Firstly, if you're good enough, you never need a contingency plan.
Second, always have a contingency plan.
These were the first of many rules that Hatter applied to his business and, more recently, to his trip through the Looking Glass. When he chased Alice, he wasn't sure if she would reject him and he didn't want to be abandoned in her strange land of children's stories. So he had secured himself a backup plan.
The Looking Glass was not the only portal connecting Wonderland to this bizarre island called Manhattan, just the most prominent. Hatter had managed to find out a great deal about it by lurking around the mirror room and listening to the White Rabbits who were so sure they wouldn't be overheard discussing something that they had kept hidden from the Queen of Hearts for years.
And as to why he was still hanging around there after Alice had gone… alright, he was moping. There you have it. Still, it had been productive moping because he discovered that many of the Oysters weren't taken from Alice's city. So the Rabbits were sent to discover the correct locations and escort the Oysters home. Should the Looking Glass ever fail or become inaccessible, the agents had another way home: the Rabbit Hole.
The White Rabbit lapel pin was the only way to open the Rabbit Hole. Hatter thumbed the little badge in his pocket. He paid a hefty price for this trinket before he crossed over but rule number two demanded that it was a price he'd pay.
Hatter walked the streets, making his way through the thinning crowds as the night wore onward. Each step was proving increasingly more difficult, as his feet brought him further and farther from the girl who had been the whole reason he'd come to this world. He clung to whatever resources of self discipline he had to keep moving on his path to Wonderland instead of back to her warm, soft embrace and a veritable buffet of decadent sensation.
Running his hand worriedly through his hair, all too aware of the absence of a respectable hat, Hatter descended down into the subway towards the portal that would mark the start of his tribulations.
*~*~*~*~*
He'd underestimated how heavily guarded the Rabbit Hole would be.
Hatter fell gracelessly to the ground, coughing from the dirt and debris. He stood up, brushing off his clothes as best he could and took a look around. He stood in an expansive room with the faces of dozens of White Rabbits staring at him in surprise and he was apprehended immediately upon his return to Wonderland.
Hatter didn't fight, wouldn't do to make enemies when he was trying to get help. So he let them take him to an interrogation room. They didn't cuff him or otherwise restrain him, so cooperation had definitely been the wise choice.
Now, he sat at a table across from a rather stuffy looking agent. His grey hair, cut close and orderly, gave evidence that had seen his fair share of years. "Where did you get this?" He questioned, holding up the lapel pin they had taken off Hatter.
"Belonged to my mum." Hatter replied glibly. Now that he was back in Wonderland, he couldn't just go about revealing his contacts. He may need to do business with them again and focusing on the old rules was helping to distract him from the steadily building ache in his heart. He missed Alice already.
The agent fixed him with a steely glare and Hatter matched it, neither of them willing to back down until the door opening drew Hatter's attention. He watched as a younger agent walked into the small room and handed a piece of paper to the old Rabbit who examined the paper, his eyes widening slightly. He glanced back up at Hatter and smirked. "This is the guy," Standing, he handed the paper back to the agent who had brought it to him.
"We should inform him immediately." Without another word the two agents left.
Hatter sat alone, confused and concerned. What had been on that paper? Was he a wanted man? Perhaps coming here had been a mistake…
Hatter crossed his arms, waiting for someone to return and deal out his fate. He slouched in his chair, trying to get comfortable but the real source of his discomfort was the niggling feeling that something was missing: the real and very present absence of deep feeling. Well, unless you could count the growing misery that was his return to this world.
The door opened again and relief flooded Hatter as he recognized the stern-faced figure in the doorway. Hatter hurriedly got to his feet.
"Jack! Listen, you have to get me out of here-"
Hatter's words were cut off as Jack's fist collided with his jaw; Hatter stumbled back a step but managed to keep his footing. This was not the homecoming he'd expected. Hatter locked his gaze on Jack, whose eyes were seething with undisguised anger. Partly in shock and mostly in anger, Hatter clenched his right hand, drawing it back slightly.
"I hope that one was enough for you 'cause it's the only one you get."
"You left her," Jack's voice strained to stay controlled and even, "after all the trouble I went through to make sure your friend Dormie gave you a ticket out of here and you just up and leave her."
"So did you! Only I didn't lie about who I was or give her a trinket that would put her life in danger, did I?" Hatter retorted, enjoying a small victory as a look of shame flittered across the prince's face for the briefest of moments. "You know how I feel about her or you never would've secured me that ticket. Do you really think that I would leave her side for even a moment unless something was amiss? I came back here for help, and this is my thanks for helping to put you on the throne of Wonderland? To be put on a wanted list?"
Jack seemed to deflate after Hatter's chastisement, the tension in his face relaxing as he calmed down. "It's not a wanted list. I gave your picture to the White Rabbits with instructions to alert me if you were ever spotted in Wonderland."
"So you could go to Alice?"
Jack's nodded and his softened voice held a note of sadness, "You're not the only one who loves her, you know. I thought that if something ever happened between you two that I could remind her of that and…that she might consider me an option."
Hatter glared, "Yeah, don't go getting ideas. We're still together, thanks."
"A Heart can hope," Jack shrugged, taking a seat, "So then, what brings you back?"
To Be Continued…
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