Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: You can thank sickness-induced insomnia (right before finals, I might add) for this one. I find that 2:00am is the best time to write fic.

So, here's the first one. The title of the chapter should be clear by the end. Hope you enjoy. More explanation after.

"Alice, come meet David!"

Alice took one last look at the book that bore her name, then meandered slowly down the long hallway from her bedroom to the main part of the apartment, in no hurry to exchange awkward conversation with the man who had saved her, no matter how "sweet" he was. Reaching the front room, she took one more moment to examine her intertwined hands, and then looked up.

And he was there.

He was there—his hair too flat, and his clothes too normal, and his hat in his hand instead of on his head, but still he was real, and it was real, and she hadn't dreamed it all, and she's happier than she's been in a long time, and it's true, and he's here!

"Hatter!" His name bursts from her lips in an exclamation of pure joy, and she hurtles herself toward him and into his arms, and whispers "You have no idea how happy I am to see you," into his ear.

It feels too good to have him there again, and yet...not right at all. His arms hang at his sides for a moment, and then come up only to push her gently away. This is not right at all. Where is her warm hug from the Casino? Her warm, loving, always-there Hatter?

"I'm sorry, miss, have we met before? What was that you called me?" His accent is all wrong—too much of her world, and too little of his.

She stares into his too-familiar brown eyes—as confused now as she had ever seen-and searches them for some sort of joke...surely he had to be joking—why else would he say something like that?

"Hatter?" His name is a plea this time, rather than the exclamation it had been before.

"My name's David Petasus, miss. You must be mistaking me for someone else."

Something inside of her shuts down. He didn't come after her. Who knew if he even existed—if Wonderland truly existed, or if her adventures had only been the result of shock-induced unconsciousness.

She can't see it, of course, but the light goes out of her eyes, and her voice goes flat. "Of course, how silly of me. You reminded me of someone I knew, once." Had she really known him?

"That's quite all right. I just wanted to see if you were okay. It seemed as if you had taken quite the tumble."

She wants to laugh hysterically at his choice of words. Tumble indeed.

"Yes, well," she swallows and licks her lips nervously, "thank you very much for finding me. I'm sure my mother can keep you entertained for a while...I'm still...very tired from my ordeal, I'm sure you understand." Her breath comes shortly, and her words spurt out erratically; she flashes him a half-hearted smile, and turns slowly back toward her bedroom.

Her mother eyes her worriedly, and starts to say something, but Alice cuts her off.

"Really, Mom, I'm fine. Just tired." And she was, she realized. The burst of energy that had propelled her across the room when she thought she'd seen Hatter had drained away, taking every other ounce of strength she had. She had to struggle to move her feet.

"Maybe I could come back and see you some time, when you're feeling better?"

He sounded hopeful, and she couldn't stand to crush that hope, so she smiled wanly at him, and said, "Maybe." And then continued into her room. Shutting the door behind her, she collapsed onto her bed. If Wonderland had been a dream, it was a dream to which she was determined to return.

A/N: So this is almost definitely the end of this What If? I want to leave it up to the reader to decide whether it was all a dream or not, and whether she will go back through the looking glass. Also, I was trying to capture some of her overwhelming emotions in this, which is why there are a lot of run-ons in it.

Oh and "Petasus" (David's last name) is Latin for hat. I thought it would be a nice touch. Hehe, I also picture him with a Southern accent. Dunno why.

Reviews are much appreciated, as I can't decide if I like this or not.