So, this is a sort of alternate ending to the previous chapter. The beginning is exactly the same, and it doesn't change until they fall into the pit. There, as always, will be a longer note at the end of the chapter. (P.S No more finals! Just...*cough* a um ten page paper that still needs to be written *cough* Who cares, right? Fanfic supercedes all) (That made my Ravenclaw hurt just a little bit.) Anywho, enjoy!

I own nothing.

Alice bent over the writing desk provided by Doctors Crazy and Crazier, and scribbled down the first address she could think of

Locker 208, Central Station, 4th Avenue, across the road from Plush Platforms and Pumps

She had no idea if there even was a locker 208 at Central Station, and she knew for a fact that it wasn't across the street Plush Platforms and Pumps—that was one of her mother's favorite shops in her hometown of San Francisco, far away from New York. Alice was trusting the Queen's lack of knowledge about her world to get her through this. Once she was convinced that the Ring was in Alice's world, she might let her go. And then she could hide out for a while, use the Ring to get home, then leave it with Hatter, so that he could use it to help the Resistance to pull down the despotic Queen. Hatter...the thought of leaving him pained her more than it should have, so she pushed it out of her head for now. There would be plenty of time to think about it later.

She heard the wooden doors slide open, and then a wonderfully familiar voice shout "Whoa!" just as she was putting the finishing touches on her fake address. She looks up and sees...

"Hatter!"

"Who's that?"

"Go away! This is a private session!"

Hatter extends his hand to her. "Jump!"

"Get rid of him!"

Alice can feel her whole body shake as she climbs up onto the desk and jumps to the chandelier in the middle of the room. Hanging there, she tries to time her jump exactly, and fails. As she is letting go, Alice can feel that it's too soon. The very tips of her toes land on the ledge, and she feels Hatters arms wrap around her, and for one blissful moment she thinks she's safe. But then her toes slip, and they are both falling backwards into the cement-sided pit the Doctors had conjured up for her.

And then they land, Hatter's arms still wrapped around her. He lets out a sharp "Oomph" as she falls on top of him, and says, "That's gonna bruise." One of his eyes cracks open, and he looks around. "Seriously, Alice? This is what you were so afraid of?"

They are, she realizes, only about eight feet below the broken edge of planking that had held her up.

"I didn't know. They must've made it just deep enough that I wouldn't feel the bottom when I hung of the board." She muses, and then halts her inspection of the pit as she feels him shaking. "Hatter, what's wr-Are you laughing at me?" Her mouth drops open and, realizing that she's still laying on top of him, she scrambles to her feet. "That's not fair! You know I'm afraid of—"

She is cut off by one of the Doctors. "Oh shut up already. We couldn't have let you die..."

"The queen would have been simply furious..."

"And no matter how much she loves her doctors, even we aren't completely..."

"Indispensable in the end."

"So all of that was just to make me scared enough to give up the Ring?"

"Of course. And it worked, didn't it?"

Hatter shoots her a sharp look, one that clearly says "What the hell have you done?"

She ignores it for the moment. She'll have time enough to explain later. If we make it out of here. She shoves that thought away; it's almost too easy—she's had a lot of practice not thinking unpleasant thoughts.

"So how're we going to get out of here?"

"Fear not, Brave Alice! I shall use my prowess in the dark arts to lift you and your...harbinger out of the crater of despair into which you have fallen!" And, to Alice's everlasting surprise, the floor (which, she now realizes, is cleverly constructed of mirrors to give the impression of infinite depth) begins to shift upward, inch by inch, until it is high enough that she and Hatter can lift themselves onto the hardwood floor, and make their escape.

As they run, Hatter nudges Alice and says with a grin, "Who woulda guessed the old coot had it in him, eh?"

"I heard that!"

Gotta love Charlie. I hope you liked it—I did promise something happy this time. It's funny how much easier it is to write angst (at least for me); this one took significantly longer than the other two have. I dunno where I'm gonna go with the next one—I have lots of ideas, it's just a matter of getting them onto paper.

Reviews make me happy :-D

HeadPhones.