Happy Thanksgiving! I do not own any of the characters present. They belong to DC Comics. The quotes (italicized) are from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. This was written purely for fun.
Giving Thanks
It was bizarre for the streets of Gotham City not to be completely packed with bumper to bumper traffic, even more so in the business district and especially at this time on a Wednesday. These streets were always bursting with morning traffic. To be sure, the roads leading to the highways were probably congested, the highways themselves more than likely fairing worse. Still, it was eerily quiet in the city today. Businesses had closed early or hadn't even opened, giving their employees the rest of the week off to spend time with family off in different parts of the country to enjoy the holiday.
Thankfully the bus service was still running.
Despite this happening every year and the knowledge that it was going to happen every year, it never ceased to surprise Jervis Tetch. He had observed from the nearly empty bus the equally empty streets. As he had walked from his stop toward Wayne Enterprises, he had mused how much Gotham felt like a ghost town around this time every year.
These thoughts were intensified after he swiped his name badge to get into the building. The lobby, which was normally bustling with life and noise, was dim and unnervingly silent. Even the security guards weren't on duty. Jervis had stood in the threshold for a lingering moment to allow his eyes to adjust before closing the door behind him and ensuring it was locked.
His footsteps echoed through the cavernous main lobby as he had walked past the front desks and under the banner saying "Happy Thanksgiving." As he waited for the elevator, he had allowed his eyes to survey the darkened lobby and the darkening sky beyond the glass windows. The wind had started to pick up a little, adding a bite to the already bitter cold.
A quick elevator lift had taken him to the proper floor. Only the emergency lights were on, leaving the hall toward his office dim. He unlocked the office and flicked on the lights.
Jervis stepped through the workspace, past Alice's desk. He paused at the door to his laboratory for a moment to look at the festive décor she had placed around the office and atop her desk. A small smile crossed his face as he remembered how excited Alice had been yesterday in telling him her plans for the holiday. Her plane was scheduled to take off sometime within the next two hours.
He lingered there for a moment longer, his hand on the knob leading to his lab and his eyes trained on Alice's empty desk. His eyes fell to the floor as he exhaled, and he stepped into his laboratory. It would be a quiet day.
After brewing a pot of tea and settling into his work, the hours seemed to fly by. Between the several thick leather bound books and the messy notes sprawled in cramped ink, the microscopes and microchips, Jervis found himself completely engrossed in his research. He wrote down equations or certain tidbits of information that would come in handy further down the line of his work until his hand began to cramp. Only then would he take a sip of his cool tea or glance over at the lab mice in their pin, but then it was straight back to reading. It had been a while since he had gotten so much written in a single sitting. A fleeting thought had passed through his head after work yesterday. The more he had pondered over it, the more he felt the need to pursue it.
The hours had ticked by in silence, save for the scratching of pen against paper and the rapid flipping of pages. It was always a curious thing to be alone in an empty office building with nothing but the lab mice to keep him company. When he actually paused long enough to actually think about his present environment, it left only a mild lonesome feeling in his core. He was glad for the distraction; he would much rather be working alone than sitting at home, utterly alone, for these five days off. Still, it was one thing to be working alone in his office with Alice outside, typing away at her typewriter, than to be working completely alone in a completely empty building.
Jervis felt his shoulders slump minutely as he exhaled a sigh, but soon found himself lost again in his research. At least he could work.
Another indistinguishable amount of time passed before he arose from his desk. He went to his packed bookshelf and grabbed a thick volume, quickly flipping to the table of con—
A sudden knock at his laboratory door made him jump and his breathing hitch. The heavy book went airborne for a moment, but he managed to catch it. With his heart pounding against his ribs, his widened eyes shot to the opening door.
A very familiar blonde head peeked in from behind the door. When the gorgeous blue eyes finally landed on him, a small smile appeared on her lips. "I thought I'd find you here," Alice commented, her angelic voice shattering the silence.
Jervis simply stared dumbly at her for a lingering moment before he lifted a hand to his forehead and let out a breath. "It's you…" he said with a shaky laugh.
The smile disappeared from Alice's face as she fully entered the laboratory. She had unbuttoned her overcoat and her scarf hung from her shoulders. "Did I scare you?" she asked worriedly.
As his heartbeat began to even out, Jervis crossed the lab to his desk. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be here today, is all, my dear," he said as he put down the thick book amongst the rest of the opened volumes sprawled across his desk in an orderly chaos. His eyes returned to his secretary and he gave her an odd look. "Shouldn't you be on a plane right about now?"
"In this weather?" Alice responded in question, gesturing toward the window and prompting him to look to the world beyond the laboratory walls.
Heavy flakes of snow fell rapidly from the sky, their angles of descent changing with each gust of wind. It must have been snowing for some time, judging by the accumulation on the window sill.
"'Without, the frost, the blinding snow, the storm-wind's moody madness—'" Jervis recited absentmindedly in a low mumble, watching the falling snow. "It wasn't snowing when I came in…"
"It's been snowing for the past seven hours, Jervis," Alice remarked. "All flights leaving Gotham were cancelled."
Jervis's eyes had shot to the blonde woman at her first comment. He pulled out his pocket watch and was stunned to see that he had been working for the past nine hours nonstop. His eyes returned to Alice. "Oh dear... I know how excited you were to see your family. You must be devastated. I'm sorry."
Alice shrugged and offered a smile. "I'll see them next month. They understand."
A silence fell over them for a few seconds. "So…" the Englishman ventured, tapping his fingers together, "what made you decide to come here?"
"Why," Alice smiled, "to see you."
Jervis felt his heart begin to beat faster and a blush creep to his cheeks. He was decidedly thankful he kept his laboratory as dark as he did at that moment. "You…you came to see me?" he managed.
Alice's blue orbs fell to his cluttered desk. "I had a feeling I'd find you here," she said. She glanced back to her boss, a small teasing smile dressing her lips. "You are such a workaholic, Mr. Tetch. Why aren't you celebrating the extended holiday weekend?"
The Englishman continued to drum his fingertips together. "W-Well, eh, I've never really celebrated Thanksgiving."
"Never?" Alice asked, sounding concerned.
Jervis shrugged. "It's more of an American holiday, really."
The comment Alice was about to make came to a stop. She looked off, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Oh yeah," she said in understanding. She giggled and gazed back at the Englishman. "I feel rather foolish. But that's no reason to be here working all by yourself!"
"And what would you suggest I do with all of this spare time, my dear?" Jervis asked.
A smile that looked to be a mix between nervousness and excitement appeared on Alice's face as she glanced toward his desk again. "Well…would you like to spend some time with me? So neither of us is lonely over the break?" Her eyes met his in a direct stare for a brief moment before she glanced back down at his desk. "That is, if you want to. I-I know you're busy with your work and all, and I really didn't want to interrupt, but I was so curious, you see, to see if you were here. By yourself."
When she had finally stopped to take a breath, she gave Jervis a slightly flustered look. The look made the scientist's belly flip strangely and left him searching for his voice. All he could do was gape at her as she waited for his reply. He was still trying to wrap his head around that she came here to see him, let alone her desire to spend the holiday with him. The thought of her sitting at home with only her sadness and loneliness as companions made his heart ache.
A look of hopeful happiness appeared on Alice's face when he smiled at her. "Just let me to finish up here, my dear," Jervis finally replied.
Alice looked positively radiant at his response, which only made his heart beat faster. Her blue orbs went to the cluttered workspace. "How long have you been here, Jervis?"
"About nine hours." He grinned sheepishly when she gave him a shocked look. "I'm afraid I lost track of time…"
The blonde woman's eyes traveled from her employer to his desk, and then to the caged mice. "You remembered to feed the mice, but not yourself," she said with a small unsurprised chuckle. She paused to glance back at Jervis. "Really, Mr. Tetch, nine hours on a single cup of tea?"
Jervis could only shrug lightly.
Alice shook her head and stepped forward. Her small hand wrapped around his and she turned toward the door. "That diner on Third Street is still open. Your work can wait a little longer," she said in a voice that left no room for argument as she began to lead him out of his laboratory.
Not that he could have protested, when he was focused on the feel of her hand in his. "Might I at least grab my coat?" he inquired when he finally found his voice again, though he was disinclined to release her hand.
Alice giggled and came to a stop by her desk, letting his hand fall from hers. "That might be a good idea," she said with a smile.
As she began to wrap her scarf around her neck, Jervis returned to his laboratory, a blush on his cheeks and a smile on his lips. He glanced out the window to the snowstorm beyond as he pulled on his overcoat. 'It shall not touch with breath of bale the pleasance of our fairy-tale,' he thought to himself and threw his scarf around his neck and grabbed his hat.
His eyes strayed away from the window to his desk, to the half-full notepads with his cramped handwriting and the multiple books lying open across the cluttered surface. With a contented smile, he turned away from the desk and stepped toward the door.
He found Alice waiting beside her desk, fiddling with some of the holiday decorations adorning her desk. When she heard him approaching, she gazed up at him with cheerful eyes. It was just about all he could do not to grin like a fool at the thought of her waiting for him, to spend time with him. Jervis locked the laboratory door behind him and they stepped out of their shared office space, locking that door as well. They walked down the dimly lit halls of an empty Wayne Enterprises toward the elevator, chatting pleasantly with each other.
He had never celebrated Thanksgiving before, nor would he likely celebrate it in the future, but this year, he could make an exception.
A/N: I wish I had had an Alice to come save me from solitude this Thanksgiving. I thought this up while I was sitting alone in my office on Wednesday afternoon. I was probably one of the last people to leave on Wednesday, aside from security; even the custodians got to leave before me. Such is the glory of covering the mail center.
Anyway, about the fic. I've been on another AlicexJervis binge lately, and I wanted to write something fluffy. Haha, of all the holidays to write a fanfic for, I choose Thanksgiving. This idea hit me and I knew I had to write it. This is Pre-Hatter, of course, and also pre-Billy. This was also motivated by a tweet from someone in England I follow on Twitter about not celebrating Thanksgiving. I don't know, but I had never thought about that before. Thus, this was born.
Those two quotes come from the same poem, the untitled piece before chapter 1 of Through the Looking Glass. I adore that poem; I don't know how many times I've used it in these fics I write.
I hope everyone had a frabjous Thanksgiving! Thanks for reading, and feedback is always welcome.