Jefferson wasn't always "mad."

No, for a long time he had been quite sane, thank you very much.

He hadn't gone mad until Regina left him at the mercy of the Queen of Hearts while she escaped with her newly reformed father. All of the events there, coupled with him being trapped in a mansion of a home for 28 years with his memories after the curse took effect… that was what made him mad!

He couldn't even remember how he escaped from Wonderland. He must have, for him to be swept away with the curse. That was the only thing that he couldn't remember.

He had to watch from his window as Paige – no, Grace! – lived on happily with people that were not her parents. Jefferson had to watch Grace tell these people, who were once their neighbors, that she loved them. It wasn't right! That would be enough to make any man less than sane.

However, if you were to call Jefferson anything but sane, your head would be at risk. He was not crazy. He was… on overload. He had two worlds and two sets of memories bouncing around in his head at all times, after all.

Also, he was alone.

In the other realm, he had his Grace – the perfect angel of a daughter. She was the girl that reminded him so much of her mother that it would take his breath away on a constant basis. Her features, her hair… how consistently selfless she was.

Grace was so much like Alice.

Alice… Jefferson slammed his hands down on the table in his makeshift workshop, sending pieces of fabric flying everywhere.

He had first met Alice in – of all places – Wonderland. His hat had brought him there with a young man looking to find the White Queen, who ruled over her half of the kingdom with an air of kindness and beauty.

Two went in, only two could go out. That is important to remember.

Jefferson hadn't known that he would spend so much time off and on in Wonderland – or how much he would despise it once it was time to leave for good.

He met Alice nearly six months after he took his first step into the strange land. He could remember it as if it was yesterday. He could remember the first time his green eyes locked with her icy blue ones.

"Help! Oh, someone please!"

Jefferson rounded the corner only moments later, one of his eyebrows raised as his lip quirked in a frown, "Oh!" He hadn't planned on going out of the borders of the White Queen's land, but it seemed to be a good choice that he had.

Alice looked up from the ground, where one of her legs was being pulled in by the Queen of Hearts' hedges. Her hands were reaching out for anything they could grasp, which were quickly Jefferson's own, "Oh, please pull me out!"

"I've got you!" Jefferson gritted out through clenched teeth as he pulled her with every bit of strength he had, finally freeing her leg from the trap of the shrubbery. "We have to go!" With Alice half held up in his arms, they ran from the sounds of approaching guards.

They didn't stop until they were in the safety of the White Queen's land.

Alice's bum ankle caused her to topple to the ground and in an accidental move, pulled Jefferson on top of her with a high pitched squeal… which eventually turned into laughter.

Jefferson – while having rolled to the side of her, but made no move to lift himself off the ground – stared at the girl with confused eyes, "Are you alright?"

"What is your name?" Alice asked as she finally quieted her giggles. "I'm Alice."

"Jefferson," He answered as he propped himself up on his elbow and pushed his unruly hair back from his eyes.

"Jefferson?" Alice said his name and the man would have sworn right there it was the sweetest sound in the world. "Thank you for saving me." She finally moved up so that she was sitting, and stared down at her swollen ankle with a cringe. "I apologize for my laughter – it was uncalled for. But really, this place and my last two days have been so strange. It's getting curiouser and curiouser."

Alice went on to tell Jefferson how she had come to be in Wonderland. Her curiosity had led her to follow a small rabbit with a pocket watch down a hole in a field not far from her home – that should have been her first red flag that things were not right. A series of run in's with strange creatures had led her to the Queen's court, where the evil woman announced that she wanted Alice's head.

She came to the end of the story and her eyes lit up as she leaned over to press a kiss to Jefferson's cheek, "My hero."

Without her even knowing it, Jefferson's entire being had been lost to Alice. He would have done anything that she had asked, or given in to any desire that came to her on a whim. Alice was like no other girl he had ever encountered. She was headstrong and fierce, just as she was strange and off her rocker.

Jefferson was so in love with her that it almost hurt.

Alice had never found that rabbit's hole again, and so she left through the power of Jefferson's hat, and never left his presence. They moved into a small cottage in the forest, as she had no desire to return to her family – a sentiment he shared.

Alice curled into Jefferson's side, "I miss you so when you leave. It's nice to have you back."

"I know," Jefferson sighed as he ran his fingers through her dirty blonde – nearly brown – hair. "I don't like it any more than you do, love."

The tales of his hat and its powers had spread far and wide. He was almost constantly being asked to perform some job or adventure. He hated leaving Alice alone, but it paid for their necessities with plenty left over.

That left over helped fund Alice's various projects and the ring that was cupped in his free hand.

"You're so silent," Alice remarked as she turned her head upwards with a look of concern. "Did something happen on this past trip? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Jefferson smiled as he dipped his head down to kiss her gently. "I'm feeling a little nauseous now, but that has nothing to do with the trip."

Alice nearly bolted up and she began to pat his cheeks and forehead, looking for sign of fever, "Jefferson, you feel fine."

"I'm not sick," Jefferson laughed. "I'm nervous, love."

"Nervous? About what?"

"This."

Jefferson uncurled his fingers to reveal the simple diamond and silver ring in his hand with the engraving of "Curiouser and Curiouser" on the inside of the band. Alice's jaw popped open as she looked up from the ring, unable to find words. Jefferson pressed his forehead to hers, "You'll always be that strange, beautiful girl who I met at the hedge on the barrier of two kingdoms. The one who I saved and who saved me on more than one instance. The one who kissed my cheek and told me that she loved me. Marry me?"

Alice bit on her bottom lip as she allowed Jefferson to slip the ring onto her finger. Instead of speaking straight away, she launched herself forward and attacked him in a hug as she wept tears of joy, "Yes! Of course, my Jefferson!"

The ceremony was simple. Jefferson wore his finest brown suit, while Alice had flowers placed in her hair and a simple cream dress adorning her thin frame.

Their happiness was short lived. Three months later, they were called upon for a mission by the White Queen. War was becoming inevitable, and Alice refused to let Jefferson go alone to offer his assistance. They both owed a debt to the woman, who had housed them the last time they were there together. She had sheltered them until they took their leave.

Alice was a fighter. She wasn't going to miss the opportunity to tear the Queen of Hearts down.

It was three weeks after they entered the land that everything changed – neither had realized just what it would mean as joy overtook them.

The war had not begun. It was far from beginning.

Jefferson made his way from dinner to he and Alice's bedchambers with a look on worry etched on his face. Alice hadn't been present at dinner. That was something out of the ordinary for his normally punctual wife. As soon as he was inside, he called out, "Alice? Honey?"

Alice came out of the washroom with flushed cheeks and a hazy smile, "Jefferson…" She made her way to him and captured his lips in a passionate kiss. "I think I'm… I'm pregnant!"

"Pregnant?" Jefferson asked with a gasp before breaking out into a grin. "We're having a baby!"

While in the glow of the life growing inside Alice's belly, they had forgotten the most important thing. It was something they wouldn't remember until after their child was born and the world around them began to collapse.

Two came in, only two could go out.

Grace was born eight months later under an early morning sky. The war had come and gone while Alice was pregnant, with neither side coming out victorious. The land remained neutral, just as it always had. Just as it was supposed to be.

The couple had decided to remain in Wonderland until they could find a way for all three of them to return to their little cottage in the forest. That plan was not exactly in the cards for the long term.

It was just after Grace's first birthday that the small family was attacked within the walls of the White Queen's half of land by the Queen of Hearts guards. From what Alice and Jefferson could make of the shouting, there was a price on their heads for their help in the war and the longstanding bitterness from the Queen towards Alice.

He had never seen his wife as chivalrous and self-sacrificing as she was in those moments.

"Jefferson, move! We have to get to the mirror!" Alice screamed as she pulled Grace into her arms and wrapped her own orange and floral designed cape around the child as if it was a shield of protection.

"Alice," Jefferson matched her running strides with ease as they fought to keep a far distance from the guards. "We can't all go!"

Alice moved through the tall grass and over the winding path with no words until they reached the mirror, just past several giant mushrooms. She froze just feet away and looked down at Grace with tears in her eyes, "You're so young, and you'll have no memory of this." She leaned forward to brush a few kisses along her daughters' cheeks and short hair. "My sweet Grace, Mommy loves you so much. I will always love you so much." The child only whined with small noises – too young to comprehend the fear that her mother was feeling.

"No," Jefferson shook his head as Alice held Grace out to him. "You can't… no!"

"Jefferson," Alice clenched her jaw as tears fought at the rims of her eyes. "Take Grace, now."

With a snarl, Jefferson carefully pulled his daughter into his arms before moving as close to Alice as he could, "I can't leave you here. This was my job – I should stay. It is our fault that we're here!"

"Stop," Alice shook her head and grasped Jefferson's face in her hands. "Do not blame yourself. I need you to take Grace and get out. I'll find my own way to get free. I'll find the both of you and we'll be together again." She placed a few kisses along his jaw and lips as the sound of armor closed in. "I love you! Go!"

"I love you," Jefferson breathed out as the guards appeared only yards away. "I'll get you back, I swear it!"

Alice pushed the two of them through the mirror and Jefferson realized with the last thing that he saw that he couldn't keep that promise. An axe swung out from behind and sliced straight through Alice's throat, sending her head and body two separate ways.

"No!"

Jefferson hated Wonderland.

When Regina approached him with one final job that meant he would have to return, he tried to fight it with all of his being. He didn't want to go back to that land, the land where his job cost him his wife, and Grace her mother. However, Regina promised him riches. She promised that Grace would never go without.

How could he deny that opportunity?

He would always regret going. He would regret trusting Regina. She left him there to have his head cut off and doomed him to a length of time he couldn't even keep up with making hats in hope that one would finally sprout the magic he needed to return to his daughter.

That magic never came.

Before he lost his mind – or so they would say he had – one thought of use crossed through his brain.

Jefferson had his head removed and then reattached. He hadn't died.

What if the same thing happened with his Alice?