A/N: Evil cliffhangers! Reviewers I cannot thank you enough for your encouragement. You make me have a NEED to write Keeps me from getting lazy.
Chapter 24
Alice's mobile rang, still open on the floor. He picked it up and stared at the name that flashed on the display, Alice's mother. He swallowed hard and let it ring. How could he explain this to her? I'm sorry Carol, Alice has just been kidnapped by some gang members that I aggroed. He pocketed Alice's phone. He debated on the wisdom of calling the police as he stared down at the drop of blood on the floor. One drop, but somehow he knew it belonged to Alice. Maybe if he could speak with her friend from the dojo, the police friend? It was his only lead, but he was afraid the police would make it difficult for him to get to Alice in time.
Hatter decided that he didn't have much choice. He didn't know enough of her world to track her here. Maybe once it was nightfall he could find someone that could tell him where to find the Locos. Broad daylight was not the time one could find the seedier segments of society very easily, especially if one didn't know where to look. He nodded to himself as he finally decided on a course of action. He'd go to the dojo to find out how to get a hold of her copper friend, and if he wasn't able to find her by nightfall he would try interrogating the locals. Someone would talk…they always did.
He took the steps two at a time again, this time not out of excitement, but out of fear for Alice. He opened the door that exited into the alley and stopped short as he spied a beat-up brown van parked directly outside the door. Before he had time to analyze the prickling feeling on the back of his neck the cold unyielding metal barrel of a gun pressed hard into his temple. He shifted his eyes to the right to try to see how many of them there were. Just three. He was shoved forward a step, but the barrel stayed in contact with him constantly. Hatter thought furiously, trying to find a way out.
"What do you want?" Hatter asked.
"Shut up and get in the van. Hands up. You twitch and I'll kill you," Replied a hard voice.
He got into the empty cargo compartment; the man with the gun climbed in after and pushed him to the floor, motioning for one of the others to hold him down.
"If you want to see that pretty little whore again you'll stay still, don't give me any trouble," the man with the gun stated blandly.
Hatter re-evaluated the likelihood of escaping. Not happening. Besides, they had Alice. Simple enough, he's go with them, get to Alice, and they would figure it out from there. His brain couldn't seem to process thoughts beyond 'get to Alice.' He would think of something, he always did.
"What have you done with her?" Hatter bit out.
The man with the gun leaned down to look into Hatter's furious gaze. He had emptiest eyes Hatter had ever seen, and he had seen plenty. A trail of black tattooed tears ran down his cheek; it struck Hatter as ironically funny. He doubted this man could feel anything enough to cry. Hatter had always been good at reading people, and every instinct within him was telling him that this was a very bad man. He would kill unflinchingly and without remorse, Hatter felt it in his bones.
"You'll see her. If you give us trouble, I'll see lots of her," he smiled malevolently.
Infuriated, Hatter pushed against the men holding him down.
The tear-tattooed man moved lightning fast, pressing the barrel of the gun between Hatter's eyes. Hatter pressed hard against it with a growl, veins standing out in his neck.
"See, that's what I'm talking about. She's going to pay for that," the tattooed man said softly.
Hatter slumped down, forcibly relaxing. The tear-tattooed man was right about one thing, losing his temper right here and now would gain him nothing. He pushed the rage back, buried it deep, saving it for when he needed it. They would pay, if they hurt her.
The van stopped, and the thug holding Hatter down wound a dirty bandanna around Hatter's eyes. He was pushed forward into the main room of a house, walking blindly. Noise from multiple people talking loudly all at once made it difficult for him to determine how many captors he actually had. Two of the gang members moved to flank him. They pushed him down to his knees, and then yanked his arms behind him. They bound Hatter's wrists together tightly, then his ankles and knees. They had done this before…they moved too quickly for him to believe otherwise.
Hatter shifted slightly, trying to determine how much slack he had in his bindings. The click of the hammer being pulled back caused him to still his movement. The bandanna was removed roughly; Hatter scanned the room, evaluating his situation. Not good. A group of men in gang colors surrounded him. A few of them looked barely old enough to shave, but they all wore the same cold expression that spoke of violence as a way of life.
"What do you want?" Hatter snarled.
"See, that all depends on you. We could just kill you both; that's what I want. Lucky you, my brother is the boss, and Boss don't want to wait for his court date, so he's making you a deal. You and your little bitch call the police and drop charges; we'll let her go after they release him. He'll make bail easy without the assault charge. Seems pretty generous to me," the tear-tattooed man explained in a disinterested voice.
"I'll not do a thing till I see her," Hatter growled.
He glared up at the gang members as he tried to come up with some sort of plan. One of the young ones smiled down at him and kicked him viciously in the ribs. Hatter clenched his jaw on the pain, not making a sound. The kid stole his hat from his head and smiled, depositing it on his head. His buddies laughed, telling him he looked like a pimp. Hatter was not amused. He wiggled his fingers, trying to maintain circulation to his hands. His legs had been bound together so tightly that he thought he would have bruises on his knees and ankles. He wondered what they had done to Alice.
Alice woke with a blinding headache. She blinked rapidly, trying to force her brain to process where she was and how she got there. The room was so dim that she could only make out shadows beyond the circle of light from a lone dust bulb hanging above her. She shifted, gasping as her shoulder wrenched painfully. She was tied to a pillar, her arms pulled behind it, wrists secured to each other. Her ankles were bound with duct tape, painfully tight. She had the faint coppery aftertaste of blood in her mouth and her lip was swollen.
She peered around the room as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, coming to the conclusion that she was in some sort of basement. Empty mostly, a few boxes scattered along one wall, a workbench scattered with car parts, a few tools. One folding chair pushed against the wall by the staircase, no other furniture in sight. She struggled futilely to loosen whatever bound her wrists together, but all she accomplished was to hurt her wrists. She settled back with a sigh, closing her eyes against the pounding in her head.
The last thing she remembered was studying for her final while listening to music, then somebody slamming her into the wall. Oh God, Hatter! She could imagine him coming home only to find her gone. He would probably think she had walked out on him again. After all, she had given him little reason to believe in her commitment to stay with him. It would crush him. He wouldn't even know where to look for her, if he even decided she was worth coming after again. If they went after him too, he wouldn't even see them coming. If Hatter got hurt because of her, she would never forgive herself. She had to hope that he would believe in her and call the police when she went missing.
Alice heard a door open upstairs, and the movement of many pairs of feet. They were loud, laughing and joking. She overheard a few words, but couldn't follow a conversation with all of them talking at the same time. A loud thump on the floor over her head, a muffled cry of pain. A round of laughter, and then the basement door opened, spilling bright light down the stairway. Alice winced, flinching away.
"Cut it out, Boss wants him. If you fuck him up first he's gonna take it out on you," she heard from the top of the stairs.
She lolled her head against her chest, pretending that she was still unconscious as she heard her captors dragging someone down the stairs. Please not Hatter, don't let them have Hatter. She heard a grunt, and she cracked her eyes to look. Wild dark hair, a pale face, and leather jacket. Her heart sank. They had him. They had her Hatter.
He was yanked across the floor to the other pillar opposite Alice by his collar. Out came a roll of duct tape, they wound it around his arms and the pillar, securing him tightly. Mindful of the warning he had been given about Alice paying for his actions, he allowed it without struggling until he caught sight of Alice tied to the pillar across from him. She was tied similarly to him, but she wasn't moving.
"Alice!" he cried, struggling against his bindings despite himself.
She didn't move. Tear-tattooed man shot him a warning glance and then bent down to look at Alice. His hand flashed out, smacking her hard in the face. Her head rocked back, and then lolled forward again.
"Don't… touch… her," Hatter demanded, his voice cold… dangerous.
Alice bit the inside of her lip, but she didn't cry out. She hoped if she played unconscious it would buy them a little more time. She hoped Hatter had a plan.
Tear face man was apparently satisfied that Alice was still out cold; he shot Hatter a disdainful look and started up the stairs.
Alice peeked out from under her lashes, waiting for the door at the top of the stairs to shut. As it closed she sat up, lifting her head so she could finally see if Hatter was alright.
Hatter watched her raise her head as the door slammed shut to the basement they were held in. Relief flooded through him, he hadn't been completely sure that she was alive. He took in the blood on her lip and the darkening bruise on her cheek. He didn't think it was possible, but he got even angrier. They would pay for this.
"Alice? Are you alright?" he asked her in a hushed voice.
"Yeah. You?" she asked in return.
"Fine," he lied in a quiet tone.
"Why haven't they killed us?" she asked.
"They say if we drop charges against the leader of the Locos, they'll let us go once he is released from jail," Hatter answered.
He knew if he told her the deal was just for her release she would never go along with it. She had shown over and over that she wouldn't leave him in danger. From Dodo to a Jabberwock to this…she wouldn't leave him willingly. If anything proved that he was no good for her, this certainly did. She seemed to have some sort of crazy death wish, throwing herself into impossible situations or aligning herself with dangerous people…like him.
"Do you actually believe that?" Alice asked him.
His mind spun furiously, analyzing. She was right, he had been kidding himself. They would never just let her go; it wasn't the way these people operated. He met her gaze squarely. He couldn't lie.
He sighed and answered, "No. But it buys us some time."
Time to do what? He thought.
"So that arm thing you do? Any chance you could use it now?" she asked.
"Doesn't work like that, love. Only with a punch, dunno why," he answered morosely.
"Don't suppose you have a plan?" she asked urgently.
"I'm working on it. You?" he replied.
"Not yet," she answered with a sad smile.
"Try to get your hands loose. Twist 'em back and forth," he said.
They sat in silence for a short while, racking their brains while they tried to loosen the tape that bound them. He had to find a way. He continued to pull and twist his wrists, ignoring the numbness deadening his fingertips.
They stilled as the door the basement cracked open, Alice tried to get into position to fake unconsciousness but she wasn't fast enough, Tear Face saw her move. Hatter held himself tense and coiled. One moment, one opening, one slim chance and he would take it. The thug had come down to the basement alone, good odds.
The man strode over to Hatter, and then looked down at him with a predatory grin.
"Looks like your girl needs the same lesson you did," he said.
He kicked Hatter in the ribs on the same exact side as the kid that had swiped his hat. Hatter swallowed back his yell, but a grunt of pain escaped him.
"Leave him alone!" Alice screamed.
The man just grinned wider and kicked him again. There was an audible snap this time, and although Hatter hadn't acknowledged the pain, his face drained of blood and sweat began to bead on his forehead.
Hatter tasted blood as he bit his lip to keep from crying out. He fought back the urge to cough unsuccessfully and tasted more blood.
"Keep yelling and I'll break his leg," the tattooed man stated calmly.
Alice froze, and then nodded, "Okay. Okay."
"Bring down the phone!" the man yelled to someone upstairs.
A couple of men came down the stairs, and one woman. Alice assessed her harsh demeanor and determined that she could not look to her for any help. The woman handed the telephone to him. He looked between Hatter and Alice, and then asked them if they would take the deal. Hatter got the distinct impression that he was hoping for a 'no.'
"How do we know you will let us go?" Alice challenged.
"You don't," The man answered, "But I could just kill you now."
He shot an amused glance at Hatter; the tear-tattooed man had not failed to notice the substitution of 'us' for 'me' in the deal he had offered Hatter.
"We'll take the deal," Hatter answered.
Any thoughts Alice had at alerting the police that the call was made under duress were squashed when they put a knife to Hatter's throat when it was her turn to speak. They wanted her to come in, but she flatly refused. She did her best to be convincing and thanks to a knife at Alice's throat Hatter did the same. She didn't know if it would work, but the gang's second in command assured them that it would. Regardless, they would be held until he was released.
Hatter was thankful the gang was scared enough of their leader that they didn't want to chance damaging his prize captives. The second in command was apparently the only one that made decisions autonomously. Hatter was grateful, but it seemed like they were in the eye of the storm, the worst was yet to come.
A/N: I know, I know. Another cliffhanger. This would be a REALLY long chapter if I didn't stop somewhere. Here is to hoping you like this.