I do not own Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Detective Bullock, Jervis Tetch, or any of the other named characters present. They belong to DC Comics. Quotations are from Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland. This was written purely for fun.

This takes place right at the end of "Mad as a Hatter" from Batman: The Animated Series.


Chapter One: Would Not, Could Not

"…Would not…could not…"

Detective Bullock turned from the ambulance a Miss Alice Pleasance and a great deal of other people were surrounding. They were all dressed in ridiculous outfits, ranging from a grinning cat to some sort of royal-looking character, decked out in hearts. They all were claiming to have amnesia as to what happened, each and every one of them…

…and a circuitry card was collected from each and every one of them. Bullock's eyes fell to the evidence bag as he pocketed his notebook.

"…would not…could not…"

His eyes lifted from the evidence bag and he looked around where he and a number of officers had been called to. His mouth drew back as he frowned deeply, taking in the atmosphere. Wonderland; he was standing in freakin' Wonderland…or that's what it was supposed to be. Red and blue flashing lights colored the area, reflecting off of the plastic statues and covering the fictional world. Some demonic-looking creature had fallen from its place in the air before a tea party. It all seemed childish—

—but there was nothing childish about kidnapping a handful of people, using mind control on them, and sending them after Batman with a thirst for blood.

And all for some girl…

"Sheesh," Bullock sighed to himself. The man behind what could have turned into a bloodbath was a lovesick loon after a girl. It was almost enough to make him gag.

"…would not…could not…"

Bullock pocketed his massive hands into his wrinkled trench coat as he turned on his heel. He began strolling up toward where Commissioner Gordon stood talking to a certain caped vigilante: the Batman. He felt himself scowl at the Dark Knight as he approached the two.

"They all claim to remember nothin'," Bullock announced, not much caring if he was interrupting the two. "We collected those cards from each of 'em."

Commissioner Gordon's eyes cut to the oversized man for a single moment. "Thank you, detective," he said starkly. He turned and glanced behind him at the police cruiser, where one Jervis Tetch was handcuffed and seated.

Tetch had been pulled from beneath the statue of the Jabberwock shortly before the Gotham City Police Department arrived on the scene. The Caped Crusader had handcuffed him, though it seemed that the man was far gone and remained motionless. Instead, he had stared down at the ground with unfocused, watery eyes, mumbling the same words to himself, over and over again. He hadn't reacted to anything else; there was no struggle to escape, no struggle against being put in the back of the police cruiser…nothing. He just continued mumbling…mumbling and nothing more.

"…would not…could not…"

"We're going to go ahead and transport him to Arkham Asylum," Gordon said at length, still staring at the broken man inside the vehicle. He finally turned and looked at Batman. "We'll meet you over there."

"Another nut, eh?" Bullock remarked roughly, shooting Batman a cold look. "You're certainly fillin' up the place, ain't ya?"

"Detective!" Gordon yelled sharply.

The Dark Knight turned and glared at Bullock. "This man has a name," he said in a low, vicious voice, "and he is being sent to Arkham to be monitored. He is clearly unwell right now."

Bullock snorted a short "harrumph" and turned a scrutinizing eye on Tetch, looking down on him. "Clearly," he grumbled, noticing the man's moving mouth.

Gordon stepped between the two men, his eyes on the vigilante. "Meet you over at Arkham." He remained motionless until Batman finally backed off and began moving to the Batmobile. Gordon turned and shot Bullock an icy glare. "Let's go," he growled callously.

"Sure thing, Commish." Bullock rolled his eyes at the Commissioner's moodiness as he turned to the driver's side of the car. He glanced back down at the criminal in the backseat for only a moment before he threw the car door open.

Jervis barely felt the car shift as the two officers stepped into the vehicle. He felt numb and lost. He wasn't aware of his surroundings or that he was talking. Alice's distraught and saddened eyes were still locked on him, tearing his heart in two and finally breaking his unstable mind. His throat felt tight and he felt sick to his stomach. He only saw Alice, in the arms of that Lizard, staring down at him with such sad and betrayed eyes.

"Would not…could not…" Jervis continued to mumble, his voice sounding strained and choked. He was barely aware that his brow had furrowed as the tears welled up in his eyes again.

"What's 'e goin' on about?" Bullock finally grumbled from the front seat, glancing in the rear-view mirror at the blonde man. They had been driving for a few minutes, and the criminal's words were the only sounds to be heard.

"Let him be, Detective," Gordon said in a tired voice, his eyes remaining fast on the road before them. "We've all had a long night."

"Don't tell me you feel sorry for this nut," Bullock said, eyes shooting to the Commissioner for a moment.

Commissioner Gordon looked over at the oversized detective before he glanced back at the mumbling man in the backseat.

"Commish," Bullock continued in a heated voice, "he brainwashed and kidnapped all those people, not to mention he probably stalked that one blonde chick! He's scum, just like the rest of 'em!"

"He's a different class of criminal, Bullock," Gordon finally said, his eyes still locked on Jervis. "He did commit some serious crimes, but he didn't kill anyone tonight. He didn't even physically harm anyone except for Batman." He paused to look at Bullock. "That's rare among these costumed criminals."

Bullock huffed, looking beyond irritated. "That's the only reason he's goin' to Arkham…he's just another costumed wacko…"

Gordon sighed angrily and looked back out the window, knowing he'd never get Bullock to understand.

"…would not…could not...could not join the dance…"


Batman and Commissioner Gordon both looked up from their paperwork when one of the orderlies walked into the conference room. They were in a segment of Arkham Asylum that was past the front lobby but before the locked wing where the inmates were held. The two men had been sitting at the table, each of them filling out the forms they were both getting quite accustomed to filling out. The only sound in the air between them was the scratching of their pens until they finished, leaving them in an uncomfortable silence.

"How is he?" Gordon finally asked.

The woman in white remained in the doorway and looked to the clipboard in her arms. "He's not responding to anything," she said at length. "He just keeps repeating those four words. The doctors think he may be going catatonic, but he could just be in a state of shock; nothing can be said for certain as of now. They are going to give him a benzodiazepine injection here pretty soon to get him to sleep and to relieve some anxiety. He'll be placed in solitary confinement until we can get him into a cell. The doctors will check on him again in the morning."

She looked up from the clipboard back to the Commissioner and the vigilante, who stared at her. A hush fell over the room.

"Okay," Gordon said as he pushed his glasses back into place. He grabbed his and Batman's paperwork and held it out for the woman. "Thank you."

The woman nodded as she took the papers. Her eyes lingered on the masked man for a moment longer before she walked out of the room.

Gordon turned to look at Batman. "What do you think?"

The Dark Knight's eyes shifted to the Police Commissioner, but his head remained unmoving. "I don't know," he responded. "He has as much of a chance as anyone else to recover. We'll just have to wait and see what his doctors say."

Gordon pulled back the sleeve of his overcoat and checked the time. "I'll call over here tomorrow about him." He lifted himself from the chair and straightened the lapels of his coat. "I've got a mountain of paperwork on my desk at the office and a daughter at home. I'm sure you have other things to do tonight. There's nothing more we can do here."

Batman stared after Gordon as he stepped from the room before his eyes fell to the table. He had a feeling that tomorrow would be absolute madness for Bruce Wayne, what with all his employees that were kidnapped tonight. He stood and walked toward the doorway. His eyes shifted toward the wing where the inmates were kept, back where Jervis Tetch was now. The meek little scientist he saw only days ago…now locked away in Arkham Asylum.

He breathed a tired sigh and walked off.


"…would not…could not…"

The Arkham workers walked slowly with the new inmate, who shuffled along mechanically. He put up no struggle when they fingerprinted him or when they changed him into the standard light blue asylum uniform. There had been no shying away from the needle that was plunged into his arm or from the injection of the medication. There was no sign that he was going to try to run away…there was very little sign that he was even present in mind. He was lost. He was broken.

They finally reached the wing set aside strictly for solitary confinement. A guard at the bolted door greeted them. "Is this the Hatter?"

"This is Mr. Tetch, yes," one of the orderlies corrected him.

The guard looked the new inmate up and down with unimpressed eyes before he unlocked the door. "Down here," he said.

He led the group to another door, in which he opened. He stood aside for the others to walk in.

"…wouldnot…couldno…" Jervis mumbled, his words starting to slur together. His eyelids began to droop and his step faltered as the medication began to kick in. The Arkham workers held him steadfast as they led him to the cold mattress.

"Yes, yes…" one of the workers said gently to Jervis. They sat him down. "We'll be back in the morning to check on you, alright?" he explained slowly and deliberately, though he was fairly certain that his words were not being heard.

"…ould no…" Jervis breathed, looking like he was fighting to keep his eyes open.

The two workers left him on the mattress and walked to the door. One of them paused in the doorway and gave him a final gaze. "Welcome to Arkham, Mr. Tetch."


A/N: So, this is a random idea I had for another multi-chapter thing. This will more than likely follow Jervis Tetch and his time spent in Arkham Asylum between episodes from B:TAS. I already have a lot of ideas. I'm not sure how often I'll update, but I'll say when I'm ending it.

Thanks for reading! Feedback is always welcome!