Author's Note: I am incredibly humbled by the response to this story. I've been a reader of fanfiction for years, but never dared to write my own story. I had to change this though when I saw how few Cyrus/Alice stories there were in the "Wonderland" community. I love this couple and can't wait to see the resolution of their story. I hope you'll stick with my Alice and Cyrus. I have quite a few adventures of my own planned for them! Thank you again for reading! ~~Reading Bee

Disclaimer: I have no rights to the storyline or characters of "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland." This is written purely out of love for the amazing characters crafted by their rightful owners!

A fresh wave of nausea brought Alice unpleasantly back to the present. It had been a week now since she had learned of her pregnancy and she was still depressingly far from finding a way out of her "involuntary commitment." That's what the doctors had so bluntly called it the day her father deposited her at the gloomy doors of Bethlem Royal Hospital. Clutching her stomach in silent protest, Alice rolled over on her stripped, dirty mattress. She needed to think and the threat of being sick, combined with the scenes of anonymous misery passing constantly in the bleak hallway outside her cell, did her no good.

Facing the gray wall now, Alice at least had a blank canvas on which to replay the banal moments of her week. Nothing changed here. Every single miserable day was the same as the day that came before it. She was ripped from her sleep every morning by the sound of her metal food tray slamming against the stone floor. Before her startling news, Alice had not seen much point in eating the disgusting slop that passed for breakfast here. But now, acutely aware of the small life growing inside her, Alice dutifully picked at whatever remnants of digestible food appeared less repulsive.

After this "breakfast," Alice would be escorted to her "therapy" session with her useless doctors. They would spend at least two hours of every morning pushing Alice to admit her tales of Wonderland were lies. Alice in turn, spent these sessions in a near silent state. She inwardly marveled at how very stupid these "learned" men were. Her time in Wonderland—her time with Cyrus—was the truest thing she had ever known. And now with this baby, she ironically had the tangible proof of magic's existence that she had longed for before meeting Cyrus.

Seeing that Alice was proving to be another incurable case, the doctors would finally release Alice to the custody of her nurses. At which point, she would be brought back to her cell for a day of tortuous boredom. Alice hadn't the smallest idea how she would manage an escape. Every moment was regimented within these walls. Even when she was left alone in her cell, a constant parade of guards and hospital staff passed outside her locked door.

Groaning, Alice closed her eyes in frustration. She needed a plan. She needed that cleverness she had once boasted to Cyrus of possessing during some of their earliest moments together. With this thought of her beloved's name, a memory swam to the front of her mind. A memory of a time during which, Cyrus had taught her just how powerful her creativity could be.

"No!"

The sound of Alice's muffled cry and rustling of her blankets quickly jolted Cyrus from his sleep. Alert to the possibility of Alice being in danger, Cyrus blinked rapidly in an attempt to bring his surroundings to the forefront of his consciousness. He felt the coarse material of Alice's knapsack resting beneath his head and quickly scanned the dark corners of their room. Cyrus didn't sense another presence, but nonetheless remained as still as possible, so as not to alert an intruder to his current state of being awake. With people like Jafar chasing him across the edges of every realm, Cyrus could never be too careful—especially when it came to Alice.

Glancing at the blurred shapes surrounding him, Cyrus remembered exactly where he and Alice had stopped for the night. They had taken refuge in the empty arbor alcove of a friendly dryad. Ensuring the dwelling's owner was gone for the night, Cyrus had casted a powerful protective charm on the nook. Though Cyrus had to admit the spell would stand little chance against such a nefarious sorcerer as Jafar. But sitting up now and taking full stock of the room, Cyrus was assured that he and Alice remained its sole occupants. So what had disturbed his Alice from her sleep?

With this thought, a cry once again sounded from Alice, "No. Please…"

Her words held a stronger urgency than the ones that had first awakened Cyrus and he was dismayed to see them accompanied by Alice violently thrashing under her blankets. Quickly, Cyrus crawled across the earthen floor and gently scooped the sleeping Alice into his arms.

"Alice, my dear heart," he whispered into her ear. He held her to his chest. She still cried and writhed in his embrace, her brown curls shaking out around his arms. "Alice," he called this time more loudly, stroking her hair and placing soft kisses across her damp forehead.

"Cyrus?" Alice's frantic movements stopped as she slowly awoke to her love's calming attentions.

"Always, Alice. I am always here," he replied as he lovingly brushed her hair through his fingers, away from her face.

Alice leaned into his touch and Cyrus lowered his arms to her waist. Resting her head sideways across his chest, Alice slowly made sense of the night's events. "I had a dream—a nightmare really—from when I was girl."

Cyrus listened and waited patiently for Alice to gather her thoughts. She had shared many things about her childhood—moments from Wonderland and England both—and while she had experienced some terrible, heartbreaking things, she had not yet related a moment that could explain such terror. Encouraging her to continue, Cyrus dropped a kiss to the crown of her head and rubbed a small circle on her lower back.

"There are these creatures here. Awful monsters. Huge and hairy. Gnashing teeth. Glowing yellow eyes. Have you seen them?" Alice raised her head to look into Cyrus's eyes and his heart broke to see hers' wet with tears.

He nodded and quietly answered, "They sound like bandersnatches, Alice."

"Bandersnatches," she whispered the name to herself, as if knowing what to call them confirmed her nightmares.

"But how should you come to know them, my love? Surely, bandersnatches have few interactions with innocent little girls. They are weapons mostly- vicious beasts that do a villain's bidding."

Alice nodded and scooted minutely away from Cyrus's embrace. She reached across the newly created space between them to grab his hands. Looking into his concerned eyes, Alice answered his question, "When I was first here, I told you I ran into a spot of trouble with the Red Queen?"

Cyrus squeezed her hands in agreement. "The Knave and his heart?" The depths of Alice's bravery and loyalty had astounded him upon first hearing her relate the story of how she had risked life and limb to give the Knave a second chance. Now that he knew her, he was no longer surprised by the weight of Alice's heart and compassion for the downtrodden. For hadn't she given him a second chance by loving him? Wasn't she risking everything to give him the life he had never imagined to be possible? Alice's response drew Cyrus out of his brooding thankfulness.

"Yes," she answered. "After I set the Knave free and escaped into the forest myself, I found myself cornered by the…" Alice swallowed the name and Cyrus saw a fresh wave of tears crumple Alice's beautiful face.

He once more took Alice into his arms. Sliding her slight frame onto his lap, Cyrus gently rocked Alice back and forth while whispering quiet words of devotion into her ear. When he could no longer feel the sorrow of her tears shaking her body, Cyrus set out to deliver Alice from her childhood terror once and for all. Pulling Alice's face gently upwards, Cyrus began, "You have nothing to fear with the Bandersnatches, love. They don't truly think for themselves, you see. Bandersnatches are powerful, yes. They will hunt a person to ends of this realm—if you give them the chance. But at their basest, they are dumb, blind, and easily fooled. That is what happens when a creature ceases to think for itself and exists solely to fulfill the evil whims of another. Alice, you are the most brilliant, most clever woman I have ever met and had the blessing to love. The bandersnatches are nothing compared to your braveness."

Cyrus gently placed his warm hand over her heart and lowered his head to kiss her. He felt Alice finally let go with the joining of their lips, her arms circling around his neck, her fingers running though his dark curls. Cyrus finally broke the kiss and once more looking into her eyes said, "Just be your wonderful, amazing, self, Alice. Be smart. Be bold. Rely on your heart and trust in our love and know that nothing will harm you, ever again."

Hand placed protectively over her stomach, Alice opened her eyes as the last of Cyrus's loving admonition echoed in her head. Alice sat upright on her mattress, silently berating herself. She had done Cyrus and their baby a great injustice. Ever since Cyrus was taken from her by the Red Queen, she had given up- on life, on who she was. If their positions were reversed, and god knows Alice had prayed for that possibility many times before, she knew she couldn't bear the idea of Cyrus giving up—retuning to the prison of his bottle and that empty life spent serving the greedy caprices of others. And now Alice had someone else to think of besides herself and Cyrus. Their baby needed her to go on. To believe in its father's words—that she was smart enough, bold enough to overcome any obstacle.

Her remembrance of Cyrus's words couldn't have come at a better time. For it was at this very moment that Alice looked up from her hands, hovering over her stomach's small bump, to see the Knave—the very person on whose story she had just been reminiscing —impossibly standing outside of her cell door.