Chapter Text
Hatter sighed in disappointment as he watched Alice being dragged away by one of the Looking Glass operators. Why hadn't he taken the chance to tell her? After seeing her and Jack hugging he'd lost the confidence he had barely manage to bring up, he supposed. She'd given him the perfect oportunity.
'You want me to stay?'
As she was led to the portal between their worlds Alice looked back at him, a mix of emotions shifting through her face in a matter of seconds – 'don't leave me', 'I don't wanna go', 'can I change my mind please?', 'why aren't you up here with me you dolt?', 'I don't wanna do this alone'...
And then with a surprised yelp she was gone. Hatter felt his stomach burn, as if someone had suddenly materialized a vat full of acid inside it. His heart had apparently forgotten how to beat properly, because all he felt was it squeezing painfully, almost unbearably so. Looking at Jack he realised his rival was surprised to see him. Moving closer, eyebrows slightly bent to a frown the young King of Wonderland crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well?" Jack Heart enquired.
"Well what?" Hatter replied, aware not many would be brave (or foolish) enough to reply to their king quite so sharply.
"Why are you here?" Jack clarified, looking slightly annoyed at Hatter's lack of understanding. Or maybe he was just annoyed at not being treated like the royalty he was. Git.
"To say good bye t' Alice of course!" Hatter snapped back.
The King gave an exasperated sigh, "I mean, why didn't you go with her, you nonce?"
"Well, I –" Hatter paused. Why hadn't he gone with her? She'd given him more than enough hints she wanted him to... Hadn't she?
Ah, crap.
Jack was right.
He really was an idiot.
Jack's stern look of disapproval melted into a sympathetic smile as he noticed the crestfallen look that came over the young tea-maker's face, "Come on, we'll get you sorted out before you go gallivanting after her. I'm afraid your clothes wouldn't be very discreet in the Oyster world."
He led a gaping Hatter past the crowd, into his castle, and to a large room that looked more like a gigantic wardrobe than a room.
"First things first, we'll need to get you looking like an Oyster," Jack mused, quickly rifling through some clothes before moving on to another section when he didn't find whatever he was looking for.
Where in Wonderland are we?" Hatter asked, wide eyed.
"The Wardrobe Room," Jack replied matter-of-factly, "It has clothes from all over the Oyster world so our agents could go Oyster hunting without calling attention to themselves."
The two spent the next few minutes in silence, each picking up some clothing and setting it side for Hatter to try on later.
"What about this shirt?" Hatter eventually asked, holding up a colourful shirt with large flowers printed on it, "It's kinda close to me style."
Jack stared at the shirt for a few seconds.
"Er... No. I was thinking of something more... like this," he held up a plain dark brown shirt.
"But it's so..."
"Oysterish? That's the point Hatter."
The next couple of hours were filled with debating on what Hatter would and would not take with him. He eventually agreed to wear the plain shirt, just as long as he could take that nice light brownish cream jacket that kinda looked like his old one. And Jack in turn acquiesced to a blue and green striped shirt once Hatter swore he wouldn't wear it with any other stamped clothing.
A few arguments over hairstyles and hats, and a quick explanation of the most used technologies later, Jack proclaimed Hatter fit to enter the Looking Glass.
The only thing missing was his alias. Apparently Oysters did not have names such as Hatter or Mad March.
"Let's just call you... David. It's common enough and not too hard to remember," Jack said as he looked over Hatter one last time, "You ready?"
"Not really," Hatter – now David - replied with a nervous laugh, "But 'S not like I 'ave much choice in the matter."
ɸ-Θ-ɸ
The trip through the Looking Glass itself was rather quick, and before he knew it Hatter found himself being hurled out of the inter-dimensional portal, feeling like someone had simply pushed him (with a lot of force) through a doorway. He used his hands to brace the impact, wincing slightly as the shock of hitting the ground bruised the tendons on his wrists rather painfully.
He rose to his feet with a slight groan, wiping his skinned hands on his clothes and hissing at the stinging sensation that followed.
He looked around the dreary room he'd been sent to only to find Alice passed out near where he himself had landed. After some failed attempts to wake her Hatter decided it was best to get someone who knew what they were doing.
He dug through the bag of things Jack had given him, and fished out the thin block of plastic and metal the King had quickly taught him how to use in case of an emergency. Now, what numbers should he press again? Something with a six, or maybe a nine... Ah, yes. 911. He pressed in the numbers and watched as they appeared on the screen and held the little device to his ear, feeling rather silly about it.
"911, what's your emergency?" a slightly bored voice said after a couple of long beeps.
"Uh, hi. I found a girl passed out at this construction site... And she won't wake up. I think she might need a doctor..."
"Alright Sir. Are you currently at 93rd Street building number 11489?" The voice replied.
Good question.
"Maybe. I think so. I'm... er... New in town. Haven't quite gotten 'round to learnin' addresses yet."
"Alright, we're having an ambulance dispatched right away."
ɸ-Θ-ɸ
The ambulance had turned out to be a loud white motorized vehicle with bright flashy lights.
It was hard to miss. (Which, Hatter mused, was probably the point.)
They'd gotten Alice hooked up to a handful of quietly beeping machinery. It reminded him far too much of the Oyster collection system, but Hart had promised they didn't have anything like that in Oysterland, so he let the healers do their job, keeping a close eye on them nonetheless.
They let him squish into the back since she didn't seem to be in any immediate danger of "crashing". When they arrived at their destination some people in all-blue clothing wheeled the metal table they's strapped Alice to into a building, and one of them told Hatter to go to the Waiting Room. It turned out the room was really just an area with lots of chairs and a machine Hatter recognised as a Tevilision (or something like that) due to Jack's quick description. Luckily atter didn't have to wait long – about five or ten minutes later one of the blue healers came out to let him know Alice was fine (apart from a mild concussion). Hatter went to sit by her and keep her company as the healers contected Alice's mum.
Bloody hell. He hadn't thought about that.
Ah, well, too late now.
ɸ-Θ-ɸ
She'd been surprisingly pleasant.
Then again, most mums would look favourably toward anyone who helped their kid in a time of need, Hatter supposed. He'd gone along with everyone's assumption that he was one of the construction workers, and had come back to grab his jacket when he'd found Alice passed out.
After ensuring Alice was cared for he'd rented a room at the nearest hotel, fumbling with the wad of papers Jack had given him. He apologized for his awkwardness, which the clerk thought to be due to the difference in currency. For whatever reason people kept thinking he was British.
It was maddening to wait for Alice to wake up (pun intended). Once she did, he asked Carol if it'd be okay if he visited her. To his everlasting relief the woman agreed, and he eagerly made arrangements to visit once she was back home.
ɸ-Θ-ɸ
The day after her release from hospital David Hatter was allowed into the small apartment by a cheery Carol Hamilton. She shouted to Alice that David had arrived, and proceeded to explain to him that Alice had been a bit down since she'd woken up. When Alice didn't immediately join them Carol called to her again, and Hatter felt his heart skip a beat when she replied.
Oh, dear sweet White Queen, how he'd missed her.
Their incessant good-natured bickering, her laugh, the annoyed huffs she gave when he gave her a cheeky reply or played with his hat...
She didn't look all that excited as she appeared around the corner, and his heart clenched in fear for a second – had he misunderstood? But when she raised her head and saw him his fears dissoveld away. To his immense relief, her face broke into a brilliant smile. He heard her half shout-half gasp his name, and next thing he knew he was having the life hugged out of him by an armful of Alice. He grinned like an idiot, and the only thought going through his mind was 'Finally!'. Alice turned her head so her mouth was by his ear, hot breath tickling his neck.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," she whispered.
He couldn't agree more.