Alice and What Came After

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with SyFy's version of Alice or the original books by Lewis Carroll. I'm just borrowing.

Summary: The moment Alice was shoved through the glass, Hatter took off on his own adventures into her world. The only problem is, he's gone too far back in time. This is the story of how Hatter comes through the Glass to reunite with Alice and what happens to them after the end of the mini-series. Hatter/Alice.

Prologue: Through the Glass

Hatter, sometimes known as the Mad Hatter, stood before the Looking Glass, staring at the pearly surface long after Alice and the other Oysters went through. The Looking Glass was the primary gateway between Wonderland and the Old World—Alice's world.

He took his tan hat off and crushed it in his hands. He hadn't even gotten to say a proper good-bye to Alice before one of Jack's automatons pushed her through the glass.

He turned on the King of Wonderland, which, in retrospect, might not have been a good idea.

"Where the 'ell did you send her?" Hatter demanded.

Jack Heart looked down his nose, as nobles so often did to the con man, and seemed prepared to laugh at him. "Alice? Why, I sent her home."

"When?"

Most of the Wonderlanders preferred to remain ignorant of the inner workings of the Looking Glass. Hatter was not one of them. He knew very well how the glass worked. There were several Looking Glasses scattered throughout Alice's world. The main glass in Wonderland was programmable to specific locations and times.

It was true that time passed differently between the two worlds, but that was mainly due to programming on the Looking Glass to jump around when returning to the other world.

"When? Just moments ago. Are you blind?"

Hatter clutched his hat tight in his left hand, Alice's coat hanging over his arm. He raised his right fist. "Alice stopped me before, ya prick. But she's not here this time…" he warned.

Jack Heart seemed a bit unnerved by his sledgehammer of a fist. The King put his hands up. "Okay, okay… she went back just after when she left. Her mother's a bit of a worrier. I'm sure Alice will appreciate it."

"Send me back. To her."

"I think not. No one and nothing except Oysters are going through that glass."

Hatter's fist connected with Jack's face. His nose broke on impact, sending the king to the floor on his knees from the pain.

He didn't take the time to reveal in the new king's pain. He pushed through the crowd of on-lookers and up to the mirror. He twisted some of the dials, hoping that his nimble fingers would guide him to the right time.

The Looking Glass's attendants moved for him, but Hatter was ready with his trusty fists. Plus, Charlie, the kooky old knight Alice had befriended in the forest, provided back-up with his sword.

"Go to her, Harbinger!" Charlie crowed.

Hatter tipped his hat in salute to the White Knight before jumping through the large mirror. Then he was falling, falling, and falling down through a mixture of colors. He held on tightly to his hat and Alice's coat as he slipped between the worlds.

Then he fell, ass over tea kettle, onto the hard cement floor. He cocked an eye at his surroundings, his body aching from the tumble. The half-finished building reminded him of an abandoned home or what Oysters called 'construction sites'.

He picked himself up off the floor, wincing at his old and new injuries. He brushed the dust off his clothes as best he could and repositioned his hat. He picked up the battered coat, dusting it off. It was all he had of Alice at the moment. She never should have left it behind.

"Alice? ALICE!" he shouted, his voice echoing throughout the empty, unfinished building. "Alice, can you hear me?"

He waited, his sharp ears strained for even the slightest noise. Had he programmed the mirror wrong? What if he landed in the wrong time? Or, even worse, the wrong place?

"Alice?"

Hatter wandered through the warehouse, searching every nook and cranny for her. There were no signs of her. He held her crumpled plum jacket tighter, wishing he knew more about how the Oyster's world worked. Jack wouldn't have been much help, even before being punched in the face. To Alice, Jack was polite.

But when it was just the two of them, good old testosterone kicked in. Alice knew they were rivals, and even though she'd picked him over Jack, the new King of Wonderland couldn't take the rejection. Or, more likely, his inflated ego couldn't.

Jack never would have let him travel through the mirror. He would have kept them separated, with Alice on one side of the glass and Hatter trapped on the other side. That would have pleased Jack.

But that wouldn't do for Hatter.

Don't worry, Alice. I'll find you. I will. I won't stop looking.

Author's Notes:

Honestly, when I saw the adverts for "Alice", I went "they're making another one? Why?" I didn't plan to watch it. But I was channel-surfing the day they re-aired it (weekend after the premiere) and caught "Tin Man". I started watching that, went away for a while, came home almost at the end of "Tin Man", flipped the TV back on, and caught the end of that. I was about to change the channel when "Alice" started. I decided to give it a few minutes and then suddenly, I was hooked. This wasn't the "Alice in Wonderland" that I was used to and I loved it.

I'm doing my best to try and capture Hatter's speech, but just imagine him pronouncing the words if it seems odd.

Anyways, this should hopefully be a long, AlicexHatter story that will go far past their reunion at the end of the series.