The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the man was not relating to his level of attractiveness, or the size of his gun (though that last thought did briefly cross my mind). Actually, the first thing I thought after seeing him was something along the lines of He has blonde rabbit ears. Then my mind circled back to the size of his gun, and that thought was quickly followed by the understanding that he wasn't afraid to put a bullet through my skull. In response to that thought, I aimed my gun directly at his chest, right where his heart was. "Who are you, Outsider?" he growled at me.

"Sorry, but my name isn't 'Outsider'," I quipped in a sarcastic voice. I would have rolled my eyes to add effect, but I didn't want to look away from where his finger was curled tightly against the trigger. "You have two more guesses." I was on high alert but kept my manner easy-going, appearing to borderline on relaxed and bored. Alice tried to say something but I gently nudged her shin with my heel to warn her to keep quiet.

The rabbit-eared-scratch that, I meant hare-eared (they were too long to be anything but a hare's ears)-man smirked at me. "Unless you tell me exactly who you are, your name's going to be 'Dead Meat' in a minute." He was just as calm as I was, but I could tell that it wasn't a front. Why would someone pretend to be at ease on their own turf with a familiar weapon in their hands? Especially if they were comfortable using that weapon to-

I shrugged the thought aside, using the motion to communicate that I really didn't care about what he had just said. "I've been called less creative things before," I told him. "Like 'Roadkill', 'Swiss Cheese', and I was even called 'Saint Ron' once." Alice groaned-she had caught the bad pun, unlike Hare-man. I let a smirk appear on my face. "Of course, he ended up more 'holey' than me, so he was the one promoted to sainthood in the end."

"Okay, Ron, that's enough," Alice said loudly, jumping out from behind me before I could stop her. "You may kill him with your bad puns before either of you start shooting." She turned to my opponent. "Elliot, please put down your gun. I'd really prefer if you didn't shoot my brother."

"I'd prefer it as well, thanks very much," I muttered.

Elliot frowned at her. "I'll put mine down once he puts down his," he growled, but I saw his arms lower a few centimeters. I hope he understands that he just opened up a target by doing that, I thought in bewilderment. Not that I'd shoot with Alice standing in front of me, but still... Alice looked back at me, raising an eyebrow pointedly.

"Deal," I sighed reluctantly, twirling my weapon around my finger before sticking it back in my holster. Elliot did the same, though without the fancy trick. "Now, I suppose that it's only fair that I tell you my name since Alice indirectly told me yours," I said, moving around my relieved friend and approaching Elliot with my hand outstretched. "My name's Ron. I'm Alice's brother," I fibbed.

"Elliot March," he said looking down at me warily. As he accepted my hand it struck me just how much taller than me he was. I was 5'8" at least-he had to be around 6'4". He released his firm grip and looked over my shoulder at Alice. "We should take him to Blood," he told her. I felt my teeth trying to meet my bottom lip but refused to introduce them. I wasn't about to show anxiety in front of the person that had just tried to shoot me mere moments ago.

Alice walked up behind me and slipped her arm through mine. Elliot's eyes narrowed dangerously when he saw this, but Alice didn't seem to notice (or she ignored it altogether). "Let's go," she said. Elliot continued to glare at me, his look clearly saying that I was lucky I was Alice's 'brother' or else he wouldn't have stood for that. Then he can take it sitting instead of standing, I thought sarcastically, tempted to whisper that to him as we passed. However, now was not the time-I'd get him later.

The walk to Blood's room (or study-no one really told me exactly where it was we were going) was very quiet. Elliot seemed too irritated to speak to either of us, and Alice was just unusually silent. I made no effort to make conversation-my thoughts were still lingering on our interrupted conversation. From the questions she had asked me, I presumed that eating the food from this place would keep a person trapped here. Like Persephone and Hades, I thought. But, that could make Alice Persephone and her kidnapper Hades... I tried not to dwell on that idea too much.

"We're here," Elliot announced curtly, stopping in front of a mahogany door. "Stay out here while I talk to him," he said to the two of us as he opened the door and walked inside. I strained my ears to ear what was going on inside, but with no luck. All I could hear was a low murmur of conversation-I couldn't even pick out individual words. I glanced over at Alice, who shrugged sympathetically at me. I could only guess that meant she'd tried that once before. After another minute or two, the door opened and Elliot beckoned at us. "He's ready," he told us.

Alice gave me a reassuring smile before tugging me inside. As she led me to Blood's desk (by now I had gathered that it was a study) I tried to make myself completely expressionless. However, as we drew closer I found myself frowning at him slightly. I recognized him-at least, I thought I did-and I didn't like it. He was the spitting image of Alice's former boyfriend, a man I highly distrusted and, to be completely blunt, hated intensely. I seriously doubt that they're the same person, I told myself. But still-I don't think I can trust this guy, not with that face.

Hey, you wouldn't trust him either if you knew what his doppelganger was like.

"So," he said smoothly, leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers together, "you are Alice's brother." It was not a question, but a rather unpleasant-sounding statement. "Ron, was it?" I didn't like the way he was looking at me-I could read absolutely nothing in his gaze, which bothered me. Normally I can read people pretty well, but Blood was doing a wonderful job at keeping himself practically inscrutable. Now you know how other people feel around you when you do that, an annoying little voice said. Oh, shut up, you! I snapped back. Stupid inner voice...

"Yes," I responded coolly, keeping my answer short and blunt. Blood smiled at me, watching me with amusement in his cold blue eyes. After a moment or two he chuckled, shaking his head and smiling like I had just said something completely and utterly ridiculous. "Have I said something funny?" I asked quietly, letting annoyance color my voice slightly.

Blood stopped chuckling long enough to smirk at me. "Oh, I'm not laughing at you. Well," he continued, "maybe a little, but I'm actually laughing at my subordinate." He smiled at Elliot as he said this, but it was the kind of smile I would give to a particularly dull police inspector (which would be practically all of them). "Elliot, have I told you lately how incredibly slow you can be?"

Elliot looked a little confused and a bit hurt at the insult. "What the heck are you talking about, Blood?" he asked heatedly. "And what does this have to do with Ron?"

Blood ignored him, turning his attention back to me. "Is Ron short for anything?" I said nothing, and he raised an eyebrow. "No? What about Ronald?" Again, I gave him no response. Blood leaned forward and I saw a crafty glint in his eye-I leaned back slightly, more out of wariness than of habit. "Well, how about Veronica? A pretty name for pretty girl like you."

Alice squeaked in surprise and Elliot jumped, his head snapping in my direction. I could only stare at Blood in shock. How had he known? I had fooled five people into thinking that I was a boy, plus my best friend who'd seen me dress this way a thousand different times. I could even fool my own parents at first glance if they were truly distracted-so, how had he guessed? I drew myself upright, intending to protest, but the look on his face told me he was itching for that kind of response. He was going to humiliate me by pointing out flaws in my disguise.

Well, there's no way that I'm going to give him that satisfaction. "You're right," I said, forcing myself to stay in my straight-backed position. I refused to sink down in defeat-I wanted to look like I had intended to confess as soon as he had accused me. "I am actually a girl." Elliot gawked at me, and even Blood looked surprised, but I knew that was because he hadn't expected me to own up. "My name is short for Veronica." I hid a smirk when I saw the frown on his face-I had done the exact opposite of what he had anticipated, and I could tell that it annoyed him.

"Then," Elliot said, "you're actually Alice's sister?" Blood rolled his eyes and glared at him. I could practically hear the puzzle pieces snapping together in his head. His eyes went wide and he stared even harder at me. "You're not even related to her at all!" Took you long enough, I thought with a quiet sigh.

"No, she's not," Alice admitted, hugging me sympathetically. She could tell that Blood's perceptiveness had shaken me up a bit. I gave her a smile, silently thanking her. "But we're so close that we just call each other sisters."

"I see," Blood murmured, giving me another of his analytic glances. "And I presume that you've come to take your friend back to the world you came from?"

Why on earth did I think that he was the twin of Alice's ex? I thought wryly. He was slower than molasses in January-Blood's got me pegged, which I really don't like. "She was taken from our world against her will," I told him. "I promised myself that I would find her and bring her back home. Now that I've found her," I continued, nodding at Alice, "I'm going to find a way to get us out of here and back to our world."

"A noble idea," Blood said smoothly, a knowing smirk on his face. "But sadly, it's an impossible task." He smiled wickedly at Alice as he said this. "Isn't that right, my dear?"

I felt my blood turn to ice at his words. My interrupted conversation with Alice returned to the forefront of my mind with a vengeance. "What do you mean?" I murmured, my hands clenching to fists.

"Ron," Alice whispered, "I can't leave Wonderland just yet." I turned to face her, my irritation showing plainly on my face. She took a calm, steadying breath. "When I first got here, Peter gave me a potion that would keep me here. Peter's the one who kidnapped me," she explained quickly. She then proceeded (nervously) to tell me the conditions for her to get back home, her voice getting softer and softer as my anger grew and grew.

"As you can see," Blood said, "your dear friend is stuck here for a little while longer." I glared at him, itching to wipe that smug grin off of his face with the back of my hand. "Now," he continued, his manner becoming similar to a salesman's, "I am going to give you two options. The first is that you find a way back to your world without your friend-"

"Over my dead body."

"That can be arranged, you know," Elliot muttered.

I frowned at him over my shoulder. "Oh, shut up, Triggy," I growled, folding my arms over my chest. Alice giggled and Blood's lips twitched a little bit. Elliot blinked at me, confused. I sighed and turned to look at him. "It's short for 'Trigger-Happy'," I translated. "I think it suits you." Elliot's face flushed angrily, and he spluttered a retort.

"On that note," Blood said firmly, steering the conversation back to the original topic, "I still have a second offer." I stayed quiet, waiting for him to continue. "Considering how attached you and Alice are to each other, I can let you stay here and work here with Alice until she fills up her vial again."

I pretended to think about it, but my decision was already made. As much as I didn't like or trust Blood, I knew that the only way I could stay with Alice was if I worked for him. It was a much better alternative than going back home without her and worrying about what was happening to her. And, now that I thought about it, I really didn't know how to get back home. "Deal," I said, thrusting out my hand. He grasped it, and we sealed the deal with what was slowly becoming a test of grips.

"Alice," Blood said, finally releasing his grip, "Veronica will be staying in your room for the time being-"

"It's Ron," I interrupted, massaging my hand. "Veronica's too stuffy. That's why I shortened it. I won't respond to Veronica anymore."

Blood rolled his eyes. "If you insist," he said sarcastically. "As I was saying," he continued, turning back to Alice, "Ron will be staying in your room during her stay. I would ask you to show her where it is, but you still have chores to finish." Alice frowned, but didn't argue with him. She gave my hand a quick squeeze before she left the room. I wasn't sure if I liked the way she simply obeyed him without question. Blood looked over at Elliot. "Elliot, I'll have you take Ron up to Alice's room."

"What?!" I cried. "Why him? Why can't I just go run after Alice and let her take me there when we're done with her chores? It is her room after all!" The only response I got from my-dare I say it-new boss was a withering look. I huffed irritably. "Fine, then," I said in an irritated voice, "as long as he doesn't try to kill me like he did just a few minutes ago."