Halden and Jessica walked up to flat #52. He glanced at a slip of paper in his hand and knocked three times. Jessica waited by him, as he thought of what he was going to say. "It's okay, honey. Why're you so uptight about this?"

"I honestly don't know, Jess. Judging by what little Faith told me of her stories, she'll probably be protective of them." He stopped as the door opened and a small, somewhat dumpy woman emerged. She had frizzy brown hair streaked lightly with grey, but had a pleasant face.

"What can I do for you sir?" she asked.

"Are you Jean?" he asked, startled.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm Jean's adoptive mother, Helen Crawford. She's inside. May I ask who's calling for her?" She opened the door for them. The flat was nice and clean; homely. Jessica felt comfortable inside it.

They stepped in. "I'm Doctor Halden. There's a few questions I need to ask her about someone she knew long ago."

Jean's mother nodded, and walked into the apartment, rapping softly on a door. "Jean? Honey, someone's here to see you." The door opened and a pretty teen came out. She was about Faith's height, though probably an inch taller. She was Chinese, with tanned skin, dark brown eyes, and black hair, which she had streaked with blue. She was wearing a black tank top and jeans, and she appraised the strangers a little warily.

"Yeah?" Her voice was soft.

"Hello," Jessica said. Jean nodded at the two in a cautious greeting.

"Hi," he said, smiling. "My name's James Halden. Can I ask you a few questions? They're about a girl you knew about seven years ago who was a patient of mine up until about a week ago."

Jean frowned, and nodded to her mother, who nodded back and left. "You're a doctor?" He nodded. "What kind?"

"I'm a psychologist."

"What's your wife doing here?"

"I'm here just because," Jessica explained. "He asked me if I would come, and I said yes."

Jean nodded in understanding and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a very sarcastic "Moral support?" but shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir. I don't know anyone who's been a mental patient."

Halden paused. "Did you ever know anyone by the name of Faith Maras?"

At the mention of Faith's name, she stopped. "I know Faith- has something happened? Where is she?"

"Hold on. Let me explain a little," he said, trying to calm her down a little. "After Faith's home burned down, she went into shock. She didn't really get the treatment she needed and the shock got worse. She's been in Rutledge Asylum for the past seven years, until now."

"Rutledge Asylum? Ugh! Is she okay?"

Here Halden hesitated. "Her first doctor was good, but he had so many patients at that point he couldn't give her the individualised attention she needed. He was starting to reach her, but was killed a few years after she arrived. The new Head of Asylum, Doctor Reynald, if anything made it worse. She went through several doctors, but frankly, they did nothing. Now..." he trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Can I see her? We thought she'd been sent to an orphanage see, but we could never find her... Wow! Faith's been in London all this time! When can I see her?" She said all of this very fast.

"The problem is that... well, she vanished the hour after I left. No one really knows where she is at all."

"So what brings you here? Obviously we didn't know where she was."

"He needs to ask you a few questions about her childhood," Jessica said. Jean nodded sceptically.

"Did Faith ever tell stories?"

"Sure. She and Jeremy both. They were great."

"What kind of stories did they tell?"

"Action, adventure, fantasy... you name it, they probably told it," Jean said.

"Was there ever a Cheshire Cat?"

"I dunno," Jean said, beginning to grow a little uneasy.

"Okay. Just calm down. I'm sorry if I'm intimidating you."

Jean didn't want to let him know just how nervous she was. Granted, Faith and Jeremy would know how she was feeling in an instant, but she wouldn't let this doctor know. She surveyed him for a moment. He didn't seem to be a millionaire, but was attired tastefully, in a soft grey shirt with a deep blue sweater over it, and black trousers. His sweater pulled out the blue in his eyes, and closer inspection revealed them to be blue-green. His black hair was naturally tousled, and Jean would have been surprised if Faith hadn't had even a tiny crush on him.

"You're not intimidating me," she said.

"Then the Cheshire Cat- did she ever describe a cat that grinned?"

"Well, her cat grinned if she petted the right spot," Jean said guardedly. He voiced her thoughts.

"Faith didn't have a cat."

Jean couldn't help it. "Shite," she said.

Rabbit had been unable to really console Mara, but he had got her to her feet and guided her partway down a stream, batting away snarks and ladybugs with his cane if ever they showed up, as he could not very well run and leave her there. Finally he had to call Cat to slap some sense into her.

"Ow..." she whimpered. "I don't know, Cat. I feel so strange. I've killed so many but I've never killed a friend."

"Yes, but she would have killed you," Rabbit grunted. He was straining to hold Faith up and not get caught by a weapon.

"Be the one to strike first," Cat advised. "I believe you will last longer this way."

"Shut up."

"You. Now, get going."

"Both of you are always telling me to get going, and I want to know why!"

"In this instance, we are hoping that you will find Caterpillar before the Queen's forces do."

She stared at him as she had in the cave. He stepped back, briefly. Was she intimidating him? He met her gaze and bore into her mind. He revealed nothing; try as she might to see.

Rabbit, meanwhile, merely watched the exchange with curious interest, but quickly grew bored. He felt strangely nervous, but if Cat saw the signs, he ignored him. Mara was completely distracted, he saw, and felt his agitation rise. He hopped around for a moment, smelling the air for enemies, half-hoping a bug of some sort would interrupt the staring match.

He was most relieved when a huge roach crashed through the brush, and skidded to a halt in front of them. Mara's eyes bugged and Rabbit almost laughed at the strangled scream that she tried to hold back. "Good evening, friend. What news?"

"Nothing good," the Roach replied gruffly. "She's been increasing the number of card guards in her army, and more chess pieces..." Mara stopped listening at that point- she didn't want to know what she was up against- she only wanted to know how to get there. "Tell me if I'm missing any directions, 'kay?" she asked Rabbit. He nodded, and then Cat interrupted the Roach.

"What do they know of Faith?"

"They know that she's here, but not where, that she has an alias, but they aren't sure what. They don't quite know where she is yet, but I'm pretty sure a body count will lead them to wherever she is."

"How do they know all of this?" Rabbit asked incredulously.

"There's a general of the Queen's. He uncovers so many of our plots and he has got so many of us killed, it's ridiculous."

"How do you find out what's going on?" Mara asked him.

"Being brown and less than three inches has its advantages," he told her, then resumed his original conversation, deciding that it was infinitely more important.

They discussed current plots, and Mara quickly grew bored, seeing as how none of them dealt (directly) with her. She sighed and let her mind wander, letting her feet carry her away. The three were engrossed in conversation and failed to notice. So did she.

She didn't really realise that she was walking as she placed one foot in front of the other and walked; she didn't realise that she was even moving at the time. She turned to ask Cat a question, but stopped when she discovered that she was in a completely unfamiliar part of the woods, and the others were nowhere in sight. Nervously she continued walking, aware that she was completely lost this time. It seemed that she walked for a very long while. She climbed up onto a rock and gazed around, trying to get her bearings. She couldn't see anyone, she thought nervously, and slid down, resuming her aimless walking, eventually walking into a shallow pool, where she stopped, confused at the sudden inertia.

It was some time later when Cat appeared before her. "What is it?" she asked.

"Rabbit is unhappy with you," he purred.

"Can't imagine why," she drawled sarcastically. He raised an eyebrow. "What do I do now?"

"Climb out of the water and I might help you," he said. She sighed and got out, and was dry in short order. They walked, and eventually he turned to face her.

"You've improved," he said. She raised an eyebrow.

"How, Cat? I feel about as pathetic as I did when I first got here."

"You're not," he assured her. "When you first came here, I don't believe that you would have cared whether Countess tried to eat you or not."

"Perhaps," she said quietly. "I dunno. I feel awful about killing her."

"Whatever for? It was your choice to kill her or become a meal. You chose (rightly) the former."

She sighed. "I'll cope. You know I will. I just feel... guilty, I suppose."

"Don't think that she would have troubled herself with the same feeling," he warned. She nodded. "Besides, guilt only sets you back, more so than anything else you might feel."

"Thanks, Cat."

He nodded and was about to reply when suddenly he stumbled as a musketball grazed his ear. He promptly vanished, and her head snapped up. She sent out two seeking cards and they soon found their target. She started towards it when a huge explosion from a few centimetres beside her sent her flying at least two feet. She ran until she saw the general and took out her mallet and knife as she ran at him. She ducked musketballs and dodged grenades as she ran and brought the mallet to the side of his head once she was close enough. The mallet and the head connected, and the general reeled from the impact, wondering why it was suddenly having so much trouble keeping its balance.

She slashed at it and it reeled, throwing a clumsy punch that didn't connect. "Some general you are," she taunted, and hit it with the mallet again and it fell, but she had no time to gloat as another ant rushed at her. She evaded the punches, but the soldier's bayonet whipped through her hair, cutting half of it short. In return she shaved off about an inch of skin on its shoulders, and knocked its head back with her elbow then brought her knife down, ignoring the green fluid that was pouring from its wounds.

There was a shrill squeaking from behind and she ran. "Oh god, oh god, why NOW?!" she shrieked. The ants gathered closer around her, and she saw that they had her right where they wanted her. Panicking, she jumped at a mushroom, propelling herself onto a vine and swung onto the next, then another.

"This way!" Rabbit shouted, gesturing for her to follow. She did, and landed on some white fungi growing out of the tree. Rabbit pulled her up to another, and they jumped to a higher one. Even then they weren't entirely safe from the barrage of musketballs and grenades that the ants were firing at them in abundance.

"Get to the east side of the tree!" he shouted above the noise. "The Cheshire Cat will give you instructions there!" Then he jumped and was very soon out of sight. She ran to the edge, looking down at the horde below, and knew that the only way she could go was up.

"Which way's east..?" she asked helplessly.