Smuts/One Shots

wonderland iii. (jh)

jefferson woke up to find harper not next to him. he was on his feet in instantly, about to call out for her, but took a breath of relief when he saw the girl watching the sun rise. the hatter went over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. she was also reading the letter from her mother again. jefferson whispered for her to stop worrying about it so much.

"c'mon, lets get going. snow's castle is a few hours that way." he pointed.

"what if they're not there? what if they're still in storybrooke? emma was." harper asked as she stood and they started walking.

"they're known to come back quite a bit, harp. lets hope we got lucky with when they decided to return." the hatter smiled.

most of their walk was in comfortable silence. they reached the front of the castle within three hours. it would have been two, but harper had to stop a few times to pee. the guards at the door asked who they were and what they were doing here. once harper said her name, they moved out of the couple's way and let them through. harper called out for snow while jefferson called out for david. the prince was the first to see them.

"jefferson? harper? what are you guys doing here?" david hugged them both.

"we need help. my mother is after me." harper said.

"who's your mother?" the prince asked.

"the queen of hearts. i didn't know until a few days ago when jefferson took me to wonderland. my eyes are the same color as hers." she explained.

david took them to snow. she was sitting in the ballroom, talking to the dwarves. they dispersed once they saw the mad hatter, harper, and david come in. snow bid them goodbye, but were already gone. snow smiled at them and got up to hug them both.

"harper needs help with her mother, the queen of hearts." david looked at his wife.

"what's she done? are you okay?" snow grew concerned.

"she's trying to force me to be sworn in as princess and take over for her so she can step down." harper whispered.

"she can't do that, is that not against the law in wonderland?" david looked over to jefferson.

"who knows what wonderland laws are now, the queen is no longer there. she left to deliver a letter to harper, and is now in storybrooke. we left so she couldn't take harper against her will." jefferson sighed.

the four of them sat around the table in the ballroom. harper couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. she looked around the room, as if she was admiring it, and spotted a small man crouched in the dark corner of the room. snow glanced to where she was looking and saw the person, too. david and jefferson were curious what the women were looking at, but not for long. the small man jumped out of the shadows and hurried towards harper. 

he was wearing a suit with red hearts on it.

harper jumped onto the table, jefferson pulled out a sword from his belt, snow and david did the same. the small man kept going, dodging their blades and jumping onto the table. he grabbed harper's wrist and tried to pull her off the table, but jefferson, snow, and david held her other arm so she wouldn't go anywhere.

"who are you?!" harper screamed.

"i've been ordered by the queen of hearts to bring you back to wonderland by any means necessary!" he hollered.

"she refuses to accept any royal position at this time! you cannot force someone back to wonderland who is not sworn into the royal family if they don't wish to go!" jefferson piped up.

"the laws have changed, hatter. the royal family has no choice. they are bound by blood." the man let her go and she rushed to stand behind jefferson.

"what is your name?" david questioned.

"the queen calls me chessy, and you can too, your highness." chessy bowed in front of harper.

jefferson's eyes widened. he remembered that name. he grew up with that name. the hatter stepped forward and eyed the man. he stopped as soon as he was on the table and towering over the small man. chessy didn't move, didn't breathe, didn't speak. he was nervous the hatter would recognize him for who he truly was and try to make friends again.

"you're the cheshire cat, aren't you?" jefferson cocked his head.

"hatter, don't. you have no idea what she'll do if she sees us." the cat lowered his voice.

"how are you a person if you were once a cat?" harper asked.

"the queen. she turned me to help her catch you. she thought if your boyfriend here saw me as me, he'd convince me to let you go." chessy sighed.

the cat explained everything to them. every question, he had an answer for. he repeated everything her mother said in the letter, and then some. jefferson felt bad for his friend, but that didn't mean he forgave him for going over to the queen's side so easily. what was he promised, cat nip?

"how did she get you to switch sides so easily, ches? you hated the queen." hatter needed to know.

"she promised me something i couldn't give up." he wouldn't look at jefferson, only at harper. 

snow and david didn't know what to do. they'd never even seen anyone from wonderland before jefferson. harper closed the space between them and whispered something in chessy's ear. the small man nodded and stepped back. he jumped off the table and scurried off. jefferson, david, and snow looked at harper confused.

"what did you say to him?" the hatter crossed his arms over his chest.

"he would've never left if you didn't agree to go back to wonderland." david reasoned.

"you didn't tell him you'd go, did you?" snow gasped.

"i told him i would speak to my mother. not that i would go back, but i would have a conversation with her and make her understand that this is not what i want. i was never born to rule. she's waiting in storybrooke, and she can keep waiting until we come up with a plan b in case she tries anything. if david and snow are still wanting to help?" harper turned to face them.

"of course we are, harper. let's figure this out." david nodded as they sat around the table again to come up a plan.