Disclaimer: I don't own Phantom of the Opera or Alice in Wonderland.

Chapter 2 – Miss Cheshire Cat

Upon hearing the door close behind Jaaque, The Phantom slides down the wall slowly, his head buried in his hands, waiting to either weep or vomit. He's yet to know which of the two will happen.

All these years, years he thought his father had died for nothing. He thought his friend had died for nothing. He thought this place, this music, would sit here wasting away, forgotten and empty until the end of Wonderland. It had all been a lie. A ruse to trick the Queen of Hearts into a false sense of security.

He'd be lying if he said that having the Queen overthrown didn't spark something in him but that spark soon died because what was there to hope for? His father was still dead. His friend was still dead. His Queen of Spades was still dead. The only scrap of hope was pinned on the new King and betting on him that he wouldn't totally neglect the Pawns and everyone else in Wonderland.

He clenched a fist. He knows there are still Spades out there, just like there are White Knights and Clubs and Diamonds. The MAAD House may not have assisted in the battle against the Queen of Hearts, but without their warning all of the Royals would never have known to send people away to save their race. The Phantom knows this better than anyone. His father sent him to be one of the handful of Spades to be rescued…

A wad of anguish grips him again as he remembers disobeying his father's wish, that horrid black day resurfacing in his memory. He chokes on the repressed emotion now escaping and tears begin to fall. Khan is alive. His Queen is alive. Oh how this changes everything! He knows a chance to redeem himself when he sees it. He doesn't think he deserves it, he has no idea what he's expected to do but his Father's blood runs through his veins. He was a strong, wise and devoted man. So even if he tries to be half the man, a fraction of the man his father was, he'll be able to do something right.Finally. He's waited long enough.

He chokes and coughs again, his palms in his eyes and his fingers gripping onto his unruly dark hair. He still cant believe it. Jaaque Divine wantshis help. Sure, he was a weasley kid who used to brag a bit too much about being royalty but he wasn't a total waste of space. He's seems to have turned out…tolerably. After what Jaaque must have seen passing through those Palace doors growing up, he would have had to pick a side fairly quickly, and it seems he picked the right one.

The Phantom pulls his hands off his face and looks upwards, a laugh off all things escaping. In all of this, he doesn't notice the creature standing right next to him.

"Suchdrama."

The Phantom sits up, his hair falling over his face and he sees next to him…legs. Legs that are seemingly dipped in copper, draped in lace and heels no doubt carved from some endangered animal from long ago. The Phantom keeps his hair over his face, hiding the severed skin which defines his reputation, and grimaces. He knows those legs - he knows that smooth, purring voice too. He doesn't need to look up.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asks roughly. He knows it's stupid to ask Cat how she got in without him noticing. He'll never figure that out.

"Oh whose counting? The important thing is that I'm here."

She rests her hip on the railing, folding her arms. "I come bearing gifts!"

He hears her clap her hands and Phantom keeps his head down.

"Oh for goodness sake, I've seen the face, remember? No need to bother hiding it from me."

"Right?" he spits. "And who have you told? I'm sure that piece of information bought you a pair of shoes or two."

"Oh grief. Artistic people are so dramatic. Nobody knows, not even Jaaque. He didn't offer me enough." She laughs and then stops when he doesn't join in, rolling her eyes. "Oh lighten up! Come on. Here - take that." The Spade badge lands on his lap and he picks it up, wrapping his fingers around it. His father was hardly seen without this badge. He finally glances up at Cat and she half smiles.

There's nothing about her he trusts. Her slow quiet walk, her half-smiles - or her whole one – nor her beckoning voice or her vivid orange cat eyes. The molten copper that covers to her shoulders moves as she does, always looking wet and the Cocoa brown lace is draped and tucked around her in long effortless lengths. He guesses this is life five out of nine and she hasn't changed a bit. Every man in Wonderland wilts when she's anywhere near them.

She puts her hand out, her smile wide and tempting though not flirtatious like she's sometimes accustomed to. "Come on. I've already set it all up. Come." He grips the Spade in his hand and pulls himself up, ignoring her hand. "Good Phantom!" she beams, then makes her way across the thin fallen rafter towards the Phantom's lair. He really will have to be careful around her…she knows too much and could use it as ammunition the second she chooses. There's a reason she's head of security.

"Soooooo." She spins on her heel to face him, the grin still in place. "Looking Glass."

She gestures widely to a mirror hanging on his wall in front of his half moon. The Phantom's lip twitches as he sees his own reflection. His hair comes past his shoulders, it's knotty and oily; he hasn't bothered shaving in a long time and black drab clothes hang off his tall frame, making him look thinner and more pale. He doesn't even bother looking at his face.

"Great. I love those," he mutters darkly to himself. Cat pouts.

"It's not there for vanity, honey. You can see out, they can't see in unless you want them to."

She switches it on somehow and all of a sudden, a shop appears. A music shop of all things! He flinches and covers his face but Cat rolls her eyes. "I did say they can't see you! See…"

She stands in front of it and poses, the people inside the shop not even noticing.

"Then we have sound…" She flicks another button. "Excuse me, maam?" she calls out and a few people look up and around, trying to see where the voice came from, except one. An older woman who looks into the mirror and glares, then looks away again. Cat turns the sound off and beams "She doesn't count. Madam Giri knows about the mirror. None of the others do."

"The Queen of Diamonds? That's. . ."

"Yes. All are them are there somewhere. Except Christine, your Queen in training. She starts tomorrow. You are only allowed to speak to her. When she is there by herself you can talk to her but not about Wonderland. Your phony back-story and her real one are on your half moon. Study it well. You can tell her the truth when she has to come here. Also, you'll need this when she comes through the mirror." She tosses him a hat and Phantom growls.

"Hatter," he mutters.

"He's very proud of this one. You don't get out much so you'll need it. It is basically going to be your directions. It will tell you where to go and warn you of any danger you may be heading towards. MAAD Hatter may be nuts, but he knows what he's doing and…one more thing…Caterpillar heard you might be a little, what's the word, apprehensive about going out in public so he made you this."

She pulls something out of another hidden spot on her person and hands it to him. A small piece of cloth, soft…possibly made of Bandersnatch leather. He looks at her, confused, and pauses upon seeing something different in her bright eyes. Her smile softens and she steps towards him, taking it from him. His hand snatches her wrist when it comes towards his face but she doesn't flinch, or roll her eyes. She just raises in eyebrow in wait. He wonders how she knows he's going to let her go. He apprehensively loosens the grip he has on her and she just smiles again, stepping forward with the cloth. Phantom stand there, stiffly as she does something with it, her fingers softening it over the burnt and tortured side of his face. Twenty years of next to no human contact and now this.

"It's thick enough to stay in place and hide what you want, but soft enough to breathe and not hurt you." She flattens a certain piece and steps back. "There." Her voice is soft, trusting - if he dares to think it. "Take a look now."

The view to the shop closes down and his reflection peers back. Cat pulls his hair out of the way and he sees his face, the mask curving around his left eye and over his cheek, disappearing below the ear.

"Is it meant to look like half a Spade?" he asks, touching it.

"Noooo. Total mistake. Utter coincidence," she smirks and steps away, also looking in the mirror and tilting her head to the side. "We will have to give you a shave though and a hair cut…and perhaps have you looking a little smarter. The MAAD House will sort you out in that department. Christine will have to see you eventually and right now, you really don't scream, 'Trust me, I'm not going to behead you'."

Phantom looks at her curiously. Her orange eyes are wide, an eyebrow cocked.

"Why are you helping me?" he asks and she smiles, giving him a wink.

"Never you mind," she says and spins on her heel. "Now! We'd better get started, hadn't we?"

The Phantom watches Miss Cheshire Cat turn to her pile of things in the corner. There's something about her that he can't figure out. She's known as a flirty creature who gets the information she wants by using sly techniques. With the Phantom though, she seems different - that look, particularly when she was putting the mask on his face, something was different. There are many things he can suspect but, as is the case with everything else people know about Miss Cheshire Cat, it will probably remain a mystery to him.

A/N: Review please!