Three days had passed and Alice had yet to wake.

Dr. Eric – formerly Whale – couldn't place a reason for her coma. There had been no physical triggers.

The simplest explanation was magic.

Jefferson sat dutifully at her bedside for most hours of the day, when he wasn't consoling a broken down Grace – who divided her time between sitting at the hospital and wandering around town to clear her head with Belle at her side.

Belle had been a godsend. She had been all too willing to help the girl while her best friend lay comatose in the hospital bed.

Jefferson tensed as Alice's eyes twitched under the lids once again and let out a low sigh as he gripped her hand, "You cannot do this to me. You can't do this to Grace." He placed a soft kiss on her fingers as his eyes trailed over the IV bag and machines connecting down to the inside of her elbows. "Unacceptable. You need to wake up. I don't know where you are in your head, but you need to wake up. I'm getting desperate here."

"Jefferson?"

He spun around at the sound of a somewhat confused female voice, "Oh, it's you. I see you finally believe now."

Emma crossed her arms over her chest as she – with Henry lingering behind, book in hand – stepped forward, "I do. You disappeared after…" Her words trailed off as she glanced down to Henry for a brief moment. "Our meeting."

Jefferson quirked a small smile of knowing, "You got the hat to work. Briefly, but it did."

Emma's eyes widened for a moment and she made a facial expression showing that she was obviously proud of herself, "Oh. Well." She removed her hand from Henry's shoulder and stepped forward to drop her voice to a whisper. "I get it now. I thought I would never see him again and I almost lost it. I understand, sort of."

Jefferson muttered an apology before he looked past Emma and his eyes brightened just slightly as his hand slipped from Alice's, "I got her back." Emma turned her head in time to see Grace walk into the room with two bottles of water in her hands.

"Hey, Paige," Henry smiled, before it faltered slightly. "Oh, wait."

"Hi, Henry," The girl laughed softly – and both of the parents would have sworn a blush crossed her cheeks, "It's Grace, by the way." Grace moved over to Jefferson and handed him one of the bottles. "Here, Papa."

"Thank you," Jefferson breathed out as he set it to the side and placed a kiss to her forehead, before looking back to Emma. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking on things," Emma answered as she shot a sympathetic look to Alice. "Who is she?"

"She's my wife."

"Alice," Henry gasped as he looked at the chart at the foot of her bed. He looked at Grace – who was staring at the ground with a frown – to Jefferson, who gave a small nod. "Wow."

"What is it, Henry?" Emma asked as she watched him flip through his book.

He shot his eyes up, "Seriously? He's the Hatter! That makes her…" Henry finally stopped flipping and turned the book so that she could see a painted picture of Alice falling down a dark hole. "Alice."

"Alice in Wonderland," Emma choked out. "How am I even surprised anymore? Wait, Alice and the Hatter didn't get married in the version I read. She was like, 7."

"You read the wrong one," Jefferson said in a dark tone as Grace settled in a second chair. "Not all things are as accurate as history books. She was a teenager when we met and most certainly old enough for it not to have been crude."

"What's wrong with her?" Henry asked as he took a step forward and Emma spoke at the same time with a, "What happened?"

"No one knows. She was fine when you broke the curse. The next night she just collapsed. She's been like this since. It's not medical, as far as they can tell. It's magical and not the good kind. I haven't found anyone that can fix it."

Jefferson kept to himself that he had two ideas of who could attempt to fix it, but he didn't want to make a deal with either of them – especially since one was on his hit list.

Henry looked at Grace with a sad smile, "I'm sure she'll wake up."

"How can you be?"

"Good has to win. We can't lose any more good guys."

Jefferson smirked and looked back to Alice, leaning forward so that his lips could brush against her ear, "Do you hear that? You're a good guy. It's time to wake up, Alice." He let his eyes drift shut for a moment. "Where are you in there?"

"Wake up, Alice… Wake up."

Alice twitched slightly as the distorted words echoed overhead. She could barely understand them – they were so far away and twisted, almost like a foreign language in the little that she could hear.

"Are you listening to me? Alice! Pay attention!"

Her long hair whipped around her face as Alice spun her head around to face the speaker, "I'm sorry. I heard something and… I'm listening."

Byron pursed his lips together, "You need to be ready. The war is coming." He threw one of the many teacups on the table against the ground, smirking as it shattered against the darkness below. "Ha!"

Alice let out a snort, "You're insane."

"Insane is a very fluid term," Elijah looked up with a wink.

Alice looked at her two old friends with a smile. Byron was a strange fellow, with a personality that shifted at the drop of a hat. Mostly human, his only feature that stated otherwise were the long brown ears that hung to his shoulders when not standing at attention or tucked under a cap. Elijah, however, was a different story. He was a mouse the height of a drinking glass – stealthy, quick and containing wisdom that far outweighed his size. He was a man once, or so he said.

The Queen feared them, so she changed them.

This was Alice's army.

"You're right," She smiled. "Everyone is a little bonkers here."

Elijah gave a small nod as he swished his tail through the air, "She'll be looking for you and Regina." He saw that Alice flinched at the name. "I know, my dear."

"You'll have to repress those thoughts," Bryon grunted as he dropped a few sugar cubes into his new cup of scalding tea. "You need strength, not distraction."

"I know. She can smell weakness," Alice repeated with a scowl. "I don't understand how she got out."

"None of us do," Elijah said as he trotted up Alice's arm to rest on the edge of her shoulder. "We've been trying for years."

"She's more powerful than we knew," Byron threw a saucer across the table in a fit of anger. "She kept us out of there for years!" He dropped his head against the table with a huff and an over exaggerated cry. "We tried so hard for the both of you-u-u!"

Alice cocked an eyebrow as she reached over to stroke one of his ears, "We don't hold it against you. Well, I don't. I assume Jefferson would feel the same." Byron shook his head without looking up. "You're helping now. That's what matters."

"He's being more dramatic than the Queen herself," Elijah scoffed with a whisper into Alice's ear, which earned him a playful scowl. "What?"

"I can't be the voice of reason here, boys! Man up and help me so I can get out of here!"