Man, if I keep joining new fandoms, I'm never going to get any of my Sherlock Holmes fics done any time soon! Still, I saw this movie once two days ago, and I wanted to try at a fic for it. This is my first attempt at anything Alice in Wonderland and anything romantic whatsoever. I'm not really the romantic-writer, but c'mon, how adorable was the Mad Hatter?? I mean really, just look at him...and plus I just have a soft spot for high-energy, half-crazy characters. *biggrin* And I did catch more than one hint of some Hatter/Alice going on...somehow, I don't think I'm the only one. *wink wink*
I understand that this is a very short (371 words) ficlet of a scene that was in the movie, but don't worry - there's a lot of my original hurt/comfort and romance coming up soon...hopefully...*hides, suddenly terrified of reviews*
And PS - "Mananimity" is a word that means sacrificial kindness and nobility

M is for Magnanimity

"You're too soft," the Red Queen had cooed in false reproof.

The Hatter had entered that glossed throne room with his bloodied and bandaged hands (product of countless years of continuous accidental stabbing with multiple hat-making needles) chained at the wrists and his flame-orange head (product of the affects of mercury poisoning from the felt of his beloved hats) bowed in hopeless defeat at his surroundings. He collapsed to his knees before her, not out of undue respect for the Red Queen, but because his legs had suddenly crumpled beneath him — his legs were weak from disuse and all that he endured at the Knave's merciless cruelty, though he seemed needlessly ashamed that it had shown even the smallest bit.

Alice had watched in veiled sympathy.

The Knave had observed his work with smug pride through one murky eye.

Then, the Hatter raised his head…and smiled.

Though the Knave's detached expression never faltered, a slight flinch went unnoticed by the others present. The last time he saw the half-crazed hat-maker flashed through his mind — the creak of an iron-bar door, the thump of a body falling to the cold dirt floor in a heap, followed by a pained gasp and the clink of chains. Two hazy green irises peering wearily up in the pale moonlight seeping through the barred window, then the muffled groan as his boot made one last, hard contact with injured ribs. That's how he left him, lying half-consciously curled upon the damp floor, silently suffering for his voluntary muteness.

And now, there he stood, cheekily flattering and fooling the Red Queen with grinning self-assurance, with no hint of the pain that had been etched in his ashen face the night previous (the pain he had fought so valiantly hard to hide from his captors).

Something was not right….

Under the Queen's absurd order, he raised his sword to free the vexing Underlander, his eyes darkening murderously.

The anguish-free apple green orbs twinkled merrily in response.

Little did any of Her Majesty's court suspect, the enormous girl called Um had made a secret trip to the dungeons the night prior, to the cell of a certain redheaded martyr….

To be continued…

And its continuance counts on the reviewers...*wink wink*