A/N: I had the idea for this fic quite a while ago, around about the second time I watched 'Alice'. My latest rewatch, and huge encouragement from a good friend, has led to the actual writing and posting of the fic. Therefore, this story is dedicated to the wonder that is Mizzy - I really hope it lives up to her expectations!

Disclaimer: All recognisable characters from Alice belongs to Syfy and various other folks that aren't me.

Part 1 of 5

Hatter had quite decided by now that he was an idiot. At first the term seemed a little strong, but the more time he had to think about it, the more he decided such a word suited him. There was more than one reason for his deduction, and it all started with a beautiful girl in a very wet dress.

What sort of fool was he to play personal protection and guide through Wonderland to an Oyster like her? She had come looking for her boyfriend, it was all doomed from the beginning, and yet Hatter had allowed his head to be turned. It wasn't as if she was the Alice, the one from the legend, she would be far too old by now. Besides that Alice had been blonde, and didn't have the fire in her eyes that Alice Hamilton possessed, the new Alice, his Alice.

That was another reason for his new idiot status, Hatter decided. He had allowed himself to believe that this new Alice belonged to him, that when the final moment came, she would choose him over all others. How blind and foolish, how completely mad! In the end, there was a king professing love for her, offering her a place at his side to rule all of Wonderland. Even if such a thing didn't appeal, Alice had a home to go to, a place she belonged beyond the looking glass. With such choices at these at hand, Hatter came a lowly and unthought of third.

So, Hatter had watched Alice take her tumble through the looking glass and whispered a goodbye he hoped didn't have to mean forever. She talked of visits, but it was not to be. She wouldn't really want him in her world and she would never want to return to Wonderland, he was sure.

It would take a week of melancholy, sat alone in his wrecked tea shop, to realise he had never asked. Never once had Hatter suggested that Alice might want to stay in the new Wonderland with him and make a life. He never even asked if he might accompany her back to where she came from. He was such a bloody coward, and it was unbearable to realise it, so much so Hatter forcibly banged his head on the table to rid himself of the thought. He was a fully-fledged idiot, and no mistake.

Another week came and went. Hatter believed his chance was lost and so drowned himself in drinks far stronger than the tea he favoured so long. Nothing from a bottle ever made him feel as Alice Hamilton had. She could stir more emotions in him with a single look than a whole vat of any wonder could evoke. No woman from Wonderland had ever achieved such a goal, and never could for Hatter, he was certain. Alice was singular, impossible, improbable, and everything to him.

"I'm an idiot," he repeated to himself for what might've been the hundredth time or more.

Hatter leaned back in his chair so far that it almost tipped over entirely and wondered what his life would be now. The tea shop was destroyed, the whole world changing around him. It was for the best, no doubt, but he'd had a place amongst the dramas of the old regime. Now he was nothing and nobody, except the complete fool that had let the love of his life walk out, not just the door, but the entire land. The world she knew had Alice back now and she was where she belonged. It ought to be some comfort to Hatter that she would be happy now, and yet it eased his pain very little.

Reaching for a bottle, he found it empty. All the bottles were empty, taunting Hatter, reminding him of his life and his heart. The fist he used to defend himself, to defend Alice when she needed it, now shattered glass at every turn. The bottles, the shelves, the table top, all shards around his feet in moments. Blood ran unchecked from every knuckle, and Hatter couldn't feel a thing.

"You really are an idiot. You know that, don't you?"

Hatter almost laughed when he considered how foolish it was to be talking to himself, before realising at the last his mouth was still firmly closed. The voice was not his own at all, but he recognised it. Before he ever turned around, he had realised who owned it, but wished he didn't.

"Your highness," he said shortly, turning on one heel in a single fluid movement and bowing too deeply before the new King of Wonderland.

Jack Heart rolled his eyes at the ridiculous display, waiting impatiently until it was over. He couldn't exactly blame the foolish Hatter for his drunken state. Losing Alice had been hard on Jack but at least he'd had his chance and made the most of it. Hatter never really even got that. When he had been given the slimmest of chances, he didn't even seem to notice.

The king had been preoccupied with his new duties, but Wonderland was not the largest of kingdoms. The key players in the battle that brought about his mother's downfall were all of interest to Jack and he kept his eyes and ears open. He had his suits, the men now loyal to their good king instead of an evil queen, keeping tabs. Caterpillar, Dodo, these key members of the resistance movement would help Jack to create and rule a better version of Wonderland than there had ever been before, but he wondered about Hatter's place.

"You don't belong here, you know?" he said, looking down his nose.

Hatter laughed. A hollow painful sound, almost maniacal in nature. Jack didn't flinch, waved a hand at the suits who stepped forward should their king require protection. Mad the hatter may be at this point, but not dangerous, he was certain of that.

"Look, I'm here to help you, but I don't have all day," said Jack.

Hatter's laughter stopped immediately as he looked up, hands still on his knees from where he had been bent double with fits of giggles.

"Help me?" he checked he had heard correctly. "The King of all Wonderland..." he said, standing straight, bringing his arms wide to encircle the whole kingdom apparently. "The wonderful Jack Heart wants to help me?"

"Not really, no," he shook his head, "but in the circumstances, I will. For Alice."

That got Hatter's attention more than anything ever could. Alice. Not the Alice of legend, but his Alice, the girl in the very wet dress who had become his friend, his confidante, and then... and then his everything. In his mind's eye he saw her stood by the looking glass, the final second before she was gone forever. It still hurt, like a knife in the gut, and he couldn't see it changing any time soon.

"Look, are you going to act like a person and actually listen to me?" said Jack, grabbing Hatter by the shoulders and making him pay attention. "Time will run out on us if we don't act now."

Hatter smirked.

"Here we run as fast as we can, just to stay in place," he said.

Jack's look matched Hatter's own in that moment when he replied;

"If you wish to go anywhere, you must run twice as fast as that."

Hatter couldn't breathe. Standing here, not ten feet from the looking glass, he remembered hearing the operative tell Alice that was all she had to do, force herself to breathe, but he wondered how he ever would when the moment came for him. He felt ridiculous, and like his head was about to explode with all the information that had been crammed into it. Jack knew so much about Alice's world, and he felt Hatter needed to know everything if he was going there. After all, this was a one way trip, at least that was the plan. No more Wonderland, no turning back. Swallowing hard, Hatter tried to breathe again. He felt sick.

"Are you ready?" asked Jack somewhere behind him.

Hatter was surprised he heard, even more stunned he could give an answer.

"Yes. Obviously," he forced out.

This was for Alice. The new clothes, the flattened out hair, and every bit of knowledge making his head feel so big that his hat wouldn't fit. His new hat, that was. Everything was so different, and it was only going to get more so. This was literally going to be a whole new world, but Alice was there. That brought a smile to Hatter's lips at least, a feint, nervous one but still.

Jack meant to say more but the words stuck in his throat. It wasn't really Hatter's fault that Alice had chosen him. She had to love the idiot, and deeply too. Jack had offered her the chance to be a queen and rule the land at his side. Alice had not only refused because home was calling. Jack saw the way she looked at Hatter, the way she held on as long as she could before she said goodbye. These two were destined, and now the time was at hand.

"Count of three and then just...?" said Hatter making a vague gesture with his hand towards the glass.

"If you must," Jack agreed, standing closer now. "I'm sure I don't need to say this but if you don't love her as she deserves, be the man she needs you to be..."

"You'll have me hunted down and off with my head," stated Hatter, matter of factly, looking sideways at the king. "Don't worry. Loving Alice was never the problem." he assured him, before swallowing hard and turning his eyes back to the shimmering mirror before him. "Everything else in that place might be."

"You'll be fine," said Jack with a smirk he couldn't help. "Just breathe," he told Hatter just what the operative had said to Alice, giving him too much of a shove then.

The floor went out from under him, though Hatter didn't make a sound. Shock and fear stole his voice away as he plummeted through non-space, everything a brightly coloured blur to the point where he just couldn't stand it a second longer, and then it was over.

The ground was solid when he hit it, but not as hard as he feared. Hatter got himself up onto his feet, dusted off his new clothes. Here he was, in Alice's world. It looked strangely normal for the moment, brick walls and stone floor, just like parts of Wonderland. Glancing back over his shoulder he saw the looking glass shimmer and flash, and then it was solid again. The ring had been removed, the system powered down. Hatter was here now, forever.

"Keep your head," he said to himself, turning his hat around in his hands a moment before deciding to place it just exactly where it belonged. "Stick to the plan," he muttered as he strode out of the alley.

For all that he had not trusted Jack Heart before, he had to now. He was king of all Wonderland, and in the last three weeks had done more to try and restore order and justice to the place than anyone ever could've imagined. No-one knew the exact fate of the old Queen of Hearts, but she certainly hadn't seen the light of day since the Stone of Wonderland was taken from her by Alice. The new king did seem to be as good as his word so far, and Hatter was just going to have to trust that the information he had from him was correct. There was no second choice.

It was strange to realise that Jack had been completely right about the time difference here. Though three weeks had passed in Wonderland since Alice came back through the looking glass, for her it would be not even a day. Hatter might be confused by that if he were not too busy being confused by everything else. Strange vehicles, lights that flashed red and green to tell them when to stop and go. The clothes the Oysters wore, the shops full of unidentifiable things, and the noise! Hatter wouldn't wonder at being deaf before he got to where he was going.

Still, all in the pursuit of Alice, it was worth it. Now his only fear was that she wouldn't be pleased to see him. Jack seemed pretty determined that she was as much in love as Hatter was. He had to wonder himself. After all, what was he really? A former tea shop owner from Wonderland, who had played both sides of the court too long. Sure, he'd been in the right place at the right time come the revolution, but now? Now he had nothing to offer, especially not in this place. What you saw was what you got with Hatter, more now than ever. There was nothing to say Alice would really want him to stick around, and yet there was no way back.

Hatter reached into his pocket, pulled out the most important information he had been given by Jack and his flunkies. That had assessed the situation. Alice had been found in the alley by a construction worker named David. Such a name Hatter must now adopt, since apparently in was necessary to have two in this world. Henceforth, he was David Hatter, and he carried documents to say so, manufactured in Wonderland from copies the king's suits had retrieved. They would pass muster, Jack assured him. Hatter couldn't care right now. He followed the map in his hand to the address he was given. This building was where Alice lived. His Alice.

At her door, he faltered. Mrs Hamilton sounded nice, looked friendly at least, but Hatter couldn't focus.

"Alice! Come meet David!" she called down the hall, smiling politely at Hatter.

He took off his hat as a last minute thought, turning it around and around in his hands like a nervous habit. Mrs Hamilton eyed him curiously, but didn't say anything else. There were footsteps in the hall and then there she was, Alice just as he remembered her, which of course he ought to have expected. Still, she was a sight for sore eyes to Hatter who had been parted from Alice much longer than she could know.

"Hatter!"

Her name from her lips was the best sound in the world, and then she was there in his arms, hugging him tightly like she never wanted to let go. Hatter hoped so much that were true. This was all he could ever want, and things were as they should be at last.

"Finally," he whispered into her hair.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," she told him giddily.

He wanted to tell her he definitely did have an idea, because no-one could be happier in this moment than Hatter himself. When she pulled back to look at him, smiling, so happy to have him here apparently, he couldn't resist it any longer. When Hatter kissed Alice, the word fell away, even more so than when he took his trip through the looking glass and landed here. The rush was certainly much more intense.

"I missed you," he confessed between kisses.

It was glory to hear the words echoed back, as she pushed herself further into his arms again. Both were wondering why they waited so long, why they'd been so foolish as to think they could ever live in separate worlds without each other.

"Um, excuse me?" said a voice then, bringing both Alice and Hatter back to reality with a bump.

They turned as one to look at Mrs Hamilton, her mouth working like a landed fish, with not a sound coming out now. This made no sense to her apparently. Hatter realised Alice must not have mentioned Wonderland at all to the poor woman, perhaps because there hadn't been the time or because it would sound just too outlandish to the older Oyster to take in. Either way it seemed she was going to have to be told now.

"Mom," said Alice carefully. "I, er... This is Hatter. I met him a few days ago, or yesterday, I guess..." she frowned, trying to work out how to tell this story in the simplest terms, but the time difference alone was not conducive to easy explanation.

"You might want to sit down, Mrs H," said Hatter with his most winning smile. "Me and Alice, we've got kind of a long story to tell..."

To Be Continued...