My vacay is almost over, so the updates may come slower after this. Then again, possibly not. I am really enjoying writing this. Please keep reading and reviewing :) And thanks for the awesome feedback!
Don't give anything away. You're being watched.
It was the latest in a stream of text messages that Hatter had sent Jack.
And it was true. Hatter had seen six different White Rabbit operatives over the past week and a half, taking turns following Jack around. However, following him around was all that they were doing. Hatter wasn't sure why they weren't trying to capture him, but he was thankful that, for the moment, all they were doing was spying.
Perhaps they didn't know he was Resistance?
The more Hatter watched Jack, the more he despised the man. And the more attached Alice got to Jack, the more damage Hatter did to the top of the warehouse. But in spite of that, he had become much more vigilant in his watching Jack since seeing Agent White. After all, he couldn't let anything happen to Jack early, or Alice would not end up in Wonderland, and everything would unravel. Not to mention, he would lose any chance he had of a happy ending.
"… and all this misery would be for nothing."
At the moment, Hatter was dealing with a very different problem.
It had started out a day earlier as a bit of coughing and a runny nose. But when Hatter awoke in the morning, his head felt like it was filled with soggy porridge. His neck and shoulders ached, and a dry cough wracked his body. And he felt so cold.
He couldn't remember the last time he had gotten sick in Wonderland. Probably over a decade ago, possibly even two. But he would quickly learn that he didn't have the same immunity to oyster illnesses.
Right now he was sitting at his usual booth at Molly's, sipping tea and pushing his sausages and toast around the plate. Only a couple of small bites had made it to his mouth, and the waitress and the kitchen staff were all shooting him looks of concern. Tessa hadn't arrived for shift yet, and none of the others were as familiar with David as she was, but his appetite had become a legend of its own there.
So to see him, so obviously ill and uninterested in food, concerned them all.
And it took Tessa less then a minute from the time she walked in to know that something was very wrong with her favorite customer.
She materialized at his side and placed a hand on his arm. Even through the sleeve of his shirt, she could feel the heat coming off of his skin.
"David, are you alright?"
He looked at her with bleary, miserable eyes.
"Hun, you shouldn't be here. You should be in bed."
"I can't," he mumbled. "Have to work."
"Work? You look like you can barely stand up. I'm sure your foreman will cut you some slack. Go home."
He was shivering now, and feeling worse by the minute.
Tessa shook her head "Drink your tea, I'll be right back."
Hatter swallowed another mouthful, and then she was by his side again, pressing something into his hand. He looked down to see a metal and plastic package with pills inside.
"What's this?"
"Cold medicine," Tessa replied. "It'll make you feel better. That, and a day or two in bed. And drink lots of water and tea."
In the end she had sent him away with two bottles of water, and without paying for his breakfast. He had tried to, but she had shooed him off.
"Or don't you remember the thirty-two dollar tip you left me on an eight dollar meal," she had quipped, "that day you took off like a bat outta hell."
And so he was back in his hotel room, and lacking the energy to do any more then eat a few of the pills Tessa had given him and collapse back on the bed. He hoped that Jack could look after himself for one day.
The sun was low in the sky before he stirred. He felt a bit better, in any case his head didn't feel so stuffed up. He still had a nasty cough though, and his nose was dripping again. And he was still shivering.
He stretched a bit, and walked over to the window, glancing across the street at the window to Jack's apartment.
And he froze. He could see movement inside, but it was not Jack. Three of the men who he had seen following Jack were in there. Looking for something. Turning the place upside down.
Then a cold realization hit the pit of his stomach. They were looking for the ring. And he prayed that Jack hadn't left it somewhere that they would find it.
Jack! Where was Jack? Hatter's panic reached a full on frenzy now. Had they caught him? Had he failed at his mission because he got sick?
Hatter struggled to pull his shoes on, finding them more then a little unyielding, and he finally rushed from his hotel room barefooted, and out the back door. A coughing fit overtook him as he got outside, and he doubled over for a moment.
Then he was off again, skirting the building, keeping his eye on Jack's apartment window.
Then, to his immense relief, he saw Jack round the corner onto the street. He hadn't been in the apartment. He wasn't hurt. He didn't even know anything was going on.
But he was headed, quite quickly, straight towards trouble.
Hatter fumbled with his cell phone, struggled to type quickly, and hoping that the message would reach him in time.
Jack's phone buzzed and beeped in his pocket again. He immediately pulled it out and flipped it open. His unknown guardian was warning him again. And truthfully, Jack was grateful to whoever it was.
Rabbit at your flat. Leave now.
Hatter saw Jack open his phone, and then promptly turn and rush back in the direction that he had come. Hatter slid down the wall, feeling light headed, and another coughing fit took him. He stayed there in the shadows, watching the window until the men had left.
And in the distance, he heard a siren start to wail.
The nasty cough stuck around for quite a few days, but thankfully the pills that Tessa had given him seemed fairly strong, and made being sick more tolerable.
But sick or not, Hatter went back to watching Jack the next morning. Ensuring that he was safe. Concerned that the operatives were getting more aggressive.
He noted, gratefully, that there still seemed to only be six of them. Well, seven if he counted Agent White, but since the day outside Molly's, he hadn't seen him again. He had not doubt he was still here, but was letting his cronies do the chasing.
He also noted that the operatives were starting to stick a lot closer to Jack when they saw him, marking his steps, searching the places that he had been. So in like manner, Hatter also began to tail Jack from less of a distance.
Hatter had abandoned his post at the top of the warehouse for a small shrubbed road closer to the dojo, just in case. Jack was in there again, this time in a group lesson with other beginners. Hatter had swapped his hardhat for a cap, pulled low over his face, and watched the class, still somewhat distantly, through the side window.
And from his new vantage point, he could see Alice's face, her eyes scanning the students, appraising them, watching them throw each other onto the mats.
His heart beat faster, and the all-to-familiar longing to be with her overwhelmed him for a moment. He knew he couldn't let her see him. But he was happy, at that moment to watch her. He could watch her all day. He longed to watch her all day. Someday, he promised himself, he would do just that.
But it wouldn't be today. The class was wrapping up, and Hatter had to put more distance between himself and the dojo, so he could watch where Jack went next. That, and he didn't want that close of a view of Alice kissing Jack. He had already seen that more often then he wanted to, and where he had hoped his reaction would lesson over time, it hadn't.
And that's when he made his mistake. He stood up, turning a little too quickly, and crashed directly into the chest of a man in a gray button up shirt. And on his lapel was a small pin with a white rabbit.
