"You need to sign here, here, here, initial here and here, and then sign again here," a young woman in a lab coat – most likely a scientist, John noted – instructed, pointing to the slots with a slightly chewed on pen. Her hair was a dirty blonde and a tad messy, but she was pretty nonetheless.
John stared incredulously at the sheets of paper the aforementioned woman gestured to, a slightly exasperated expression crossing his face. Since when did joining these things require so much paperwork? He was quite exhausted already from the mental and physical health exams, why could he not just be deemed fit and sent to start this…wonderland project. But alas, John Watson had the worst of luck.
In all honestly, John did not really know what he was getting into; his information consisted of the general history and synopsis of the experiment and the idea he had that this experiment would be the adventure he had longed for since his forced retirement from the war. The lack of information did not really matter to John, he longed for excitement, and this would, hopefully, provide it.
His hands shook slightly as he gripped the pen the woman handed to him – this one was not chewed on, thankfully – but whether it was from excitement or nerves, he did not know. Narrowing his eyes to better read at least the title of the paper, he noticed a curious little pattern: the blanks lined up in such a way that it appeared to create rabbit ears. Considering the entire operation was entitled "Operation Wonderland" it was appropriate.
While John was penning his name dozens of times – okay, not dozens, but still, signing your name over and over got tedious - his eyes flickered to the woman. She stood there silently; her nose buried in a notebook as she wrote short, quick notes. Curious, he wondered, but shook it off.
Once the woman noticed John was finished, she snatched it out of his hands, giving John a paper cut or two. He was a tad bit miffed; she could have at least been nicer about it!
"Mr. Watson, follow me."
"Doctor. Doctor Watson," corrected John, slightly irked. He detested when people forgot he was a doctor; just because he was discharged from the war for injuries did not equate him no longer being a doctor.
"I apologize, Dr. Watson." The fact that she had a sarcastic tone on the word doctor did not escape John's notice. "Now, come with me, we're heading to the lab. Please note that your codename is now Alice and will answer to such when in the J.A.B.B.E.R." She spun on her heel and walked into the hallway, not waiting for John.
John sighed, rubbing his temples with his index fingers. "Alice, really, Alice?" he murmured to himself, before following the scientist out into the hallway.
The hallway the woman had led him to John found to be poorly lit too long for his leg to walk quickly. Unmarked metal doors lined the two walls, with an occasional groan or banging noise emitting from them. As they walked, John and the scientist, the sounds turned to screams; John was actually right in front of a door as the loudest scream by far came out of it.
Much to John's chagrin, he screamed. The woman only gave him a condescending look, which angered John.
"I wasn't scared, you know? I was in Afghanistan. It only startled me."
"They weren't real. We just put those in to scare the newbies," she stated, her tone giving away how amused she was by John's outburst. "Now come on, let's get you into what Anderson likes to call 'Home Base.' Anderson is kind of a douche," the woman smiled softly at this, something that did not escape John's notice. "But it's just the control room where we work and you and the others get inserted into Wonderland"
John tried to stifle a grin at the rather professional scientist woman using the word douche, so instead he opted to stick his tongue out at her behind her back, still a little miffed at the woman attempting to scare him like that. He gripped his cane tighter in an effort to catch up to the scientist, excitement beginning to creep in.
"Now, in Wonderland you'll have a partner. Yours is codename Hatter. Please, try not to piss him off. He's the best mind we've got here."
Lucky for John, they had arrived at the control room; his leg was beginning to bother him. The woman pulled on the handle, opening the door to reveal a technological haven. Rows upon rows of men and women hunched over computers, cups of coffee and notebooks greeted John. His eyes flickered everywhere, not quite sure where to begin looking, but ten odd looking machines lined against the left wall caught his attention. "Those must be the J.A.B.B.E.R.s," John observed, not quite speaking to anyone in particular.
"Everyone, may I have your attention? This is Dr. John Watson, also known as codename Alice, he will be working with us until further notice."
John was only greeted by the backs of heads, but nevertheless he gave an awkward smile and a wave to those who did glance up at him. The scientist strode away from him, distracted by some other task, leaving John alone with disinterested strangers. Lovely.
He leaned heavily on his cane – a nervous habit of his – glancing around in hopes of someone telling him what the hell he was supposed to do. Fortunately, an angel in the form of a man came to his rescue.
"Hmm, Dr. Watson, you must be my new partner. My last partner wouldn't cooperate; hopefully you'll be better than him. I'm Sherlock Holmes by the way, codename Mad Hatter. I don't know why they call me that. I wear scarves for God's sake!"
John nodded at the man before him, almost awestruck simply by his mannerisms and voice. Sherlock commanded attention in a room, but seemed to have a sense of intelligence and adventure about him, immediately drawing John in. Hopefully, John would enjoy working with Sherlock.
"Funny, I pictured my new partner a bit…taller."
Never mind, then.