Chapter Fourteen - Bill the Lizard

The Lizard offered a tentative smile. "Hello, David."

Alice looked sideways at Hatter in shock and she could see that he'd gone deathly pale, sitting completely frozen except for a tremor in his left hand, which was still hovering midway to his mouth. "Hatter," she prompted, touching his arm gently.

"Forgive me, I've forgotten my manners," the Lizard spoke up suddenly, his eyes lingering on Alice. His voice was smooth, pleasant, and the accent was sleeker and less rugged than Hatter's. The Lizard swept back the tails of his coat and bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Alice-of-Legend. I am William Lagorio, but you can call me Bill. And, as said, I'm David's father."

"No." Hatter's tone was harsh and clipped, and his head snapped up to stare across the table at the older man. "No, you're not. You'd 'ave to been there to be a father."

"David," Bill said, wincing. "It's not the way you think."

"You know wha' I think?" Hatter asked, planting his left fist on the table and standing up. "I think one day you got bored and wandered off, and you left mum and me to starve. And for wha'? So you could live the posh life with this ponce and make up stories 'bout mum's family?"

"David, please," Bill pressed, but Hatter ignored him.

Turning to the Lion, Hatter said, "If you'll 'scuse us, I think we'll get on back to our room. 'M not feelin' so well, suddenly."

"Sit, Hatter," the Lion responded coolly. "We still have much to talk about."

Hatter looked like he was going to argue, every muscle taut and a nerve jumping in his jaw. Alice reached up and set a hand on his arm warningly. Hatter glanced down at her and seemed to read something in the fear in her eyes. "Right, then," he said tightly and dropped back into the seat, although he was perched on the very edge, ready to run at the first chance he got.

"Now, I believe you had some questions that you wanted answers to," the Lion said, tone civil once again. "Perhaps when you have heard the full story you will understand what I am after and you will feel more - sympathetic to my cause."

"I keep tellin' you," Hatter said, frowning and staring down the larger man, "even if I were on your side, I don' 'ave the answers you want."

"I think otherwise," the Lion said and shot a significant glance at Bill. "Lizard, please, sit," he added. Bill slipped tentatively into the seat opposite Hatter, looking as eager to bolt as his son. "Now, back to business," the Lion said. "You had questions?"

"Alright then," Hatter said and he narrowed his eyes. "Tell me the truth, what you Whites want with this Time bloke?"

The Lion scratched at the dark ginger stubble on his chin thoughtfully. "You have all, of course, heard the story about the Mad Hatter and the Never-Ending Tea Party?"

Hatter nodded but Alice said, "The what?"

"You'd likely know him from the old Alice legends," Bill supplied. "The Mad Hatter that Alice-of-Legend met on her trip here. When he was younger he disrespected Time. As punishment, Time froze him in a moment, trapped in that exact instant for nearly a hundred years. Never ageing, never growing, never changing.

"Well, eventually Time and the Mad Hatter made peace, Time released him from the time stop, and they parted ways as friends. But before they went their separate ways, Time gifted an important piece of information to the Hatter: the home of Time. He said that all Hatters would instinctively know where to find Time."

"And tha's why you think I know where 'e's at?" Hatter asked the Lion sceptically. "'Cause o' some ol' kids' story?"

"Wait," Alice said, shaking her head, "you're related to that Hatter?"

"He's me grandad," Hatter said. "Mum's da."

"David kept the family name because the Hatter name carries more influence than Lagorio," said Bill.

Hatter snorted. "No, kept the name 'cause it was a Hatter what raised me," he retorted briskly. "Me mum. 'Member 'er?"

"The point is," the Lion cut in, "that you have the way to find Time inside that head of yours, and I need it."

"E'en if I did, why should I tell you?" Hatter challenged.

"Because I'm the better alternative," the Lion said with a truly frightening grin. "There is a power play going on in the White kingdom. My mother, the White Queen, is -indisposed. This has left our people without a leader and they are divided between my sister and me."

"Wha's Time gotta do with this?" Hatter asked.

"Our mother managed to maintain the throne for so long thanks to a close relationship with Time," the Lion explained. "He supplied her with the power that she used to keep the kingdom under control."

"So you think whiche'er of you finds 'im first gets to be king," Hatter concluded. "What makes you think he'll 'elp you?"

"Same reason you will," the Lion said simply. "Because you won't have any other choice."

"Unicorn thought t' same thin' an' she still don' know," Hatter pointed out.

The smile that the Lion replied with was enough to make Alice's blood run cold. "Yes, but my sister didn't have the leverage that I do," he said and flicked his gaze toward Alice pointedly.

Hatter's smirk fled, expression going cold and unforgiving, and his eyes burnt with a dangerous light. "You touch 'er and this stupid belt won' save you," he said darkly.

"Yes, well I'm hoping it won't come to that," the Lion said and he sounded entirely unconcerned. Bill, on the other hand, had flinched backwards at the threat and was eyeing Hatter nervously. "It would be so much easier if we could just do this civilly."

"I keep tellin' you, I dunno where this Time bloke is," Hatter said insistently.

"Yes, you do, David," said Bill, voice soft. "You just don't know how to get to it."

"What're you on about?" Hatter asked, his forehead wrinkling.

Bill sighed. "It was your mother's idea to do it," he said, speaking to his steepled fingers. "You see, the secret is too much for a mind to handle. It's what's been driving her mad, just like it did to her father. The location of Time, it's a heavy secret that was never meant to belong to one person. So when we found out we were expecting a child, she asked me to find a way to protect you from the secret.

"I was a Chemist at the time, working for the Queen of Hearts, so I had plenty of access. I worked with another Chemist, a man named the Carpenter." Alice wasn't able to contain her soft gasp. "He was an expert in brain chemistry, doing ground-breaking research in Shadow Theory. Together we discovered a way to lock the secret away in the back of your mind, shielding the rest of you from being damaged by it. There was only one way to release it; a neural key that could only be activated by a code that your mother chose. Even I don't know what it is."

"What a load of bollocks," Hatter sneered. "You're tryin' ta say there's a secret in me head that on'y Mum knows 'ow to get out?"

"Surely she's told you," Bill said, frowning. "You may not realise that's what it was. She swore she would tell you when you came of age, so you could make the choice yourself."

Hatter grimaced. "She mighta done, but she died when I was ten."

Bill's head snapped up and a look of pure anguish crossed his face. "Lorina's dead?"

"You'd'a known if you'd been there," Hatter said coldly.

"David, I-"

"Don't call me David!"

"So are you saying," the Lion interrupted loudly, sitting forward and seeming to fill the space with his presence, "that the only person who knew how to get the secret out of Hatter's mind is dead? Lizard, you told me we would be able to get the secret out."

"And you told me my wife was alive," Bill responded sharply and Alice could suddenly see the resemblance between him and Hatter. They both had the same prominent cheek- and jawbones, and a certain spark of ferocity in their expressions that commanded attention.

"As far as I'd been informed, she was," said the Lion, dismissive. He contemplated them silently for a minute and then his eyes turned to Hatter. "Perhaps you and Alice-of-Legend should retire to your room. It seems that the Lizard and I have much to talk about before we can proceed."

The trio of guards appeared behind them, and Alice and Hatter stood. Alice kept her hand in the crook of Hatter's elbow as they walked out of the dining hall. Hatter didn't look back at his father once. They were silent as they walked through the maze of halls back to their room, and neither of them spoke until the door had been locked behind them.

Hatter paced a line at the foot of the bed, flexing the right hand that the guards hadn't released from the cuff. When he didn't say anything for several minutes, Alice prompted, "Hatter?"

Like he was deflating, Hatter slumped down to sit on the floor and put his forehead in his free hand. Alice was at his side immediately and he leant into her shoulder. "It's me da," he said breathlessly. "Cracked kettles, never thought I'd be seein' 'im again."

"He left you?" Alice asked gingerly.

"When I was a wee thing," he said. "So li'l I 'ardly remember 'im. Was there for a bit, then he started comin' 'ome less and less. Then one day he jus' didn' show. Broke me mum's heart, it did."

"Hatter, I'm so sorry," she said, wishing she could find the right words to express how sorry she was and that she understood his pain.

It turned out Hatter was thinking the same thing. "You and me, we got more in common 'an we thought, yeah?" he said, glancing up at her with red eyes. "Both findin' our da years after they rabbited."

"But yours is still alive," Alice pointed out.

"And 'e sold me out t' that big cat in there," Hatter responded and Alice was forced to admit that he was right.

"I'm sorry about your mom," she said gently. "I didn't realise she was dead."

"It 'appened a long time ago," he said with a weak shrug. "She gave me this," he reached out and lifted the lily pendant out from beneath the neckline of Alice's dress, "day she died. Las' thing she said t' me was 'Why's a raven like a writin' desk?'" He chuckled and shook his head.

"Oh, I figured it out," Alice said abruptly. Hatter looked up at her curiously. "The answer to that riddle," she clarified. "Why's a raven like a writing desk? I figured out the answer. They both make flat notes."

"They both make flat notes?" Hatter echoed.

Of its own accord, the locket snapped open in Hatter's palm. A split second later, Hatter screamed and doubled over, clutching his head in his free hand. "Hatter!" Alice shouted in alarm, grabbing his shoulders. Hatter was trembling, his grip tight on the side of his head as he growled through clenched teeth.

The door to the suite burst open and the Lizard appeared in the frame, a drip of blood smeared beneath his nose. He ran over and dropped down beside them. "David!" he said, trying to pry Hatter's hand away to no avail. Instead, he turned to Alice. "What happened?"

"I don't know," she said frantically. "This locket opened and then he just started screaming."

Bill's eyes widened as he gazed at the pendant. "The key," he said under his breath. "Damn it all." Bending so he was on the same level as Hatter, he said, "David, don't fight it. Just let it in. You're safe, just let it in. It'll hurt less if you don't fight."

Hatter's body seized and he crumpled onto his side, twitching. Once again pulling up her first aid training, Alice hastily slid around to sit on her heels behind Hatter's head. She cradled his head in her lap, making sure he didn't hurt himself as the seizure took control of his body.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Bill said and he knelt beside her, looking stricken. As he rubbed his jaw, Alice saw that his knuckles were split and bloody. "He was supposed to be safe."

Before Alice could ask what he was talking about, Hatter stiffened up one last time, back bowed up off the ground, and then crumpled. His half-opened eyes were unfocused, gazing up into some middle distance, but at least the twitching had stopped. He took a shallow, shuddery breath and then, "Tick…tick…the clock ticks…"

"Hatter?" Alice said, stroking his cheek and forehead soothingly. Her heart was hammering in her throat but she tried to keep her tone calm. "Hatter, come back to me."

"The clock…tock…ticks talk…" Hatter inhaled sharply and then blinked several times. There was a look of awe and wonder in his eyes as they finally focused on her face. "Alice, I know."

"Know what?" she asked.

"The Clock," he said. "Time."

"You released the key," Bill said and pointed at Alice. "The locket. We trapped the neural key in there, and it would only open with a spoken phrase. You must've said it."

Hatter coughed, struggling into a sitting position. "Why's a raven like a writin' desk," he said and Alice's eyes widened in surprise.

"That was the key?" she asked.

"You figured it out, love," Hatter said and gripped her hand where it rested on his shoulder. "Figured out wha' none of us could. Mum's favourite riddle."

"Of course," Bill said and shook his head, his smile fond. "I should've known." His expression became more serious and he looked down at Hatter. "Are you okay to move?"

"Bit sore, 'onestly," said Hatter. "And me head's killin' me. Why?"

"Because we've got to get you out of here," Bill said. He looked toward the open door and frowned. "As long as you didn't know the location, I could buy you some time, but that's over now. We have to get you out of here before he realises you've got what he wants."

"An' why the 'ell would we trust you?" Hatter asked. "In your dreams."

At the mention of dreams, Alice's mind suddenly drew up the Cheshire vision she'd had before dinner and she gasped. "He's the lizard," Alice said, gripping Hatter's hand tighter. "Hatter, we have to follow him."

"Why?" Hatter asked.

"I had a dream," she said and gave him a pointed look. His lips thinned in comprehension. "The first step was a lizard. I didn't know what it meant then, but I think this is it. We have to follow the Lizard."

Hatter stared back at her for a moment and then he nodded. "If you thin' so, I'm with you, love," he said. Alice stood and helped pull him to his feet, making sure he was steady before she let go of his arm. Hatter glanced down at his cuffed right hand and then up at Bill. "Any chance you can-"

Bill produced a hefty wire lockpick from his pocket and grinned. "Always keep one with me, just in case," he said as he walked over to Hatter. He undid the cuff around his wrist and then wedged out the pin that held the belt in place. Bill tossed the belt onto the bed as Hatter stretched his wrist experimentally.

"Now how do we get out of here?" Alice asked, picking up her ragged violet coat from the bedspread and pulling it on. She had already switched the glittery slippers for her ragged trainers, and she stepped up next to Hatter with a decisive nod.

"Come on," Bill said, gesturing for them to follow him. "It won't be easy but I have an idea."