#3

Memory

Disclaimer: See #1 for it.

Arianna stood at the foot of Jervis's bed as Alice sat on the side and used a cool washcloth to wipe his sweaty brow.

Alice looked at her friend. "He's really sick this time, Ari."

Ari smiled a comforting smile. "He'll make it through, Alice. He always does."

Alice sighed and brushed a lock of silver hair from her ill husband's face. "I'm not so sure about this time, Ari. I think he's pushed himself a little too hard this time."

Zeek entered the sickroom, still looking quite dashing at the age of fifty-three with salt-and-pepper hair. "You have to think positive Alice. He always gets better. He always comes back to you."

Ari's laugh lines were deepened by the grin she sported.

"I have this feeling that the two of you are not going to die and leave the other behind. I know you'll die in each other's arms on a day far away from now." Ari told Alice.

Alice smiled sadly. "I hope so, Ari, I hope so." She kissed Jervis's cheek. "Come back to me, my love. Get better. I love you." she whispered to him, hoping that her words would reach him in his fever-induced dreams.

*~*~*~*

Batman was after him. What for Jervis didn't know.

He'd given up crime years ago, after Alice had saved him and told him that she loved him. He'd given it all up for her and didn't regret one moment of it.

"Give up, Tetch! You've lost! She's never going to be yours!" Batman called.

"No, no, no." Jervis muttered, running as fast as he could.

Suddenly the scene around him changed to be a strange woods.

The path ahead split into two, and he paused a moment to look down both.

Humming came from the tree that stood between the two paths.

Jervis looked up to find a woman that was also a cat. He stared in shock when he realized she looked like Ari had when he'd first met her.

She looked down at him. "A decision for you to make, Hatter. Which path will you take?"

He glanced down both paths and turned around when he realized from the sounds behind him that Batman was still after him. He looked at the cat-woman. "Which path is which?"

She pointed to the path to his left. "Down that path lies Death with no chance of ever regaining your Kingdom. That which follows you will try to force you down it."

He swallowed sharply, hearing Batman get closer. "And the other?"

She smiled kindly at him. "Down the other lies the Queen. She waits for you to come back to her, Your Majesty. Queen Alice and Wonderland lay at the end of that path. Which do you choose? And make your choice quickly, because he's coming."

Jervis didn't spare the choice any thought. He took off like the White Rabbit down the right-hand path.

The cat-woman grinned.

The King was on his way.

*~*~*~*

Alice broke out into relieved tears when Jervis opened his eyes.

The fever had finally broke, but wasn't completely gone.

Jervis clung to her and cried a little himself. He told her about his horrible dreams.

After Jervis had been himself long enough to reject any memory of a life not built with teacups and cemented with smoke rings, he held onto Alice –she was part of the fairytale as well, after all.

He wanted nothing more than to stay with his Queen.

Ari and Zeek quietly left the room.

"We should have taken them home after they were married." Zeek muttered to Ari. "And you shouldn't keep showing him your real form when he gets sick."

She rolled her eyes as they tiptoed away from the bedroom door. "I only do it when there's a big chance he won't make it. Sometimes the paths switch. Someone has to guide him and that falls under my duties."

Zeek grabbed her hand as they started down the stairs. "We shouldn't be here. We should be preparing for their arrival, not playing humans."

She paused them a couple feet from the doorway to the large living room. "White and Hare can handle it. And besides, Knave, would you have rather missed out on this?" She gestured to the living room where not only Jervis and Alice's children and grandchildren were gathered, but their own as well.

Zeek watched the scene before them and sighed. He gave Ari a rueful smile. "You're right. I wouldn't have missed this for the world, especially the wedding between our youngest girl and their youngest son. We can claim that it's what families do when we snatch something."

Ari laughed. "I wouldn't have to. They'd just give me what I wanted." She entered the living room to spread the good news of Jervis's recovery.

A/N: Not what I was first going to go for, but it works.