Alice and What Came After: Between the Glass

Disclaimer: I don't own anything rights related to Alice—it belongs to those fine folks at SyFy and Nick Willing. Rex, Sid, and Nancy belong to ITV/Impossible Pictures and I'm just borrowing him. Sarah, Connor, Damon, and Chase are my own creations.

Chapter One: Shattered Glass

"Sarah? Where are you?"

Connor Hatter stood up, brushing bits of leaves off his pants. "Sarah?" he called again.

He looked back at the mirror. The glass wasn't shimmering. He reached out to touch it, only to have the mirror shatter.

Glass shards flew across the office. Connor flinched as a few shards rained down on him. One particular shard sliced open his cheek. He hissed, his fingertips come away wet with his blood. He stared at the red color for a moment, looking a bit faint.

"Sarah?"

His voice trembled. Connor had never felt so incredibly alone in his entire life.

*~*~*~*~*~*

With a groan, Sarah turned over. Her entire body ached from her fall.

"Conn?"

She sat up, looking around her new surroundings. It wasn't the comfortable, familiar tea shop of her father's or the hardwood floors and shining surfaces of the apartment. This was dirty, rough, and strange. Not even Wonderland strange.

Sarah slipped her backpack off her back. God, her back hurt.

"Connor? Connor Kyle Hatter!"

Connor hated being called by his full name. She never understood why—she thought there was nothing wrong with his name personally—he hated it so much. He usually reacted hostilely and loudly when his full name was used.

But nothing. No yells or curses. Wherever she was, Connor wasn't with her.

Sarah felt a shiver roll down her spine. Where was here?

There was no mirror in this dank place. No mirror meant no way to get home.

Sarah rooted through her backpack, searching for her cell phone. Maybe she could call Connor and find out where he was. Or… maybe her parents. Either one would work.

Her cell phone was in a side pocket. She picked up, pressing buttons. There was no light from either the screen or the keypad. Sarah groaned, pressing the power button. Nothing.

She turned the phone over in her palm. That's when she noticed she'd crushed the device in her fall. Service or no service, her phone was useless.

She put the broken phone back inside her backpack. Whenever she got home, she'd have Connor take a look at it and recover all of her contacts and pictures. He was good at that, even if he couldn't fix the mangled phone.

Connor, where the hell are you? And more importantly, where the hell am I?

*~*~*~*~*~*

Back in New York, Alice and David Hatter stared at the mirror in their dining room. The shimmering glass wavered, then shattered.

Alice rushed toward the mirror. Hatter held his wife back, keeping her out of the minefield of glass. He could hear her screaming, but he couldn't make out any words. Everything—light, sound, thoughts—was all a blur for him.

Sarah… Connor…

Gone. His children were gone. The only question was, gone where? And why had the mirror shattered?

*~*~*~*~*~*

Connor stumbled over to his father's desk, his mind jumbled.

Sarah?

He reached out to her, his mind wandering down the thread that connected them. He sought that connection to her.

Sarah?

Instead of the usual rush of emotions, he felt nothing.

Sarah… it's me. Are you okay? Where are you? Sarah?

*~*~*~*~*~*

Sarah?

"Connor! I'm here! Connor!"

No response. His voice had been inside her head.

CONNOR!

The connection, that last link to home, snapped. Connor's comforting presence was gone. His worried feelings were gone.

He was gone.

Sarah closed her eyes, trying not to cry. He couldn't be dead, could he? He had gone through the mirror first—did that mean he made it to Wonderland?

Connor?

Nothing.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Chase ran into the apartment. "What's wrong? Is it Sarah?"

Hatter led him into the dining room. Glass crackled underneath their feet. The space normally filled with the mirror—the focal point of the room—was gone.

"Connor and Sarah… they went through the mirror. It… broke…" Hatter explained.

"What do you mean… broke?"

"Shattered. Just like that."

Chase shook his head, looking at the wooden floor. There were shards everywhere and if Hatter was right, this had once been the portal between their world and Wonderland. The mirror was gone.

"That's not possible…" Chase argued. "No portal or Glass has ever just broken."

"Well this one did."

He touched the empty frame. "It shouldn't… it's never… a portal's never just broken."

"We need to get to Wonderland and find out what happened."

"I thought the mirror was the only portal left on this side… at least near you…" Chase said, confused and worried at the same time.

"There's the rabbit hole. Other than that… who knows?"

Chase frowned. "Do you think they're okay?"

Hatter swallowed, clearly unnerved. "I have to believe they are."

"How's, uh, how's Alice taking it?"

"Not well."

The young blond nodded. That was understandable. Alice had always been protective of the twins. Having them vanish when she probably didn't want them near the mirror in the first place had to be eating at her.

"I guess we should check out this rabbit hole then? And maybe ask Caterpillar about the mirror. I know my father gave them to you, but I have no idea how they work."

Hatter nodded, "Yeah. I'll, I'll get Alice…"

Chase stayed in the dining room as his boss disappeared. He stared at the shards, wondering, not for the first time, if breaking up with Sarah was the right thing to do. Of course, it had been a bit of Sarah's idea.

The past five years had been a whirlwind for their relationship. On again, off again, on again—they were together and not together so often he couldn't keep track. And when she went off to college, they pretty much said good-bye for good—she went on to date other men and he, well, he gave in to some other women.

Sarah haunted him. When Hatter had called him, his first thought was Sarah. She might have moved on—according to Connor, she had numerous times—but he still cared about her.

"Chase, I'm sorry that you got dragged into this…" Alice said, giving him a hug.

He gave Sarah's mother a half-smiled. "I don't mind. Really. Just tell me what I can do to help."

Hatter slipped an arm around her waist, supporting her. "Just come with us, I guess. There's nothing we can do here. They can't come home through there."

Chase nodded. "Okay. Rabbit hole it is."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Her backpack hung off one shoulder as she crawled through a tunnel. She could see daylight at the other end. The tunnel was wide, but not tall.

Sarah sucked in a deep breath of fresh air as she exited the tunnel. She dusted off her jeans as she stood up.

Wherever she was, it was rundown and very gray. Even the sky seemed overcast. Cars surrounded her, some with the doors open, others closed. Every single vehicle was abandoned. Graffiti covered the sides of the buildings.

"Hello? Is anyone out here? Hello?"

She wove in-and-out of the cars and buildings, moving quickly. This place felt off.

"Hello?"

It was close to twenty minutes later that she heard a human voice. Another female hissed at her to be quiet before dragging her inside a building. The stranger bolted the heavy metal door before paying her any attention.

"Who are you? What is this place?" Sarah asked in a rush.

The woman turned, her brown hair cropped short. Her clothes—a dark jumpsuit—had lots of slashes, stains, and looked very worn out. She also carried a backpack and wore a bandana around her neck. She had the remains of a tan.

"My name's not important. But you need to stop shouting before they come."

"Before who comes?"

"The Predators."

Author's Notes:

Ehh, I'm not too sure that I like this chapter. There's a lot of bouncing around between POVs this time. Yes, there is a bit of a crossover going on, but it's not a major part of the story. Actually, scratch that, it's a big part of the story—or at least Sarah's side.

Comments? Questions? You know what to do… ;)