Chapter 7: Fancy seeing you here
Amethyst POV
The bus lurched to a halt and I wiped my eyes before plastering a smile on my face and walking out with Hatter and Alice. We chatted about the stone and he asked where the cut out part of the ring was. I gently held up my necklace into the light. "Jack gave it to me before he gave Alice the ring" Hatter looked oddly at me. "I thought this Jack fellow was Alice's boyfriend." Hatter said, confusion written upon his face. "He is, we've been friends for a while. I introduced Jack and Alice." I responded. We walked around the corner, but stopped behind the phone box when we saw some people questioning the residents of the tea shop. "Oh no." Hatter muttered. "Where's the broad?" a familiar Brooklyn accent asked a man. When he didn't respond the man threw him off the side of the path and into the abyss below. Alice and I shared a look, knowing that accent. We peeked around the corner and what I saw shocked me. Along with the Suits who worked for the queen, was a man with the head of a porcelain hare. We heard Ratty giving us away, "They said their names were Alice and…something else. They're sisters" The man-bunny turned his head to Ratty, "Spare him, he could be of some use." There was an underlying tone of cautious optimism mixed with fear. Alice, Hatter, and I hid behind the phone box again just as his mechanical head turned towards us. "You guys go, hide somewhere. Hatter, get Alice and Jack an get them out of here. I'll distract them." Alice nodded, but Hatter protested, "They'll kill you!" I smiled gently. "No, they won't. Now, hide!" Alice scrambled off to hide behind some trees, dragging Hatter from my side and watching to make sure I was okay. I stepped out from behind the phone box and leaned against it. "Fancy seeing you here" I said, the man turned his mechanical head. I nodded to him, "Marchy." He looked at me, "Ace?" He questioned. I grinned "the one and only!" He laughed and shook his head. Suddenly the suits ran past him and tackled me. I fought back, knocking a few of them out, but there were too many. "Let her go!" Marchy bellowed. I stood up and brushed myself off. "What do we do, Mad March?" one of the Suits asked. "We bring her to the Queen" the head suit replied for him. They pinned my hands behind my back and marched me along, ignoring Marchy's protests.
I was blindfolded somewhere along the line, but it was swiftly removed as I was pushed into the queen's throne room. The queen got off her throne and approached me, "Who is this?" she questioned. "I, um, well…" The head Suit trailed off. From across the room a man spoke up, "She's important to Mad March, does more need to be said?" I looked up and saw Jack dressed in an expensive red silk suit. I would have glared at him if I hadn't been too busy staring in astonishment. He walked over to stand by my side along with Marchy. 'Do you remember Morse code?' Jack tapped on the wall. Jack, Marchy, and I had taken lessons in Morse code, Marchy and I for our job, and Jack for the fun. It was the day we all met, and the day Marchy was assigned as my partner. 'Yes' Marchy tapped back. 'Explain.' I demanded. 'Later, just go along with it' Jack responded. I sighed, but complied. "You still haven't told me who this girl is!" The Queen shrieked. "She's Ace!" Jack exclaimed, exasperated. The queen was getting angry because her question was going unanswered, "Off with her head!" She cried. "No!" Jack and Marchy exclaimed. "Well, why not?" the Queen squawked. "She's…she's, well…heh, it's a funny story-" Marchy tried to think quickly, "Get on with it!" the Queen cried. "Oh for God's sake! She's Mad March's lover!" Jack exclaimed. A hush fell over the throne room. Every one stared at the Queen in anticipation. She looked appraisingly at me and then…smiled? "Well, why didn't you say so?" She asked. She put her arm around my shoulders. "If she's important to Mad March she's important to me." Marchy smiled, flustered by this sudden turn of events. "How come I haven't met her before? How long have you two been together? Is she royalty?" The Queen bombarded Marchy with questions, whispering the last part. "She was stuck on the other side of the Glass for many years, I'm afraid. They've been together for two years, and she's a duchess." Jack spoke for Marchy, thinking quickly. "Well, you're welcome to stay here, I'm sure Mad March won't mind sharing a room with you." She winked at Marchy and I blushed, "Mad March, you are relieved from your search for a few days so you two can get…reacquainted" She smirked and raised an eyebrow at us. Marchy nodded and I murmured a quick thank you. "Well, mother, I'm sure Ace and Mad March are quite tired, I think I'll show them to their bedroom." Jack nodded to his mother and left with Marchy and I trailing behind.
When we got to the room I was meant to share with Marchy, I slammed the door behind me and advanced on the two men in front of me. Even though they were bigger than me, they knew not to mess with me. I had a murderous look on my face, but I calmed myself down for the sake of my own sanity. "Someone is going to explain to me what is going on here." I said, deadly calm looking them in the eyes. "Not for nothin' but we did just save your butt" Marchy defended. I glared at him and he backed down, "I liked it better when you were yellin' at us" He muttered. Jack finally spoke up, telling me all about what had happened. (A/N: You'll find out later, I don't want to spoil it so I can't write what they said) They finished telling me, and I forgave them. We caught each other up on our lives, remembered inside jokes, and generally had a good time.
A few hours later, a knock sounded on the door. I walked over to open it and I saw the King. He looked kind and I was sad hearing about the way his wife treated him. "Hello, what can I do for you?" I asked kindly. He looked shocked, but spoke, "Hello, I came to inform you that the Queen is throwing a dinner party to celebrate your return" I grinned at him, "Thank you, I'll make sure we're there." We chatted for a few more minutes before he scampered off again. I walked back inside and sighed, flopping on the bed. Marchy sat down by my feet with Jack and Marchy laughed. Jack looked at him quizzically. "She always hated the dinner parties at the precinct." Jack nudged her foot "Don't worry, us Wonderlandians know how to throw a good party!" I giggled. "Wait…what do I wear, all I have is this dress!" I asked them. "Well, I think you look nice in that, but I'm sure I can find you a dress somewhere. You can take a shower in the meantime" Marchy replied. I nodded and stood up, walking to the bathroom door. I walked into Marchy's-and now my- bathroom and turned on the shower. After my nice warm shower, I walked out wrapped in a towel. I put my underwear back on and walked over to the folded up dress on the bed. It was a light blue knee length dress with a white trim at the bottom adorned with black spades. To go with it was a small black bow clip to keep some of my curly hair out of my face, black silky gloves that went to my elbows, and black boots. I dressed quickly, and was about to leave the room to find Marchy when I heard some muffled thuds coming from the closet. I opened it cautiously, and inside were Jack and Marchy, looking for a suit for Marchy. I laughed at their antics and pulled a simple black suit from the rack. I handed it to Marchy before stepping back into the well lit room. When he saw me, his jaw almost dropped. "Ace, you look gorgeous!"
A/N: Mad March is Amethyst's old partner? I didn't expect that, and I wrote it! Thanks for reading :) –Cheshire Cat