Alice and What Came After: Between the Glass

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything awesome. Just the original characters.

Chapter Twenty-one: Leap of Faith

Hatter enjoyed his new job and his new co-workers. There were a lot of similarities between Connor Temple and his own son—aside from the painfully obvious physically similarities—and even some minor personality quirks of his flatmate, Abby Maitland, resembled Sarah.

Connor liked to spend time with Hatter and teach him about anomalies and the work they did. The younger man had a boundless enthusiasm and a severe lack of a father figure. Nick Cutter, the professor in charge of the ARC project, seemed the closest thing to a father the team had.

After his first three months, the division of the team was clear. Nick was the team leader and unofficial "father", Stephen Hart the older brother, Abby Maitland the young, quirky sister, while Connor was the geeky, little brother. Over time, Hatter had become the team's cool uncle, while Lester, the "boss", was the standoffish in-law.

"Hatter, we were gonna grab some chips down at the pub," Connor called. "Wanna come?"

He smiled at college student. "Not tonight, Conn. Give Abby my love."

The young man blushed. "Sure, I… I'll do that."

Hatter watched Connor scurry off to join his waiting flatmate in front of one of the labs. The blonde waved to Hatter. He smiled back at her through the window. The pair disappeared together, Connor trying unsuccessfully to hold her hand.

The attraction between Connor and Abby was obvious to everyone at the ARC except them. Even Nick grumbled about it occasionally.

Of the entire team, Nick Cutter was the least welcoming member. He grudgingly accepted Hatter's help and knowledge of anomalies. Cutter even seemed to admire his willingness to step through the anomalies and investigate. Unless they were at an anomaly site, Nick usually avoided Hatter.

After his first two weeks at the ARC, it became apparent that he would be staying in the UK a bit longer than he planned. It had been Lester who stepped in, offering to help get paperwork set up for him and bank accounts.

Hatter joined the ARC payroll as "David Temple". His first name was common enough that Lester suggested they keep it. It was his unusual surname that caused problems. Connor had jumped in quickly and offered his own, since they bore a striking resemblance.

Lester got the paperwork straightened out, making him Connor's uncle instead of father to avoid causing confusion with Connor's mother and British authorities.

Despite the legal name change, all of Hatter's co-workers still called him "Hatter" to avoid confusion with Connor. Only Nick called him David. Even Lester didn't address him as "Mr. Temple" because invariably, both Hatter and Connor would appear.

"One of you was bad enough. Now I'm stuck with two of you, Temple…" Lester bemoaned after summoning "Mr. Temple" to his office one day.

Hatter and Connor shared a smile. Jenny Lewis had schooled Hatter on responding to his new name the previous week—calling out a variety of names in order to get his attention, as well as asking him various questions regarding his new name and identity.

The end result was Lester threatening to name them "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" in order to separate them. To which Connor suggested, "Why not Temple 1 and Temple 2?"

"Get out of my office, Temple! Both of you!"

Then again, Hatter always had trouble with authority figures. It was in his nature to cause trouble.

Even three months at the ARC could only do so much to his personality. He stayed as upbeat as possible, got a collection of wacky hats and vests. He even taught Connor hat tricks in exchange for skateboarding and computer lessons.

Hatter made the best of his situation. Connor had reproduced and blown up all the photographs from his wallet. His family watched him at work from framed pictures and at home in his small flat down the block from Connor and Abby's place.

His make-shift life changed drastically at one of the anomaly sites during his fourth month.

After hunting overnight for a loose creature in the water, only to just rescue Jenny from its jaws, Hatter had overslept and slept through several calls from Cutter, Connor, and Stephen. It was almost one o'clock when he finally woke up.

He listened to his voicemail as he pulled on clean trousers and a shirt. His vest and jacket were thrown haphazardly on and left hanging open with a scarf—a must for warmth in London—only looped once around his neck. Hatter didn't even bother with food or taming his hair. He ran from his flat.

The anomaly site they were investigating was a short motorbike drive away. He drove like a hellion, weaving in and out of traffic.

Alice would kill me if she saw…

He parked the bike near Cutter's truck. He could see Lester's vehicle in the small lot as well.

Hatter frowned as he walked down the pier. A small group was gathered near a boat. He could see Lester, Jenny, some Home Office cronies, military guys, Cutter, Stephen, and Connor.

Connor was being held still by Stephen.

"Why isn't anyone doing anythin'?" Connor shouted, still fighting the older man's hold.

His pace quickened, the pieces clicking in his head. Abby was missing. She was the only member of the team not standing on the dock. Connor's girl had vanished.

This is not supposed to happen…


A bit further on in the future, Sarah and Connor continued their work in his lab. As promised, Sarah retrieved the blue data chip from the remains of console.

Connor was busy rigging up a connector cable for the handheld opener to his laptop. He messed with wires and fitting devices to allow the device to collect data. The chip was in the side of the laptop and a program open and running through the routes.

"Give me it," she demanded, a hand out for the opener.

Connor didn't question her. He just handed over the device.

Sarah looked all over the device, praying there was a secondary port to link the device. When she was about to give up, she noticed a tiny plastic panel screwed in place.

Using the screwdriver she'd claimed earlier, she revealed a port. She stared at it for a moment, trying to think what the port looked the most like.

"Oh, brilliant!" Connor praised, kissing her on the cheek in his excitement. "iPod port… don't suppose you have a cable on ya?"

"Actually, I might…"

She ran to her backpack, rummaging in the deep pockets for her electronic devices. Her Connor liked to toss in extra cables on trips—sometimes he stole power from one device to feed another—especially when they were in Wonderland.

It took a moment for her to retrieve a white-colored cable. "Got it!"

Connor caught it easily when she tossed it across the lab. He plugged the device into his laptop's USB port.

"It's workin'!"

Sarah smiled, almost giddy. They would still need to play with the various anomalies, but at least they could load the device up. That was one giant leap closer to getting her home.

But first, they needed to jump in the past and stop Helen Cutter. Connor had explained part of his plan as they'd worked. They would need the rest of the ARC team to succeed.

Including Connor's dead boss.


"Your daddy's being a very naughty boy," Helen Cutter muttered, glancing over at the sleeping toddler. The ARC camera system had been hijacked and routed to her laptop. She watched as a miniature Connor and Sarah raced around a lab, tossing bits of metal, wires, and computer parts at each other.

Seeing an anomaly flicker to life in the lab, plus a shared high-five between father and daughter pushed her over the edge.

"You're a clever bitch. But don't worry… I know what you're thinking."

And Helen was about to raise the stakes and blindside the remaining Temples.


An explosion shook the structure of the ARC.

"Is that normal?" Sarah asked.

"No. Get your bag."

"Where are we going?"

Connor didn't talk, he just grabbed her arm. She followed him without hesitation, her backpack slung over one shoulder.

They entered the main room of the ARC, where the rest of the team was supposed to be stationed. A few soldiers remained, each with the ARC patch sewn onto their uniforms. The good guys.

Except that one by one, the good guys were overwhelmed by multiple copies of the same man with a cleft chin. A clone. An army of clones with black stocking caps, headsets, automatic weapons, and black military uniforms almost identical to the ARC security force's.

"Run!" Connor shouted, giving her a shove.

"Who are they?"

"Not now!"

They pushed through a set of swinging doors and into the interior maze of the ARC. Footsteps and gunfire followed them.

Sarah rounded a corner, only to smack into Connor's back. He yelped in surprise, shoving her back in the direction they'd come from. "Go!" he shouted.

She looked over his shoulder, seeing more of the same man stalking them from the other direction now. They were being lured into a trap. Soon, they would be cornered.

"A lab! Find a lab!" she urged, the two of them breaking into a run once again.

The nearest open lab became a refuge. Connor flipped a door lock.

"Get down. They might not have seen us."

Sarah crawled into a dark corner. Connor followed her. They were both breathing hard from their sudden workout.

All was silent for a few minutes before the door to their shelter flew open, a booted foot appearing.

Sarah tried to hold her breath. It wasn't working. She could still hear herself gasping for air; Connor was worse off. He was almost wheezing.

But it wasn't the clone who appeared in the lab's center. The click-clack of boots belonged to Helen Cutter, with a clone covering the lab door, automatic gun in hand.

She smirked at the two people hiding in the corner. "I can hear you, Connor. Come on out…"

He got up slowly, one hand hastily shoving the opener into the small of his back. He raised his arms, moving toward Helen.

"You too, Sarah."

She followed Connor's lead, hands raised in surrender, with her backpack still hanging by a strap.

"That's better. Now, where's the opener?"

Neither Sarah nor Connor spoke.

Helen moved closer, a pistol in her gloved hand. "Where is the opener, Connor? I'm going to count to three… and then I'm going to shoot her."

Sarah didn't speak. She just glared daggers at the woman who'd kidnapped her, drugged her, and nearly shot her before. She didn't trust Helen at all. There was no guarantee that Helen wouldn't shoot them for fun once she got the opener.

"1…"

Connor twitched, lowering his arms.

"1 and ½…"

One hand closed on the opener. It powered on.

"2…"

An anomaly appeared behind them. Sarah could feel it pulsing.

"2 and ½…!" Helen shouted, her gun firing.

But Sarah was already in motion. She jumped through the glowing opening without a second thought. Connor tumbled through after her, the opener aimed at the anomaly and a furious Helen.

The thousands of tiny mirrors disappeared with a whirl.

They were safe. Well, safe-ish.

Wherever they were wasn't New York and it sure wasn't Wonderland. It was too empty. Too silent. She couldn't even hear any animals.

She sat still for a moment, letting her eyes adjust to her new surroundings. Beside her, Connor was sucking in air. "That was close," he muttered.

"No… no… that's nothing…"

"What?"

Sarah stood up. "We're in the future, Conn. Not my future… the other one."

Her companion paled, standing as well. Together they looked down a hill at the ruins of a city, where cars lay rusting, homes and shops abandoned. The habitat of the most fearsome creature in all of history—the Predators.

And they weren't armed.

Author's Notes:

It was time to get caught up with Hatter's doings. He's been a busy guy. Yes, he's currently in episode 2x04 story wise. He appeared roughly between episodes 2x02 and 2x03 since Jenny's at the ARC.

As for the whole cable-in-the-bag thing—remember, the opener is from the future. Which means one or both of them could have invented the device, or even Connor Temple. Someone installed a back-up port that happened to work with a common cable. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? ;)

Now that I've given everyone a headache, please, please review! You guys are amazing. Keep it up!

We'll see Sarah and Connor's anomaly-jumping adventures continue in chapter 23. In our next chapter, we're back to Wonderland to see how Connor's fairing and what devious scheme Damon's up to now. Enjoy!