AN/ I do not own any of the characters from Alice (SyFy version). No copyright infringement intended. Special thanks to Nick Willing for making this version of Alice in Wonderland so amazing. Hope you enjoy my addition to the story and please review. Comments will be appreciated. ~Eisac

Chapter One

"When I followed you through the Looking Glass, I never figured the Tea here would live up to mine, but it comes pretty close. Could use a bit of wonder syrup though," Hatter smiled from across the linen clothed table outside at a local cafe.

Alice just shook her head and laughed at the poor guy wearing a brown velvet top hat that matched his creamy chocolate eyes, he'd inevitably found last week in a costume shop. It wasn't oversized like in Lewis Carroll's version of Wonderland, but it wasn't something one saw on a regular basis. Alice figured it was in his nature, considering his character in the book. He would never truly fit in, but San Francisco was a large city and not many people paid attention.

She couldn't believe she, Alice Hamilton, had been a part of the story almost a year ago. It still felt like yesterday she'd fallen through the Looking Glass after Jack Heart, now the king of Wonderland, whom she thought had been Jack Chase, her boyfriend. Because of the evil doings from his mother, the Queen of Hearts and her posse of suits; Alice had taken them down before they could destroy Hatter's world, and in result her father had died in the process.

Her stomach clenched at the thought of her father, Robert. She missed him so much, but the relief of finally knowing what had happened to him, that he never abandoned her in first place, was overwhelming. The Queen of Hearts had kidnapped him to use his talents as a scientist for the wonder of oyster—or humans from the real world—emotions, but fortunately the Queen is no longer in power, thanks to her and her friends from Wonderland.

Alice missed them too, especially Charlie, the white knight. Hatter had to feel the same; he was from there for goodness sake. "Hatter?" she started.

"Hmm?" He'd been reading a section from the San Francisco Chronicle.

"Are you happy here with me?"

"Of course, why do you ask?"

"I just…Do you miss Wonderland?" She didn't know why she asked; she already knew the answer.

Hatter glanced back up to Alice and studied her a moment before he answered. "I do, but you mean everything to me, Alice and I will follow you to any world, real or imaginary. Alright?"

She nodded her head and knew he meant it. "I love you Hatter." He tossed the paper onto the table.

"And I you, love." He reached over and snatched her hand. It was warm and secure around her more delicate fingers. In spite of everything they'd been through together, she'd be happy as long as she had David Hatter with her.

ooo

Duchess was heaving, out of breath when she hit the warm, rough concrete after traveling through the Looking Glass. She resisted the urge to cry as the knot in her throat began to rise again. She had to find Alice, for Jack's sake, she had to.

Her red heels clicked loudly as she got up and hurried out from the alleyway she'd landed in. The sun beat down between buildings on her fair skin and it was hard to see, but she knew the street Alice was supposed to live on and the apartment number. Jack had drawn out a map just for this type of occasion. At the time she had laughed, "Darling, there is no need for that."

Jack had leaned down kissing her forehead. "We must always be prepared, Duchess…for the safety of this kingdom."

As soon as she reached the apartment, Duchess had to get Alice, convince her to return to Wonderland and bring Hatter. He would definitely come in handy getting Jack back.

The thought of never seeing him again, her love, made her chest ache and nausea build in the pit of her stomach. No. She couldn't think like that. She would see him again.

ooo

Alice sipped the remainder of her coffee. She wasn't a huge tea fan as Hatter was, but when he tried to serve her a cup every single day it got old quick. Albeit, he did have a way of experimenting with different flavors now and again that were interesting to try, such as grape peppermint tea. They weren't all pleasant; she mused, but most did well in his tea shop he now worked at three blocks from their apartment. They were still living with her mother, Carol. House hunting had been on the agenda for the last three months, but Alice never could quite fully commit to a specific one no matter how enthusiastic Hatter was. She figured it was because deep down, she knew this didn't seem right. Hatter was from Wonderland and she just couldn't picture him middle aged, living in the outskirts of San Francisco, with average work weeks and a case of beer and Sunday night football on the weekends. He was meant for something more than that. And Alice knew it, hence the reason she could not sign the dotted line holding him permanently in this world.

Hatter asked for the bill and left a twenty on the table. It had taken him some getting used to, but money or "green paper" he liked to call it was just another normal part of life he'd adjusted to for her.

"You ready to go?"

"Yes. Let's go home. I don't have to be at the Dojo until four, so we have some time for ourselves."

"Ourselves? And would that be inside or outside of the bedroom?" he laughed wrapping his arm around her waist, possessively.

"Don't be crude Hatter or you will be sleeping on the couch this evening…alone."

The apartment was cool and relaxing, as Alice sat on the couch going over some of the positions and warm-ups her younger class of high school kids was going to learn this afternoon. Hatter had been flipping through the channels on the television and decided there was nothing to hold his interests. He watched Alice a moment, writing notes to herself in the margins and decided no more work. This was their time to be together, which they seemed to have less and less of everyday, and he meant to make the most of it.

The notebook Alice had been writing in was tossed onto the oak coffee table out of her hands. She glanced up at him and saw the desire that must have been burning in Hatter's eyes, because a devilish smile crept onto Alice's face and her bright blue eyes sparkled. He couldn't ever get enough of those eyes. So pure and sweet. And she was his. There was a time when Hatter had thought that Jack Heart would take her away to the Happy Hearts Casino and he'd never see her again, but here Hatter was pulling her close in his arms. So close, he thought they might burst together from the heat and pressure building.

Even though it was the weekend, Carol was at one of the neighbors for the afternoon and they had the apartment to themselves the rest of the day if they chose. Hatter wanted to take advantage of the privacy.

As their lips touched delicately, Alice shivered in his arms with anticipation. Neither one spoke it aloud, but their attraction for one another ran so deep, he was sure it would take splayed on an iceberg to cool them off, much more than a simple cold shower. His fingers slide along her jaw line and down to the nape of her neck under the curtain of dark brunette hair, before a slight moan escape. Everything inside him exploded into a rapid race; even the smallest reaction from Alice made him mad. He wanted to show her just what she did to him.

Hatter pushed her down further into the leather couch and kissed her with more fierceness than he thought possible. The heat grew as their bodies mingled and his other hand lingered over her arm, grazing the side of her breast. The sigh of satisfaction from Alice, could not have been resisted. He thought nothing in the world could stop him from making love to Alice right then and there, until he heard the forceful pounding on the front door.

Hatter ground his teeth and sat up popping his hat back on his head that had fallen off, "Who in the hell is that?"

Alice stared at him a moment, then stood up fixing her disheveled hair. "I don't know." The pounding came again, but this time more franticly. "Coming, coming!" Alice threw open the door and gasped at who she saw.

ooo

Duchess was praising the fifty-two deck, Alice was home. Maybe she did still have a bit of royal luck on her side. "Alice! Alice you have to come!"

"Wait, wait slow down. What's wrong?" Alice said pulling Duchess into the living room. Hatter seemed alert and a little annoyed. Well, she didn't care. Jack's life was at stake here and she needed their help. "You have to come back to Wonderland. Jack's in trouble!"

Duchess' calves were burning from running so much in heels and her side ached from where she fell onto the concrete. Her breathing was shallow, as Alice pushed her down into a chair at the kitchen table. The "little girl", she still liked to call Alice, was as usual in complete control of herself and forced Duchess to explain.

"Jack has been kidnapped and you have to come back to Wonderland to help me rescue him. You are the only one capable."

"Who has kidnapped him?"

Duchess took a deep breath, "The Red Knight." Alice stared at her like she was crazy, but Hatter's eyes bulged from his head.

"The Red Knight? I thought that was just a Wonderland Myth?"

"Well, he's not and he's taken Jack. We don't have much time. I had to hide the stone of Wonderland just in case he stole it while I was gone collecting both of you. I'm the only one left to protect it."

Hatter pinched the bridge of his nose, "Is that what this Red Knight's after? The ring?"

"I'm not sure. He craves power, just as Jack's mother had, but his interests seem to flounder a bit. It may be just a means to keep enemies guessing."

Alice turned to get her jacket and head to the door, but Hatter caught her arm before she could move far. "Come on? You heard the Duchess?"

"Alice…" Hatter began.

"What? Don't tell me you still have a grudge against Jack after all this time? I don't have any feelings for him, but friendship."

"No it's not that, I just don't know about this. It's too dangerous. The Red Knight is supposed to be more devious and evil than the Queen of Hearts had been. I'm not so sure this is a good idea." Duchess saw the look in his eyes; he knew something he wasn't sharing. She didn't know much about the Red Knight; Duchess too thought him only a myth until yesterday, but she had never paid much attention to the stories. Now she wished she had of.

Alice grasped Hatter's arm pleading, "We have to help him. What about your friends, and Jack…and even Charlie? What about him? If we don't do something, Wonderland could go back to the way it was when the Queen ruled. Do you want that?"

"Of course not!"

Duchess stood back up, regaining a slimmer of her strength. "Please, if we don't hurry it will be too late and none of us will ever be able to return. And Wonderland will be destroyed."

Hatter looked from one blond haired woman to his sweet brunette woman and sighed in defeat. "Alright, let's go."

"Let me leave a note for mom just in case we are gone too long."

"Hurry!" Duchess exclaimed.

Alice finished up a quick message, saying they had gone out with some friends and wouldn't be back for awhile. Last time she'd returned from Wonderland she'd only been gone and hour, even though it had been days inside the Looking Glass. So, she made sure the message was vague just in case. "Okay, I'm ready."

Hatter held the door for them. Duchess stopped before exiting and whispered, "Thank you for helping us. I don't know what I'd do without Jack, much more what Wonderland would do."

Alice gave Duchess a quick smile, while Hatter nodded his head donned in his brown velvet top hat and they were out the door, leaving the apartment in the real world cold and empty.