Fic: Of Tea & Chess

Rating: R(ish)

Summary: Alice & Hatter travel back to Wonderland for innocent reasons and discover that there is no such thing as coincidence.

Author's Note: It is incredibly hard for me to write thick accents. really hard. Though I adore POVs, i worry im getting too into POVs. but ah well. these chars are takin' over. Yes. A fast update. Because I can.


Chapter 10: A Sealed Move

Astonishingly (to the men that was), Chesh was good to his word as he guided the small group through what he called the Ivory Woods. His explanations were vague as to how he knew how to get through the Checkerboard Taiga, though he told them that if you were able to get some measure of distance above the trees you would be able to see the different between each massive squares of woods. They were moving as mixed pieces, he mentioned when Alice had asked if they were pawns. Since there were more than two of them, they would have to complete a series of moves as they would in chess. The Taiga had rules that needed to be followed, rules that could not be broken.

The Ivory Woods were brilliant, he explained, but the further they went the deep the danger would get if they were not careful of the way they went. He didn't explain how he could find the way with such ease but Alice deciphered that he was doing far more looking around than he was admitting to. He was being very careful to guide them properly, despite the trickery she felt he would be liable to do. Yet with his guidance the trek was uneventful at best. Boring even. Charlie's singing hadn't dulled for a moment, the Knave riding half-asleep, Jack still leading with quiet authority and Hatter amusing himself with a few hat tricks that made even the Knave look up. To see a simple fedora seem to bounce in the air and then to his head took some of the dullness away from riding in the dull Woods.

It took the rest of the day to travel through the Ivory Woods and they were all sore and ready for rest by the time the moon rose. Chesh had been willing to move on, still energetic but they were still exhausted from their journey through the first Black Square of the Taiga. Alice was thankful the moment she unwrapped her legs from her horse and sensed that her horse felt the same. Making camp had been a quiet affair as they were all too tired to say much. There were no arguments, no story telling. Just a resigned quiet that made it seem far worse than an argument.

"So are we any closer to a border?" Jack asked Chesh as he fed the fire. Chesh had climbed into a tree, lying atop a branch the way he had when Alice had found him.

"I figure we hit the end of our shape. We crossed two diagonals today but now we have to move differently…L-shape I think. We'll probably have to get into the Black Forests soon to cross over. Luckily, we can move faster that way with the border shimmers," Chesh answered. "Out of curiousity, has no one noticed the reasons for our moves?"

"We're movin' like chess pieces from the one side of the board," Hatter said from where he stood. Chesh glanced at him, disappointed that his fun had been ruined. When Alice looked at him, Hatter glanced up and began to point at them. "King: Jack, Queen: Alice, Knight: Charlie, Knave: Bishop, me: Rook." Hatter looked at Chesh. "Just can't think of what you are yet."

Chesh shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe I'm just a pawn in this game." He put his arm behind his head and sighed, making a show of closing his eyes. Taking his gaze from the suddenly quiet Hatter, Jack eyed him while the Knave unpacked his saddlebags, searching for food.

"We'll need to start hunting if we want to be on something else than tart pastries, bread and water," the Knave said. Charlie was humming away as he set up his hammock between two birch trees, tying it off and testing it to make sure it wouldn't fall. He didn't even bother to ask for food, simply plopped down and promptly began to snore. Alice raised an eyebrow as she passed him carrying their blankets. Shaking her head, she tucked a blanket around him and he made a soft murmur like a puppy being scratched in its sleep.

"I'm not too hungry. We could save it for the morning," Alice said and the men gave murmurs of agreements. Chesh seemed to fall asleep immediately, the Knave and Jack exchanging a look. The Knave sat down beneath the tree where Chesh slept, Alice giving Jack a curious look that he ignored as he shook out the blanket she handed him and propped himself against a saddle.

"Knave, you are fine with watching and keeping the fire going?" he asked and his second gave a nod.

"I'll be on the alert, sire," the Knave answered. As Alice watched, he seemed to stiffen up though his eyes went a soft lavender colour.

"Is he a robot or something?" Alice asked Jack before he closed his eyes. Jack shook his head.

"Not quite. My mother altered him before she imprisoned him for helping me. Makes him a decent guard to have. Get some sleep, Alice. We have a long ride tomorrow," Jack ordered gently as he turned his back to the fire and huddled beneath his blanket. Alice sighed in exasperation and turned to the only other person awake.

Hatter was sitting against a fallen log near the fire, his eyes staring into the flames. She had never seen him look so pensive as he did then, his hands rolling his hat between them absentmindedly. Tipping her head on the side, Alice sat beside him.

"Hey, come back to Wonderland," she whispered and he looked over at her.

"Hi," he said with a smile. His face seemed lined with exhaustion and Alice curled up against him. "You should get some sleep, Alice."

"So I've been hearing," Alice answered dryly. Hatter put his arm around her waist and she sighed before she sat up on her knees and took his face in her hands. He met her eyes tiredly and she smiled into his before she felt her heart start to pound suddenly. Hatter's own eyes slipped half-shut and he reached his hand up to cup her face, drawing her face to his. Alice closed her eyes shut as he kissed her, hands clenching his shoulders as she shivered. Hatter tipped her head slightly and the kiss grew in intensity when she gripped him harder. He searched her mouth with his tongue, his fingers sliding beneath her coat to gently graze over her breasts and ribs in a gentle caress. Her body pressed into his, feeling the desire between them pull at her senses.

He broke the kiss before it could deepen further and took a shaky breath as he opened his eyes. Alice opened her own and licked her lower lip, her desire clear enough for him to read. "We need to get some sleep," Hatter managed barely. Alice blinked, sinking her teeth into her lower lip as if she wanted to say something before releasing her lip and sighing. She nodded, not moving from his side and making it clear she was not about to move. Gesturing with her hand for him to move over, Alice put a blanket on the ground and then held another up. Hatter smiled and lay on his side, Alice scooting down to lay beside him, her back to his front as she tucked the blanket under her chin. He hugged her close, his left arm cushioning his head as he stroked her arm absentmindedly. They were quiet for a long time, Alice's breathing even and relaxing him.

"Hatter?" Alice asked groggily. "We need to talk."

"Hmm?" He waited for her to continue but she seemed to have fallen asleep before she could finish her thought. Smiling, Hatter sighed and looked away from her dark head to stare at her arm. She had stretched it out in her sleep as if to feel the warmth and he trailed his fingers over her soft skin, watching the way the flickering flames cast an orange shadow on her skin. Seeing his own fingers on her skin, Hatter lifted his hand and stared at it, catching the way his hand seemed to darken in colour just slightly. He squeezed his fingers into a fist and then flared them out again as he stared at his hand. Giving a shake of his head, Hatter rested his hand on Alice's once more and slipped his fingers through hers. Unable to help it, he stared at their entwined fingers before he started to drift into a doze once more.

"Wake up!" a deep voice said as Hatter felt himself poked in the ribs with a boot. Groggy, he opened his eyes and looked up into the heavily lined face of a man wearing round spectacles and wearing head to toe brown leather.

"Haigha?" he muttered, remembering to pronounce the word like 'mayor'.

"God, boy. I can't wait ta see wot's gonna happen when ye reach the age of maturity. Lazy, ye are," the man answered as he scuttled back from where Hatter lay. Blinking away sleep, Hatter realised that Alice was not around him, that the camp had changed into a tiny cramped junk closet littered with watches and jam pots. He was dressed in plain black clothing as well, a faded insignia of a checkerboard on his chest.

"I'm dreaming," he declared in relief. Of course he was dreaming, Haigha was...

So this was a memory then.

"They're comin', Hatta. Promised your Da I'd keep ye save and I 'ill. Sundries are in yer bags. Remember that ye are to go direct-like to Dodo. He's been waitin' to see ye since I found ye in the lower streets connin' those addicts. Direct-like ye go and ye do what he says," Haigha stated as if he hadn't heard Hatter. He was grabbing various items from the densely packed shelves. " Unlikely, this all is. But it's happenin'. That damned queen..."

"Haigha, calm down," Hatter started. Fiery pain lanced up his chest when he tried to move and he glanced down to see familiar cat-gut stitching trailing up and down his skin. He slipped back into his memory easily then.

"Don't go rippin those out! I spent hours gettin' you betta, Hatta!" Haigha scolded as he shoved the boy down. Hatter hissed at the pain, watching as Haigha suddenly showed him a biscuit tin. "Got these a long time ago, from the Red Queen 'erself for doin' such a wonderful job findin' her jewellery. She said they'd give me strength to protect me-self but I never took one. I hold no cards with the old magics."

His thick Northern accent was getting thicker and thicker, his face beginning to show signs of his fear. The greatest warrior the Resistance had had, the one who had begun it, was terrified and Hatter felt his own heart start to race with panic.

"What're you sayin'?" Hatter asked. Haigha shrugged.

"I did say I'd protect ye," Haigha declared before removing the lid. Hatter stared at the golden biscuits inside, coated with what looked like red and white icing.

"They're biscuits, Haigha," he stated, somehow disappointed.

" 'Course they are. Insolent puppy," Haigha muttered, picking up a biscuit and promptly shoving into Hatter's mouth. "One time I'll have you keepin' quiet."

Hatter chewed slowly as he watched Haigha go to the window, his hands near the red and blue buttons that suddenly appeared on the wall. The biscuit was terribly dry and his throat protested as he managed to choke down half. Haigha whirled and looked at the door. Without speaking, he hit the blue button on the wall and the bed suddenly fell beneath Hatter. He yelled out as he fell, landing into a metal crawl space that had been built beneath the bed. The biscuit lodged in his throat and he choked, rolling to his stomach and gasping for air before half the biscuit flew out of his mouth. Hatter trembled, still swallowing crumbs as he tried to see in the new darkness.

Above him in the junk room he could hear Haigha talking. There was silence for only a moment before the blast of guns and electrical rods and Hatter stared, listening as Haigha screamed in pain. Rolling to his back, Hatter began to try to find the latch that would let him back into the room. His nails dug into the wood desperately as agony ripped through his body and he pulled his fist back, slamming it into the metal door.

It split beneath the power of the blow and Hatter struggled to focus as he pulled himself up and into the room. Haigha was gone, as were the Suits who must have come to capture him and leaving only a pool of dark blood. Hatter choked on his own bile as he rolled to his back and stared at the ceiling as the agony continued up his body and seemed to linger against his right arm and shoulder.

Curling up onto his side, Hatter stared at his right hand until his vision grew dark.

Hatter's eyes flew open as he heard a faint moan, the sound drawing him out of his nightmares. He stiffened instinctively until he remembered who it was sleeping in his arms and then smiled, pushing his face into her hair. Alice gave another sound, this one almost pained, and he lifted his head to see what was bothering her.

His right hand was clenched tightly around her hip, his dream having tensed his entire body it seemed. Shocked, Hatter lifted his hand from her hip and clenched it into a fist. He could just make out the imprint his fingers had caused in the soft material of her coat. Alice twisted around in his arms and pressed herself just beneath his chin, murmuring in her sleep. Hatter trembled as he drew her as close as he could, the memory of Haigha suddenly too fresh for him to bear. He clenched his right hand and pressed his cheek against the top of Alice's head.

If Alice remembered his hard grip last night, she showed no sign of it in the morning. She was gone from his side by the time he woke up to the sound of Charlie still snoring away like a Jabberwock and the blanket was cold where she should have been. His brain snapped to alert quickly as he strained to see her through the morning fog that had settled across their camp. "Alice?" he called out and saw her dark head poke up from across the fire pit.

"We're getting ready to leave," she answered as she walked back to him, giving Charlie a gentle shake as she passed him. The Knight yelped and promptly fell from his hammock in a twist of limbs and white pyjamas.

"I was not asleep! I was guarding this very camp, perusing the trails with my third eye in the great fog of time and space," Charlie declared as he leapt to his face. Alice gave him an odd look.

"Okay, Charlie. I believe you," she said and Charlie smiled, turning his bright eyes to Hatter as if to say 'see, she believes me'. Hatter stretched himself out, longing for a hot cup of tea and a hot bath. Perferably a hot bath with Alice. His devilish thoughts weren't helped as she reached across him to grab her coat where she had set it, her breasts brushing his chest.

"Chesh showed me the river this morning, I was glad to do a bit of a wash up. I feel like I have powder everywhere," she complained as she tossed her long hair over a shoulder. Hatter reached out, ready to touch the dark locks but she turned around toward him and he dropped his hand.

"Right. Where is said cat?" he asked.

"He's not a cat," Alice said pointedly.

"Might as well be. I'm not crazy about cats to begin with," Hatter drawled. "For one thing, they do things completely opposite of dogs. Growl when they're happy and wag their tails when they're angry. Ridiculous."

"I assure you," Chesh said from where he had been relaxing in his tree. "That my tail barely wags at all these days, Hatter."

"Comfortin'," Hatter answered as he stood and stretched, walking to where Guinevere was tied. Chesh turned his odd eyes to Hatter and looked him over from the tree branch.

"Rough dreams last night, Hatter?" he asked and Hatter turned his head to him. Chesh shrugged. "This place has a habit of bringing things to life. Best keep those deep within you. Else you might see the dead walking these woods."

Knowing he was being baited, Hatter ignored the Cheshire and gave Guinevere a scratch. The mare snorted, rubbing her head on his shoulder. "How you this mornin', darlin'?" he asked. Annoyed, Chesh glanced down and saw the Knave's saddlebags open, eyeing the tart shells that were lying with the bread and the small amount of icing sugar left. Grinning to himself, Chesh then turned his attention to Alice and slipped down from his tree to her side when she sat at the fire.

"So," Chesh said as he sat next to Alice. She frowned at him questioningly. "You and the Hatter. Lovers?"

"What?" she demanded lowly, cheeks flushing red.

"Well, it's just...I can pretty much tell...more or less smell the claim he has on you. Been together long?" Chesh asked. Alice was dumbfounded at his observation, her eyes searching his and seeing nothing but mild interest.

"Does it matter?"

"Not really, just makes for curious findings when you two get to having a relationship in the middle of a quest to end a war," Chesh said with a shrug. He stood again and walked back to his tree, climbing it easily. Alice watched him before discreetly lifting the collar of her coat. Sure enough, she could smell the faint traces of cologne that Hatter normally wore and she closed her eyes as she brushed the collar over her cheek.

"What you doin'?" Hatter's voice jarred her from across the way and Alice put her hands in her lap primly, not quite able to wipe the guilty look from her face.

"Nothing."

"Phaeton's ghost. I slept on a rock," Charlie muttered as he sat beside Alice to replace Chesh, ignorant of the fact that he slept in a hammock.

As Alice handed Charlie a small hunk of bread, she noticed Jack and the Knave returning from the trail they had been walking on since early this morning. Jack seemed, for the first time, relaxed and the Knave strode with his usual bored swagger. The King had a satchel over his shoulder and gestured to Alice. Darting a look at the others and seeing them busy or eating, she approached him near the brush.

"You okay?" Alice asked by way of greeting. Jack nodded, the Knave walking on to the camp.

"I need to give you something, Alice. I need your vow to protect it as you did last time," Jack stated softly, his voice so low she had to lean forward to hear him. She sent him a confused look and he sighed, opening his shirt by a few buttons to reveal a chain necklace that lay against his chest. A ring dangled from it, a ring that made her start with realization.

"You brought it with you?" she asked as he pulled the chain over his head as discreetly as he could, his eyes on the others the entire time while he used Alice's slight body to block the sight of what he was doing.

"Yes. I've carried it since you left. If I am captured, they will think I have it. They will not suspect I would give such a valuable magic to someone else. I can trust no other with it, Alice. I trust you," he said as he took her hand and pressed the dark ring into her palm. The chain was still warm and she lifted her head to look in his eyes, ignoring his words.

"You should have given this to the Duchess. She is your fiancee," she pointed out and saw his jaw tighten.

"So she is," he agreed and Alice had the sudden urge to clock him one.

"Jack," she said sharply, "this is not fair. To you or her. Why aren't you racing back through the forest to save her?"

"She was the one who ordered me gone. Against my will."

"So she saved your life."

"Yes, though why I'm not certain. Whatever we could have had had cooled by the time this all happened," Jack explained and Alice rolled her eyes.

"You are so very dense, Jack. It is obvious that that hasn't changed with you or you would be racing back to save her," she snapped and he sent her a look that said he wanted to close the subject. "I'll keep it safe for you."

"Thank you, Alice," Jack started but she stepped close, for such a tiny girl remarkably intimidating as she came toe to toe with him.

"I don't know what is worse, Jack. That you cannot bring yourself to love a woman who so obviously loves you, or that you would still marry her and bring her misery by not loving her the way she deserves to be loved. You don't deserve her," she ground out between gritted teeth before turning and going back to the camp, the ring clenched tightly in her fist. Jack watched her go as he rebuttoned his shirt, the sharp rebuke stinging far worse than any she had ever given him.

Author's Side Note: Bit of blending of the stories here. Haigha and Hatta, the biscuits, etc etc and twisting it about. I had a bunch of theories for this but when I wrote down the possibilities, this one fit the best reasoning for Hatter's hand. It had to fit the basis of the Checkerboard Wars that I developed and hopefully it made more sense. My mind has it in there