It just seems so empty, Hatter thought to himself as he paused after clearing another shelf of its teas. It had been only half a day since Alice had returned to her world, leaving Hatter with only his thoughts and a massive cleanup operation. His shop was not only ransacked, but now he had to get rid of all the teas that were once sold there. A biohazard crew was gonna stop by to pick up the liquids so no one could steal them and sell them on the Wonderland black market.

He couldn't help but think about how he was gonna miss his old importance. Before the queen was removed from power he had a purpose, some, people looked up to him. Alice had not only taken his heart with her, but she had left him with nothing to fill in the whole.

Hatter was quickly shaken out of his revelry when he spotted Dormouse trying to steal another bottle.

"Hey, I don't want to have to tell you again Dormie, you can't keep any of the teas...especially that one. If you take another drop of this, I think your head'll explode." he said as he walked over to his former employee and took the bottle from him. It was Self-Importance. "Huh, now I know how you put up with work every day."

"Ah, come on Hatter! Can't I just keep one, or maybe five?" Dormouse asked.

"If I let you take any of these teas Dormie, how do you think that would make me look? I have an image to up hold, ya know. I'm a hero now."

"Not much of one apparently." a familiar voice responded from the doorway.

"Oh great, your majesty is here. How could we get on without you, oh fearless leader?" Hatter replied as he looked upon a face that he despised, or at least a face that he felt jealous of. Jack had had her longer than he ever would.

"Please." Jack replied as he watched Dormouse scampered out of the room with probably more than just a bottle of Self-Importance, judging by the clanging of his coat. "You know, I could have you arrested for this."

"No you can't! Everyone knows that this was just a front and that I was helping the resistance."

"I know, but having you arrested for something would help me feel better. Tell me, Hatter, are you a moron or a coward?" Jack said as he wandered over to sit behind Dormouse's desk. He seemed to easily conform to the role of King, sitting there looking down at Hatter with a look that told him of his true insignificance.

"Did you come all the way here to insult me? I'm sure this would've worked just as well if you had sent a lackey to do it." Hatter replied as he went back to clearing off shelves.

"Hatter, I'm not doing this out of any fondness for you. I'm doing this for the woman we both love."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well good, you are just a moron then, this problem is fixable....Look, I'm worried that someone may go after her and I very well can't leave to go protect her, beside she wouldn't want me too anyway."

"Again, send a lackey. I'm needed here."

"No you're not. And the kick is you know it...she trusts you Hatter. She wanted you to leave with her. Despite how much I might hate the idea, she wants you, not me."

"What do you mean? I saw you two gettin' pretty cozy before she went through the looking glass. I won't be surprised if she shows back up with a suit case, beggin' you to put that atrocious lookin' ring on her pretty little finger."

"How thick are you? She has refused me and she basically told me that she wants you now. She's changed because of all this-"

"She wouldn't have had to go through any of it if you hadn't forced it on her!" Hatter snapped as he grabbed a bottle. He was really calculating how long he'd be in prison if he threw it at Jack.

"Ah, yes." Jack sighed as he stood and fixed his bright red jacket before walking up to Hatter, he didn't seem to be the least bit afraid of Hatter's anger, but then again one pissed off guy doesn't matter much when you have half the royal guard standing on the other side of the front door. "But then you would never have met her. Stop trying to play tortured Hatter it doesn't suit you, just go after her."

"And what am I gonna do once I get there with no money and nowhere to live?"

At that Jack pulled a thick envelop out of his pocket, "Arrangements have been made. You are to take up residence in my old apartment, try not to break anything, and as for clothes and a job I can't help you. Maybe you could get some of my old Earth clothes hemmed?"

"I doubt we have the same sense of style. Ya know, boring." Hatter replied through squinted lids.

He didn't like this. Hatter had never needed anyone. He was pretty much alright with carrying the weight of all this on his shoulders alone, but he had to admit, he was getting tired of Wonderland and all the tricks that he employed to stay alive. Even with this new regime he knew that there would be hard times ahead. Suddenly the thought of actually confronting Alice about how he felt didn't seem so terrible, no matter how frightened of the idea he really was.

"Fine, I'll do it."

"I knew you couldn't refuse. Alice is going to need Wonderland's second greatest Hero to protect her." Jack replied as he clasped Hatter's shoulder with a smirk.

"Second greatest?! I did a hell of a lot more than you did! Ooo you stole somethin', I always thought that was criminal not heroic."

"Hatter are we really going to argue about which one of us is the better man?"

"Yes-no…When do I leave?" Hatter sighed as took the envelop that Jack had been holding this entire time.

Jack moved toward the door once there he looked down ay his watch, "Oh in about say, one hour. And," he paused while one of the spades walked through the door with a small pile of clothes that were topped off with a hard hat, "The Looking Glass portal opens into a construction site. You'll need to put these on to blend in…"

Hatter looked down with distain at the pile as it was handed to him, "Well, isn't this just fantastic. I haven't played dress since I was a boy."

"You played dress up?… You know what, never mind. Just try not to be late because there is still a chance you can catch up with her." Jack said with finality as he turned toward the door, but before he was gone he turned back to Hatter and said, "Just remember Hatter, things will be different for you in Alice's world." and then he was gone.

"Different? How different?"