Tea House
Even with the protection of the Suits Hatter was still on edge. When they left the mirror hall the first thing he did was give her back her coat. Her glow needed to be kept hidden. No one knew what Alice looked like, and no one would recognize her as being 'The Alice', but it wouldn't take long for her mark to be noticed by the wrong people.
The Tea House was only about a mile from the mirror hall but to Alice the walk seemed to take forever. She had been fighting her fears the whole time she had been in Wonderland. While a few of them had been beaten back into submission, it was her fear of highs that simply wouldn't leave her. This was despite having flown a flamingo miles above the ground, by choice, alone, through a forest and over a lake.
Still the thought of walking on a sidewalk who's curb ended in a ten story drop was terrifying. She stayed close to the walls of the buildings as they walked. She was grateful Hatter stayed next to her and blocked her view of the drop-off as much as he could. They traveled in silence. Hatter seemed intent on their surroundings. Even with the extra protection of the suits he was still afraid of being spotted or followed.
When they reached the Tea House the club, who'd told her his name was Nine, insisted on the Suits searching the building for any signs of danger before allowing them access. When the men were in the building and out of sight, Alice leaned against the wall and look up at Hatter. He was still watching the way they had come.
"Hatter, I think you can relax now, no one is following us."
He glanced at her quickly then continued watching the path to the Tea House. "I'll relax when we're safe and inside."
Alice walked over and gently placed her hand on his arm. "Hatter its ok, no one knows we're here or that I'm an Oyster. I'm sure the past three days have left you on edge but for now I think we're out of danger."
Hatter laughed and shook his head slightly and then flashed her a smile. "If I were alone it wouldn't matter. But with you? Alice, danger sniffs you out like a blood hound after a rabbit."
"That is so not funny!" she said and pushed him away.
It was just supposed to be a playful shove to get him back for that last remark. However as soon as her hand met his side he grunted in pain and pulled away from her, backing up slightly as he did.
"Hatter, whats wrong? Are you hurt?"
"Na I'm fine, just a little sore, been through a lot the last day or so. It's nothing to worry about."
She was going to argue with him but the Suits' return interrupted her. They had finished the search and Nine assured them the building was empty. Alice thanked them and Nine informed her they would be back tomorrow evening per Jack's orders.
When they entered the shop, the entranceway was dark, just as it had been her first time here. Behind her she could hear Hatter latching the door and working on the locks. She walked from the entrance and out onto the trading floor. The damage was a bit worse than she expected. The last time she had been here this place had been filled with the noise and the voices of tea traders and buyers. Now the only sound was of her feet walking across the broken glass.
It room was still as dimly lit as she remembered it. Most of the light was shining out from behind the glass shelves along the back wall. The shelves that had once held bottled emotions were now empty, most of them smashed. The ticker taker showing the value of Tea still ran at the head of the room even though it was now only hanging by one side from the ceiling.
Alice heard crunching glass behind her and knew Hatter was taking in the same destruction as she was. She turned and watched him looking over the broken shelves, the upturned tables and shattered glass.
"Well," he stated, flashing her a small smile "At least they didn't burn it to the ground." He strode past her and made his way toward his office.
His office suffered just as much as the front. His desk had been ransacked, drawers been pulled out and emptied, papers lay everywhere. His chair was over turned and the back sliced open. The grass carpet had been trampled and patches of it were turning a sickly brown. The wardrobe in the back was empty and no longer held a collection of coats, shoes, and boots. Of course the Tea's kept in the cabinet behind his desk were all gone.
Hatter's cursing pulled her attention away from the chaos and towards his direction at the back door. It seemed he hadn't even stopped to survey the damage. The door must have been pried open because now it wouldn't latch right or stay closed. Hatter had his shoulder pressed against it as he finally managed to slide the bolt lock into place effectively keeping it shut.
"Hatter?"
He turned and looked at her then moved to meet her in the center of the room. "Whats the matter?"
Whats the matter? Did he not have eyes? If she had gone to work to find the dojo in the state this place was in she would have been sick. If it had been her apartment that had been ransacked, her things gone through and stolen she would have been a mess. Yet Hatter seemed like none of it bothered him.
She looked up at him. He was fine but she was going to loose it. "I'm so sorry Hatter, this is all my fault. If it hadn't been for me..."
He interrupted her by placing his hands on her shoulders. "Why? Did you sneak back here and cause all this yourself?"
"No but..."
"Then don't worry about it. Besides" he said as he walked over to pick up his chair "I'm lucky I wasn't here when all this went on. Strange to think of it this way but I was safer in the Casino than my own shop."
He laughed and smiled, obviously trying to make her feel better more so than himself. But he was right, she didn't want to think of what would have happened to him if he had been caught in the riot that happened here.
Hatter sighed, "Come on then. Let's go see if I still have a flat upstairs or not."
Alice followed him back out to the trading room wondering where they were going. "Upstairs where?" she asked. He was walking towards a empty wall and she didn't see any stairs or a way up to a higher floor.
Hatter waited until she was next to him facing the blank wall. Then he begin pressing against it with his hand in several different spots before a door sprang open.
"How did you do that?"
Instead of answering her he simply closed it again and then took her hand. He guided her fingers over depressions in the wall she could feel but not see and lightly pushed each one in. Again the door popped open.
He dropped her hand and stepped through the doorway. "I feel safer if no one knows where I live. Lets me sleep better that way."
Alice pulled the door closed behind her and followed Hatter up the narrow flight of stairs. They entered the door at the top and he flipped on the light. "Ah, thankfully they didn't find it."
His apartment was a large loft area. There was, of course, a hat rack right at the door when you walked in. Beyond that a seating area with two very comfy looking, if not oddly colored, couches. Bookcases lined the walls on the left before they gave way to the kitchen area and a small table and chair set up. To her right was his bed, its chocolate and creme colored blankets still unmade from when he last slept here. There was a door in the back she assumed was the bathroom because it was the only area sectioned off from the rest.
Hatter pulled off his leather jacket, tossing it over the edge of the couch before flopping down onto the cushions beneath him. "It's not much but its home."
Alice walked further into the room still looking around. "Its definitely you." The sound of her heels on the floor made her look down. The room had dark wooden floors and no rugs or carpeting. "What, no grass carpet up here?"
"Na," he said "I was going for a more professional look for the office."
She laughed and wondered how having an office that looked like a greenhouse was considered professional. Of course this was Wonderland and everything here was a bit odd. She looked over at him and saw that he was rubbing his side again.
She walked over and stood in front of him. "You are hurt, aren't you?."
Hatter quickly dropped his hands to his sides. "It's nothing to worry about."
"Yeah, you keep saying that. Let me see." She didn't wait for his permission before reaching down and pulling the hem of his shirt up slightly.
"Oh my god!" She said more to herself that to Hatter. The skin over his ribs was bruised, most of his injuries having small burns in their center. "What the hell happened to you? Why didn't you say something?"
Hatter pulled her hands away from his shirt and pushed her back a bit so he could stand next to her. "Look, its nothing ya need to know about. I wish I didn't remember it and I'm sure as hell not going to force you to think about it. Just let it go ok?"
"We have to get you cleaned up before you get infected or something. Take your shirt off."
She didn't wait for his answer and instead went to the bathroom to find something to clean him up with. There she found what might have been a medicine cabinet. It was filled with bottles of varying size and color, all of which had labels stating the name of the product but no information on what it was or its use.
She stood there for a moment before Hatter came up behind her and pulled a bottle off the shelf marked Abdroxin.
"This one" he said "is used for cleaning wounds."
Alice made a small hum of understanding before searching out a few washcloths and running one under warm watter. While she did that Hatter sat down on the edge of the bathtub and removed his tie and shirt. Seeing him in the white of the bathroom lighting only made his skin look more pale than it was. The bruises on his chest looked darker than before and she saw that there were bruises on his arms and his right arm had a large cut.
She knelt in front of him and tried to be gentle as she ran the washcloth over the first of his burns. He gave a sharp intake of breath and she puled back quickly. "Sorry."
"Its ok" he said "It just stings a bit."
Alice nodded and went back to gently cleaning him. The suits must have done this to him. Or maybe it was that rabbit headed man March. No matter who it was that did this to him, these injuries were her fault. If he hadn't been trying to save her, again, he never would have been caught.
They sat in silence for a while, both seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. Finally Alice spoke.
"Why didn't you go to see the doctors Jack had treating the injured? They would have been better at this than I am."
"The line was too long," he hissed again at the sting of the cloth "If I had waited around there I would have missed saying goodbye to you."
Alice smiled softly and looked up at him. "Well that was kind of a waste seeing as how I didn't go anywhere."
"I didn't exactly know that now did I?"
She finished with his chest and then held his right hand and started cleaning the cut on his arm. "No, I guess you didn't."
She sighed heavily before speaking again. "What was with that anyways? I mean, the whole thing was just... uncomfortable."
Hatter rolled his eyes "So I'm not so great with goodbyes. Never said I was a smooth talker."
Alice finished with his cut and let go of his hand. She leaned back on her heals. "So was that it then? You were just going to say 'so long, have a nice life, thanks for stopping by'?"
Hatter didn't say anything and he wasn't looking at her. She just sighed again and looked down at the cloth in her hands.
"You weren't going to say goodbye, were you?" She looked up at him to see that he was still looking away from her. "You were leaving when I spotted you. Weren't you? You were going to just let me go. Why?"
Hatter pulled his hat from his head and started nervously twirling it in his hands."Because, you were there with Jack and I didn't...want to interrupt...ya know...the two of you."
Alice watched him sitting there nervously fiddling with the brim of his hat. She shifted on the floor and scooted back so she could rest against the cabinet behind her. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on one knee.
"He wanted me to stay here, he asked me to marry him."
She watched as Hatter snapped his head up to look at her, his hands stopping their movements.
"I told him no. I said that I had changed, that I wanted something different."
This time she was the one looking away. After a moment she heard him stand up. He must have picked up the washcloths and the bottle from the floor because she heard him open the cabinet and place the bottle inside.
When Hatter knelt down next to her she finally looked at him. He reached for her hand and squeezed it tightly. "I really did have good intentions. I didn't mean to upset ya, you know that."
He looked down at their hands and than back up at her again. "I'm not good at this."
She smiled and gave his hand a squeeze back. "Neither am I."
"Come on then." He pulled her to her feet and lead her out of the bathroom. "How does a nice hot bath and a change of clothes sound?"
"Like the best idea you've ever had."
a/n
Wow, I'm glad I managed to get this update out in the time I said it would take. One more chapter in the Tea House and than we get to go and explore a few places in Wonderland.
Thanks so much for the reviews and encouragement. It means a lot. I'm also glad that the people who write such wonderful stories find mine enjoyable. :)
