The Grand Library was anything but silent. News of Jack's affliction had spread through his supporters like wildfire and they had begun to congregate inside the magnificant structure. Clubs, Diamonds and commoners alike waited hours for updates regarding the king's condition. Even the library's top level, which had been converted into a temporary hub for royal activities, couldn't completely block out the constant hum from the crowd gathered below.

Twenty four hours had passed since the incident at the White Rabbit processing center. Jack had been awake for two of those hours, and was gradually improving, but Ten had sent for Caterpillar regardless. Overdosing on one tea was serious enough, but a multitude of warped emotions was another matter entirely. The head doctor of the Hospital of Dreams didn't typically make house-calls, but he was always interested in special cases. Jack hated being a special case. It made him feel weak.

Caterpillar peered curiously at Jack from behind his circular glasses, but made no attempt to move beyond the doorframe of the small room. His plush velvet lined coat marked a stark contrast against the King's simple garments.

"As I mentioned to you before, we're all vulnerable. Mix the wrong feelings together - the right kind of bad with the wrong kind of good - you'll wind up with a total breakdown."

Jack lay limply in bed as his body continued to fight the sluggish effects of the nefarious substance. He resented the unspoken implication. "I did not have a breakdown." Caterpillar showed no visible reaction to the remark and lapsed into a thoughtful silence. Jack tried to gauge Duch's reaction out of his peripheral vision but her face was turned downward, into shadow. Ever since he'd regained consciousness, she'd avoided his gaze. He didn't remember much after his friendly chat with Seven, but it was obvious something significant had happened between then and now. Ten had tried to fill in the gaps of his memory, but the Club had been absent during the worst of his delusions when his fiancee had sent him away to seek help. Jack's heart broke as he contemplated the many ways he might've hurt his Duch. A memory flashed unbidden in his mind and he visibly cringed at the image. Alice, standing by the water's edge. Asking him about the Duchess. He still remembered his flippant and unemotional response: 'My mother's creature. An arrangement. I have no feelings for her, nor she for me.' Had he repeated these very words back to the woman who had so faithfully stood by his side this past year?

"Based on the tea's impact to your cognitive and physical functions, I'm inclined to believe that what Seven told you is true. Fear is a powerful emotion."

"That's what that was? Fear?" Ten chimed in hesitantly. Charlie stood at attention, accentuating his full height. His goatee quivered with dramatic gusto as he delivered his speech.

"Fear? I scoff at Fear! Fear has no place among us knights, and you'll not see me run and hide when that devilish Spade shows up again!"

Duch remained silent. Jack wished he could go to her.

Caterpillar tilted his head as if confirming a suspicion. "Tell me, King of Wonderland. What frightens you?"

Jack searched the doctor's face for a clue as how to respond. The man's passive expression displayed nothing. "What do you mean, what frightens me?" His voice grew tight with barely controlled anger. "You know perfectly well, Caterpillar. The Spades are gaining power. They may or may not have resurrected Mad March – the assassin – and who knows how many teas of this nature survived the Casino's fall—"

"Yes, yes," the Resistance leader said absently. He dismissed Jack's tirade with a wave of his hands. "I know what you're afraid of. But what frightens you, Jack?"

The blonde waited a beat before answering. The question was weighted somehow, but he couldn't decipher the hidden meaning. There was obviously a right and a wrong answer and Jack never did like playing the odds when they were stacked against him. "Isn't it the same thing?" he ventured at last, his confusion evident.

Caterpillar sighed and faced Ten. The moment was broken. Jack couldn't help but feel he'd failed some kind of test.

"The tea will run its course in a few hours. The King will make a full recovery. If anyone else comes in contact with the substance, notify me at once. The Hospital of Dreams always has vacancies."

A bit of color returned to Ten's face, his relief evident. "But what should we do if this happens again? If Jack…or any one of us, is forced to drink this…Fear?"

Caterpillar smiled wryly and cast a final glance at Jack. His features had softened and it looked as if he were holding back a small smile. "Simple. Conquer your fear."

Ten scoffed and wrung his hands together. "Well, there doesn't seem to be anything simple about that. We've only just started rebuilding Wonderland! Surely there must be other remedies…" The Club followed the doctor out of the room and continued to pepper him with questions. Their voices soon became indistinguishable, leaving Jack and Duchess awkwardly avoiding eye contact. The tense atmosphere did nothing to dispel Charlie's enthusiasm, who had begun celebrating at the mention of the king's recovery.

"Oh, happy day! How we all worried! You've been a wonderful friend, my boy, I wouldn't want to lose you. And now I won't! Happy, happy, happy day!" The knight's white armor clinked merrily as he danced about the room. Jack chuckled at the sight, but Duch remained morose. Charlie appeared not to have noticed. "Oh! I have just the thing! It'll help make you better."

Jack immediately shook his head. The last time the knight had tried to make him feel better, he'd vomited for three days straight. Apparently the wild berries that grew around the Kingdom of the Knights weren't exactly edible. "That's not necessary. I don't need—"

"I'll be back!" Charlie sang loudly and ran away as fast as his legs could carry him. Jack sighed and dropped his head wearily back onto embroidered pillows. He closed his eyes and simply listened, counting down the seconds.

Five. The floorboards creaked as Duch took a tentative step towards his bed.

Four. She retreated, bumping into a piece of furniture in her haste.

Three. No sound. Probably deciding whether to stay or go.

Two. Decision made. Her footsteps receded towards the doorframe.

One. The old oak door creaked in protest as it started to close.

"Please don't leave me."

Her movements stopped.

He'd hoped to come across as self-assured and commanding, but his voice sounded frayed with fatigue and took on a pleading tone. "Duch, please stay by my side. I don't want to be alone."

He found the courage to open his eyes, but quickly dropped his gaze as he witnessed Duch hovering on the threshold, hand pressed against the golden door knob. He sensed her hesitation and tried to hide his disappointment. "I—it's fine, Duch. I'm just tired, that's all. Forget it."

There was a slight pause. He half imagined she'd already left before her bell-like voice permeated the silence. "I might not be the best company, Jack. Perhaps I can fetch Ten or Dormie."

"I'd much prefer to have you here over Dormie," Jack replied with a slight smile. He gestured to a chair by his bedside, the one Ten had commodeered like a smothering mother hen after Jack had awoken from his drug-induced sleep. "Unless you want to see which one of us falls asleep the fastest. In that case, I'd put my house on Dormie." This earned him a fleeting smile from his fiancee and she took her place next to him, in the golden chair that complemented the crimson sheets tucked around his torso. "I'm sorry, Duch. For bringing you with me into that place. For losing you." He recalled that moment of horror when her hand vanished from his grasp and the crashing guilt that followed.

He wanted Duch to scream at him, curse him, disregard his apology with well-deserved loathing. Instead, she laughed. It was a beautiful sound, even if the recent events had dulled its usual luster.

"I believe you have it the other way around. I'm the one who lost you." They exchanged glances as the earlier tension between them ebbed away, until suddenly the laughter was contagious.

"I saw it, Duch! One second you were there, then the next—"

"Exactly. We were holding hands, then you disappeared. If anyone's to blame, it's me, for not talking you out of your headstrong ideas."

"But where would be the fun in that?" Jack added, garnering a playful shove from Duch. He picked at the quilten cover between his fingertips as his expression slipped back into his impenetrable mask. The mask he'd molded and crafted into perfection his entire adult life. It wasn't fair to his fiancee, to hide behind it like a frightened oyster, but he wasn't used to having his emotions stripped raw, and the thought of rehashing the events of his delirious episode terrified him. But he had to know. "When you found me…Did I say anything to hurt you?"

Duch tore her gaze away, and that simple action filled the young king's heart with shame. "Duch, whatever I said, I didn't mean it, you know I didn't." And then, surprisingly, shockingly, the usually poised and confident woman burst into tears and reached for his hand. Jack returned the simple contact with a comforting squeeze as tears rolled down her face.

"It's not you, Jack," she said softly, voice trembling. "I just don't think that I…belong here, with all of you." Duch turned her face to the side while the tears continued to fall.

"Duch, no." Jack held her hand tighter. "You have a place here. A home here." The beautiful woman merely shook her head.

"I was the Queen's pet—"

"We were both her slaves," Jack interjected. He hadn't realized that he'd entwined her fingers with his own, but the touch was warm and reassuring. "What she did to us and made us do under her reign…it's unspeakable. But we're not those people anymore, Duch."

"But…I was so awful..."

"I wasn't much fun to be around, either."

"I was just using you to secure my position in the palace."

"You did what you were told. We didn't have a choice."

"And…and then…she ordered me to drug you with Honesty, but…but I gave you too much, Jack. I wanted so desperately to know about Alice that I didn't even consider how you'd react to the tea—" Her voice broke as she quelled another sob.

Jack rubbed the back of his fiancee's hand consolingly. It wasn't her fault. He needed to remind her that she'd been drugged herself, that his mother had always pit them against each other despite their engagement. He meant to say all this and more, but what came out of his mouth surprised them both.

"I never loved Alice. I thought I did, once. But…" Jack swallowed thickly as he tried to organize his jumbled feelings. I was scared a thousand times over when I thought I lost you in the processing center. For the first time in ages, I didn't think about myself. I worried for Alice because her failure would mean the fall of the Resistance. I worried for you because…just because. "But we didn't really know each other. And…she didn't belong here. Not like you." Duch's gentle grip tightened ever so slightly at the words. He didn't know how long they clasped each others' hands, lapsing into a soothing silence, when the sound of pounding footsteps drew near and a certain White Knight clamored inside the room. The king and Duchess disentangled their hands, but Jack missed the touch instantly.

"Pawns and rooks and kings and knights, across the chessboard, through the night…" Charlie sang, oblivious, and handed Jack a small bundle he'd tucked beneath his arm. On closer inspection, Jack realized the ragged item was indeed a litte burlap sack filled with woolen stuffing and worn from years of use. Haphazard stitches held the bundle together.

"She's kept me company since I was a boy, but I think you need her now more than me."

Jack caressed the worn keepsake with a warm smile. The significance of the elder's gesture was not lost on him. "She's been your companion for years, Charlie! I can't—"

The White Knight's goatee started to wobble dramatically.

"Uh, actually, I'd love to sleep with it…" Jack pulled the teddy bear close to his chest. His friend's face brightened instantly.

"I knew thou king would find its company a wonderous and unexpected blessing!" The knight suddenly turned to Duch, eyes wide with excitement. "Come with me, dearest Duchess! Much to do! Sleep well, young king!"

"But, Duch—" Jack mumbled, but his voice trailed off weakly. He couldn't possibly go to sleep now. He hadn't even begun to muddle through Caterpillar's advice and Duch…What if she left? What if he couldn't find her again?

As if sensing his uneasiness, Duch added in a quieter voice, "We'll all be here when you wake up. I promise." And, with that vow in mind, he hugged the tiny keepsake closer and fell into a dreamless slumber.