Disclaimer: No one at Syfy has anything to do with this fic, unless of course it is the creators of Alice for inspiring far too many plot ideas.
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An Attempt at Greatness
Jack paced back and forth in his office, contemplating getting back to the paperwork that was on his desk. There were so many demands on his time, interviews, conferences, and of course correcting the problems that his mother had made. He was really trying to be a good monarch, unlike his mother. He had never seen her work on any form of paperwork, or anything that might have been construed as useful. All she cared about was instant gratification for herself and for her people.
Apparently taking responsibility for things required a lot more effort.
The people of Wonderland were on the knife's edge. Many were pleased to be free of the need for tea, but many others still wanted to feel what they wanted when they wanted. He had even had reports of groups that were planning to remove him from the throne.
Jack sat back down at his desk, considering the paperwork. They were applications for use of the Looking Glass. Many people wanted to go through the Glass in hopes of finding a better life on the other side. But he couldn't sign off on any of the applications until Hatter told him that the refugees would have somewhere to work and earn money on the other side.
At least in this case, Jack was hoping that Hatter would succeed. He didn't know why Alice had been foolish enough to choose a criminal over a prince. But then again, now that Jack thought about it, he doubted that Alice would have cared very much for marrying him just to find out that Duchess was going to have his child.
Jack moved the applications to the corner of his desk. He would send someone through in a month or so to check on the progress of the project.
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It turned out that Jack hadn't exactly lied to Hatter. Duchess was quite good with numbers. But over the next few days, as he accompanied her and Alice around the city on various errands, he realized that she was quite good with people as well. She was able to make them believe what she wanted with minimum effort. Hatter figured that the skill probably came from years of making sure that the Queen didn't kill or replace her.
But as entertaining as it was to watch Duchess interact with other people, it was more fun to watch Alice. The young woman was in her element, making sure that he turned in all the paperwork and acting as a secretary when he needed one.
The warehouse was officially his now. And he didn't have to worry anymore about the furniture that he had stashed there. But it was still the Looking Glass that created the most problems. He wasn't certain that he could move the Glass without breaking it. Though, Hatter figured it could easily get damaged in the construction as well.
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"You know, the Queen had to have moved it occasionally. The warehouse hasn't been around very long." commented Alice, looking over a mound of receipts. Thankfully she had Duchess to help her figure everything out when Hatter brought back balled up receipts. But he didn't exactly explain what some of the items were. She wasn't certain which part of the budget to put them under, or even if they had anything to do with the club at all.
"But I don't know if there is anything special that we need to do. I don't want to move it just to find out that it no longer works." Hatter said looking up from the clipboard he had been working on. Alice decided that once everything was set up, she was going to get Hatter a laptop. She was sick of watching him take hand written notes just to struggle to put them in the computer later. Maybe a typing class would be good too. The two fingered pecking that he called typing was not going to get him anywhere fast.
"Why don't we just build a box around it and your other things before the construction beings again?" Alice looked over at Duchess. The suggestion was the best that any of them had yet thought of.
"As long as we put a door in the box so that visitors can get through it they need to." Alice added to the idea.
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Hatter kind of liked the idea of Jack or one of his supporters getting stuck inside a box. But if Alice wanted a door, there would be a door.
He wrote the idea down on his clipboard. It joined the list of other things that he needed to get done, including another meeting with Ms. Horvath. There were so many demands on his time these days that he didn't get to spend much time with Alice.
Sure they were around each other all the time, but they didn't have any private time. And he was worried that things would just get worse if he didn't make sure that they spent some time together.
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Over the next few weeks, Duchess continued to be a big help with planning. She also continued to eat pretty much any food that entered the apartment. Thankfully over time, her morning sickness seemed to go away, though not before it allowed Hatter to get rid of a few more of Jack's disgusting possessions.
Most of the construction was done, the paperwork had dwindled and his relationship with Alice had survived. Her mother's opinion of him had gotten better when she realized just how hard Hatter was working. It was amazing just how much of her bad opinion could be erased by knowing that Hatter was willing to put in an honest day's work.
"That went well." Hatter smiled as they walked out of Alice's apartment. This time dinner with her mother hadn't included Duchess. And the fact that he was able to talk about his new business and the progress that he had been making helped some.
Alice grinned at him.
"You know, you don't have to take my mom so seriously. It's not like she doesn't like you. And she did give you some suggestions for decorating." That was true. The suggestions hadn't exactly been what he was looking for, but some of them had sparked ideas.
Three more weeks, that's all he needed. And then he would allow Alice to see the warehouse again. He had been trying to keep her away from it as much as possible. She hadn't seen it since the basic structure was finished. He couldn't wait to see her when she stepped inside the club for the first time. Even he was surprised everyday when he went there.
Hatter kissed Alice softly and slowly. The fact that they would soon have more time together helped him surrender some of the stress that had been building.
"Good night, Alice." He whispered and then started to walk down the hall, knowing full well that Alice was still looking after him.
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AN:
First, I want to thank you all for the wonderful suggestions for names for Duchess's baby. If you have anymore, please just put them in your review.
So, I tried something a little different in this chapter: Jack point-of-view. It was kind of weird, but I needed to show him attempting to be a good king to help out with something I have planned for later.
Construction is almost complete! And you will all get your first glimpse of the club in the next chapter.
Reviews of any kind are great, so ask a question, make a comment or just add a name to the contest.