Alice woke up with a start.

When had she dozed off?

She blinked against the darkness. She sniffed a bit.

Yep, she was still in that stinking barn.

She was such a sound sleeper. She wondered what had woken her up. She was in the middle of cutting off her rope when she'd nodded off.

Alice looked down at her handy work. She was close to done. And then she sensed someone's presence again. Her heartbeat accelerated. Her gut was trying to tell her something, it could be two things. Someone was either going to harm her or save her. And she couldn't think any more harm could come to her, given her predicament. So it had to be the other.

It had to.

She was trying to be brave, but she was sick of this. Sick of being isolated in a chair, away from her husband. Sick of Bates's inappropriate caresses. He'd even struck her today when she'd called him a bastard.

She just wanted to be done with this ordeal.

She pulled at the partially cut ropes, tugging them viciously. And they actually

came undone. Goodness gracious, she'd done it. She quickly bent to unknot the one binding her legs.

The man who was to guard her stirred, mumbling sleepily. Alice froze.

And then she heard another snore. She exhaled.

She stood up, rubbing her sore wrists together. Alice gingerly lifter her soiled skirts and stepped over the man.

Where was the exit again?

It was so dark, she couldn't make out anything.

She heard the door creak open and saw a man entering in. She quickly hid, squatting behind a heap of straw. As he made his way into the barn, Alice ran out of the door, careful to keep quite. She was looking this way and that to see if anyone was out and about when she heard the man swear loudly.

"Wake up, you! She got away," he shouted, making sure every one in that area could hear him.

Almost instantly, the entire house was awake.

Alice picked up her skirts and ran as fast as she could. She didn't know where she was heading. All she knew was that she had to get away from this place.

It seemed like Bates had brought her to the country because all she saw as she ran were miles and miles of land. Not a house, not a person about.

She knew she didn't have much time.

Although she couldn't make out much because of the lack of light, it gave her the advantage of not being seen by anyone easily all the same.

She finally reached some sort of road, hope bloomed in her chest. She didn't know where it would lead her to. But stopping was not an option.

She had walked pretty far, but then she saw a large figure approaching her from the opposite direction.

Oh lord. It was him.

Bender.

If Bender was here, where was Ralph?

Alice choked on a sob and she turned around and began to run again.

No, it couldn't be.

She ran, her tears blinding her. She heard someone shout something from behind her, but the ringing sounds in her ears were louder.

And then, "Alice!"

She skipped a beat.

"Alice wait! It's me, Ralph."

She stopped in her tracks. Alice turned around slowly, unable to believe it.

Her husband was finally here to rescue her. He'd keep her safe.

Most of all, he was safe. They ran towards each other, not caring about what happened around them.

"Oh Ralph!" She bellowed, running into his arms.

"Alice, my sweet, I was so worried," he whispered, burying his face in her hair as he held her to him.

Ralph could never put into words the acute relief that he felt when he held Alice in his embrace.

"You found me," she whispered.

"How could I not? I love you," he said seriously.

Alice's lips parted and her eyes misted. He knew this wasn't the most romantic of situations. But she was here and she was alive and he had to tell her.

"I know," she finally smirked.

Ralph almost laughed. His sassy wife was back. She was alright.

"You're going to pay for that," he grinned before bending his head to give her a sound kiss. He wanted to assure himself that his Alice was safe, that she had survived. The last two days had been hell. He was actually grateful to Bender for coming at them. Otherwise Ralph wouldn't have been able to find her.

He would've loved to continue, but that annoying swine Bender began bleating about something, ruining the moment.

Ralph hesitantly turned around to find Wolf looking everywhere but at them while Bender stared quite shamelessly.

He put a protective arm on Alice.

"Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

Alice shook her head.

And the sun began to rise, painting the sky a beautiful violet. But he didn't give a damn about the sky. Because his gaze was fixed on Alice's mouth.

Her lip was torn and her right cheek was swollen. There was dried blood right from the edge of her lips to the end of her chin.

"Who did this?" He asked, his voice low, his fingers tracing her cheek, careful not to hurt her. He already knew the answer but he had to ask.

"George Bates," she said, looking angry.

Ralph's jaw tightened, he was going to kill him, it was just that simple.

Betraying the crown and being an arsehole was one thing, but abducting his wife and striking her was quite another.

He couldn't speak, if he did, it would scare Alice. And she needed comfort now.

"How did you find me?" she asked, tugging at his collar, trying to distract him sensing his rage.

He lead her to the unlikely duo standing a few feet away from them.

"Bender here was kind enough to lead us," Ralph smiled sarcastically at the handcuffed brute who just growled.

"He was trying to kill Ralph. He didn't stand a chance," Wolf put in, speaking for the first time since their little reunion while Bender rolled his eyes.

Alice giggled, she didn't know why.

And then the inevitable happened.

"Hand her over to me, Orford. She belongs to me."