It had been a miracle that he'd survived the fall. He wasn't entirely certain how he'd managed it, but he'd decided that bringing that hat with him was less important than running into the forest, out of the line of Emma or Mary Margaret throwing any other large objects at him. The blow to the head with the telescope had been jarring and now as the adrenaline wore off, painful. He had believed her. He had thought that she truly believed.

But it had all been a desperate lie to get away from him. To get away from the crazy man who lived all by himself, talking about a little girl he thought was his, and a storybook world where he was trapped in Wonderland. The Mad Hatter. Mad Jefferson Hatter.

A few evenings after Emma had escaped from his house with Mary Margaret, she was surprised to find Jefferson sitting in front of the Sheriff's office sipping coffee nonchalantly.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed, having hoped that she wouldn't have to take the crazy man in on kidnap charges. "I'm going to have to arrest you."

"Then I'll tell the judge that the only reason I kidnapped Mary Margaret was because she was on my property and I knew that she was a potential murderer."

"You wouldn't." Emma dared.

Jefferson stood up, staring down at Emma with a pleased smirk. "Do you believe me now?" He questioned, drumming his fingers against the storybook tucked under her arm.

"I-" Emma faltered, flustered by the way Jefferson was looking at her. "Henry left in my car."

Jefferson leaned his face impossibly close to her. "It wasn't very nice of you to hit me with the telescope."

"It was self-defense." Emma explained, not backing away from the mad man. She would stand her ground.

He frowned, almost mockingly, "Well in my self-defense." Emma was surprised that his 'self-defense' meant brushing his lips against hers. The kiss was quick, hard, and thorough.

The storybook fell out of her arm as she stumbled back, eyes flying open. "What happened to your wife?" Was the first words out of her mouth, the first question she had thought of when she read the story of the Mad Hatter in the book.

"Alice?" Jefferson questioned, closing his eyes at the painful memory. "We both went into Wonderland together. We didn't know she'd give birth to Grace then. We didn't know…" Jefferson straightened his cravat, "Good day Sheriff." He turned to leave, before she caught his arm.

"Why did you kiss me?"

"You remind me of Alice. She had hard swing." He laughed, before heading across town.