Chapter Text
In all the years Alice had spent in Wonderland, she had never before seen the dreaded Queen.
The resistance hadn’t trusted her out of their sight, keeping her hidden in the Library and dragging her only to events away from the Queen’s notice. The Queen of Hearts was a childhood figure of terror, less real than the imposing figures she eventually escaped from, perhaps. The Queen was the boogeyman the children at the Library whispered stole your feelings and replaced them with weak and bitter teas, lurking in the shadows to rob you of your very heart if you weren’t careful.
And Charlie, bless his poor paranoid heart, hadn’t been much better, telling a child rich, bloody tales of beheadings before bed each night.
So the woman striding forward on the hilltop outside the Heart Casino surprised Alice, for she was hardly the figure of terror the Resistance and Charlie had made her out to be. While there was more than a touch of madness to her, but few things lived in Wonderland without that sheen, and it hardly dampened the raw power that the woman exuded.
And the full brunt of that power was focused on Alice. “This is the creature that dares to defy me? This is nothing but a girl in borrowed armor. Another limp banner the Resistance against me waves meekly about.”
Hatter stepped forward. “This is Alice.” He called out, and Alice held a hand against his chest, half afraid him mad enough to launch himself at the Queen, surrounded by a full legion of guards.
“So she carries a name of legend,” The Queen scoffed. “And I see you’ve tipped your hat for the final time, young Hatter. Or have you forgotten what happened to your predecessor?”
Hatter swallowed, but remained at Alice’s side.
The Queen turned her attention to her son, clearly dismissing the other two. “You have far shinier playthings at the Casino, Jack. Whatever lies this creature has told you-”
A clamor rose up on the hillside as a small group of poorly dressed but well armed city dwellers made their way towards the gathering. Caterpillar was not among their ranks, and it seemed Dodo and his shotgun were leading the ranks. Owl’s face was still bruised from Alice’s strike the day before, her small eyes fixed with a particular hate at Alice and not on the Queen.
The Queen began sputtering, obviously livid at the sight of the leaders of the Resistance daring to show their faces before her. “Don’t just stand there, men— off with their heads!”
The guards moved towards the Resistance, but before they could take more than a few steps forward, Dodo and Owl raised their shotguns, leveling them steadily upon the Queen herself. The Queen’s loyal men in feel in rank around their monarch, aiming their own weapons at the Resistance.
It seemed all hell was to break loose on the field, and there was little anyone could do to stop it. A bloodbath worthy of one of Charlie's nighttime stories, only this time good seemed unlikely to prevail against two forces so determined to kill each other off.
But at precisely ten minutes past the dawn, Alice could make out a familiar glittering figure, making her way down from the casino. And at her side, Alice could just make out a portly yet equally familiar figure.
Alice smiled. The Duchess had come through after all, just as they had planned. Now, it was time for phase two.
“Is that who I think it is?” Hatter whispered into her ear. “How did you manage that?”
“Sometimes it takes knowing the right people.” Alice supplied with a grin. “Keep an eye on him, please?”
Hatter nodded. “Although if he’s anything like his daughter, I’m sure he can take care of himself.”
“Thank you,” Alice closed her eyes, then raised her sword as high into the air as she could.
“TO THE PRINCE!” She shouted, waving the sword in a slow circle. Her voice boomed out across the field, the acoustics adding enough power to rise above the shouting of royals and resistance.
And as if sprouting from the hills themselves, an army rose, casting off their robes of grass and bush, quickly folding in around the two opposing forces.
They were armed with simple tools of their trade, these men and women from the edges of the Wonderland tales, but it was the lack of fear in their hearts that proved the strongest weapon. At their heart was a white crowned man who himself came from the edge of the tales, a former lowly squire who found himself the last to carry on the legacy of the Knights of Wonderland.
You could always count on Charlie. She had asked him to rouse a small army, but it seemed the man had outdone himself.
The Queen pushed her way through her guards, her eyes boring hard on Alice. “I see what this is. You seek to topple me from my throne? Take it for yourself?” Her face was every bit the nightmare snarl the children of the Library had described.
But it was not Alice who spoke next, but the arriving Duchess. “The people of Wonderland have spoken. The time for fear has past, and we will find a new legacy with the hope of Wonderland on the throne.”
“What?” The Queen was clearly shocked her own creature could rise against her. “You could not possibly stand against me! You haven't got it in you!”
“You made one mistake, my Queen," The Duchess continued her slow procession to stand beside Jack. "You may have stripped most of my emotions when you molded me into your Duchess, and while you were careful to keep the same fear you fostered in the hearts of all your pawns, you forgot to rid me of that inconvenient emotion of love.”
The Queen’s face hardened. “I made no mistake. I allowed you to keep that silly emotion for my son.”
The Duchess smiled. “And your son loves Wonderland. ”
The members of the Resistance began muttering to themselves. Alice stepped forward, watching as the group fell into a fearful silence at her approach. Once, she might have relished that hold over those who had held her captive... but now she felt only sadness that they were incapable of seeing that Wonderland was changing before them.
“And without the Queen on the throne, the members of the Resistance will find yourselves quite out of a job.”
“You can’t do this!” Dodo cried out, raising his shotgun towards Alice. “You were suppose to be on our side!”
“No,” Alice smiled as Charlie's clean shot knocked the shotgun from Dodo's hands. “I was only suppose to be on Wonderland’s.”
* * *
A week had past since Alice had last seen Hatter— between the celebration that had followed the crowning of Jack, the establishment of a new council to advise the young king on the concerns of the public, and her reunion with her often bewildered father still shrugging off the Queen’s meddling with his mind, Alice had lost track of him.
Wonderland was waking to a new age, and as the only Knight of the realm outside of Charlie, that left Alice tending to every crisis that seemed to develop.
It had taken a week for her to backtrack to his shop, but he hadn’t been within that dilapidated building. At loss as to where he had gone, Alice retraced her steps towards the edge of the treeline where she had first entered the forest all those years ago.
She wasn’t surprised to feel his breath against her ear not long after she arrived. “Now that the stone has returned to the looking glass, you can return home with your father.”
That’s true,” Alice didn’t turn to face him, keeping her eyes on those distant trees. “My father is eager to return.”
“And what about you?”
She turned at that, smiling at the conflicting emotions on his face. “Wonderland has been my home. I’m a Knight here… but I’ve no education or skills needed to survive in that world.”
Alice could see Hatter hold his breath-- they were standing close enough she could feel practically the absence of it, her neck tingling.
"But your family will be there.” He finally let it out, confusion dominating his eyes.
“Not all of them.” Alice admitted, smiling as realization dawned on his face. Good, it had taken him long enough to see what should have been obvious. “But my parents can always come visit. I want my father to come back and see all the good we’ve built here.”
Hatter lazily wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and Alice allowed her body to lean fully against his side. They fit comfortably against one another. “So you are finally admitting that Wonderland is home now, huh?”
Alice looked out on the trees that had saved her those many years ago and somehow had become more a home for her than she had ever realized. “I guess it always was.”