A/N: At the end of the original series, we can clearly see on Alice's forearm that the Oyster tattoos vanished when they were all sent back through the mirror. I couldn't help but think, though, how weird it would be if they really were permanent. ^_^ This little AU/What If? Ficlet was born out of that. Enjoy!
Alice somehow managed to convince her mother that she'd gotten it the week before on a drunken night with the girls, and had been hiding it ever since while gathering the courage to confess. Carol was skeptical, to say the least ("But the dress you wore that night, wasn't it sleeveless? I could have sworn…"), but what other explanation was there? Alice just shrugged and apologized until Carol dropped the issue with a roll of her eyes and a "Well, if you can hide it that well from your own mother, I guess I don't have to worry about it ruining your future career…" Which, you know, would have made wonderful sense if it were true. As it was, Alice just made a mental note to invest in a good concealer and some long-sleeved shirts.
Honestly, when she woke up in the hospital, she didn't know whether to feel disappointed or relieved to find the leafy Oyster tattoo still curling its way across her skin. For one thing, it proved beyond a doubt that everything she had done, everything she had seen and discovered and loved -- wasn't just all in her head. She hadn't dreamed it up in some coma, it was real.
On the other hand (no pun intended), she knew that this little souvenir was something she'd have to explain away for the rest of her life.
The tattoos developed other repercussions as well. Within weeks of their return, the news began to take notice of the "tattoo phenomenon" – and how could they not? All of sudden, long-lost relatives began reappearing out of nowhere, each of them branded with the same leafy mark. It baffled police, journalists, friends and family alike as people years presumed dead or missing mysteriously returned with a strange tattoo and a story they couldn't tell.
It didn't take long for rumors of a cult to break out, and then for the returning Oysters to be targeted by those determined to find out where they had been, whispering of conspiracy theories and assassination plots. And while all this was happening, Alice thought to herself, This was probably something we should have considered, and wore a lot of sweatshirts.
As it turned out, they had a lucky break. Not all of the Oysters that she had rescued from the Casino had been housewives and postal workers. Some of them, like her father had been, were well-respected figures in their field, most notably being a dermatologist named Dr. Noah Montez. Dr. Noah, before his abduction, had held a lucrative position in Hollywood performing skin treatments for celebrities, including scar and tattoo removal. Since his return, he had managed to contact almost every single Oyster via email with an offer to remove their tattoo for a heavily discounted fee if they wanted those days behind them. Those who had received the brand on public places (like their faces or necks) could have the procedure done for free. Alice wondered at his generosity, but Hatter figured that he, like the rest of them, just wanted to forget that the whole ordeal had ever happened.
"So what do you think?" he asked, sitting down next to her at her computer and taking her hand. He turned it over so that her forearm could be easily seen, tattoo shining up from her pale skin like a beacon. He traced a finger along the edges, drifting lazily across her skin and raising a trail of goosebumps. "Do you wanna get rid of this ol' thing?"
Alice frowned. There had been many a night where she had worn a short-sleeved dress only to have it puddled around her ankles before they could leave the apartment. He told her once that it reminded him of how they met, and how now he could do everything with her that he'd wanted to do then, and it put him in the mood to, you know… and then he'd take her hand and breathe a kiss onto her neck, and well, she was only human.
"I thought you liked it," she said.
"I do," he confirmed earnestly. "But, you know, it wasn't your choice to get… branded. It was forced on you, you shouldn't feel obligated to keep it if you don't want. And besides," he added, looking smug, "You've got me, and I'm pretty much the be-all, end-all of souvenirs."
Alice rolled her eyes in faux-exasperation, but let Hatter kiss her temple as he rose and headed toward the kitchen. She glanced down at her mark briefly before covering it back up with her sleeve. It was tea time. Decisions could wait.
..
In the end, Alice made the decision without knowing that she had. It was only several months later that she realized it.
..
"I guess you decided to keep it after all," he said, lying in bed with her one night and running his fingers absently along the forearm resting against his chest. He meant it as an innocuous comment, a stray thought spoken aloud in that dusky, curious time of the night when words are spoken without a care, without a thought. He didn't really expect Alice to say anything about it. He wasn't asking for anything.
But the words had been thrown into the world and stuck there. Alice felt something come alive in her head, like a string being plucked, and an avalanche of understanding surrounded her senses like a flood.
"It's a reminder of who I was then," she mumbled, the words seeming to come from the back of her mind and arriving at her lips without plan. "It reminds me of what I did and what I… what I proved that I could be. I don't…"
She fell quiet, her breathing slow and calm, belying the flurry of thought going on underneath. She took so long to speak again that Hatter thought she had drifted off to sleep. It startled him when she suddenly curled her hand into a fist, her eyes fixed resolutely on the tainted skin rippling above delicate, shifting tendons.
"I don't want to forget those things. I don't want to forget how that experience changed my life, and I don't want to go back to who I was before. We grow up, you know… we do. We age and we change and we move on, and we have to make compromises about who we are." A look of certainty settled over her face, wrinkling her brow and sparkling her eyes. "But if there's one thing I never, ever want to give up, it's who I am. And what I did, and that I've seen wonderful, magical things and I've fallen in love and it all meant something more than just an adventure."
Hatter didn't say anything. He kissed the top of her head and softly breathed in the smell of her hair, stroking his thumb across the swell of her arm flung across his chest. Alice allowed his unspoken comfort, closing her wild eyes and taking a deep breath. "No," he sighed, "You will never be normal. You will never fade away and lose who you are, and if you're afraid of that, then I… you shouldn't be. I'm proud of you."
She flushed, and Hatter knew it was out of embarrassment over an emotional outburst over something so silly. "Thank you," she mumbled into his chest.
He grinned. "And anyways," he said, determined to lighten the mood somewhat, "you won't hear me complaining… You know I think it's dead sexy."
Alice snorted. Hatter looked down at her, a teasing tilt to his lips. He reached for her forearm and pressed it to his lips, his eyes closed and breathing in as though trying to memorize the feeling. Alice swallowed the lump beginning to form in her throat.
Hatter drew away, still smiling, and looked her straight in the eyes. "You sure you don't mind keeping this old thing around? It could get you into trouble." Alice grinned wide enough to match his, her tongue between her teeth. (She should have known he'd end up bringing the whole thing around to himself.)
"I've made my choice," she said simply, answering questions asked and unasked. And she never looked back.
..