Falling Back Into Wonderland
Summary:
Wonderland hadn't been just an imaginary world in a old children's book. No, to me, Wonderland had been home, the only place orphans like me could call home. Despite the dilapidated building and the thin walls, it was our Wonderland. With the youngest- the Quints, the middle-aged- the Decks, and the oldest- the House, we made Wonderland our home, despite the illegal ways we did it.
Of course, everyone knows the story of Wonderland, and the rise of the Red Queen, bringing betrayal and pain across Wonderland.
I am a member of the House. I am one of two Wild Cards. I am the Cheshire and with the help of the other Wild Card, Alice, I aim to bring down the Queen herself.
I just never expected Alice, or Parker as she prefers it, to have found a new family to call her own.
Author's Note:
This plot is of my own creation. This might become an Eliot/OC fic later one in the story, but as of yet, I am unsure if it will go that way. This is my take on Parker's past, before she became one of the best thief's. In my story, she has used the name 'Alice' before 'Alice White' came to be. Cheshire, or C.J., is not perfect, but she is quick thinking and quick to react in a situation, but she does have her flaws. I do have a direction where this story is going and I hope that the readers take the time to read and review, let me know what you like about the story and what you feel may need improved upon. As I am not a thief, nor a con-artist, I am trying my best with the jobs and their descriptions. Thanks for taking the time to check out the story, and please leave a review!
Also, any text you read that is in THIS FONT is Cheshire/C.J. talking to 'you' the reader, as she is telling her story to you all, and the normal font is embellishment on the situation.
For future reference, music lyrics may be used later in the story, and in any case, the disclaimer will be posted at the end of each chapter it is used in.
Disclaimer:
I do not own Leverage, but C.J. and all other OC's in the story are of my own creation, as is the plot to the story.
Prologue
When the King Fell
My story starts during my teenage years. Raised in an orphanage, one that did not reside in the greatest of neighborhoods and did not have enough donations to support the fifteen of us children that lived within its dilapidated walls. Pushed to the extreme, we broke off into three teams of five and set off into the streets, each team designated with a goal.
Leaning against the wall next to the door, the dark green eyes of the young girl known as Cheshire watches in silence as the eldest of them all squats next to the five youngest kids. Their small, compact builds made it easy to slip through crowds unnoticed and their consistent innocent facial features made it easy to undermine the naivety of adults. Ace, Deuce, Trinity, Quatre and Quint were the best choice to act as pick-pockets and street rats. If they are unable to lift the money from an adult's wallet, then they were able to go so far as to appear innocent and in need of food. Cheers fill the air as the five youngest jump up from their seated positions and high five the eldest, the group of street rats rushing out of the room to get their newest marks.
"Do you ever think it is wrong of us to allow the young one's to partake in these activities?"
Hearing the question, Cheshire turns her gaze on the boy -almost on the verge of manhood- and she allows a small, sympathetic smile to stretch across her lips, "Is it so wrong to teach them ways of survival? None of us steal for our own benefit. We do our jobs for the better of Wonderland."
"I will never understand why you call that wreckage Wonderland of all places," he responds, shaking his head in a mix of amusement and dismay.
"Through the Looking Glass and Alice in Wonderland taught us to never take everything we see at face value. Everything we see, everything we believe, can be altered to fit our standards. We may not do what is right, but we do what needs to be done. This place might be falling apart at the seams, but it is the only place we can consider to be home," Her weight shifts at the surprised look she receives in turn, "What? Just because we are all bound to be the most jaded individuals doesn't mean we can't believe the bad things in our lives can't be a blessing in disguise."
Startled out of her speech by a hand gently resting on her shoulder, Cheshire glances back up to stare into the familiar eyes of King, who smiles warmly in response, "For how twisted Cheshire may have been, he always managed to show the lost the way through Wonderland."
The ebony-haired teen glances away as she feels her cheeks burn softly, unaccustomed to such displays of gratitude and sympathies, "Come on, you have to send out the others and I need to get with Jack and see about our next job."
"Be careful, Chess," King states, as she passes through the threshold of the door.
Glancing over her shoulder, she flashes a smirk, "There's a reason I'm a Wild Card, King. It's not me you need to worry about."
"Which makes me worry most."
Our days were quite normal, or at least what we considered normal. The Quints, or the youngest, would take to the early morning pedestrian traffic and pick pockets and lift expensive items we could pawn off, and The Deck, consisting of the next team of five, would take to the 'Rush Hour' in order to shop lift food and consumables we would need for the week. The House, consisting of Jack, Queen, King, Alice and myself, Cheshire -myself and Alice being pinned as Wild Cards- we would take to performing heists in broad daylight, when adults were at work and children were at school. We never took more than we needed, and we never left a trace of us ever being there.
Everything in our life was decent, considering the life we lived, until King made an announcement that would change everything.
"What do you mean you want to stop!?"
Cheshire glares at the blatant disrespect coating the words of the Queen, the eyes of Queen burning with self-righteous anger, "I wasn't aware your hearing needed checked, Queenie."
"Bite your tongue when talking to me," Queen snaps in return, "How does King expect us to survive this coming Winter if he wants us to stop pulling jobs?"
"Alright, you two, stop this arguing," King says, stepping between Cheshire and Queen, "Queen, I've managed to put away enough money to get the young ones placed in a decent orphanage," Cheshire looks up shocked, never realizing King had planned this all along, "The House can survive, we are old enough to adapt to our surroundings, we have lived through it all. The young ones deserve a chance to grow into society, not reside on the outskirts of it."
"We all know how rare it is for older kids to get adopted," Jack adds, his voice softer and more resonating, "The five of us will probably be kept in the system until we are no longer considered minors. We have always placed the needs and care of the Quints and the Deck before our own and there is no point in stopping that trend now."
"How can you even be sure they will be taken into decent homes!?" Queen shrieks, causing me to tense in viscous anger.
"We have to trust that they can accept being adopted, but also understand when the need to get out rises," Alice's soft, child-like voice replying, void of any real emotional turmoil at the news.
Cheshire flashes Alice a small smirk of gratitude, to which she nods stiffly in return. Alice had always been a girl of few words, angry at the world that had cast her aside into the darkness, she often kept to herself. Cheshire had gained the pleasure of managing to earn her respect, though Alice's trust had always been in limited supply.
"Look, this last job isn't for the Quints or the Deck. I have already saved enough up to get them transferred to another orphanage. This last job is for us, to sustain us for the foreseeable future," King states, causing all of them to turn their attention to him.
The team had never done a job for themselves, at least not for their own gain. Cheshire, of course, nods in agreement, willing to follow King until the end of time. Jack is the next to agree, followed closely by Alice, Queen only hesitating for a brief moment before agreeing as well. They all begin the Three Stages of a Heist.
First Stage, Jack and Cheshire pull some recon. Scoping out the penthouse apartment complex from the outside, Jack's nearly photographic memory useful when mapping out in and out schematics. She heads into the building, smiling brightly at the man behind the security desk. Managing to come off as a visiting relative of the people living in the penthouse suite under their mark, she swipes the key card before ascending in the elevator. Mentally mapping out the layout of the suite, Cheshire moves throughout the open space, taking notes of the windows and the three rooms, each suite containing a study room already built for the convince of the tenants.
Returning back to Wonderland, the five begin the Second Stage; Planning. King and Queen are quick to devise a way to get into the apartment complex, by getting the guard to swap out the key card Cheshire was given, with a card to the mark's room. Jack would stay ground level, in the side alley, to keep an eye out, in case the mark showed, or the police were in the area. Cheshire would go top-side with Alice, who would propel down the side of the building, and carry out the loot, with Cheshire keeping an eye in case anything goes amiss.
Naturally, for a heist thought up by a couple of teenagers, it was perfect. King and Queen could get in and out without being seen, Alice carrying the loot and exiting through the emergency exits, both of us meeting Jack in the side alley. The loot would never be seen as taken, believed to still be in the safe in the mark's study. It was perfect.
It all went wrong during Stage Three; Execution.
Tightening her grip on the tether, Cheshire's entire body tenses as she resists the heavy pull on the other end. Peering over the ledge for a brief moment, she feel her heart race at the sight of the terrified eyes staring up at her. With the bag of cash strapped to her back, Alice struggled to climb up the rope, Cheshire's actions mimicking her movements as she pulls back with one arm, moving the other to hoist another arm span-worth of rope. Hearing footsteps sound behind her, Cheshire glances over her shoulder to see Queen quickly grabbing the extra rope, her actions mirroring Cheshire's
"Thanks, Queenie," Cheshire huffs out through gritted teeth, her muscles burning as she makes to pull up another few feet of rope.
"Don't mention it."
A different type of tension fills Cheshire's body as she feels the thick, black corded rope wrap around her throat. A shrill shriek pierces the air as Cheshire briefly releases her grip, the rope tightening around her throat. Fighting back the urge to panic, making sure to keep her breathing calm, Cheshire brings her head back in a snap. A sickening crunch sounds as the back of her head connects with the front of Queen's face. Feeling the rope loosen around her throat, Cheshire changes her grip on the rope, using one hand as a firm leverage as she twists the rope around her body, freeing up her other hand to pull at the rope around her throat. Cheshire continues to twist in spot, the rope beginning to wrap around her torso and she pauses for a moment to calm her breathing once more.
"Why?" Cheshire spits out, glaring at Queen as she staggers to her feet.
"I know all you will ever do is follow King, no matter what decisions he makes, you will always follow him. Why should he receive such devotion, especially now that he is trying to tear us all apart," Queen sneers.
Cheshire's glare brightens, fury spiking in her mind in a vicious storm of red-hot anger, "I would rather follow King and part ways from all of this, then live a lavished life under your command."
"Chess! Now!" Cheshire hears Alice's voice call up.
Realizing she managed to swing herself to the fire escape along the adjacent building, Cheshire focuses her attention back to Queen as police sirens scream in the distance, slowly approaching, "Know this, Queenie. I will get revenge for this. Maybe not for now, or in the near future, but when you finally get comfortable, I will bring you down, even if I have to do it myself."
Not waiting any longer, Cheshire allows herself to drop over the edge. Making sure to tighten her grip on the rope still coiled around her throat, she hooks her left leg around the length of the rope, and grips a decent amount of rope in her other hand, hoping to provide enough slack so her neck doesn't snap. She groans as the rope snaps tight as her descent slows. A series of cracks and pops sound and the sickening flavor of copper makes its way into her mouth, the fingers gripping tightly around the noose around her throat slowly going numb and the rope tightening around her ankle and body. Feeling herself come to a stop, she unwinds her leg from the rope and slowly turns herself upright, her feet connecting with the ground. Rushed footsteps causes her to tense, but upon seeing the blurry vision of Alice and Jack, she allows herself to relax as she is untangled from the rope. Jack immediately ducks under Cheshire's arm to allow her to use him as a crutch.
As the sensation of vertigo fades from her mind, she holds Alice and Jack back from leaving the alley. Peering around the corner, making sure to keep to the shadows, shock fills the teenage orphan at the sight of police cars parked in front of the building. A pair of officers leading a handcuffed King toward one of the cars, the distant sound of one of them reading him his rights. Cheshire holds Jack back firmly as King looks up briefly. Meeting his gaze, she hopes the promise of righting this wrong shows in her eyes, and from the smiling gleam in his eyes, Cheshire knows he received the message loud and clear.
Stepping back into the alley, Cheshire opens her mouth to talk when a horrid cough racks through her body. Blood splats against the inside of her hand and even as she tries to get her thoughts voiced, nothing seems to registers with her vocal cords. Keeping it to herself for now, she drag Jack and Alice further into the shadows of the alley way, silently leading us away from the scene. Knowing they are unable to return to Wonderland, Cheshire find the trio an abandoned building in the warehouse district and in the matter of minutes, Jack finds an old trash barrel to light a fire for warmth and dim lighting.
"What are we going to do now?" Jack asks, looking up from his hands as he rubs them together over the open flame.
Finding a wooden crate, Cheshire sits down and motions to her throat with the hand that managed to remain uninjured and she makes a hand motion of being unable to talk. Alice and Jack share a glance before Alice hands Cheshire the bag.
"You need this more than we do. I'm sure someone can get your throat fixed," she states, tucking a blonde strand behind her ear.
Opening the bag of cash, Cheshire ignores their words and immediately splits the amount into three, even stacks, motioning for them to take their indicated stacks, Jack being the first to speak up, "I guess this is it. Where do you plan on going to Alice?"
"I'm getting out of the country when I hit eighteen," Alice states with determination.
"Well, while I'm sure it is in our best interest not to communicate after tonight, we have to have some way of communicating in the future, if one of us ever needs help," Jack states.
That was the last night I spoke, or caught sight, of my once-family. My family, broken by the jealousy of our Queen. The oldest female, who had once been so maternal and nurturing. The betrayal stung deep with each of us, and even I knew none of us would be the same after this. Parting ways, with a promise that we would make contact if any of us catches the trail of Queen, I left my family behind and ventured into the cold, cruel world.
The Cheshire became synonymous in the dark under-belly of the world with stealing identities, taking the mark's place, and leaving behind little. The Cheshire, the uncatchable and most elusive con-artist, displayed the only remnants of the past, and the promise kept in heart. The Cheshire would help bring about the fall of the Queen.
Granted, I never thought Alice, or Parker as she likes to be called now, would have ever returned to running cons with a team of her own. I surely never thought I would be able to accept a spot in another dysfunctional psuedo-family.