Alice slowly returned to consciousness, scrunching her eyes shut against the glare of the sun before turning away. She did not want to wake up, she was far too comfortable. More comfortable than she'd been in a long time.

For a minute the thought percolated into her mind as she tried to go back asleep, and she wondered why she was so comfortable. Her eyes snapped open as that brought beck the memories of the previous day. She sat up in bed, eyes darting around before she calmed.

She was in the room Harry and Garfield had given her the night before, and from what she could tell nothing untoward had occurred during the night. Everything was as she'd left it.

She swung her legs out of bed and looked down at the blue nightgown that covered her body. She ran a hand along it, feeling the incredibly soft and delicate texture that could only be the finest of silk. She'd never worn something as luxurious as it, even when her family had still lived.

Harry had surprised her by actually creating it out of thin air the night before for her, as she'd had nothing but the clothes she had on. He'd warned her, however, that it would only last a day at most before fading back into nothingness. With that in mind she went to the clothes she'd set on a chair the night before after she'd changed. She wrinkled her nose as she realized her blue dress had shifted back into the rags she had on before. Apparently the changes her mind made didn't last without conscious input. Disappointing, but unsurprising. She quickly put them back on and hesitated, wondering whether she should shift them back to her Wonderland dress or not. In the end she decided not to bother till she actually had to go out.

She slowly opened the door back into the main room of the apartment, looking around for the residents. Harry was nowhere to be seen, and she assumed by the late hour she saw on the clock that he was out running an errand. Garfield, however, she spotted quickly. It was rather difficult to miss the enormous green sheepdog curled up on the rug in a corner of the room, snoring contentedly.

She smiled slightly at the sight before her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she had not eaten in almost an entire day, the events of the previous day proving too distracting. She glanced towards the kitchen, wondering if they'd mind her taking something from the cupboards, and saw a couple of bags with small notes bearing her and Garfield's names on them. Heading over and opening hers she found a selection of sweet breads and a bottle of cool milk. Smiling she sat at the table and began to eat.

As she ate she thought about everything she'd witnessed since Bumby's death. She had grown used to strangeness. One did not wander Wonderland as she had without becoming at least slightly inured to it. Even so, what she'd witnessed from the boys was still astounding.

She knew it might seem odd, but considering her own experiences and recently acquired abilities, she found the magic and shapeshifting of the two to be easier to swallow than their computer. Magic was not such a foreign concept as the technology she saw, both in the computer itself and what they'd shown her through it. To think that humanity would advance so far in the time between eighteen seventy five and two thousand and seventeen was astounding. It made her wonder at what sort of changes she might see in her own lifetime.

A noise interrupted her thoughts, and she saw Garfield stretch and get up, green tail wagging when he saw her. He moved towards her, sniffing the air, and his eyes locked on the half eaten bun she held in her hand. He let out a rather loud woof.

"Yours is in the kitchen." Alice said, trying to put on a disapproving look but smiling in spite of herself. "However, I would appreciate being spoken to in a civilized manner in the future, Garfield."

The green dog let out a small whine at the rebuke before trotting over to get his meal, his form shifting between beast and man midstep. "Sorry Alice." He said before letting out a yawn as he picked up his own food. "By the way, did you sleep alright?"

"Yes, I slept very well, thank you." She said, taking another bite of her bun.

Garfield nodded in satisfaction as he pulled a small bun out of his bag as he turned back to her. "Good. You looked like you… needed… it…" He stopped, staring at her.

Alice blinked and leaned back from his rather intense stare. "What? What is it?"

"You, uh, look different. No offense, but you look a bit sickly. You sure you're alright?" His gaze turned to her dress. "And I don't remember you wearing that yesterday."

It took Alice a moment to realize what Garfield meant before she sighed softly. She hadn't bothered looking at herself in the mirror before she left the bedroom, but she guessed that just as her clothing had shifted back to its normal, non-Wonderland state, so had the rest of her. She reached back and felt short, choppy and tangled hair instead of the long, silky strands from before, confirming her theory.

She turned back to Garfield before smiling softly. "It's alright, Garfield. This is what I really look like, not the… illusion from before. That was a change I made with my power."

"Oh…" Garfield said slowly before taking a seat at the table. "Alright. In that case we'll need to work on getting you healthy. Because you definitely aren't right now, and hiding it like you were isn't good for you."

Her smile widened a bit. "Thank you, Garfield. I appreciate your concern." He nodded and began to eat. They sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying their meals, before she spoke again. "May I ask where Harry is?"

The green boy swallowed his latest mouthful. "We spent the night talking about our next move with the orphanage and the kids. He went out to look into the situation before Bumby's death complicates things. Once he has a better idea of the situation we'll make a plan. He's also going to see if he can find records of Bumby's sales, like a client list or name of the intermediary he sold them through. That'll give us a lead on recovering them." He sighed. "From what you said, we won't be able to recover their minds. Neither me or Harry have that sort of ability. But at the very least we can get them away from their captors."

Alice nodded slowly in understanding before she latched onto something he'd said. "I take it you don't approve of my killing Bumby?" She tried to keep her tone neutral, though she was unsure that she succeeded.

Garfield leaned back, crossing his arms and eying her. "It's a bit complicated. See, most heroes, and most hero teams, have a no kill policy. Obviously there are exceptions for extreme circumstances, but generally we avoid taking lives. Obviously that's made some people dislike us, since that means we're keeping some real monsters alive to possibly cause more problems, but it's policy."

Alice remained silent, as she could tell he had more to say. "On the other hand, while I may now be a member of the Teen Titans, I was originally part of a team called Doom Patrol, and we used to be a bit more hardcore. We were a lot quicker to use lethal force. Most of my team doesn't know it, but I have a bit of a body count. I'm sure Robin, the Teen Titan's leader, knows anyway, but he's never mentioned it."

"Now that doesn't mean I like to kill or that I'm glad you had to, but I'm more understanding about it. From what you said, it was the only way you had to stop an evil man, since you couldn't imprison him or anything like that. Between an unrepentant monster and a bunch of innocent kids, I'll choose the kids every time." He finished resolutely.

Alice smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you Garfield. I appreciate you telling me that." He smiled back, and the two went back to eating.

After they finished their meal Alice wondered what she should do next. Garfield, apparently wondering the same thing, smiled and got the computer. "I feel like watching a show. Wanna join me?"

"A show? You mean like a play?"

Garfield grinned. "Something like that." He set the computer on the table and turned it on. Alice watched curiously as he proceeded to search for something. The screen changed several times before He found whatever he was looking for, his grin widening, and started whatever he'd chosen.

She only had time to see that whatever it was it was called 'Avatar: The Last Airbender', before she was swept up in what began, awed and, soon, enraptured.

By the time Harry arrived, stretching and grumbling to himself, Alice had already watched several of what Garfield called episodes. He had gotten them a bowl of nuts and some tea, grumbling the entire time about needing popcorn. She decided to ignore the oddity in favor of continuing to watch the adventures of Aang and his companions.

She did, however, look up once Garfield paused the show when the other boy arrived. "Hello Harry. Thank you for breakfast."

Harry cracked a smile as he hung up his coat. "My pleasure, Alice. Hope you enjoyed it." He glanced at the computer before chuckling. "Avater, I see. Good choice for her first show, BB."

Garfield grinned. "Seemed appropriate." His smile dropped. "So, how did it go?"

Harry sighed and sat down on a nearby seat. "I managed to buy some time to set up a replacement for Bumby of our choice, as well as come up with alternate funding before Houndsditch is dissolved and the kids end up in other orphanages. Honestly, I'm tempted to just let the current kids be moved to other orphanages we've vetted. They'd be taken care of and we could focus on those already sold off. As it is, we need to find a replacement within the next few days. Revenue is simpler. I'll just find a company I know will last and invest in it with the understanding that all profits go to the orphanage. I can write it off as being an eccentric orphan with a soft spot for my old home."

Garfield leaned back and nodded. "Alright, that makes sense. Any companies you were thinking of?"

"A few. I'll narrow the choices down, but there are some that, at least on our world, became big and began around this time." Harry said. "I also went through Bumby's office. Bastard was telling the truth, he burned all the evidence."

Alice felt her heart drop at the news. "So there's nothing we can do for the children that have already been sold?"

Harry looked up, seeing Alice's and Garfield's unhappy looks, before chuckling rather maliciously, making Alice feel pricklings of unease. "Oh, I never said that. Bastard never expected me to show up, after all." He reached into the small pouch at his side before pulling out a large sheaf of papers. "It took some inventive casting and a fair bit of power, but I managed to restore the papers." He began flipping through them with an evil grin. "Names of the sold children, prices they were sold for, locations they were sold at and, most importantly, people they were sold to." He looked back at them, an evil glint in his eye. "Some of these are very high profile. Captains of industry and members of the aristocracy."

Alice smiled. "I'm glad you managed to get what we needed." Then her smile disappeared. "However, if the people you are referring to are so high profile, then it's likely the authorities won't be much help. They have the money to make such charges go away."

Garfield growled but nodded. "This time period is pretty well known for being the definition of corruption, dude. Y'know that she's right."

Harry's dark grin didn't go away. Indeed, it seemed to widen to the point Alice wondered if he was related to Cheshire. "Oh, I know. In the same vein, well, wouldn't it be a tragedy if the newspapers got a hold of these papers? I mean, some even specify special requests the more high-end clients made for things the kids would be pre-programmed to do. Not for the faint of heart."

Garfield stared at Harry, appearing to be in awe. "Dude, that's vicious…"

Alice had begun to smile. "Agreed. I approve."

Harry chuckled. "I'll see about getting it out there in a way that can't be suppressed. I doubt the authorities will be able to avoid at the very least removing the children after that." He set the papers down on the table and stretched. "Well, that's enough of that for now. We need to go shopping."

Alice tilted her head. "Shopping? What for?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Why, clothes and necessities for you, of course. I know you can change your dress to your blue one, but that's no reason to not get you out of those rags."

Alice's eyes widened. "Oh, no. That… that's not necessary." She said, caught off guard.

"Yeah it is." Garfield said with a snort. "I mean, I wouldn't give those clothes to the homeless, they're that bad. You need something better. Especially if you're going to hang with us."

Alice stared at Garfield, appalled. "Why would we hang? We haven't done anything wrong!" Then she actually thought about it. "Well, I suppose I did kill somebody…"

As Garfield gaped at her Harry laughed. "He didn't mean we'd literally hang till dead, Alice. 'Hanging out' is a colloquialism for spending time together."

"Oh…" Alice said softly. "I see…"

Garfield shook his head. "Ok, generational misunderstandings aside, we still need to get you some proper clothes. You can't wear your blue dress all the time."

Alice frowned but assented that they were correct. She stood up and, with a thought, she had changed into her Wonderland persona, this time exerting a bit of extra will in order to keep it bloodless. "Very well, I am ready to go."

Harry got up, stretching once again. "Great. I was thinking we could hit Harrods. That should serve our purposes nicely."

Alice was about to protest, Harrods being far too expensive, but was interrupted by Garfield holding up his hand. "Just a sec, dude." He turned to Alice. "First I was thinking we should see what Alice's abilities are. Just in case there's trouble."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What trouble are you expecting on a trip to a department store, exactly?" Harry asked, though he turned to Alice, seeming curious anyway.

Garfield shrugged. "Possessed mannequins, cursed clothing, a mad axe murderer… The usual."

Harry sighed and shook his head, muttering about 'superhero paranoia' before speaking to Alice. "Well, despite his reasoning, we might as well. Can you summon something for us?"

Alice nodded, and immediately it was in her hand. "This is my Vorpal Blade." She said simply giving it a couple of swings, testing its weight now that it was in the real world. Gratifyingly she found no difference from what she was used to.

Garfield nodded. "Yeah, saw it yesterday. Scared the crap out of me."

Alice blushed lightly. "I apologize, Garfield. I was… high strung."

The green boy waved her apology away. "No problem, Alice. I understand."

Harry, she noticed, had an odd look on his face. "What is it?"

He looked up. "Oh, nothing. Just that the name of the blade tickled my memory. Don't know what. Don't worry about it. How about something else now?"

Alice nodded and thought for a moment before her knife disappeared and her large, heavy Hobby Horse was in her hands, the spike at the bottom of the staff planted in the floor. It was large and appeared to be made of something like white marble. It had a wild, dangerous looking mane, burning gold eyes, and a horn like a unicorn's protruding from its forehead, gold as well. It looked quite dangerous, if she said so herself.

"Whoa!" Garfield cried, staring. "That thing looks freaking lethal!"

"Indeed." Harry said, leaning forward to analyze the chain reins. "I imagine this is a blunt weapon for heavy damage?"

Alice nodded. "Yes. It takes some getting used to, but it is highly effective."

Garfield nodded. "I bet. Anything else you want to try bringing out?"

Alice let the Hobby Horse disappear, tilting her head in thought. What could she try to bring out? Suddenly a random thought crossed her mind and began gnawing on her. Perhaps…?

"Oh yes, Alice. Now you are thinking in an interesting direction. I look forward to this."

She began to concentrate. It took a bit more effort, but soon enough she'd done what she'd intended.

Beside her sat a large cat. Sitting as it did it reached her chest, it's large, pointy ears adding to that considerably more. It was skeletally thin, its ribs easily visible and with a long neck. Its fur was ash grey, with black tribal designs all around its body. Its tail appeared mostly furless but for a pointed tuft at the tip. It had glowing yellow eyes that leered at everybody in undisguised amusement, and wore an enormous grin that exposed strangely human teeth speckled with blood.

"A pleasure to meet Alice's heroes in the flesh… so to speak." Cheshire Cat said in a deep, rumbling voice, ever-present grin not shifting one jot.

The boys' reactions surprised Alice. Garfield was gaping at Cheshire, pointing a trembling finger at him. Harry didn't look much better, staring in disbelief.

"That's the Cheshire Cat." Garfield said numbly.

"Yes BB, yes it is…" Harry murmured.

"Interesting." Cheshire said, eyes darting from one boy to the other as Alice tried to understand how they knew Cheshire's name when she didn't remember mentioning him. "Somehow, the two of you recognize me. Some oddity of being from a different world, I presume?"

Garfield appeared to ignore him. "You're that Alice?"

Alice blinked as his finger shifted to point at her. "Ah, what Alice?"

"Alice!" He practically shouted, making her lean back from his vehemence. "From the story!"

"Beast Boy, calm the hell down!" Harry barked. "She has no clue what you're talking about."

Garfield settled down, blushing slightly. "Sorry…"

Cheshire spoke now, tail swishing behind him. "I am assuming that from your reactions that we are some sort of story told in your world?"

Harry nodded slowly. "There's a children's book, or two books, rather, about a young girl and her adventures through Wonderland, meeting mad creatures and absurd situations. It's… quite well known…"

Alice felt her chest constrict, eyes wide as she stared at him. "And that girl… is me?"

"It seems so…" Harry said. "You followed a white rabbit down a rabbit hole and ended up in Wonderland, where there were foods that demanded you eat them before shifting your size, and other absurd things?"

Alice swallowed and nodded slowly.

"It seems that there is more to different worlds than we first assumed. Do you have any insights?" Cheshire asked, eyes locked on Garfield.

Harry shook his head, but Garfield nodded. "I remember an old mission file of the Justice League's Robin showed the Titans. Apparently at one point several of the original members wound up in a world where the characters of old comic books Green Lantern used to collect were actually real, with events that actually happened. I… guess it's something similar?"

Harry and Alice stared at Garfield. "I'd never heard of something like that." Harry said.

Garfield shrugged. "Who'd believe it if they didn't see it for themselves? Hell, for all we know our world is the same, a comic book or TV show in some other world we've never been to."

Harry sat back down with a thump. "…Geeze, that's… heavy."

Alice sat down as well, mind reeling at this new information. Somewhere, in an entirely different world, her life was a… a… children's storybook!

And yet, it was only of her early life, before the fire, from what the boys had said. About her first adventures in Wonderland. Which made sense, as her latter life was not something for children.

It was… daunting, and she had no idea what to think.

"While undoubtedly interesting, this changes nothing, Alice." Cheshire said.

Alice looked up, glaring at his eternally grinning face. "Doesn't it? I am a children's story! Something for people to read and laugh at the sheer absurdity of! My Wonderland…" She shivered and hugged herself, feeling oddly violated.

"Are you any less real now, Alice?" Cheshire said, and despite his grin, his tone was deadly serious. "Is your pain somehow imaginary? Are your struggles somehow fantasy? Have your victories been simple games? Is your strength, that which has saved you from horror after horror, somehow been diminished by this new insight?" He stepped closer to her. "You are Alice Liddel. Are you going to let this irrelevant little revelation break you?"

Alice stared as Cheshire for a long minute before her gaze firmed and her jaw hardened. "No. I refuse to break any further." Cheshire's grin impossibly seemed to widen.

She started in surprise when a hand settled on her shoulder. She turned to find Harry giving her a warm look. "Well said, Alice. And don't worry, you have me and Beast Boy at your back." Garfield grinned almost as widely as Cheshire, nodding.

Alice smiled softly at the two boys, and for the first time felt truly safe around them.

"Thank you."

Harry worked at his computer by the window with Beast Boy laying around in the form of an iguana nearby, the solar powered charger set up to catch the sun as he did so. He'd have to thank Batman for including it. Being prepared for anything really was the man's entire way of life, it seemed.

He'd had the idea to document his time in this different world to share with the League and Titans once they got back from Beast Boy's mentioning of the file the League had about the 'fictional' world. It'd seemed like a good idea if for no other reason than as evidence when they would inevitably be scoffed at by the less imaginative.

It had been a month since the two boys had arrived in that dirty alley in the middle of nineteenth century London. A month since they'd met Alice, who had quickly become a good friend.

They'd gotten the girl a room in the same building they were staying in, and she spent most of her time in their flat, enjoying stories of their adventures or watching things on the computer. They'd also taken to teaching her a bit of self-defense after the first time she walked in on the two boys sparring to keep their hand to hand skills up to par. Neither was exactly a great fighter, their talents lying elsewhere, but Robin made sure all the Titans knew at least the basics, just in case, and they passed that knowledge on to Alice.

They'd set up Alice's old nanny, Nan Sharpe, and some of her girls to run the orphanage on Alice's recommendation. It was a bit difficult, as they were all prostitutes, but after Harry made sure they all truly wanted out of the life they'd been forced to lead and would run the place properly, some confounding magic eased the process. The financial security of the place was also assured, Harry having set up three different investments into companies he was reasonably sure would do well, thus making sure that one failing wouldn't cripple the orphanage.

The work against the child traffickers took longer, but was much more satisfying. London had erupted in an uproar after the news hit. Even in such a cynical time, what had been done to those children was monstrous. That was helped by the fact that the masses loved to tear down powerful people, something Harry was well acquainted with. The authorities were forced to investigate, with some help from some compulsion magic, and more than one high profile man or woman was forced to, at the least, pay massive fines, and give up the children.

That the panicking criminals gave up other, previously not named compatriots, just made things all the sweeter.

Beast Boy went out every night on patrol, bored, looking for bad guys to beat up and leave gift wrapped for the police. He'd mentioned he'd been hoping to catch Jack the Ripper. Seeing as Alice had no clue who he was talking about, Harry told the other boy that he was pretty sure Jack was a bit later than the current year. Beast Boy still held out hope, though.

When Harry wasn't busy with other pursuits he worked on his portals, trying to create one similar to the one that brought them to this world. It was difficult, as he couldn't experiment by going through one till he got it right. He had to keep making them, trying to remember how the energy of the portal had felt and recreate it. It was delicate work, but he believed he was making progress and should be ready to try and use one within a couple of weeks at most.

He looked up from his typing when the door opened and Alice walked in, looking much better with her hair naturally longer and her complexion healthier, helped by the nice green dress she wore. She had several books in her arms and an odd look on her face. He eyed her as she woodenly walked over to the bookshelf he'd set up and added the books to the collection already there.

"Alice? What's wrong?" He asked, shutting the laptop and setting it aside, waking Beast Boy, who looked around in confusion before shifting to human form, yawning lightly.

"I just had a rather… odd experience." Alice said slowly as she finished putting the books away.

The boys glanced at each other. "Uh, no offence, Alice, but I thought you'd be used to weird crap happening to you." BB said, leading to a slap upside the head from Harry.

Alice shook her head. "This is different. If it weren't for the abilities I knew about I'd believe it didn't happen." She said, moving to the kitchen and beginning to make some tea.

Harry got up and moved over to help. "What happened?"

Alice was silent as she added her tea leaves to the water before speaking. "I went to a new book shop that recently opened to see if they had any more books you might want."

Harry nodded in understanding. Taking advantage of the time period they were in, Harry had employed Alice to look through stores for first editions of books by certain authors. Not only would they be worth a fortune in Harry's own time due to their rarity and condition, Hermione would murder just at the chance of touching them.

"Well, when I got there I found that Mister Jules Verne was there to help promote newest novel, The Mysterious Island." She cracked a smile. "He did not seem overly pleased to be there. However, I gathered some of his books, such as Around the World in Eighty Days and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, as you told me they are some of his most enduring, to have him sign them." She gestured over to the books she'd put away.

Beast Boy let out a low "Duuuude…", and Harry fully shared the sentiment. First editions actually signed by Jules Verne would be worth their weight in gold.

"It was as I handed him the books that our hands touched briefly, and something strange happened. I suddenly found myself on the moon!" Alice said with a bit of excitement.

Both Harry and Beast Boy blinked. "Uh, what?" Harry said.

"Yes, I stood on the moon, and Mister Verne was standing there before me, gazing up at the stars. And suddenly, I had some idea of what he was thinking." She took a sip of her tea, gathering her thoughts. "He was wondering what was next, after writing about the deepest corners of the Earth. So I… tried to help." She shrugged lightly, eyes distant. "We traveled through different places, in a rocket ship, a balloon, and even the Nautilus. And I tried to help him with his struggles. In the end, I believe, he knew what was next, and was happy and eager to continue his work."

Harry and BB shared another mystified look before turning back to Alice when she resumed speaking. "Soon after I found myself back in that bookstore, books in hand, and Mister Verne was gazing at me oddly. Then he smiled, said thank you, and signed the books, letting me have them for free. After that… I left." She said, shrugging.

They were silent for a time, Alice enjoying her tea now that she'd told her friends her story, the boys thinking about what they'd been told.

"So…" Beast Boy began. "You ended up in the dude's mind and helped out with his issues?"

"It seems so." Alice said.

"Can you do it for anybody?" Harry asked, curious.

Alice paused. "I don't know." She said. "I suppose that would take a bit of experimentation."

BB got up and moved over to Alice before holding out his hand. "Let's try it."

Alice eyed him. "Are you certain?"

BB nodded. "Definitely. Besides, I'm a better choice than Harry."

Harry grimaced and nodded. He didn't want to imagine what she'd find in his mind. At Alice's curious look he was reminded that she didn't know his full story. He was in no hurry to change that.

"Very well." Alice said, taking his hand. Harry watched curiously as they stood there for ten seconds.

"Uh, was something supposed to happen?" Beast Boy asked.

Alice shook her head. "I don't feel anything like I did with Mister Verne." She said.

Harry almost rolled his eyes as he realized they hadn't noticed the obvious. "Maybe it needs skin contact?" He looked pointedly at BB's gloved hand.

The other boy chuckled sheepishly. "Good thinking, man." He took his glove off and held his hand back out to Alice, who was smiling slightly as well. She took it, and after a couple of seconds Harry saw the moment it worked, their eyes glazing slightly, unseeing. It lasted only a couple of seconds before they pulled away, the effect dissipating. "Whoa…" BB said.

"Indeed." Alice agreed. "It appears that now that I know I can do it activating the ability takes a moment of reaching out and connecting to the subject before I am in." She then looked at Beast Boy. "Your mind was rather bizarre, I'll admit. I could make more sense of Mister Verne's."

BB scratched the back of his head, blushing. "Sorry…" He muttered.

"Well, this is obviously a fascinating new ability, Alice. But I suggest you keep it under wraps and use it sparingly." Harry said, to which she nodded.

"Of course. I do not intend to snoop around in peoples' heads unless it becomes necessary." Alice said firmly.

Harry smiled at her. "I know. I trust you."

Alice smiled back.

A little over a week later the three friends were having dinner. Alice was enjoying Harry's cooking as she always did. She much preferred his food to even most restaurants she'd been to. She was distracted from the delicious pasta dish by Harry clearing his throat and setting his utensils down. She'd noted he'd looked slightly subdued all evening, and now it looked like she was going to find out why.

"I… have some news." He began. He looked at them before addressing Garfield. "I think I've managed to replicate the portal that brought us here. We should be able to use it to get home within a day or two."

As Garfield smiled and congratulated his friend Alice felt her appetite suddenly disappear, the pasta in her mouth tasting like ashes at the realization of what this meant.

They were leaving.

The two boys who had become the most important people in her life in less than a month and a half were leaving her, most likely forever. She'd be alone again.

She looked down, trying to push away the tears she could feel gathering in her eyes in spite of everything she tried. She refused to cry. She was stronger than that.

"Alice?" Harry's voice said hesitantly. She looked up to find Harry looking at her sadly.

She did her best to smile at them, to act happy. "I'm glad." She said softly.

Harry reached over and took her hand, smiling sadly. "No you're not. I'm sorry, Alice."

Alice clenched her jaw and clutched his hand tightly. She desperately didn't want to be alone again. She didn't think she could bare it.

But she couldn't keep them there. It wouldn't be fair to them. They had their own lives, their own responsibilities, back at their home. Why would they want to live in a backwards age like hers when they could go back to the wonders of their own time? She couldn't keep them in a place even she didn't want to be.

The idea that thought brought suddenly blazed brightly, and she looked up at Harry. "Take me with you."

Both boys looked taken aback. They glanced at each other before Garfield opened his mouth. "Alice-"

"There's nothing holding me here." She said, interrupting him. "The only person I have left I care for is Nan Sharpe, and she can live without me. She has the orphanage to care for now. And I hate this place." She spat. "This society is sick, the people greedy and self-centered. So few people even think about others. I can't stand them. I want to see your home. A world full of opportunities."

"Alice, we've showed you our world, but it isn't a utopia. It has problems. Major ones." Harry said emphatically.

"I know." She admitted. "I'm not so naïve as to believe that there is such a thing as a perfect world. If there was, they wouldn't need heroes like you. But I want to see it. And maybe, with my abilities, I can do some good."

The room was silent for a time, each person lost in their thoughts, and abruptly Alice began to wonder since when she'd begun to cling so tightly to two boys that were younger than her.

She'd prided herself in being independent. In being able to endure her trials on her own, with only minimal support from her Nan. It wasn't an easy life, but she'd been able to make do, and after Bumby's death she was fully prepared to survive.

Perhaps that was the issue, she thought. She'd been so long without anybody to truly rely on, clawing and scraping for anything, especially her sanity, and suddenly these two young men had come into her life and helped her without asking for anything in return, seeing only someone who needed help. They'd taken her in, helped her learn her abilities, and shown her wonders she could not have dreamed of. They'd become true friends.

She could survive on her own, yes, but that would be a joyless existence. And she was tired of having to sacrifice her happiness to make do. Just this once, she wanted at least an opportunity for some happiness.

"Are you certain, Alice?" Harry said, voice low and serious. "There is likely no way to take this back. You come with us, and that will be it. Hell, there are no guarantees that the portal will take us to where we intend to go. We could wind up in an even worse world, full of monsters and horrors we couldn't dream of. It is, essentially, a gamble, one Beast Boy and I are ready to take. You don't have to. We'll be more than happy to help you get set up here for the long term."

Alice took a deep breath. Before nodding, green meeting green as she gazed into Harry's eyes. "I am willing to take a chance at something better." She said confidently.

The boys glanced at each other one last time before nodding and turning to her with smiles. "Welcome to the team, Alice." Garfield said.

Alice felt herself smile radiantly. Finally, an opportunity at a better life.

A life with friends.

With Alice's inclusion to the plan it took another week to get everything settled on her end, not that the boys minded.

Alice and Harry went to her greedy, backstabbing solicitor, Wilton J. Radcliffe, to liquidate her inheritance into jewels and precious metals that would be of use in other lands, much to his intense dismay. Alice gave the excuse that she had tired of England and was moving someplace better, like Canada or Australia. With Harry standing behind her, radiating an aura of pure menace and wearing an evil grin, the cowardly Radcliffe hurried to comply. As a final insult Alice took the stuffed rabbit he had been keeping from her.

She'd also said goodbye to her Nan. It was a tearful farewell, but the older woman, who had always looked out for what was best for Alice, gave the girl her blessing and best wishes.

Soon the three stood in the alley the boys had originally appeared in. They had all their things packed up in Harry's expanded bag, which was enchanted up the wazoo with protective spells in case of problems on the other side of the portal.

Beast Boy took a deep breath. They were as ready as they were going to be.

Harry held out a hand and a black portal appeared, streaks of color flowing through the inky darkness. BB felt a shudder of apprehension. He knew Harry had done his best, but there was always a chance that this could go absolutely, horribly wrong.

"Well… here goes nothing." The green boy said as he stepped forward, Alice at his side. Harry would go last, as he had to keep the portal open.

He took another deep breath before finally stepping forward, going into the darkness.

He prayed that nothing would go wrong this time.

"Welp, something definitely went wrong." Beast Boy said less than twenty four hours later as he set a newspaper on the table of the flat they'd rented. "I mean, we're closer. Definitely the right time period, if slightly off. Still in London. But no Titans, no Justice League, no metas or aliens at all. I'd say this is a bust."

Harry sighed from where he was sitting, reaching over to grab the paper. "I know, BB. Hogwarts isn't there either. I'll need to figure something out before we try another jump."

Beast Boy grunted and grabbed a soda. If there was one thing he was happy about being in the modern era for, no more tea at all times of day. He finally had options.

Alice watched the two while sipping her own drink, obviously trying to get used to the new taste. And the bubbles. "Perhaps you need something more? Could you make or find a magical artifact to help with it?"

Harry stopped reading the paper for a moment and tilted his head in thought. "I couldn't make one. I'd need more knowledge than I have. Finding an object created around dimensional manipulation would, oddly enough, be more likely." He went to back to his paper.

Beast Boy felt the need to point out the flaw in that plan. "With no magical society, we'd have to look for old artifacts, and I doubt a museum will helpfully point out that one of their items was used to open doors to other worlds. Finding something will take a lot more research than just what we can get through the internet on our own."

Slowly, Harry began to grin, eyes glinting. "I think we can get some help with that." He said, setting the paper down on the table to show an article with a picture of a beautiful young woman with brown hair and eyes smiling politely with some old man, an old looking mask in a case behind her.

BB's eyes widened when he realized what he was looking at. "Holy crap. She's here? Hell yeah she'd be able to help us. Think we could get her to help, though?"

Harry nodded, still grinning. "Leave it to me."

Alice grabbed the paper, pulling it over to look at it. "What are you two talking about?" She read the headline of the article.

'LADY LARA CROFT DONATES ANCIENT CEREMONIAL MASK TO BRITISH MUSEUM'

Finally done! Mwahaha!

Okay, this is going to be a long AN, but I have a lot of things to discuss. Bear with me.

As stated before, we didn't spend much time in Alice's world. There wasn't really much to do. So I decided to get through it all in one chapter. Now we can have some fun.

Firstly, on to chapter specifics:

I added a bit of Beast Boy's comic history to the character to help with making him useful in this story, showing that he's more willing to kill if necessary than the other Titans are. After all, in worlds like Mass Effect or Halo, going non-lethal is rarely an option. He's going to need to get used to killing.

Alice's ability to go into peoples' heads is canon. It was the entire premise of the proposed third game, Alice: Otherlands. She was planned to go into the minds of people like Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Darwin, Ulysses S. Grant, Bram Stoker, and many others. It would have been amazing, but unfortunately EA was EA, so all we got was a couple of animated shorts exploring the minds of Jules Verne and Richard Wagner. You can find them on American McGee's Youtube channel. Obviously I intend to develop this ability further. She's going to be the team shrink.

Now issues that reviews brought up:

Pairing Harry and Alice: I actually wouldn't mind doing so, I'm just not sure it would be viable in the context of the story. Alice has been hurt and betrayed by men in power, and the likelihood of her ever submitting to a man again is miniscule. The fact that, due to the changes to Harry's psyche due to his powers, that's exactly what he'd expect if they were in a relationship makes them incompatible, and Harry knows it. Now, if anybody can give me a good reason and explanation as to a way to make it work, I'll consider it. As it is though, I'm considering making Alice a bisexual that, after her experiences, rejects the idea of a relationship with a man out of hand, making her a de facto lesbian.

Harry and BB's pop culture knowledge: Certain things are known to them, as I'm sure I've shown previously. I've mentioned Game of Thrones, Warhammer, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, LotR and RWBY. I'm considering the cutoff point for likelyhood of pop culture being the same as ours as around the 2000-2005 era. Around that time superheroes, at least in this version of DC, began to gain prominence, with the appearance of Supes and Bats. Not to mention the villains. And that'll definitely have an impact on pop culture. So most (not all) of what we're familiar with from before that time will be there. Newer things such as Mass Effect or Fate won't be familiar, though that's not a hard rule (as seen with RWBY and Avatar). Of course, you also have to take into account the fact that BB and Harry will be very interested in the pop culture of the places they visit, so their knowledge will expand.

Unrelated, I actually have only seen the first season of Avatar. Should probably get on that.

General Things:

Corrected an error in the previous chapter where the time difference was off by about ten years. It now shows the correct span of time.

Since some people have been asking where I'm sending Harry, I made a list of the universes I have planned to send him, tentative or otherwise, in the order they'll be visited, though I'm not telling you what they are. It's just that I was having trouble keeping them straight in my head. I will say that so far, including Alice, I have ideas for eighteen worlds to send him. As stated, this is tentative. I might remove or add some, as well as shuffle the order around. I actually came up with an idea for a new one as I typed this and added it to the list.

Most of the worlds are meant to give Harry something, be it a new teammate, a new ability, or a new item. There are a couple, however, that I just threw in for the lulz.

Harry will need all of this, however. The Harry in Silent Hill barely took out a Fallen through trickery. By the time we reach the final world, Harry and his crew will need to be able to take out gods straight up.

It. Will. Be. Epic.

On another note, still don't have anybody to discuss Worm with. I could really use somebody with knowledge of it. The wiki is surprisingly unhelpful. Please PM if you're willing to help. Otherwise I'll just have to go with what I know from fanon and what I can get from the wiki, which I would rather not do.

Alright, I think that's all. I'll be working on some of my other fics since I need to do research to continue this. Still haven't played the second game in a certain series mentioned at the end. Gotta do that before I can continue.

On a completely unrelated note, anybody play The Secret World? *grin*

Bye. Please Review.