The buzzing of her doorbell awakened Alice the next morning. She hadn't slept much last night, but it would have to do. She looked over at Hatter and nearly exclaimed in surprise and dismay. His skin was sallow and spotted with bruise-like discoloring. Last night he had tossed and turned but now he was still. "No. . ." She whispered, afraid that she was loosing him. The doorbell buzzed again and Alice quickly got up to answer it.
The Duchess stood before Alice's open door. Needless to say, Alice was surprised at the woman's appearance in her world. As everyone else from Wonderland, the Duchess looked much more streamlined and more subtle in this world. Her hair was more golden and curly and half of it was pulled back from her face. Her skin was still pale, but not as porcelain as it had been. She wore a simple midnight blue dress and silver kitten-heel sandals.
"Alice," She greeted, her eyes hinted with worry. "May I come in?"
"Oh! Of course," Alice remembered herself then and beckoned the woman in. "What brings you here?" Thank heavens she's here, Alice thought, now she can be the one to bring a doctor back and I can stay by his side.
"Jack sent me, to look for Hatter. He was worried about him because they had an important appointment this morning and Hatter didn't show up." The Duchess replied. She looked Alice up and down and noted her disheveled appearance. The corners of her lips curled in amusement and she quirked an eyebrow. "Perhaps I should tell the King that Hatter is. . .otherwise engaged."
Alice's eyes widened in alarm and her cheeks flushed.
"No, no. It's nothing like that," She said quickly. "Hatter's sick." The Duchess' mirth faded quickly from her face.
"Sick?" She asked.
"Yes, with the looking-glass illness." Alice replied. The Duchess' eyes closed in sympathy and she exhaled lightly.
"Where is he?" The Duchess inquired.
"This way," Alice said and lead the woman to her room. When she saw him, the Duchess gasped and turned away. She had seen what the looking-glass illness did to people but this wasn't it. She had never seen or heard of anything like this.
"Alice. . ." The Duchess began softly, not knowing how to break it to the girl. "This is not what you thought it was. I have seen the illness and Hatter shows no signs of it. This is something else entirely, something that I am not familiar with."
"What. . .?" Alice asked as all her fears rushed back. The Duchess appeared deep in thought for a moment. She then moved to the bed and put a hand on Hatter's shoulder. Alice's lips twitched slightly in annoyance but she knew it was petty so she kept quiet.
"Hatter," the Duchess called to him, attempting to wake him. "Hatter." She was met with no response. She looked back at Alice for help and Alice moved to take her place on the bed.
"Hatter. . ." she whispered and stroked his face lightly. "Hatter," she called to him again and brushed her lips against his softly. "Hatter." His eyes fluttered open. He licked his dry and cracked lips. "Hatter the Duchess is here," Alice told him. He raised his eyes to her.
"Tell the King I'm sorry I didn't keep his appointment," Hatter said, knowing the reason she was here.
"He'll understand," the Duchess said, sitting at the foot of the bed. "Hatter you don't have want you think you have." She informed him. He nodded, knowing this too.
"I realized that last night," his voice faltered in pain. "The looking-glass is poisoned." Both women looked at him in surprise. He went on to explain. "The resistance once tried to poison the looking-glass. It was one of their first moves against the Queen however it was quickly discovered before anyone was affected. And after that we couldn't try; she guarded it so heavily."
"But then why did you tell me it was something else last night?" Alice asked.
"Because I thought it was the looking-glass illness," he replied. Alice cast a glance at the Duchess.
"Does she have it?" Alice asked. The Duchess' face paled in fear.
"Not likely, it takes many jumps for someone to become infected," Hatter's strength was waning quicker than before. "It's slow acting, but once your infected it becomes virulent."
"Then it looks as if the Queen has made her first move against her son," The Duchess said her brow furrowed in concern and thought. Hatter was nodding off.
"Hatter! Hatter, look at me," Alice urged him. "We're going to get you help, alright?"
"Don't. . .don't go through the looking-glass Alice," he pleaded her.
"I love you Hatter!" She cried to him as his eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp again. Alice hoped he heard her. The Duchess looked away and then rose sharply, her face determined. Alice looked up at her. "You're not going back are you?" She wasn't exactly friends with the woman but she bore her no ill will and she wouldn't wish Hatter's condition on anyone.
"I have to tell Jack," she replied.
"But what if-" Alice started but the Duchess cut her off abruptly.
"You heard Hatter, two jumps are hardly enough to cause infection." The Duchess reasoned.
"It's still risky," Alice argued.
"Would you rather go then? While I stay behind to tend to Hatter?" The Duchess turned sharply to face Alice, her face expectant.
"Well. . ." Alice began but she couldn't find words.
"I thought not. My place is beside Jack, and yours beside Hatter's," She told Alice.
"You will send help then?" Alice asked. The Duchess nodded.
"There are many who care about him in Wonderland. No one is going to let him die," she assured the girl. Alice nodded to reassure herself.
"What do you think can be done to alleviate pain and discomfort until a doctor comes through?" Alice asked the Duchess. The woman cast a look back at Hatter, considering.
"Let him rest, but try to get him to eat. Keep up his strength as best you can," she shrugged helplessly. "I am no doctor, but that's the best advice I can give you. I will be sure we find a former resistance member with knowledge about this disease to assist the doctor in a treatment. Perhaps there is even a cure for this. . .illness." The Duchess turned her eyes back on Alice and nodded her farewell. And with that she was gone.
Alice was left alone, sitting by an unresponsive Hatter. She tried coaxing him into wakefulness but was unsuccessful. She sighed and turned on her TV to watch. She flipped through the channels, searching for something decent to watch. Alice in Wonderland was playing on the Disney channel. Alice watched the old cartoon with an interest that hadn't been there before. She laughed, not because of the movie's whimsy, but because she knew first hand what Wonderland was really like. Was it just coincidence that both girls to fall from this world into Wonderland were both Alice? She found it hard to contemplate otherwise.
Hatter moaned in his sleep and Alice cast her eyes back at him, hopeful that he was waking. But he wasn't. A thin layer of sweat glistened on his skin. She got up from where he was sitting and sat next to him, putting her hand to his brow. He was burning up. She berated herself for not being more watchful and opened up his shirt to cool him down. What she saw there made her cry out dismay. A few scars were scattered on his chest and stomach, and Alice was no doctor but she could tell they were burn scars. Where did he get these? She wondered to herself. Hatter didn't talk much about his past, but judging from the scars, Alice could tell it was not pleasant. She let her fingers caress one softly.
"What happened to you, Hatter?" Alice whispered. She sighed and went to go get cold towels to cool Hatter's fever. Once she had wiped him down, Alice slipped into an exhausted slumber.
***
Alice stood in the great library, with Hatter beside her and Dodo before her. Dodo was threatening them with a gun. He would get the ring at any cost. But Alice would protect the ring at any cost. Then something happened she didn't expect. Dodo shot Hatter. Her fight-or-flight instinct took over and Alice ran. An act she later regretted but nothing could been done about it now. Hadn't this happened before? Dodo ran down the hall after her and Hatter followed. He stumbled and caught up with Dodo. They struggled and Hatter yelled at her to press the blue button. She couldn't leave him, Dodo would kill him. She rushed and knocked Dodo down and then helped Hatter back to the train-car-elevator-thing. She knew it would be alright, he was wearing body armor. Still, she ripped his shirt apart all the same. His chest was bare, there was no body armor. Blood leaked from the hole in his chest.
"No," she said and quickly pressed her hands to the bullet wound to stem the blood flow. Hatter's hand flew to grip her arm. His face was pallid. He opened his mouth to speak and blood poured from it.
"Alice," he managed to gurgle through the blood. Then his grip slackened and his body went limp.
"No!" She screamed.
"Alice?" Hatter's voice woke her. "Alice?"
"Hm? Yes, I'm awake," she shook the sleep from her and hastened to his side.
"You were screaming," he told her, his clammy hand on her arm.
"Bad dreams," she dismissed it. He shot her a questioning glance. "It doesn't matter, they're only dreams." He stared at her, as if he could discern her dreams from just studying her face. Alice decided to change the subject. She placed a few fingers lightly on one of his scars. Hatter shifted uncomfortably under her touch.
"That tickles," he mumbled, not looking at her.
"How did you get these?" She asked him. He avoided her glance and didn't reply. "Hatter," she prompted a little more sternly.
"I got them when we were taken prisoner after your visit to the Hospital of Dreams," he replied finally, still avoiding meeting her eyes. Alice's face changed to horror. She remembered him having a some cuts and bruises but she had thought they'd just roughed him up a bit.
"They tortured you?" Alice asked. They had been in the Queen's castle for hours!
"For information about the resistance," Hatter said. Alice bit back tears.
"I-I didn't know," she stammered and looked away, ashamed. It was all her fault. Her eyes overflowed down her cheeks.
"Hey," he said to get her to look back at him. She hesitated and then lifted her eyes to his face again. "It's ok," he smiled. Alice couldn't help but smile back. His was contagious.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Alice asked.
"What was the point? It's in the past." He said.
"But you never talk about your past," she sighed and handed him water to drink. He took a long drought and then handed the glass back to her
"Trust me, you don't want to know," he assured her.
"Hatter. . ." she sighed again but he was already asleep.
