Title: Three Rings (1/3)
Rating: R just to be safe.
Characters: Hatter, Duchess Alice
Pairings: Hatter/Duchess, Hatter/Alice, Small mention of Duchess/Jack
Summary: In payment for Tea, Hatter receives 3 rings that change his life forever.
Notes: While watching Alice Pt. 2 for the first time on a large screen I noticed that Hatter wore 3 rings on his right hand. It got my mind thinking. This is my first Alice fanfic and my first time writing anything other than school papers in a few years. I'd love to hear what you think bad or good.
Hatter was sitting at his desk shuffling through papers when the knock came. He piled them into a neat stack tapping the end lightly on his desk before he called out to the person on the other side of the door.
"Yes?"
Dormie, his sometime secretary most time nuisance partner came shuffling in.
"Hatter, there's a pretty Blonde here to see you."
His eyebrows drifted high on his forehead. What could she want now. She hadn't been in here for some time and it wasn't like her to go through the proper channels, most of the time she slipped through his back door without as much as a introduction.
Settling himself in he nodded to Dormie, "Send her in."
The little man nodded and gestured to someone behind him. As the beautiful women walked through the door Hatter stood and bowed slightly, for appearance purposes only.
"Duchess, what can I do for you."
She walked with a purpose this time, but he could see through it. They had spent enough time together for him to be able to read through the mask she had put up. He heard the door click closed and it wasn't until then that the woman before him let go of her facade and seemed to deflate. He noticed the black circles under her bloodshot eyes and way she wrung her hands. He stepped out form behind his desk and led her to his couch.
"David, he's left me."
The despair in her voice made his heart ache. It must be very hard to love someone that didn't love you in return.
"Jessica, he'll come back you know that. There isn't anywhere in Wonderland Jack can't hide without his mother finding him."
It wasn't until then that the tears came. He hated to see women cry and pulled her into his arms rocking her gently.
"That's the thing David, he isn't in Wonderland. Jack stole the ring and ran off the the Otherworld."
Hatter was shocked. The only people who ever went into the Otherworld were the White Rabbit and his crew to gather up oysters.
"Has the queen sent the White Rabbit after him?"
Duchess nodded and sniffed. Hatter nearly smiled, quite an undignified response from the future queen of Wonderland. He rubbed her back gently as the tears slowly subsided and thought of how this set up came to be.
It was about a year ago that Jessica AKA Duchess had started coming to his shop. It started out simple enough, she had learned about the credibility of his shop and how he could get almost anything. He had asked her during one of their first meetings why she just didn't dip into the queens stock. She was a favorite, he was sure she wouldn't have minded. Her answer was simple enough, she needed to get out of the palace/casino. She wanted a life of her own before she was to be tied there by obligation. So he had let it go on.
At first it was just the simple emotions she wanted. Excitement, Beauty, Contentment, Bliss... Through those transactions they learned more and more about each other. When she started buying Passion and Lust he got curious. That was when he learned about Jack.
Jack Heart, Prince of Hearts, did not love his bride to be. While not formally engaged yet it was only a matter of time everyone in Wonderland knew that. She confessed that she wanted to slip it to him to make their lovemaking more passionate and less of an obligation. It was then that the payments changed.
There was no love between the Duchess and Hatter. No Lust either, except that which came in a bottle. But understanding. Both were unloved. Both knew what it felt like to be alone and they came together to help. That was how she payed. It wasn't lovemaking in the slightest. It was harsher, carnal, needful. They were fucking plain and simple.
But through it all they had become friends of a sort. She told him all about the queens plans (which unbeknownst to her he used to get in good with the resistance) and how much she hated being her pawn, while he shared stories of his youth and rumors on the wind of a rumor that a new Alice would come.
But that was the past and this is the present and when the Duchess finally calmed down he gently placed a hand under her chin and lifted her eyes to meet his.
"What do you need love."
She cast her eyes downward once more and took a deep breath, "Love."
Hatter sighed. They had talked about this once before. "Darlin' you know I can't"
She cut him off with a shake of her head, "Bottled."
His hand fell from her face. He wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved. "I've only got one bottle left and you know how expensive-"
She cut him off with a finger to his lips, "I can pay" She whispered as she straddled his waist.
Hatter shook his head, "Not this time Jessica. As much as I enjoy your company a bottle of Love is worth more than that and you know it."
"Call it a bonus." She whispered as she bent to lay a kiss on his neck. He moaned lightly and grabbed her hips to pull her closer to him.
Some time later as they lay together on the couch, him behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist, fingers lightly tracing circles on her exposed stomach that she spoke again.
"Did I ever tell you that my Great Grandfather was a Knight?"
Slightly shocked Hatter looked down at her curiously, "No, I don't believe you had."
She nodded. She took a chain which had been around her neck off and looked at what was strung their. Three rings hung lightly on one end.
"Well, not exactly a Knight, more of a Mage. He was trained by one of the Mirror makers. For my grandmothers 18th birthday he gave her these three rings."
She unclasped the chain and slid the smallest of the rings off. Taking Hatters hand she slipped it onto his little finger.
"This ring, was to be hers. He called it the True Love Ring. It vibrates you see when it comes in contact with the skin of the person that the wearer is meant to be with."
At this she grazed her fingertip over the cool metal of the ring and looked up at him. Nothing. She sighed and slid off the next ring. This one was larger, obviously made for a man. She slipped it onto the ring finger of his right hand.
"The other two were to be for the man that the True Love Ring marked as hers. This first one is for strength. It gives the hand and arm that it's on immeasurable power so that he could always protect his love."
Hatter could hear the wistfulness in her voice. It was a nice story, romantic in a way. Her hand trembled a bit as she placed the third and final ring right next to the second on his hand.
"With the ring of strength the man would be able to destroy almost anything in his path, including his own hand. So he made this last ring. It gives the hand and arm that it is attached to invincibility. You could break boulders with it and it will not bleed."
She turned his hand over and lay a kiss lightly on his palm. "This is my payment. Is it enough."
Hatter couldn't speak, so he merely nodded.
