Title: Wild Cards & Gambits

Summary: A year after the events of Tea And Chess, Wonderland City has settled into a relatively peaceful existence. Living in Wonderland is never easy though and Alice and her friends are plunged back into adventure when the past begins to creep into Wonderland once again.

Rating: R-M (depends on the ch. really and the mood I'm in.). Rated for language, sex, violence...the norm.

*Yes, unfortunately to avoid being completely lost reading Tea and Chess is recommended.*


Chapter Nine: Wild Card Deuce

If there was a possible counterpart to Port Town in Alice's world, it would be one of the old pirate ports she'd see in picture books and movie. The docks were roughly constructed and lined with barges that looked as decayed as the railings that they were tied to. Merchants lined the side streets leading to the water, each shouting out their wares and prices with overlapping words and offers. There was a morning crowd already, a sort of hodgepodge of well-to do and poor alike... just judging by their clothing. The marketplace was something similar to an auction block it seemed, with a center podium where a merchant would hold up a bundle of their wares and get bids on it.

"Four eights!"

"Six twelves!"

"Plain cheatin' you are! Deuce and a queen!"

Alice blinked in confusion as she tugged Arthur after her, the horse shying at the bustling crowd. The frenzied shouting was made stranger by the people who were bidding, each holding up different playing cards and waving them wildly at the auction block. The current merchant was holding up a tiny borogrove by one of its rear legs, ignoring its screeching wail as he goaded the bidders into higher 'prices'. From what Alice could see, he was trying to find the cards with the best value the way a poker dealer might.

"Currency is different here?" she asked Hatter. They had finally started speaking during the long walk from the train stop. She had caved first; Alice knew that it was better to put it from her mind if they were to have a peaceful journey.

He looked over his shoulder at her. "They go by Card Values here. In the City Capital, we go by inches, as you know, or trade values. Here, it is actual cards. Never understood why."

Guinevere was following him obediently without him holding her, the chestnut mare turning her head this way and that to take in the busy crowds. Alice looked back and saw Chesh still curled up on her saddle, watching the people with a fiendish grin that was too cunning for a normal cat. Learning that the Cat could talk had actually increased their distrust of him but Alice wondered if he was doing it just to irritate them. He only spoke occasionally, usually to rib Hatter, and there was no question in Alice's mind that he was going to continue doing so for the rest of this 'trip'.

"Do you know the way through Port Town?" she asked the Cheshire, pulling Arthur to a stop so that she could look at him easier. The people who had been behind them grumbled at the hold up even as they moved around them. Apparently a stall in traffic wasn't going to hold anyone up in the streets. The Cat sat up on his haunches and yawned.

"I just may." He stretched and kneaded the seat of the saddle with wicked looking claws. "But then again, I may not."

Hatter had turned around, Guinevere still at his shoulder. "How many lives did Amelia say he had left? I'd be willing to find out if she forgot to mention it."

The Cat actually glared at him but gave in all the same. "It depends on where you want to go. Do we have a route or are you both just playing this by ear? Which, I might add, is terribly irresponsible for all involved. Very irresponsible."

He slanted a sly look at Alice that made her fidget. It wasn't possible that he had guessed her possible condition, was it? Alice firmed her jaw and looked at Chesh defiantly.

"Do you know the way through the city? To the Metro Road?" Alice asked, aware that Hatter was giving Chesh an odd look.

"Are you sure that you want to leave? It is such a lovely place to visit. They have not a care in the world for Royalty or trickery. Just trade. A trade in information would be more useful, perhaps, than running around?" Chesh offered.

Hatter exhaled sharply, sounding annoyed once again.

"Do you know the way or not?" Alice insisted again and she fingered the charm bracelet Amelia had given her. The Cheshire noticed and immediately straightened up.

"Three blocks from here there is a main street that leads to the Wilds. It would be best to head through the streets, in plain view. That way there is little chance of being accosted in the dark alley." As if that was the end of that, Chesh began to clean his whiskers meticulously. Hatter rolled his eyes.

"Safety advice from a cat. This is getting worse and worse," Hatter grumbled and then looked at Alice. "I should see if any of my old contacts are around. At the very least to find out if anything unusual is happening."

"Will they deal with you, considering how the Gnat responded?" Alice asked, unwittingly sarcastic. Hatter simply looked at her and then shook his head. He felt guilty enough about that already. Yet he assumed that part of her sarcasm was due to her worry about her mother's disappearance and he was willing to ignore the tone of her voice.

"They'll deal with me all right."

There was a dark threat in his voice that Alice hadn't heard in a long time, the kind that sent a chill up her spine, and she stared at him. Behind her, the Cat stared at him as well and twitched his tail back and forth.

"Alice..." Hatter began and she looked up at him to see his eyes an absorbing dark brown. But before he could finish, there was a loud scream just behind them and they both turned to look along the docks. The crowds were in a panic and stampeding towards them, women dragging their children behind them as merchant carts were tossed left and right. Alice and Hatter exchanged confused looks but the reason for the panic could be felt. The ground was heaving up and down, the way a carpet would if it was being shaken out, and Alice grabbed hold of Arthur as the gelding began to panic.

"What in Wonderland?" Hatter shouted as a deep bass rumbling began, like thunder and drums all at once. Alice turned with Arthur, the leather reins burning through her fingers.

"It feels like an earthquake," she cried and he sent her a confused look. Alice couldn't take the time to explain as the stampede of people suddenly swarmed around them, jostling her this way and that. Arthur whinnied anxiously, still pulling at her hold. The ground's shaking and heaving didn't stop, which only increased the panic in the crowd around them. Hatter's hand suddenly grabbed around her elbow and hauled her to the side, pressing her up against one of the store windows. He had Guinevere's lead tight in his own hand and Arthur was nickering in a fretful way. The crowd was still panicking and the ground still heaving, while Alice pressed herself back against Hatter.

"This has never happened before," he muttered against the back of her head and Alice winced as the heaving ground pitched them tighter against the glass.

"It does happen in my world," she answered loudly over the rumbling sounds, "but never like this." This was something different in the way the ground moved like a rolling wave and the way the very earth itself seemed to groan in pain.

The crowd suddenly swelled around them and Alice felt Arthur's reins rip through her hands. Guinevere's own lead snapped in half from the force and Hatter made a vain grab at her bridle. The mare whinnied and the swarm seemed to force both horses into a spooked run down the dock. Chesh leapt from Arthur's saddle and across the backs of several of the crowd to land next to Alice. Hatter swore a blue streak and quickly pushed Alice ahead of himself into the building they were nearest to.

They stumbled in to the jingle of door chimes and Hatter pulled on her arm to keep her from going to her knees. Alice clutched hold of his arms and forced herself to stand, seeing his concern when she took longer than normal. Behind Hatter, the crowd was shouting back and forth, and there were even some screams of people being caught underfoot. Alice looked away from the horrible scene and clutched Hatter's other hand in concern as she looked up at him. Hatter's eyes went over her from head to toe to make certain she was okay before he let go of her arm.

"I'm going to go grab the horses. You stay here, out of trouble if you can manage it," he ordered, the jibe taking the sting out of his demand. Alice opened her mouth to argue but he suddenly ducked his head and kissed her on her surprised lips. She staggered into him but as quick as it had begun the kiss was broken. Alice swayed from the force of it and Hatter winked at her, the expression on his face somehow reassuring despite the insanity outside. With a final squeeze on her hand, he pushed her deeper into the store before shutting the door with a definitive snap.

On the verge of following him out, Alice made it to the door once more in time to see the crowd outside seem to swallow him up and he was gone. The building suddenly shook again, and Alice grabbed hold of the door frame to try to stay on her feet. "Okay, Alice," she said to herself, "maybe he has a point this time."

"Yes, let us stay away from almost certain death, if you please," Chesh commented from where he was prowling, having been forgotten in the rush. Alice was about to snap something back at him when the entire building shook and swayed as if it were about to collapse around her.

The tiny figurines that lined the shelves nearby shook violently and Alice left the door only to have to catch herself from falling into the shelves themselves. She was able to catch a tiny sheep figurine from crashing to the hardwood flooring and she heard the cat mutter something vulgar nearby. Chesh growled faintly in his throat before trotting off deeper into the store and leaving her alone near the entrance. Setting the figurine back in its proper place on the shelf, Alice took a moment to look around the shop she had been pushed into. There were all manner of oddly shaped and slanted shelves lined with a variety of knick knacks: figurines, knitting wares, chimes, tea cups. There was no obvious order to the chaos on the shelves and Alice had to duck as she went deeper into the shop to avoid the slanted ceilings that dropped low over her head. The chimes hanging bumped against her hair, letting out a faint whistling sound like a tea kettle on a stove.

Suddenly, Chesh came trotting back up and leapt onto Alice's shoulder with surprising ease. Without any hesitation, he curled around her neck and promptly faded from view though Alice could still feel his slight weight. At the same time, Alice could hear someone walking from the rear of the shop and she slid her hand to the side-bag she wore. It was heavy enough to possibly be a weapon.

Alice wondered, just briefly, if she was getting paranoid to think about hitting a possibly undeserving shop-keep. It certainly felt like she was acting suspiciously.

She forced herself to put her hand away from the bag and tried to act as nonchalant as possible by looking at some of the metal shelves nearby. They were stacked with small handheld mirrors with the sort of old frames that Alice would have expected to see in a fairy-tale: old woodwork of spirals and vines that gently bracketed the glimmering silver mirror face. Alice gingerly picked one up and turned it over in her hand, staring at her reflection in the mirror. There was nothing out of the ordinary from her normal reflection but she found herself drawn into the sight of her own face. The mirror suddenly glimmered and Alice stared as her hand seemed to glow, the mirror's surface rippling like water. The glow spread from her fingertips to circle the mirror frame, causing the burnished copper to glow a brilliant amber. Her hand ached from it and Alice winced, transferring the mirror to her other hand.

The face of the small mirror distorted slowly and another woman's face replaced hers in a slow morph that entranced her. For a moment, Alice thought it was her mother but then had to correct herself as the reflection took on further shape and detail. The woman staring at her had short silvery hair cropped close to her skull and she was hauntingly beautiful with the most incredible emerald green eyes Alice had ever seen. The woman stared back at an almost hypnotized Alice and gave her a sad frown that spoke of a long suffered exhaustion. Her eyes shut to slits and she lifted a hand to touch the mirror surface from her side. Alice copied the action and touched the surface with one of her fingertips. She tilted the mirror slightly, watching as the woman in the mirror seemed to say Alice's name.

All at once, another woman appeared in the mirror's reflection and Alice snapped out of her trance. This woman's reflection was far more real seeming and the presence at her back was no ghost. Her glow disappeared immediately and she turned around sharply on her heel, clutching the mirror to her chest defensively.

The woman standing behind her gave her an amused look. "Something wrong, child?"

Alice managed to give her a polite smile. "No!... No. Sorry, I was just browsing."

"Certainly," the woman allowed and began to walk around to the other side of the shelves. She looked at Alice through the space between them. "But as a word of advice, I wouldn't suggest just browsing when it comes to Fragmented Looking Glasses. They tend to be rather... finicky in what they show. Not to mention very expensive."

Alice swallowed in reflex and put the mirror back in its place. "Where do they come from?"

"That particular brand is the old shards once discarded during the creation of The Looking Glass itself. Same batch of glass but strangely with no power. I sell about one a year. They are not everyone's fancy." The shopkeeper turned away from her and began to walk to the window. She had to stand on her tiptoes to see out the window. "I see that the panic has died down."

Alice followed her, ignoring Chesh's unhappy rumble against her neck.

"Your choice of safe haven was rather... silly," she continued and eyed Alice. "A disorder shop, as we call it, and full of glass. The way these walls were shakin," she made a tsk sound, "silly to shelter here."

"What is this place called?" Alice asked. Hatter had shoved her in so quickly that she had never bothered to check.

"Wool and Water Harbour Haven Shop of Intricate Delight and Mystery, which has been in my family for...oh, twenty or so years. I am its owner, Caryn Drawling." Alice blinked at the long winded title and the shopkeeper gave her a grin. "Most of my longer term customers call it Harbour Haven. Any sort of item that does not find a proper place in a regular store comes here and finds a home until the right person comes along to purchase it."

"Makes sense, all things considering," Alice muttered to herself. Caryn walked away from the window, leaving Alice to look anxiously down the street. Hatter was no where in sight even though the crowds were thinning out.

"A strange woman," Chesh's cultured voice whispered from close to her ear.

"Oh?" Alice asked.

"Did you actually look at her, girl? Or were you so distracted by your pretty reflection that your brain is still addled?" the Cat sniped. "She certainly doesn't fit with these surroundings."

"Shh," Alice warned the invisible Cat and turned to see the woman sitting just behind a low counter. She was tapping a pair of knitting needles against the edge of the counter as she stared at an open picture book. Under the guise of looking at a small clock, Alice peeped at her from underneath her lashes. She was dressed in a Regency style of noblewoman's gown, her lower necked bodice accented by an amber charm necklace that shone against her pale skin. Her hair was pulled back into an elegant chignon, and from what Alice could see there were faint silver streaks intermingling with the rich auburn.

She looked too refined to be running a shop, Alice had to admit as she looked at the fine bone-structure and well-kept hands.

But when Caryn looked up and smiled warmly at her, Alice forgot herself and smiled back. There was a friendly familiarity to her that spoke of a well-versed saleswoman and it calmed Alice's suspicions. Chesh continued to mutter warnings against her ear and Alice discreetly reached up and pulled on his tail to shut him up. He hissed in her ear but wisely silenced himself as Alice approached the register.

"Do you like the shop?" Caryn asked. Her voice was eager, as if Alice's opinion honestly mattered, and Alice could only smile back just as warmly. She was one of those people who was instantly likeable and she had an infectious smile.

"It's different," Alice said, looking around the counter. There were more small figurines around the counter, mostly of sheep or pigs, and the old cash register dwarfed the petite woman behind the counter. Caryn picked up a candy jar and offered it to Alice. Not wanting to be rude, Alice plucked out a small mint and popped it into her mouth. Caryn gave her an approving look.

"You aren't really here to look at knick knacks. No one just chooses to come to Port Town. I wouldn't but sometimes I do need to come here to run things when my clerks are ill." Caryn was still tapping her knitting needles against the old wood and she tipped her head on the side as she looked at Alice. "Pretty girl like you should be going to the Metropolis."

"We were headed there but the Ouestern Train let us off here instead."

Caryn's amber brown eyes widened. "Ouestern Train never stops here. It runs a directly line to the South Metropolis and then out to the direct West side of Wonderland."

"Well, it did this time," Alice muttered, leaning on her elbows over the counter.

"Unfortunate." The older woman sighed. "I haven't taken that train in aeons. I much prefer going by hover-plane or horse." She gave Alice an incredibly direct look that read the younger woman's face with ease. "You look unhappy, child."

"I lost someone recently," Alice said honestly and Caryn's face closed up slightly.

"My apologies. I too know what it means to lose someone you love." Her eyes wandered over Alice. "Your husband?"

"My mom. She's missing," Alice admitted as she cracked the mint in her mouth. Almost immediately she clamped a hand over her mouth and spat the half-finished mint out. The inside of it had tasted like a sour apple and her easy honesty was, in retrospect, not normal and likely brought on by the mint. Alice looked at Caryn suspiciously.

"Those mints do react differently with everyone. I was hoping you'd tell me which item you actually wanted. Sometimes one never does truthfully tell a salesperson what they want through embarrassment." She looked at Alice sympathetically. "I have no designs on you, child. I think the last time I had a devious thought was when I mistakenly sold an old noblewoman an aphrodisiac. With rather hilarious results I must admit but that was my last time of being remotely devious with customers."

She paused and set her knitting needles on the counter. "What do they call you?"

"Alice." Still suspicious, she took a prudent step back from the counter.

"The Alice?" Caryn asked, her voice tinged with excitement. "The girl who helped save the City almost a year ago?"

Embarrassed and rather flattered by the woman's eagerness, Alice could only nod. Chesh growled in her ear, clearly thinking that the woman was up to no good. But Alice, from what she could tell, saw nothing evil in this woman. There was an open friendliness and a detached warmth that any good salesperson would have.

"Good, I am finally glad to meet you. That old White Queen had always been a bitch in life and hopefully she met a painful death," Caryn said with incredible venom. Her face changed, as if her bitterness had an actual taste and she hated it. Alice could say nothing to that comment. She had pitied the White Queen to a certain degree but she had been a heartless bitch.

"Do you mind me being here?" Alice asked as she looked at Caryn.

"The shop is quiet this time of year. We're coming up to Off Season, where time slows and no one wants a knick knack. Sad but terribly true." She smiled at Alice. "I'll be glad of your company."

"You often get earth quakes here?" Alice asked, still leaning on the counter. The other woman gave her a puzzled look and she gestured to the window. "The ground shaking?"

"That? No never. Wonder what is causing it. Likely isn't good news." She spoke in short, choppy sentences and shook her head. The entire shop shook violently again and Alice had to grab the counter edge tightly to keep herself from falling. Caryn's eyes squinted as she looked out the window, seeing the people still panicking in the streets. "It disturbs the flow in the shop, to have such wicked shaking."

There was a strange light in her eyes, one that Alice read as anger and she backed up a few steps warily. But then the light was gone and Caryn seemed to snap herself out of it. Giving Alice another smile, she reached beneath the counter and produced two small cups and a miniature coffee press.

"Since we're likely to be stuck here for a while yet, how about a nice hot cup of Lagfree Pinchcoffee and you can see some of my wares, hmm?" Caryn offered while she dragged a spare antique chair over to her side of the counter. It was on Alice's tongue to refuse since she knew that she needed to find Hatter soon. But the older woman contrived to look lonely and wistful and Alice found her resolve wearing down. What harm could a cup of coffee do?

Taking a seat on the old chair she was offered, Alice took one last look outside and hoped Hatter would be back soon.


Panic in Wonderland had several different extremes. Complete pandemonium, resigned fear, and frozen in shock were just three of those but Hatter was seeing all three in the docks. It did nothing to ease his own fears about what was going on but he was more determined than most to bury those fears. The dock workers had at first taken little notice of the terror around them but they were now racing to secure the ships against the rocking waves. The few he had spoken to had simply shoved him away in their rush and none of them could be brought to care that he was looking for two horses.

Hatter hadn't even caught a glimpse of the horses since they had been spooked.

Pausing in the middle of the street, Hatter took off his hat and swiped his hand across his brow. The people crowding around the streets shoved and jostled him roughly. He took no notice, running a hand through his hair impatiently and wondering where to start. He was given a particularly hard shove that let him know that people weren't about to be slowed by him standing there and he quickly flipped his hat back on.

He had just run his fingers over the brim when he heard a scream from behind him while the ground rumbled. Instinctively he jumped backward and onto a street-lamp post, holding onto it to avoid falling back into the crowd.

It was almost laughable to think that he had nearly been run over by a little old lady steering a steam-driven wagon. She waved her fist at him as she swung the wagon around the corner. The sight was comical enough and Hatter tipped his head on the side, momentarily struck speechless. The old woman kept driving and nearly collided with a fruit stand. Hatter shook his head to clear it and wondered just what was going on with Wonderland these days. Ignoring the angry shouts of people who he had shoved to one side and one of the nearby vendors who shouted at him to get down, Hatter pursed his lips. He wasn't likely to find Guinevere in the streets like this. People were too frantic and, though he had calmed his own fears down, Hatter didn't like the thought of running through streets that he didn't know.

He had to wait a few minutes for there to be relative quiet before he could think of what to do. The rumbling reduced itself to the occasional groan and heave but nowhere near as terrible as it had been just minutes earlier. Hatter kept his grip tight around the lamp post and leaned a bit further out.

"Nothin' to lose. Might still work," he muttered to himself. Shrugging, he lifted two fingers to his lips and let out a loud piercing whistle. He paused for a moment, letting the whistle echo through the streets, before he began shouting Guinevere's name.

There was an answering neigh from behind him and Hatter swivelled to see the chestnut mare barrelling through the crowd. She still had a wide-eyed look about her but she pinned her ears and galloped on. Not for the first time, Hatter thanked Charlie for training the horses to recognize their names. Arthur was just at her heels, as well trained as she, and they slid to a stop on the cobblestone street. Guinevere showed a rare display of spirit as she reared, throwing her head angrily as she pawed at the air. She was coated in white lather as was Arthur, the still panicking crowds spooking them further.

Hatter leapt down from the lamp post and quickly side-stepped the pawing hooves to get to the mare's side. Grabbing her by the bridle, Hatter held Guinevere as still as he could and stroked her soaked neck. "Easy, Guin," he whispered, feeling Arthur crowd close as well. They were comforted by a familiar presence and Hatter felt Arthur butt him hard with his head. Both horses were shaking and breathing hard but Hatter felt relieved that they had come back. He didn't want to think of losing either of them in this Port Town.

He was still stroking Guinevere to calm her when he felt something hard poke into his mid-back. The familiar feel of a gun muzzle made him groan and roll his eyes up to the sky. "What now?" he muttered to no one in particular.

"You must be real stupid to bring horses into Port Town," a gravely voice warned and Hatter frowned before turning around. The gun muzzle followed his motion so that it was poking into his chest and Hatter looked up from the sight of it to face his possible attacker. The man he faced was near his own age, with bright blue eyes and fine blue-black hair that was pushed back from his face. Despite the gun pressed into his chest, Hatter shook his head and gave him a half-hearted but wary smile. The man gave him an was an easy grin in return that spoke of their one-time friendship and Hatter put his hands to his sides.

"Pidge. It's been a very long time."

"Lifetime or so." Lowering the gun, Pidge grinned and then smacked his hand on Hatter's shoulder with surprising strength. He was a thin man, taller than Hatter by a good head and older by a few years. Hatter grinned back in relief when he read Pidge's obvious welcome in his eyes. They had a long-standing history together from when he had been running with the Resistance. Though some of it had been rather... tumultuous, they had never truly stopped being friends.

"Last I heard, you were in the City living the sort of life that made Dodo want to kill you. Then I get your notice about the Looking Glass and lo n' behold, you show up in Port Town like some sort of bad dream," Pidge said, holstering his gun. From what Hatter could see he was alone but knowing him as he did, Hatter didn't doubt that he had sharp shooters all around him. They may have been friends but Pidge wasn't going to take chances.

Which, honestly, was exactly how Hatter felt. He doubted that if their situations were reversed that he would have stopped holding a gun on Pidge.

"I need some help. The Gnat was in the City and I think he had somethin' to do with the Looking Glass exploding," Hatter explained and Pidge gave him a curious look. Neither was concerned with being overheard. Though the crowds had calmed down considerably, it was still safe to discuss such inane things in open view. If they had instead left immediately, neither doubted that they would have been picked up immediately by either Royal Spies or by the South's own secret police.

"You never once cared about the Looking Glass before. Why now?" Pidge asked. His eyes slid over Hatter from head to toe, noting the faint signs of domesticity in Hatter's manner. This man was certainly different than the care-free crook and fighter he had once been. "There's a girl involved eh? I heard the stories about you and an Alice, you know."

Hatter shrugged but couldn't wipe the silly grin from his lips if he tried at the thought of Alice. Pidge groaned and gave him a cuff upside the head before looping his arm around Hatter's shoulders.

"What have I told you about gettin' involved with skirts? Dangerous even if they are pretty," Pidge ribbed. Hatter shook his head, still held tightly by Pidge's brotherly hold. Pidge was pulling the 'elder' role on him even though he was only a few years older than Hatter.

"Her mother was kidnapped along with another friend of ours during the explosion. My sources in the City said they saw them being brought South but by who no one knew exactly. All I have is hearsay and guesswork." Hatter scratched at Guinevere's neck, glad that the horses were calming down finally and letting him focus more on the job at hand. "What about you, Pidge? You seen anythin' suspicious?"

Pidge shrugged as if everything he saw was suspicious to him. "The Quadrille is moving out again, as is the White Rabbit. I got paid for some maps a few months ago, maps of the Tunnels... the ones you drew out for me," Pidge said, thinking aloud. "Something is going on but Wonderland knows what."

"The King's son was taken as well," Hatter started and Pidge nodded.

"We know; even in the far South people heard of it. That... likely has nothing to do with anyone in the South." Pidge looked uncomfortable, making it clear that even he doubted that he was right about that. "No matter what the language, everyone in all parts of Wonderland likely heard it. I even read a missive in Poetic Tabor of all languages."

"Luckily you kept going with the languages," Hatter interjected, "I couldn't stand them." Pidge's gift for languages was what made him so useful when entering the more diverse areas of Wonderland. Hatter knew he was lucky that his old friend had elected to help him and not try to keep him from doing what he needed to do.

"You are lucky indeed, considering where you likely have to go, Hatter," Pidge warned. He gave Hatter a suddenly square look. "Snake is still in use, eh?"

Hatter paled slightly. "Why? There's been no need for..."

"Not that you could see but I'm sure Dodo and the Quadrille thought that there was. Port Town is neutral territory though, so you should be safe. Snake won't move if I'm here; we still have our agreement about eggs and trade." Pidge looked around and it was clear that the thought of Snake made him very uncomfortable. "It's getting dark. You should find your girl and bring her to the safe-house."