A/N: Happy Holidays folks! I was neck deep in Connor and Abby for Christmas ficcage, but I desperately wanted to do something for Alice readers, also. First was the Missing Reel titled 'Hungry for You," and second was this gi-bundously large chapter (5K) that has a little something ya'll have been waiting for. Thanks so much to those of you that have continued to read and review! It means a lot!
The Missing Reel, set in Ch 34: (just take out the spaces) www. fanfiction. net /s/6561776/1/Hungry_for_You_A_Forever_Missing_Reel
Chapter 35
Alice had set the alarm, but he hardly needed it, not with all that lay ahead of them today. Hatter wished he had a better reaction to stress than sleeping lightly, or not at all, but he supposed it had kept him alive a time or two. It was not particularly helping now. Since he'd met Alice, fear and worry had become such a part of him that a little bit more added to the mix shouldn't faze him, but it did. There was a very real possibility that all they'd just survived would be for nothing if the legal system didn't give him a little bit of sympathy. Alice had assured him that Jonas was a very good solicitor, and if anyone could get him an extension to avoid proceedings for immediate deportation, it would be him.
After that, they'd make a quick trip to the police to give the full version of his and Alice's disappearance over the last month. He'd have to blame the drugs for most of the inconsistencies, but Ketamine had been known to cause memory loss and hallucinations. He and Alice had spent a few hours reading what the wide world of the internet had to say on the subject, and Hatter was left a lot wiser, and also faintly disturbed by what he'd read. He'd also felt very lucky that he hadn't had all that much of the poison injected into him, and he hoped Alice wouldn't have any lasting aftereffects. She'd had considerably more.
It was dark yet, but he wasn't sleeping anymore. No point lying there pretending he could. He sat up and passed a hand over his face and then slid out of bed as quietly as he was able. He put on the kettle and settled in with a stack of books to keep him company as he waited for Alice to wake.
Hatter studied the contents of the wardrobe, thinking on what was best suited for this particular situation. He heaved a reluctant sigh and chose black trousers, a white shirt with diminutive black paisleys, and a black pinstriped waistcoat and tie. The idea was to appear respectable and somber, and this was it. Alice cast him a sidewise glance as he began dressing; her lips twitched as if she wanted to speak but she didn't comment. Her decision was easy; she was wearing the dark grey suit and vibrant silk blouse that Hatter had picked out for her on their shopping trip to Macy's.
She watched him scowl as he dressed himself in monochrome, head to toe. The shirt had some character, but the pattern was so small that you had to be standing right next to him to notice it. Her brow knit in thought; she went to where his ties were hung up in a rainbow of color in the closet and chose one patterned in a large paisley print in shades of blue.
"Wear this one. It will make you feel more like yourself and it's perfectly acceptable for court," she said.
He turned to look at her, "I'm afraid this won't go well. I just want to make the best impression I can, and I know sometimes me clothes are a bit… dramatic."
She smirked, trying to lighten the mood, "And you always look gorgeous in them and you know it."
He met her gaze, his face arranged in lines of helpless worry and trepidation. He'd put a good face on it, tried to pretend he wasn't bothered by this. Really, it should have been the least of his worries. Erica had tweaked his records and now he officially existed in Alice's world. Even if the court moved to deport him, he could register an appeal and present the documents before the actual deportation, but still, his stomach was tied in knots. If this went well, it was one less thing hanging over them, one less obstacle to overcome. What he would give for a break. Just once would be nice.
"Oh," Alice said softly as she looked at him and registered the look on his face. "Hatter… it will be fine, no matter what they decide, okay?"
He nodded, "I'm being a proper idiot, I know. I just want something to go right for us."
She pressed her palm over his heart as she moved in close to him, "Been rough lately, but I think not dying constitutes things going pretty okay for us."
He found a small smile for her, "Yeah. I'm okay, really. Sorry."
He took the tie from her and bent to kiss her; her arms went around him to touch soft skin under his still unbuttoned shirt. The kiss turned heated, his mouth moist and warm and tasting of Hatter. Alice's breath sped as he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss into something more than what had been intended. As they broke away for air, she saw her own desire mirrored in his dark chocolate eyes, the pupils blown wide.
"Have to go," she managed to stutter.
"Yeah, we do," he replied in a breathless growl.
"No time for-" she began. He was kissing her again, and she couldn't remember what had been so pressing. They had a little extra time, after all, "Maybe a little time," she breathed.
"I have an understanding with time," Hatter murmured into her ear, "We'll make it."
They met Jonas and Carol downstairs in the tea shop, still a little flushed. Hatter settled his black fedora atop his now even more mussed than usual hair. Alice had a habit of grabbing fistfuls of it, and his unruly hair usually ended up more surprised looking than normal after she had a go at him. Carol narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, but he kept an innocent expression plastered on his face, although Alice was blushing furiously. Carol and Jonas had been kept waiting more than ten minutes, but at least James had kept them entertained whilst they waited.
"Ready to go then, aren't we?" Hatter asked.
Carol nodded, "Hatter, I don't know how they did things where you're from, but in America the judges get upset when you aren't on time."
Jonas smiled mischievously at Carol, "I told him the time to appear minus forty minutes. You've mentioned a time or two about him arriving on 'Hatter time,' so I thought it prudent.
"Oi! I'm always on time for work…" Hatter disagreed, trying to match Jonas' light tone. He was feeling considerably calmer than he did a half hour prior, but he'd not call himself calm. Perhaps calm-ish. "And we still had more than enough time to get to the courthouse, even if we were meant to be there at nine o'clock."
"So you just keep your future mother-in-law waiting?" Carol asked wryly.
Was Carol teasing him? And teasing about becoming his mother-in-law? He gave her an apologetic smile, unsure of how to answer.
"Sorry to keep ya waiting," he settled on.
Carol frowned, Hatter was usually much quicker on the uptake than that. He must be nervous. "Are you okay? Are you sure you're up to this?"
He nodded, letting his apprehension show through for a moment, "As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose. Let's get this over with, yeah?"
Meeting the judge wasn't as bad as he'd thought; he barely even had to speak. The judge was friendly, even. Hatter still felt as if he was about to hear 'off with his head,' at any moment, though. His past experiences with justice made a court of any type a frightening place to be. Those that were summoned to face charges never won, and they never walked out alive. It helped that Alice was there, and he was touched that Carol had chosen to come along as a show of support. It could be that she was there for Jonas, but Hatter really didn't mind if he was perhaps a thinly veiled excuse for her to spend some time with his lawyer. He figured if anything, it would help Jonas try harder.
He'd gotten the extension Jonas requested; the Judge had read the police reports, had seen Hatter's bruised and scratched face (and he'd even given himself a fresh shave to make him look younger and softer) and she had granted another thirty days with no hesitation. In this case, being a dual citizen had worked in his favor. England had no doubt of his citizenship, after all. He was surprised to learn that dual citizenship in the U.S. was fairly uncommon, except in cases like his where he'd been 'born' in the U.S. to parents with citizenship in the U.K. Most people had to choose one citizenship or the other, but in Hatter's case, it was a Constitutional right that he was allowed to keep both. Jonas advised that it was prudent for him to keep it.
Carol had suggested they go to catch a bite to eat after, but Hatter and Alice declined. They wanted to get the police station and give their official statement, and then Hatter was determined to at least begin wedding dress shopping with Alice. Besides, he was not above playing a little bit of matchmaker, and he thought Carol and Jonas could use some alone time. Jonas offered to take Carol out for lunch instead, and she accepted with a flirtatious smile. It seemed that things had been a little tense between them when he and Alice had gone missing, and he hoped (though he suspected) it was no fault of theirs.
It was the least he could do to help smooth things over. Sometimes it was easier not knowing the truth, and he knew it put Carol in a uncomfortable position with her knowing not only his true background, but his location whilst they'd been missing. He was sure she'd had to evade the truth or perhaps lie outright to Jonas, and he was sorry for that. He hoped she'd not have to have reason to do so again in the future.
Alice called the station to let them know they were on the way, and Hatter turned his thoughts inward as he constructed the finer details of his story.
They were met at the police station by another police friend of Alice's named Toby. He also used the dojo, like a few other members of the force. One of the part time instructors at the dojo was an officer at this precinct, so it was a popular choice. Hatter extended his hand to the man and Toby shook it firmly, a smile on his face but not in his eyes. Toby's gaze swept down Hatter, cool and assessing; Hatter watched him take in all the little details, much like he did himself when he was appraising a potential threat. Hatter pulled on his charming non-threatening face, but he could tell Toby was not buying it entirely. He didn't blame him. The story was the best it could be, but there were a lot of holes. They'd agreed that Alice would say she remembered next to nothing. She was a terrible liar, and there was a lot they simply could not explain from the time Alice had gone missing and onwards.
The one thing they had working for them was that Ryan Shipley had been a nasty deviant, and the police had collected evidence from his home to substantiate that. Hatter and Alice had also been also key witnesses to put away kidnapping, drug dealing, trafficking, and who knows what else gang members of the worst sort. They were local heroes of a sort for chasing the Locos out of their neighborhood and making it a much safer place. Hatter quickly realized that none of that mattered to detective Toby Jones. What mattered to him was that Hatter was known to be capable of killing a man… with his bare hands on one occasion. Hatter figured it had something to do with the 'detective' moniker. He'd read about police detectives, but he was still sorting out the difference between fact and fiction in Alice's world. He tried not to take it personally, telling himself it was the man's job to find the truth.
His initial statement made, he was then questioned and cross-questioned and questioned again. He hoped Alice was alright, and she had managed to hold her story together. He was able to report every detail of the time he and Alice had spent in Ryan's tender care at the warehouse as truth, and he related the car ride as it happened, but just altered where he'd found himself when he awoke. After that point, he claimed that he'd been drugged for most of the time, and had very few details to share. He could see the frustration on the detective's face, and he knew they'd been searching for Ryan. They would never find him.
He repeated his statement for the fifth time, and began to let his impatience show through. They were not under investigation, and he was not pleased that he was being treated as if he was. He said as much, and the detective stopped the questioning shortly after. He thanked Hatter for giving them so much useful information, and if Hatter detected a note of sarcasm, it was probably because it was there.
Though he hated to send the police on a search that would net nothing, he'd not seen any alternative, not when Alice had a job to keep and school to think of and friends that knew she'd been gone an entire month. She had been kidnapped, escaped, and then had promptly gone missing herself after calling in favors from her police friends to help look for him. People ask questions about things like that. It was best to have an answer, and Ryan was an acceptable scapegoat. Alice met him in the hallway and though she gave his hand a squeeze and held onto it, she did not appear overly distressed. He would guess they'd treated her more gently. Alice promised they had no immediate plans to leave the area, and relieved, they left the station behind them.
Hatter pulled her into him, his arm around her, "Done and done."
Tomorrow Hatter would be back to work, and he'd not wanted to think overmuch about the state of his tea shop. He trusted James and Erica, but he simply did not believe that they would have run the shop as he might do. Had they still done the weekly High Tea? Did they find his selection of custom teas blends in the back room so that they had new specials? The shop had begun to turn a decent profit; he just hoped the customers had continued to come in. On top of that, there was the nasty business of finding Dodo and the ring… or letting Dodo find him. He put it from his mind to concentrate on the business at hand.
Alice glanced up at him, "Yes, done. I feel much better now. You?"
Hatter nodded, "Yep. Lunch?"
Alice laughed, "I take that as a good sign," and then sobered once she read that he hadn't acted all that relieved, "They had you in that room for ages. Do you think there's a problem?"
He chewed his lip as he thought, "No. Nothing they can nail down, but your detective friend didn't totally buy it. He thinks I'm hiding something… he's suspicious."
Alice nodded, "But that really doesn't matter, does it? I mean, there's nothing for them to find, and it's not like they'll find Ryan," she shuddered, "What little that's left of him by now."
His dark eyes met hers briefly and he nodded, "Yeah. Doesn't mean I like it."
They found a restaurant that seemed a good bet considering it was well after the main lunch rush, and it was still crowded. Hatter was subdued and wary, although he was not strung nearly as tightly as he had been the day prior. Alice was determined to drag him out of it, kicking and screaming if necessary. She smiled wickedly, she had an idea.
"Maybe I'll have the Belgian waffle with whipped cream and strawberries. You know how much I love the taste of cream," Alice said in her best seductive voice as she looked over the menu.
Hatter just looked at her, bemused.
"And I am so hungry," she continued. She licked her lips and leaned forward, "Seems like it has been forever since I had something good in my mouth… to eat," she flirted.
He laughed, "Are you trying to chat me up? You've got me already, ya know."
Alice smiled triumphantly, "I was trying for that," she said, touching the dimple in his left cheek with her forefinger.
They ordered coffee and breakfast; Alice smirked as their waitress appeared to be a little awestruck over Hatter, and even more so when he opened his mouth to order. She could sympathize. One smoldering look from Hatter could still turn her insides to water, and always had, although she thought she'd concealed it fairly well. It helped that when she'd met him, she'd thought his character was repulsive, even if the outside packaging was the sexiest thing she'd ever seen. She knew better now; he was just as intriguing on the inside. The waitress stuttered back their order and Hatter gave her a reassuring crooked grin, amused by her reaction. Alice bit her lip to keep from laughing as the waitress smiled back and then fled in an embarrassed rush.
"Not nice to turn that smile on her. It's deadly," she teased.
Hatter laughed, "Could say the same about yours, love."
"Somehow I don't think it will have the same effect on our waitress," Alice replied dryly.
Hatter snorted, but smiled. Mission accomplished; Hatter had relaxed almost to the point of normalcy. The waitress came back to refill coffee and water more often than was probably necessary, Alice noted with amusement, but she just enjoyed the good service as she took advantage of the opportunity to talk with her fiancé. They'd hardly had a chance to.
They discussed their plans for the rest of the day, wedding shopping being first and foremost. Alice needed a dress, and Hatter needed a suit, and then there were the flowers, the guests, the invitations. Alice's eyes widened as Hatter ticked off the list of things still to be done as if he was an official wedding planner. He really was serious about doing this the 'right' way. Well, she wouldn't take that away from him. As long as they got married in the end, that was all that mattered. And it was kind of cute.
"You know, we actually have a little more time to plan now since you're not getting deported," Alice remarked.
Hatter froze mid bite for a split second, but then he covered it. He chewed to give himself a moment to think of how to answer her. He licked his lips and leaned forward, "Would you like to put it off?" he asked, carefully neutral.
She met his steady gaze and thought about it for a few moments, "No… but I want enough time to plan the wedding, I only intend to do this once, you know, so I'd like to do it right. That is, unless you change your mind about just going to Vegas instead? "
He gave a short laugh, tinged with relief, "No. No Vegas… honeymoon perhaps?"
She snorted, "As if we have time for one."
Hatter smiled wryly, "True," his smile softened, "We will go off together for a honeymoon… once we get this sorted. If life went on without us for a month, it can do it for a week, yeah?"
Alice grinned, "Yeah."
Hatter got a few raised eyebrows in the bridal shop for his refusal to wait in the men's lounge. He was there to help Alice find a dress, and stuff tradition. The sales associate had started out by eyeing him with polite disapproval, and then by ignoring his suggestions, but Hatter plied his trademark charm, and soon he was wandering the storeroom with her in search of the perfect dress. Alice had been explicit in what she'd wanted for her dress, so Hatter confined his search to her criteria. Alice tried them all on, and she looked incredibly beautiful to Hatter's eyes no matter what she wore, but none of them were quite right.
Alice asked if they had something a bit less ordinary and Hatter raised an eyebrow, "I saw some dresses in the back, but they weren't what ya said ya wanted."
She looked down at the yards of tulle surrounding her and frowned, "What I wanted doesn't look good. I trust you, Hatter. Find me something, and I'll try it on."
His lips turned up in a cocky smile and he gestured for the sales associate to exit first with a flourish. The associate knew exactly what Hatter had in mind; he had been eying the area reserved for high end designers and more unusual colors and selections available. He knew the dress as soon as he saw it, but he chose a couple more dresses that would work well for Alice should she not fancy his selection. The clerk told him the price, and Hatter was mildly shocked that one article of clothing could be so costly, but she pointed out that the lacy monstrosity on the mannequin to his right was priced at nine thousand dollars. Hatter almost swallowed his tongue at that figure, and decided that the dress he'd chosen for Alice was a bargain.
Hatter popped his head around the corner to the dressing room, his eyes dancing merrily, "Ready?"
Alice rolled her eyes, "Just let me see, drama queen."
Hatter winced in mock offense, "Wounded, I am. I search through mountains of chiffon and satin and lace all to find-"
Alice glared at him, "Now."
He chuckled and brought in the three dresses he'd chosen. She studied him and narrowed her eyes, "Which one is it?"
"Hmm?" he replied innocently.
"The one you found. The dress. You found it, or you wouldn't be… beaming."
He presented it from the bottom of the pile and her eyes widened, "Oh!"
He nodded, "My thoughts exactly."
Hatter retreated to the room outside to wait for Alice to be laced into the dress. He flipped his hat, made it dance, and twirled it whilst he waited anxiously for Alice to appear. He wasn't disappointed. His breath caught in his throat and he swore his lungs had stopped working completely as she walked out from the changing room. It was amazing on her. This was the one.
She got on the pedestal with the associate's help, and spun to face the mirror slowly. She could tell by Hatter's awestruck expression that it looked good, but she wanted it to be perfect, now that he'd strong-armed her into doing the whole formal wedding thing.
She gasped, feeling tears stinging her eyes; the satin ball gown was perfect. The fitted strapless corset bodice hugged her body beautifully. It was embellished with silver scrollwork and delicate black flowers along the top edge of the bust line, and a larger representation of the design under the bust. The bodice fit like a second skin until the line of her hip, and then it cascaded out to a deeply pleated full skirt with patterned panels in the same delicate scrolling silver and black design inset into the pleats. The back laced like a true corset, and the skirt terminated in a three foot train trailing behind her. It was beautiful and elegant, and the swirling silver design echoed the one in her and Hatter's wedding bands.
"Beautiful," Hatter said simply, a strangely vulnerable expression on his face, "How did someone the likes of me manage to talk you into marrying me?"
She turned to face him, "You can be very convincing."
He rose to give her a hand off of the pedestal. The sales associate had wisely hung back during the exchange. She knew when she'd made a sale, and she was not about to jeopardize it.
He smiled at her, "Best go take that off, love. You're gonna have me in tears if ya don't," he said, his voice soft.
Alice felt a curious melting sensation in her chest at the look in his eyes and the love in his voice. She lay her hand on his cheek, went on her toes and kissed him, a light brush of her lips over his as her answer, and then turned and walked away.
She was measured and pinned and tucked; she was completely shocked that it wasn't as simple as asking for the dress in her size, and then getting it hemmed to fit. She'd never been one of those girls that read bridal magazines or planned her wedding from childhood, and she was shocked at how much work went into it.
Hatter went wandering through the men's department; he figured he'd get a jump on his own shopping if they were to make it out of the bridal shop before midnight. By the time Alice joined him, he had a fairly clear idea of what he fancied. He'd chosen a black suit to complement Alice's dramatic black and white dress, flat front trousers with a satin stripe down the out seam, a velvet swallowtail jacket with satin lapels and a simple white silk shirt with a tuxedo collar. Done.
He eyed the cummerbunds distastefully, and instead began inspecting waistcoats. The sales associate assigned to that department presented him with a book full of fabric samples and explained that they were custom made to order. He had nearly infinite choices. Alice pressed the sample book flat as she saw a similar design to the scrolling pattern in her dress embroidered in deep purple on gleaming white satin. He chose a silk cravat to wear as a tie in the same hue as the embroidery. He smiled as he spied a black satin top hat and indicated his interest in one if it could be fitted with a purple band. The associate looked as if he'd smelled something sour at his query, but replied that it could be done.
Alice seconded his choices, and then he went for his turn in the changing room. They would have to order his waistcoat in that particular fabric, and his suit had to be altered and fitted to him, but the overall effect of the finished product was there. All he needed was a cufflinks and a tie pin and shoes. Easy enough to acquire whilst they waited for their bespoke wedding finery. He came out of the room smiling, hoping that Alice would find him handsome.
She nodded vigorously, "Yes. Yummy."
He gave her a crooked cocky grin, his dark eyes dancing at her choice of adjectives and went to have his fitting attended to.
She couldn't wait to see how he would look in it, once it had been altered to fit exactly. He was so slim that the sample was at best an idea of what the finished product would look like, and he still looked like he could be on the cover of GQ, though she missed his scruff.
They were a bit disappointed to learn that it would be nearly a month before their clothes were ready, but at least they now had a workable date… provided no more rabbit holes swallowed them whole, they remained free of kidnappings, and nothing else horrible happened to them, to include the mess with finding Dodo. Hatter planned to put Erica to work on hunting for any possible clues to Dodo's assumed identity in this world, and Jack had given him the name that the Ten of Clubs went by in this world, and perhaps she could find him. Meanwhile, he figured the best plan he had was for he and Alice to be obvious about their return, and wait for him to come to them. He only hoped that it would be before the wedding.
TBC
A/N: Ok, so links to the pictures of the wedding gear are on my profile. I'll put them at the bottom under "
I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and please tell me what you think? Reviews are love. : )
Gown is gorgeous, isn't it? I wish I had a bit larger picture.