The Ladybug's Cream Cake

Disclaimer: I own nooooooooothing. If you recognize it as a copyrighted character or name or whatnot, the people who own and control the copyright own it. If I owned 'em, would I be writing fanfic about 'em? Lol. This is a fluffy piece but there's some cursing, a bit of mentions of dark stuff, and some smooshy romance stuff… This is based on a prompt by vanilla212 on new_wonderland. Hope you enjoy!

The hulk of the Scarab lay on it's side, rusting a bit where the paint had chipped away, the cage twisted and mangled, itself several feet away, the chain dragging like a severed umbilical cord. Alice felt her stomach churn just seeing it. She took a hesitant step towards the dark monstrosity, the smell of the oiled metal and dry wood filling her nose, her vision clouding as she remembered her first ride in one—her only ride, thankfully. Her breath felt heavy, hard, and she felt anger and fear rise in her breast.

"Oy, Alice."

Like a snap, it was all gone. The Scarab was just a rusting, sad thing, the cage a ruined pile of debris. "Sorry, got…distracted."

Hatter grinned, pushing his hat back out of his eyes as he tugged on her sleeve. "Let's go, yeah? The tickets are for the next ride up."

She let him tug her into line behind a rather tall woman with bright red hair and her partner, a short man who reminded Alice forcibly of a duck. "Are you sure this is safe?"

"Safe as houses," he pronounced, his smile so wide that Alice was sure his cheeks must ache. "At least that's what they're saying." Wonderland was experiencing something of a renaissance, it seemed, since the overthrow of the Queen of Hearts and her court. There were some pockets, here and there, of her supporters and rumors abounded of midnight prison breaks or bribed guards and special tea slipped to the chancellor to allow her release but, thus far, she was still in jail. Still angry. And, ironically, mad as a hatter. The line inched forward and the couple before them stepped into the gilded gondola and allowed a brightly clad former Spade to snap them into the restraints. Alice and Hatter were next. They were ushered into the silvery gondola suspended next to the golden one and buckled in, the straps silken and heavily embroidered with flowers and birds. Alice barely stifled a giggle as the conveyance lurched upwards, sending them swinging, making the two gondolas clack together for a minute until they steadied. "What' so funny?"

"The carriers," she giggled. "Two round, shiny carriers…hanging under the Ladybug…shaped like balls…"

Hatter's eyes grew wide and his cheeks turned pink but Alice caught the hint of a smile tugging at his lips as he turned away to look out over the rebuilding Wonderland. "Really, Alice! Grow up!"

"Ner." She giggled again and turned her attention to the Lady Bug coming up behind them. Painted glittering ruby red with smoked-glass spots, it too carried two round gondolas but she managed to keep her comments to herself as they climbed over the treetops and peeled off, away from the following bug and towards what Hatter referred to as his "home turf." "So how is Wonderland divided up? Cities? States? Or is it a state in a larger country?"

He wrinkled his nose and shrugged. "It's just Wonderland. We're going to the lower levels, though. It's where I grew up. Not… not a pleasant place, last time I was there."

"Then why go back?"

"High hopes." Hatter shifted his gaze to her and shrugged. "Maybe since Jack…sorry, I mean King Jack or whatever he's called now is spiffing up the rest of the lot, the Warrens will have a bit of shine on them."

Alice raised a brow but said nothing, instead choosing to look out of the silvery gondola's filigree sides and see if she could spot places she had been during her one previous visit to Wonderland. The Lady Bug was almost silent, the pilot (iDriver? Steering guy? Captain? /i Alice frowned. i Pilot sounds safer. /i) steering them towards the towering cluster of building that seemed to be one of the main hubs of civilization in the land, away from the broken casino, sticking out on the horizon like rows of shattered teeth. "Did Jack say what they're going to do with the casino now?"

Hatter shifted uncomfortably, forcing himself to look away from the ruined place and down at his hands where they rested on his knees. "He said they wanted to make it a museum. Sounds like a house of horrors to me."

"A museum of the Queen's reign?"

"Sort of a reminder of how power corrupts," Hatter murmured. "I told him it was a daft idea."

Alice gnawed on her lower lip gently for a moment before saying, just as softly as he had, "When we get back to my side of the world, remind me to tell you about the forties." The remainder of the ride was a quiet one, each looking out of their own side of the gondola, watching Wonderland pass beneath them. Alice hadn't realized how far off her thoughts were, remembering her only other visit, until the Lady Bug jolted to a stop, massive metal clamps taking hold of the shell and guiding them into what looked like a bus bay but larger, lined with the multi-colored Ladybugs and their gondolas. Passengers were stepping out of the metallic carriers and onto wide, tiled walkways that looked a bit Art Deco to her but made Hatter mutter "bleedin' daft Jack" under his breath. He didn't seem very upset, though, more…amused, she decided. She took his silently proffered arm and joined the throng of people heading towards the exits. "Do you know which one we need?"

"Here," he nodded, nudging her towards a set of green glass doors that few people seemed to be using. A tastefully lettered brass plaque above the exit read bLower Levels: Tea, Sympathy and Cream Cakes/b. Hatter slid Alice a sideways glance and tightened his grasp on her hand; she wasn't sure if it was for her reassurance or his own. "I don't have parents for you to meet but you can see where I grew up. Mostly."

"Lead the way," she smiled, feeling an odd thrill of excitement. She had known, when they left her world what seemed like ages ago but was really just a handful of hours, that Wonderland had changed. That was the entire reason for their visit, after all—they were to attend a special state dinner to honor Hatter, something he denied would happen but Alice knew better. Jack wouldn't lie about something like that. Hatter's work for the Resistance had been vital, no matter what the man himself claimed. As he lead her up the wide, green-tiled steps and through the green glass doors, Alice considered their outing. "When did you leave the lower levels?"

"Capitals, dearest. Lower Levels." He looked both ways before stepping onto the narrow, cobbled streets.

Alice had the fleeting through that Jack's improvement scheme seemed to stop at the edges of this place: it was darker, due to it's being one of the older established dwelling places in Wonderland, other, newer places built atop it, stretching towards the sky. People seemed a bit less likely to smile at a stranger there and several, she noticed, automatically checked her exposed flesh for Oyster marks. Hatter seemed excited, darting across the crooked lane, practically dragging her behind him as he headed on a diagonal for a rather shabby looking storefront. Set along the row facing the Ladybug depot (a place, Hatter informed her, that once housed the Scarabs), the shop was one of many that seemed to once cater to tourists. Faded posters for various attractions dotted the windows, along with torn ones which had once declared rules under the Queen of Hearts. A rather rude bit of graffiti marred the large poster that seemed particularly resistant to tearing. Hatter noticed none of it as he led Alice through the dirty glass door of the shop and paused. "Still smells like I remember," he sighed.

Cautiously, Alice inhaled. "A tea shop," she said. "I mean, a ireal /i tea shop! Not…um, well, not…"

"Not like my old one," he agreed, not seeming the least big offended. "Here!" He pulled out a chair for her at the nearest table and she sat, too taken by his sudden, boyish enthusiasm to point out the dirty place setting or the dirty limerick carved into the wooden table top. Hatter practically skipped to the counter and placed a rapid-fire order with the mole-like woman at the till. "Oy," he called, pausing halfway back to the table, "the igood/i cakes! I know the difference, you know!"

"Come here often?" Alice asked, half-teasing, as he sat down across from here.

"Was my first job," he admitted, grinning. "I lived at the foundling home down the lane and this were the first place I worked when I was old enough."

"How old was that?"

He shrugged. "Not sure of the years. Still not. Maybe seven? Eight? Grizzie, the old bat in charge of the home, figured me to be 'bout two when I turned up on the steps so we just went with it."

Alice didn't get a chance to reply; the counter woman brought a dented tray to their table and plunked it down without ceremony. "'ere's yer tea an' cream cakes." She paused. "Hatter, don't you think I don't recognize you! I just don't care." She sniffed. "So there's that."

"I love you too, DeeDee."

Alice raised a brow. "What's that about?"

"She never did forgive me for quitting when I was 'bout eighteen."

She nearly choked on the first sip of her (admittedly very good) tea. "You worked here for eleven years?"

"Well, off and on." Hatter sipped his own tea then and closed his eyes, smiling in pleasure. "Took odd jobs on the side to make ends meet. " In a slightly louder voice, he added, "DeeDee is a skinflint on the wages!"

"Maybe if you'd worked harder!" came the muffled response from the kitchen behind the counter.

Alice snorted. "So why did you bring me here, Hatter?" She sipped the tea again and added, "Though if you tell me it's just for the tea, I can accept that. This is amazing—and I'm not usually so hot on tea."

"You wound me, darling. And no, it wasn't just for the tea. Though I did miss it." He set the cup down carefully and opened his eyes. "I wanted you to see what Wonderland was. What it could be." He paused and added, "You know, just in case you don't decide I'm more trouble than I'm worth."

"Don't get maudlin on me," she ordered, oddly touched and flushing a bit. "Why would I decide that?"

"I dunno." He took another sip of his tea and said, with a wicked glint in his eye, "Maybe I'll get tired of you first."

"As if."

He laughed, loud and sharp, at that. "You're right. There's no chance of that. I knew, when I saw you in that wet dress, you'd have a Hell of a time shaking me."

Alice stirred her tea, not looking up at him as she asked, "Which time?"

"Which time what?"

"Which time in the wet dress? That happened twice."

He chuckled. "I'll let you wonder." He ducked his head until he met her eyes and he gave her a cheeky grin. "I'll also let you wonder about just how much that wet dress showed off when you came sauntering into my private quarters at the shop."

"Pervert." She wasn't mad, though, and he knew it.

"And you love it." For a sharp moment, electricity seemed to dance between them and Alice wondered just what would have happened if she hadn't fallen through the Looking Glass after Jack, if she had married Jack instead of leaving Wonderland later, if she had… "Alice? You look lost."

"No, I'm fine. Just wondering if Wonderland is going to keep changing. If it's going to, I don't know get better…"

"Places like the Warrens, where we are? Not really. Places like this rarely change much. But the upper levels…Sure. It's already happening." He took a long draught of his tea and reached for the chipped porcelain pot to pour more. "Down here, though… down here, people forget places like this exist. And people from down here…we rarely hold out hope for change."

"Rarely?"

"Well," he admitted after a long moment. "I had always hoped to meet someone like you."

"Liar." She smiled then, and eyed the plate of cream cakes. "You never even thought about meeting someone like me."

"Sure I did. A beautiful girl, strong minded, funny, smart…able to kick my ass if she needed to."

"Okay, well, I'll give you that." They both laughed then, drawing a glare from DeeDee. "I didn't know that I wanted someone like you until…well, until here."

"Charming, handsome, witty and smart?"

"Sure," she said, pausing, teasing. "Let's say that."

"Oy!"

"Oy yourself." She glanced at the large clock on the wall and frowned. "How do you read that? It's backwards?"

"So time doesn't run out," Hatter said as if she should have known that all along. "It's almost time to head for the palace. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." She stood and glanced down at the plate of cakes. "I think you're wrong, though, about people from places like this. I think they're wanting it to change."

"Oh? Why?"

She picked up a cake and held it out. It was shaped like a ladybug. "Because they made the Ladybug cream cakes."