Star Trek in Wonderland
A/N: The observant reader may notice that I'm taking some pretty big liberties with, ya know, the general universe and continuity and all that… Well, it's an Alice in Wonderland story, and the first rule of Wonderland is "fuck your continuity". And if it's not, well it damn well should be. Keep that in mind. *maniacal laughter for twenty minutes*
Also, it should be noted that there is some Kirk/Spock stuff because it's important to the plot and because I chose to make it so. Also there is some Sulu/Chekov because I find that pairing incredibly hot and so I'm going to shoehorn it in wherever I can and no one can stop me, bwahaha! Also there is a surprise villain pairing that is… um… I have no words. Just go with it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek, I do not own Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (which is the one I based this fic off of because I adore that movie) and I don't own the script that I used either to move the plot in the correct direction, or sometimes to take direct quotes from the movie (I found it on IMDB in case anyone was wondering).
Prologue: The Fever
When Spock was a very young child, he contracted a terrible fever that left him bedridden for many months. His mother, the Lady Amanda, sought to comfort her suffering son by reading fairy tales to him while he lay in his bed, sometimes nearly delirious with a fever that somehow could not be fought off by his half-human, half-Vulcan physiology.
Sarek didn't approve of his wife reading such absurd tales to the boy, and they argued about it more than once. Spock had only vague memories of these arguments afterwards.
"There's no harm in reading these stories. They comfort him. He's only a little boy."
"He is old enough to be able to stave off the worst effects of the illness through meditation."
"They're only stories."
"They will fill his head with absurdities."
"Is it really logical to deny your son the one thing that's soothed him over the last few weeks?"
In the end, Amanda won the argument. Or she just went behind Sarek's back and read the stories while he was gone. Spock was never entirely sure on that point. It didn't really matter.
His mother's favorite book to read to him was Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. She was under the impression that this was Spock's favorite book as well, but he didn't know why she thought that. He actually found the book to be strange and absurd, and he had very little patience for it. But he would have listened to anything in the world if his mother was the one reading it, for it was her voice rather than the words she was speaking that proved to be the balm for his fevered brain.
In point of fact, Alice's adventures in Wonderland proved a source of confusion for the young half-Vulcan. There was no rhyme or reason to the story or the characters. But something in this absurdity must have caught his fevered brains' attention, for he dreamed of Wonderland for many nights, confusing and strange dreams filled with colors and noise and a complete lack of logic. The dreams were soothing while he slept, but when he lay awake, he fretted over them endlessly, wondering if such illogical dreams meant he was going quite mad.
One evening, when his mother sat down to read to him again, Spock finally plucked up the courage to ask her that dreaded question.
"Mother… do you think this fever has made me… mad?"
"Mad, my dear? As in angry?"
"No. The other definition."
"Why would you ask such a thing?" Amanda asked gently.
"Because I have been having the most appalling dreams recently and I believe they have been brought on by the fever."
"Tell me about the dreams."
"I fall down a dark hole, and I come out in an absurd world populated with the most illogical creatures…"
"Just like Alice?" Amanda asked with a smile.
"I suppose," Spock agreed.
Amanda placed her hand on her son's forehead. He always felt warm to her, but it was clear that his body temperature was still much higher than normal. "Well if that's the case, then yes, I suspect you have gone mad. Bonkers. Off your head. But I'll tell you a secret, my love… all the best people are." She kissed her son's forehead gently. "They're only dreams, my darling. They will go away when you're well. Nothing can harm you in a dream after all. But if you become too uncomfortable in there, you can always wake yourself up with a quick pinch, like this," she said, pinching his arm lightly.
He brushed her hand off his arm. "A physical stimulus to achieve cognitive awareness… fascinating."
Amanda laughed. "You must be feeling better already."
A few days later, Spock's fever broke and, just as Amanda had predicted, he was no longer troubled by those absurd dreams. Soon he had quite forgotten that they had ever happened.
Several years later, Amanda was killed in an avalanche. As was the Vulcan way, Spock kept up the appearance of stoicism, even though inside he felt as though his heart were breaking into pieces.
After the funeral, Sarek asked Spock to look through Amanda's things and pick a few mementos. As Spock searched for something that could adequately remind him of how much Amanda had meant to him, he came across that old book…Alice in Wonderland. He stared at the faded red cover for several minutes, remembering the happiness he had felt when Amanda had read to him. But something troubled him about this book… He could not quite recall why he should feel that way though. Finally he gave up, putting the book away into a box to be stored, and he did not think about the book again for many more years.
A/N: I know this is really short, but I didn't want to drag it out or really start in on the meat of the fic just yet. Think of it as a teaser. Next chapter will be posted... soon.