A/N: This was the story I was trying to think of for a while now. It's an AU where Jervis Tetch, Edward Nigma, Harleen Quinzel and Jonathon Crane are, mostly, sane and have good jobs. The only two jobs I changed were for Crane(working at Arkham) and Nigma(a puzzle videogame designer) but the rest have the jobs they had before they went insane in the canon. Probably very OOC because I suck.
The characters belong to DC Comics... The first bit of this chapter I'll have to admit to give credit to Batman The Animated Series since I slightly failed at coming up with a better idea ^^;
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Inside a glass cage four white mice with little hats on their heads were scurrying around minding their own business when a small table with a white table cloth and a small thing tea and teacups on top of it was put inside of the cage. One mouse sniffed the new items curiously before simply walking across the table without a care that it was spilling the tea.
A disappointed sigh was heard from a researcher that was watching the mice from the outside of the cage, "No, no... That simply won't do..." He muttered as he set the teapot back on top of the tiny table. The man was had light blonde hair, blue eyes and was wearing a lab coat with a white undershirt and a nice black tie that was loose on his neck and jeans.
He watched the mice for a bit longer before shaking his head, "Perhaps this will help." He mused as he put a headband on his head before watching as the little hats on the mice heads light up and the creatures perked up and their ears twitched for a moment before they scurried over to the table before standing on their hind legs as one of the mice began to pour the tea into the teacups and the mice began to sip the tea calmly. The researcher's face brightened up as he did a small jump of joy at the accomplishment, "O frabjous day! Calloh! Callay!" He shouted joyfully after seeing that his experiment was a success. He had been working on the project of giving another a suggestion through the mind for almost a year now with various complications which made him rework the wiring countless of times with the boss of his department, or as he likes to call her 'The Red Queen', continually warning him to get everything figured out or it'd be 'Off with his head!' He sighed in relief as he placed his arm on top of the cage and laid his forehead on it as he observed the mice drink the tea with a small proud grin on his face.
"Seems like you finally got all the kinks out of your prototype, Mr. Tetch." A deep voice made Tetch jump in surprise before spinning around on his heels to face a taller, black-haired man who gave him a smile along with the Red Queen who was scrowling at him, it seemed like that was the only expression she was capable of making.
"Finally." The Queen scoffed as she crossed her arms.
Tetch frowned slightly at what his boss said before taking the headband off and shyly looked up at the black-haired man, who incidentally owned the company he worked at, Bruce Wayne, "I-I have, indeed, sir..." He responded timidly as he moved off to the side so Bruce and the Queen could approach the cage that held the mice, "I-I could have t-them do something, if you w-wish..." He offered with a nervous stutter.
Bruce probably could tell how nervous Tetch was since he gave him a reassuring smile and shook his head, "No need. I just wanted to check up on your progress since I found your ideas very intriguing." He mused with a genuine interested look that made the researcher a bit more motivated than usual, "I'm just glad to see that your progress has been a success so far. I hope to see more from you in the future."
"Y-yes, Mr. Wayne!" Tetch said with a small proud smile, "I promise not to let you down!"
Bruce smiled warmly and nodded at that, "But I think you can continue tomorrow, for now I insist you call it a night before you exhaust yourself... Again." He chuckled softly at how many times he remembered seeing the researcher leaving the building just minutes before the night guards would turn on the alarms and lock the place up. Each and every time he seemed completely tired from all of his work.
Tetch smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, "R-right... I'll just clean up then go." He told him as he covered the mice cage before glancing back at Bruce, "...I promise to actually go this time." He added quickly after noticing the smirk and raised eyebrow. Bruce nodded before turning and walking out of Tetch's office with the Queen in tow.
The Red Queen stopped before glancing at Tetch, "...Alright, you're better than I thought, Jervis." She admitted hesitantly, she never cared to say praises to anyone but she can't deny he deserved it this time, "Maybe tomorrow you can start working on those cards you mentioned?" She asked before leaving the room, closing the door on the way out.
Jervis couldn't help but smile a bit more with more pride as he started to hum the Happy Unbirthday song from Alice in Wonderland while he started to move around the room and clean it up before he left for the night like Bruce asked of him.
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Okay so I know it may not be the best but I am trying my hardest to keep Jervis in character while making it where he won't become the Mad Hatter. He has no secretary in this story but he will have an Alice, albeit not as a love interest.