TITLE: Chapter TwentyNine
PAIRING: None
CHARACTERS: Astrid Farnsworth, Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop, Walter Bishop, Charlie Francis, the Queen of Hearts, the King of Hearts, Rachel Dunham, Ella
POV: Astrid, Charlie
GENRE: Dark, Surreal
RATING: M
SUMMARY: "On the King's throne was a decapitated head sitting on a silver platter. Blood was dribbled slightly out its lips, but easily the part that shocked them the most was that the man's head appeared to still be alive. Astrid covered her mouth with her hands. 'Oh god…' "
CHALLENGE: Alice in Wonderland
WORD COUNT: 1058
WARNINGS: mild gore, blood
SPOILERS: Anything season one
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The whole story was lost so I'm rewriting it, which is why there haven't been updates in forever. Please bear with me!
DISCLAIMER: the usual
"You're late," the Queen decided, fanning herself slowly, looking Astrid up and down.
The heady scent of house paint and roses surrounded them and Astrid asked meekly, "For croquet?"
"Yes," the Queen said and motioned for them to follow her as she began to leisurely walk down the path.
The cardguards' hold on her arms didn't loosen until she offered, "We shouldn't keep you waiting then, your highness."
"Nice, Astrid," Peter whispered as the Queen signaled for the guards to let go of them entirely.
As they walked through the maze, trying to keep as much distance between them and the Queen of Hearts as possible while the cardgaurds escorted them with long and sharp spears.
Astrid moved closer to Peter and mumbled as quietly as she could, "Peter, we need to get away from here. I think this whole manifestation has something to do with Olivia and Rachel's relationship. Why else would she picture her sister like this?"
"Olivia, has anything been going on between you and Rach?" Peter asked pulling the blonde over to them.
"Of course not," she replied coolly.
Above them, the sky became overcast and dark, ugly clouds that threatened thunder and lightning.
"Then why did the sky just do that?" Peter
"Olivia, you have to be honest and quick. This doesn't seem safe," Peter hissed, pointing above them.
The Queen batted her eyelashes at Peter from behind the fan she held. "Pray tell, Cheshire Cat—what makes you want to play games with a girl and an itsy-bitsy bunny?"
"Olivia, are you angry with how I've been calling Rachel?" Peter asked, looking something between surprised and amused.
She wouldn't meet their eyes. "No."
"Eyes here, pussy cat," Rachel purred, cupping his chin and redirecting his face to look back at her.
"Olivia, are you and your sister competitive?" Astrid asked desperately. "You have to admit it!"
"Yes," she breathed, defeated.
"Croquet won't wait, little rabbit," the Queen snarled, glaring at Olivia.
The maze opened to a small grassy field, still surrounded by the walls of roses and as they walked across the lawn behind the Queen, they could see an assortment of people wearing red and standing around two thrones.
"Fuck!" Olivia hissed sharply and they turned to see the look of fear in her eyes.
"Olivia…?"
She seemed hesitant to get near the heart suites, her eyes darkening. "These are the people my sister used to hang out with. They never liked me."
"Don't worry, they can't hurt us," Peter insisted.
"I won't let them," Astrid promised. "Plus you have that gun."
She touched the weapon attached to her side and gave a slight smile. "I do."
"What is that?" Peter asked, his brow furrowing as they moved closer to the large and elegant thrones.
On the King's ornate golden chair was a decapitated head sitting on a silver platter. Blood was dribbled slightly out its lips, but easily the part that shocked them the most was that the man's head appeared to still be alive.
Astrid covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh god…"
"Gregg!" Olivia shouted. "What did you do—"
"I got rid of the part that was the problem," the Queen said with a smile, her fingertips playing lightly with the short brown hair of her husband. "Now the King of Hearts can think with the only head that matters."
"Gregg—" Olivia started to go over to the head, but Astrid roughly grabbed her hand to hold her back.
"A game of croquet?" Gregg the King of Hearts asked, his eyes rolling up to the Queen.
The Queen's looked over at them, a wicked smile on her lips. "With a girl, a rabbit, and a cat."
Rachel touched at the electrodes on her sister's forehead, studying the large black machine they were attached to.
"Why are they connected to all these wires?" she asked, glancing over at Peter's head and the black girl's.
The old man in the bathrobe laughed and smoothed his fingers across Olivia's electrodes. "To monitor brain waves, of course."
"Every one take a flamingo," the Queen of Hearts ordered as the large playing field before the throne slowly began to take shape—wickets made of rose vines spaced erratically across the manicured lawn, small hedgehogs wandering across the grass rolling into small balls, and a flock of pink flamingos standing quite cramped in a large urn of water.
Peter leaned near her and whispered, "Astrid, distract the Queen for a second."
"Your highness, as the Queen, I am sure you are the best croquet player?" Astrid asked curiously, turning the woman's attention towards her.
"I am. Do you expect to win?" she said with a smirk.
"No, your highness," Astrid said humbly, eying the large flamingos nervously.
"What about you, Cheshire Cat—" the Queen asked, turning to look over at Peter. "What are you doing?!"
Astrid spun around to see Olivia on Peter's shoulders, obviously caught red handed trying to look over the tall rose walls of the maze.
"I was—" the blonde FBI agent started to explain.
"He's cheating!" one of the heart suites accused.
"She wants him to!" another shouted.
Olivia tumbled off of Peter's shoulders. "I didn't—"
The Queen's face twisted in rage, her lips snarling as she looked at Olivia. "You're plotting against me, aren't you? You think I don't deserve him!"
"Rachel, you have no idea who he is or what we do!" Olivia shouted angrily.
"Off with her head!" the Queen screamed, pointing her finger at her sister.
The cardguards began to rush them and Olivia let out a terrified cry, prompting Peter to jump in front of them.
"Hold your breath!" Peter shouted, pulling the pin out of a grenade that had suddenly materialised in his hand, throwing it at the Queen and her cardguards.
The grenade exploded in sparks and a cloud of smoke, momentarily blinding Astrid as she screamed, "PETER!"
"Walter, is this normal?" Charlie murmured as the three dots on the screen that represented each of the comatose patients began to vibrate.
Walter hardly glanced at them as he pulled syringes out of his bathrobe pocket. "Mild distress. I wouldn't worry about it."
"What are you injecting him with?" Charlie asked suspiciously as he watched the scientist slip the needle into his son's IV line.
"Something that will help."
