurant that Hatter had spent weeks trying to get a table at seemed to have lost their reservation, even though they'd called to confirm the table just this morning. That would have been all right – they could always just go somewhere different – if they hadn't been approached by what looked like a beggar as they were walking down the street. Of course, Hatter had been naturally suspicious of him. In Wonderland this man would have been bad news no matter what. But Alice, naturally, had to be her kind-hearted self. Hatter could almost laugh at the irony if he wasn't so annoyed – it took almost getting killed twice to get her to trust him, but a homeless man on the edge of the street? Her heart went straight out to him. But Hatter had recognized the look of an addict in his eyes. And one thing he knows about addicts is that they won't let anything get between them and a fix. Particularly not self-reliant, stubborn young women.

This time, of course, Hatter's instincts had been right. As soon as the man had them separated slightly away from the street, he went for Alice's purse. She didn't see the knife, but Hatter did. Hatter had pushed her behind him and pushed the man back before she could realize what was going on. But the man had been relentless and tried to dive past Hatter again, this time getting his hand on Alice's arm. And no one touches his Alice. Moments later, he had given the man a broken arm. Not that he particularly meant to break any bones, but these things had a tendency to happen around him.

"What the hell, Hatter?" Alice had yelled as soon as they were away. "Why on earth did you do that to him? It wouldn't have killed me to let him have the purse! The only thing I kept in there was my lipstick and comb anyway."

"It wasn't just a purse, Alice! Did you not see the bloody knife? He would have used that thing on you before you had a chance to react!"

"I can take care of myself, and without severely injuring the other person!"

"Evidently not. You could very easily have been dead or injured without me back there." He had been aware that he was snapping but really didn't care at the time.

Alice hadn't taken that well. "Right, because I'm a helpless girl, right? I don't need you to protect me, damn it! I think I could have handled the old guy, even if he was trying to attack us, which I honestly don't know if he was."

"Knife, Alice, knife! What more do you need to know?"

Alice had stormed off down the street. For the next 10 blocks. Hatter had trailed her by about ten feet, fairly pissed off himself. He couldn't even be chivalrous without this girl thinking he was trying to rob her of her independence. Well, he would just let her burn off her anger for a while.

Unfortunately, neither of them had noticed how far they had walked or in what direction. Alice had been walking blindly, too pissed off to actually pay attention to surroundings, and Hatter had only been making sure he didn't lose sight of her. So neither of them had noticed when one, then another, then a few more men had started follow them. They hadn't exactly noticed that they'd wandered into the wrong neighborhood for a petite, pretty girl and a guy dressed in a slightly flamboyant manner to be wandering in after dark.

A whistle had alerted him to the presence of the group behind him right before he had been knocked to the ground. A quick kick to his ribs had left him gasping for air. He vaguely heard Alice's shout and then the sounds of a fight breaking out. By the time he got back up, several guys had surrounded her, although a few more were lying on the ground in pain. Hatter used his right hook again on one of the circle, letting him get to Alice.

Luckily, a police alarm had sounded down the street just then. Before she could protest, Hatter had grabbed Alice and taken off down an alley. One or two of the guys had followed them by the sound of it, but by the time they had rounded the corner, Hatter and Alice had scrambled up a handy fire escape. They had waited until their attackers had given up, and then carefully climbed to the roof. There they found a ladder down the other side that exited onto another street. After climbing down, they'd run back to a better part of the city to be in.

But Alice still hadn't been happy. "What the hell just happened? Why didn't you wait on the police?"

"Sorry, but I haven't exactly had the best experience with law enforcement. Running seemed like the best idea at the time!"

"Right, Now if those guys find us, we'll be in the same mess again. Just great."

Hatter hadn't believed his ears. "Really? You're mad at me for saving you again?"

"Oh, you saved me? Right! I wasn't the one they knocked out, mister."

"Knocked me out? As if!" he had protested. "I was fine, you were the one they had surrounded. And where the bloody hell is my hat!" A note of panic had crept into his voice with the last question.

"I don't know, I was too busy trying to keep those guys from kicking the crap out of you to notice!" She had recognized the look in his eyes as they shifted back towards the streets they'd just run away from. "No. Hell no. We're not going back there to look for your damned hat."

Hatter had just glared at her. "Fine. Let's get out of here."

The walk back towards their apartment had been tension-filled, both parties equally pissed with each other. Neither was feeling particularly hungry any more. They both just wanted to get home where they could stew in private. It was only twenty more blocks to the apartment, and at least the night was fine outside.

Until it had started to rain.

They had walked along in a moody silence, getting absolutely soaked. Alice's dress was getting ruined, but she didn't want to say a word to Hatter. He was frankly missing his hat and worrying what the rain was doing to it. But soon, as the rain just got worse, they had both realized they needed to get inside. Luckily, a favorite pizza place had been just around the corner. They ducked into it to wait out the rain.

"Are you hungry?" Hatter had grudgingly asked. Alice had just nodded her head. She was determined to be the reasonable one here. Well, at least she wanted to be the less mad of the two. Hatter had ordered their favorite special, a pie with almost everything aside from pineapples and fish on it, and sat down to wait for it to come out.

While they had been sitting, resolutely ignoring each other, Hatter had started stealing glances at Alice. Even though he was exasperated with her and grouchy and in pain, he couldn't help but be taken with the way that raindrops were still falling down her face. She really was the most beautiful person he'd ever met, the most loving, even if she was also the most infuriating. Although he loved that part of her as well.

He had sighed. He really did love her too much to keep up his anger.

"You're not hurt, are you?" he had asked hesitantly. Alice, evidently softening towards him a little herself had assured him that she was ok. Then the pizza had arrived and they'd both dug in, comfortable with each other again.

Unfortunately the rain had showed no sign of stopping by the time they finished. "I don't think there's any hope for it. Should we just walk back as quickly as possible?"

Alice hadn't looked forward to that prospect but agreed. "I guess there's nothing else we can do. Let's make a run for it then."

And they had. It hadn't been as bad as either of them had expected, and they were actually kind of laughing. Sure, they had both been soaking wet and cold, but the ridiculousness of the entire situation had started to set in, lightening both of their moods significantly.

Until Alice's heel broke in half a block from their apartment. It had been the final straw. She'd stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, picked up the shoe, and stared in disbelief.

"These were my favorite pair," she muttered to herself as Hatter turned to see why she had stopped.

She had limped in shock to the stairs leading up to their door. When she got there she sat down on the steps and burst into tears.

Hatter had stood before her, really not sure what was happening. Alice's mood was swinging on a dime and would stop long enough to let him figure out where it was going. Tonight she'd terrified him, made him furious, and melted him. Needless to say, he was confused. All he knew was that he was in love with this girl, running mascara and all.

Which is why Hatter is almost as surprised by his statement as she is. "Wh-what?" she asks, trying to stop crying. She feels beyond stupid at the moment, realizing that she's throwing a tantrum like a kid. She knows she's been over-reacting to everything and generally treating Hatter like crap. And yet here he is, proposing to her.

"Um, yeah. That just sort of… slipped out there. Not really how I intended that to happen." The look on Alice's face quickly makes him back track. "But I meant every word of it, Alice!" he pleads. "I really want to… that is if you'll have me, of course."

Alice just stares at him stupidly from the steps, her mind racing furiously. Sure, if she's honest with herself she loves him and has known it since he showed up in her apartment, hair absurdly tame. But it's only been a few months that they've been together in her world, and even if all the other circumstances were normal – and they're definitely not – people would raise their eyebrows at this. Besides, she's never been the kind of girl that dives headlong into this kind of commitment with so little to base it off –

That thought stops her dead in her frantic train of thought. There's a lot to base it off, actually. Never mind all the times that Hatter's been around for her lately – he saved her life more times than she can count in Wonderland. Even when she'd rejected him he came after her, including jumping through the mirror.

A ludicrous smile spreads across her face as Alice realizes that yes, she does want to have this man around for the rest of her life. Of course she does.

"Alice? You're kind of leaving me hanging here, love."

But she can't wipe the crazy Alice look off her face. Instead she jumps off the steps and into Hatter's arms. She pauses for only a second before kissing him, putting all of her passion and happiness and trust and love into it.

A minute later they break apart, gasping.

"I take it that's a yes?" he asks, a mad grin dancing across his own face.

Alice nods, and Hatter does the only thing a smart man in love can.

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