Disclaimer: Neither Hatter nor Alice belong to me. They and their world belong to Syfy. I just write the fan fiction.

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Two Steps Back

"No, absolutely not." Hatter had to put his foot down somewhere. And right in the middle of the idea that he should go to dinner at her apartment seemed like the right place to put it.

"Mom wants me to prove that I'm not just going to run away from this relationship." It was sweet hearing Alice refer to what they had as a relationship. So far they had had less than a handful of kisses (though he had stolen one when she came back to the warehouse) and a series of two dates (the first good, the second disastrous). He wasn't sure if what he and Alice had could exactly be defined as a relationship yet. But if she wanted to call it that, he wasn't really going to argue the fact.

"Fine, but if she starts grinnin' like a Cheshire, I'm out of there." Hatter could face down anything, but he didn't usually deal with mothers.

"Okay. She asked if next Friday would be good." Hatter stared at her. He didn't exactly have a full schedule of visits to friends planned. Alice smiled at him. "Well, I had to ask."

He put his arms around her, rolling his eyes at that comment. He wanted to kiss the top of her head and say that what they had would definitely survive dinner with her mother, but he resisted the urge. He couldn't be sure of that. Alice had said herself that she had bad luck with men and he had to face the fact that an ex-smuggler from another world could hardly be considered to be good luck. Add to that his short, but convincing, list of failed relationships and they had a good chance of not being able to make this work. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to try his hardest, he just wasn't going to make promises that would hurt her more if one of them did walk away.

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Alice sat back down to look at the paperwork, once she explained to Hatter how a cell phone worked. He seemed to be on-hold with the company that was doing construction on the warehouse. Thank goodness for the fact that there had been a sign outside the building with a warning not to enter the premises, including the company's name and a phone number for interested buyers, or the police to call in case someone vandalized the property. It didn't seem like there had been anyone around the building in weeks for the construction work though. She wondered just how long the Glass had been there and just how many people the White Rabbit had dragged through the building to take back to the Casino.

While going through the paperwork, Alice found two things that made her day a little better. The first was a contract for a sublease of Jack's old apartment to Hatter. The second was Jack's key to that apartment. Alice guessed that he had had it on him when he was brought back to Wonderland. This way she wouldn't have to give Hatter her key, or even draw attention to the fact that she had one for Jack's apartment.

Thinking about the apartment key in the drawer of her nightstand made her anxious. She was grateful for the fact that she hadn't slept with Jack. That would have made things even more explosive when she found out that he had lied to her the entire time they had been together. But she didn't know if Hatter would understand the situation. She didn't even know what a normal relationship looked like in Wonderland. Deciding relationships couldn't be all that different from one world to another, Alice decided that she would draw a map for Hatter to follow to Jack's apartment. She really didn't want to have to deal with explaining the nature of her flirtation with Jack.

"Yes, I know we're in a recession." Alice looked up to see Hatter staring at her with a questioning look on his face, even though his voice sounded sure. Whoops, she really needed to give him the rundown of economics and such if he was going to start a business.

"I don't understand why you won't finish the project even if I'm willing to pay for it." He was starting to sound a bit desperate. If he offered a bribe… Alice got up and took the phone away from him, which wasn't hard, since he had been holding it as if it were a bug about to bite off his ear.

"Excuse me, could you repeat that? My boss had to take another call." Pretending to be a secretary was better than having Hatter gain a name for corruption even before he started business.

He looked at her with a mix of astonishment and approval. She smiled as the woman on the other side of the line began to talk again.

"I was just informing your boss that construction of that particular building has been put on hold. We can't finish building what we can't sell in this market." It was an all too common occurrence these days and probably the reason why there were so many construction sites in the area.

"What is the proposed asking price for the finished project?"

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Hatter watched, feeling a kind of awe as Alice spoke to the woman that he had been getting nowhere with. She sounded like a business woman who knew what she was talking about, or at least he assumed so. He had heard the tone multiple times from competitors in the tea trade. You needed to sound smart and confident for people to think you were. Hatter felt a little out of his depth in this world, even if for the most part it was similar to Wonderland.

"Yes, I understand." Hatter smiled as he saw her nodding, despite the fact that she had explained to him that the person on the other end was unable to see you when you spoke to them.

"I believe it might be more productive to schedule an appointment… Yes… Yes, Tuesday at ten works nicely for Mr. Hatter. He looks forward to discussing matters further." She took the phone away from her ear and closed it.

"You know what? I hate doing that. From now on, you get to be the one that lies to people." He grinned at her while she made a face at the phone in her hand.

"Really? I thought you didn't approve of lying," Hatter teased, "Not that I'm not thankful, and all of that."

"I guess I can live with it. Just as long as you don't lie to me." He would never dream of it. He had seen what she could do when she was angry. Alice sighed and tossed the phone onto the chair she had been sitting in.

"So, explain to me again exactly what you are going to do with a warehouse, besides hide the Looking Glass in it…" Hatter grinned, knowing that she was never going to believe him.

"We, my lovely Alice, are going to start a nightclub. A nightclub that plays only the best of music from my world and serves only the best of drinks from yours." He said with a wink. "A little slice of home right here." He gestured around the warehouse, imagining the décor and filling it with people in his mind. Of course he would have a private office to retreat to. It was going to be just like home.

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AN:

I decided to give Hatter some failed relationships. I thought that it would be realistic for his character and would help him relate better to Alice when they talk about their relationship. Hatter and Alice both have to ask themselves if the relationship is going to work between them. It is understandable for the point they are at and the pasts that they've had. Relationships take work on both sides and I want to show that.

Also, you've got to love the fact that Alice is becoming a bit more comfortable with lying thanks to being around Hatter. The idea of her pretending to be a business woman puts a smile on my face and I hope it did the same for you.

If you have any questions, just review. I'm more than willing to answer. And if you just want to ask for more, that's fine too.