It had been two hours since Jabberwock had sent Hatter and March out, and they now say fuming in a torrential cascade of rain, guarding the gallows.

Hatter was the worst off. Hunger, sleep-deprivation, and now this revealing of an adoption between his most hated enemy and his love? Spitting, he clacked his metal mouth-visor as he shrugged deeper into his rain shawl, "Curse that Jabberwocky! I hope he chokes and dies!"

March was eating the buttermallows. Holding the bag out, he offered, "Buttermallow?"
Hatter slapped it away indignantly and growled, irritated to an immense degree, "I want to kill something."

"Now, now, Hats. No need to get violent on some passerby."

Silence, then, "I'm hungry."

March sighed, "Then wait for the birds. They come at night to pick at the corpse."

Silence one more, the only sound a thousand tiny clip-clops of aqua horses galloping off to shelter. Behind the two sullen guards, the thief danced in the rain like a marionette. Minutes passed. A flock of bedraggled birds flew in, settling on the gallows with caws. One hopped too close to Hatter.

Lunging, Hatter grabbed it, and, a moment later, it had disappeared down his throat with a squawk. He hissed and glared enviously at the other birds, who hadn't seen or didn't care about what happened to their flock partner. Standing slowly, he whipped out a hand and caught a small black bird with a snarl. The other birds squawked in annoyance and fled.

As Hatter ate his new prey, March scratched nonchalantly at his visor, "Doubt that's going to satisfy you till morning." He glanced up and narrowed his eyes when he saw a figure coming up the street in the rain, "Hatter…"

Hatter glanced up, picking a feather from his tooth, and moaned, "Oh, can I eat him? I'm so hungry!"

The figure neared, swinging a leather bag at its side, paused a few yards away before calling, "March? Can I come near?"

Ears swiveling to the man, March smiled grimly, "Ah… Hubble… wouldn't come too near at the moment."

Hatter crouched, "Hubble?" Hissing with glee, he jumped down from the gallows and stalked towards the Imagineer, "I can eat a rebel!"

Hubble held up the bag as Hatter was about to grab him, "I just want to talk. I brought a deer haunch, just in case. You can have it… There's wine too."

Pausing, Hatter growled and snatched the bag away before stomping back to sit on the gallows's platform, "Fine then! Talk!"

Hubble advanced and sat next to March, "There's a rumor going around that Jabberwock's adopted Alice. Just a rumor, but my mother says it's straight from the castle."

Nodding, March sighed, "True, true. Who would have ever thought?" He glanced at Hatter, "I hope you're going to share some of that wine."

Hatter put down the bottle of wine, empty, and pulled out a second, "Shut up. You had those stinkin' buttermallows of yours!" He pulled the cork out with his teeth and up-ended it over his mouth, guzzling the alcohol like some addicted fool.

March shrugged and turned back to Hubble, "So it's true. Anything else before Hatter gets drunk?"

Hubble pursed his lips and wiped some rain from his forehead, "When are you guys going back to your tea party?"

Glancing up sharply, Hatter asked, "Tea?" He pulled out the haunch of venison from the bag, eyeing it with drunken eyes.

"No, not tea, Hats." March turned back to Hubble as Hatter began devouring the flesh, "Hatter's been restricted. Can't leave for three months. So I guess we'll be leaving about when the snows been here for –what?- a month or two."

"You'll be here for Yule?"

"Probably."

On the other side of March, Hatter had finished the venison and was now pulling a third and fourth bottle of wine from the bag, "Look, March!"

March leapt up and snatched the wine away from his partner, growling, "No more wine for you!"

Frowning, Hatter pouted in his drunkenness, "Can I eat him, then?" He motioned at Hubble.

"No. Hubble is a friend. And, Hubble, it's time for you to go now."
Hubble hurried up and scurried away, hearing Hatter moan in dismay behind him and March's sharp, "No!"

Next time, no wine.

Alice awoke from a black, dreamless sleep in the dead of the night, yawning groggily as she sat up. She glanced blearily about her, eyes blind in the dark. As they grew accustomed, she suddenly jolted awake and wished desperately she had stayed asleep.

Jabberwocky had brought a chair into her room and now lay dormant in it, soft breath escaping his black lips. His feet were propped up on her bed, his head against the cushioned back to the chair.

Alice silently shifted, eager to be out of the same room as this dream-eater. But as she stepped out of bed, he snorted in his sleep and shifted so that one of his feet was caught in the folds of her dress. Alice tugged at it nervously, freeing it bit by bit by bit and then…

His foot fell to the ground, and he snorted again in his sleep, sliding down to find a more comfortable position in his chair. Alice sighed with relief and stepped forward.

Jabberwock's hand snaked out and grabbed her arm, scaring Alice terribly. Yelping, she saw Jabberwock shift in the dark to glare up at her, "Where are you going, Alice?"

"I-I-I can't sleep."

Jabberwocky released her hand and stood, cracking his neck, "Going for a midnight stroll?"
"Uh… sure…"

Smile glinting even in the dark, Jabberwock gently grasped her hand and led her forward, "I'll go with you."

Alice protested, "But… you can go to sleep. I'll be back soon."

Jabberwock paused, turned to her, and gazed at her hurtfully, "You don't want me to go with you?"

Sighing, Alice shuddered inwardly at the hurt in his voice, "Oh…Ok-okay…"

"You want to see the Imagination Roses?"
"Huh? What are those?"

Jabberwock smiled, all teeth bared, "I'll take you."

After countless halls and staircases, Jabberwock and Alice stood before two grand doors of ivory gold. Alice gasped at their beautiful intricacy, but Jabberwock stayed oblivious to her awe as he knotted a cloth around his head.

Blindly turning towards her, he reached out and found her shoulder, "There's a key on my belt, Alice. Take it and open the doors."

Alice cocked her head in curiosity as she took the key, "Why do you have a blindfold?"

Jabberwock kept a hand on her shoulder as she went to the door to unlock it. Gripping tightly, he licked his lips and explained, "I only get hungry when I see imagination, and, after that, I just kind of think with my stomach, not with my head. See, in here, though… The imagination roses are pure imagination, the kind that never stops. First time I saw them, I nearly went made just because there was so much of it. I did go insane the time before last thought…. Here, open the door."

Alice pushed the door open.

Behind the door lay an immense room, where cobblestones lay beneath while a huge skylight floated above. On the walls hung tapestries of the four old kingdom symbols: Heart, Diamond, Spade, and Club.

But Alice's eyes lingered on the rose.

In the exact center of the room, sprouting up from the ground, was a hug and weaving rose plant. It seemed to give off a light, one that seemed to be of that of a light star. Its tendrils of perfect green spread across the floor, climbed up walls, and twirled around the tapestries, blooming roses that blossomed red as blood.

"Lead on." demanded Jabberwocky.

Alice quietly walked in, Jabberwock blindly following her with staggering steps. As she neared the epicenter of the rose, she asked in amazement, "How long did it take to grow like this?"

"Like what?"

"All… big."

Jabberwocky found her other shoulder with his free hand, "I have no idea. I just know when it was moved here, it was a lot smaller." Pausing, he pulled her to a stop, "Where in the room are we?"

Alice tried to stifle a yawn, but failed, "Near the center. I just want to see the rose."
"Fine, but after, we leave." His fingers itched against Alice's neck, agitated.

Calmly leading him over to the base of the rose, Alice pulled him down to sit and sat next to him. She smiled tiredly and asked, "What was your daughter's name?"

Jabberwock stiffened before muttering, "Contessa."

Grinning, Alice slowly laid her head against his shoulder, sensing the rage and pain of loss inside her adoptive father, "I'm sorry that you lost her."

Jabberwock brought a hand up and caressed her hair gently, "But I've found her again…"

Quiet descended like a dark blanket around the two, tempting Alice to sleep, tempting her to close her eyes. Slowly, her eyes fluttered shut, and she fell into a slumber, resting her head on Jabberwock.

Jabberwock sat silently, blind, and thoughtful, as he felt his 'daughter' rest on him, and, for once, he felt happy. He clung onto that feeling, wishing it never to go away.

He had someone to love now.

The next morning, Hatter and March came in from gallows duty haggard but awake. Hatter's hangover didn't do much to make his happy, but a smile brightened his face March suggested they go see 'Princess' Alice.

Only problem was, Jabberwock and Alice were gone.

March dryly asked, "Think Jabberwock took her to see the roses?"

Nodding, Hatter spat through his metal visor, "With her, it'd be, 'Please, can we go see the pretty flowers?'… I'll race you there."

They burst off, sprinting through the halls with incredible speed. As they ran, maids leapt out of the way, shrieking at the two.

Panting upon arrival, Hatter saw the slightly ajar door and cursed venomously, "Guard!"

A few moments pass, and then a black card peered around the corner, "Yes… sir?"

"Stand guard while we go in and make sure nobody else does!"

As the guard approached, March pulled his gauntlets on tightly, adjusting the straps so they wouldn't hazard to slip, "If he's been in there since last night… What's the chance that Alice is still alive?" He shuddered.

Hatter growled, "Jabberwock isn't stupid. He'd have used the blindfold." He led the way in.

Gray light poured through the sky light above, illuminating the roses and dust brilliantly. But March and Hatter didn't focus on that.

Their eyes rooted on the Jabberwock.

Jabberwock stood pinned against the wall, vines of the rose tethering him to the stone. Asleep, short, raspy breaths escaped from his lungs and his blindfold sagged down around his neck with every breath.

"Oh, bliddy blazes!" March muttered as he saw some rose tendrils slithering like snakes to manacle Jabberwock's ankles, "First things first, get his blindfold up, then cut him loose."
Hatter glanced around, agitated, "Where's Alice?" He paused when he saw her entwined in thorn-less branches of bloom, supporting her head as she slept.

Hissing, March kicked at a branch moving by his foot, "Never seen a rose act like this."

From outside, the guard called loudly, "Sirs?"

March and Hatter froze as Jabberwock blinked awake.

Lifting his head, eyes still bleary, Jabberwock yawned and tried to stretch, but the roses restrained him. Suddenly all awake, he glanced around wildly, the expression of his face that of pure terrified horror. But it almost instantly replaced itself with a look of ravenous hunger. Letting out a deafening howl, he struggled against the branches of imagination.

Alice jerked awake and leapt up from her bed of roses, "What? What's happening?"

March and Hatter raced towards Jabberwocky, drawing their swords. Hatter shouted, " Alice, stay where you are!"

The branches touching Jabberwocky shriveled as he absorbed the imagination in them, but they grew back at alarming speeds. March and Hatter began cutting viciously at the vines and Jabberwock screamed, "Make it stop! Make it stop!"

Suddenly, he slumped.

Shuddering, March and Hatter backed away, readying their weapons with caution.

Jabberwock's head snapped up, eyes black as sin and teeth bared in a snarl. Lunging forward, he snapped his bonds and, ducking away from March's stab, grabbed the assassin and tried to rip off his helmet.

Hatter dropped his sword and flung himself on the insane Jabberwock's back. Hooking his arm around the maniac's throat, he yanked back, choking him.

Jabberwock released March and scratched at Hatter's arm, screaming furiously.

Immediately, March grabbed one of his lord's arms and held it, "Hats! The other!"

Hatter transferred his grip to the other arm and kept hold as Jabberwock fought back.

Scared, Alice screamed.

Instantly, Jabberwock's hungry eyes sought her out and he snarled. Struggling, he took a step forward, then another, dragging the generals behind him. Hatter and March strained to pull him back violently, but to now avail. Panting, Hatter growled, " Alice! Get out of his sight!"

Alice spun and ran for the door, hearing an enraged yowl behind her as Jabberwock broke free and came after her. Snagging her by the back of the dress, he reeled her back, and hand wrapping around her neck as the other clawed at her head.

Hatter, raging, tackled Jabberwock forcefully, knocking him away from Alice. Landing on top of him, he furiously began restraining his master, "March, get Alice and get out!"

March grabbed a sobbing Alice and pulled her to the door quickly, pushing her out. Shoving her to the surprised guard, he snapped, "You protect her on your life, soldier!"

The guard was just beginning to salute when Hatter banged through the door and slammed against the wall. Hissing like an incensed snake, Jabberwocky pushed through the door, an anticipating smile flitting across his lips. Stepping back, the guard stuttered, "Sir?"

His imagination was racing albeit his desperate attempt to shut it down.

Jabberwock snapped towards the guard and charged, knocking him down. Leaping upon the fallen guard, Jabberwocky ripped off his helmet and buried his claws deep into the man's brain. A look of pure ecstatic satisfaction crossed his face as the guard screamed in pain and writhed, trying to escape, but Jabberwocky's iron grip held him tight.

Hatter dragged himself over to Alice and pulled her close to him, letting her sob into his shoulder, "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Tears running down her cheek, Alice brought up a hand to wipe her eyes, "N-n-no… What happened?"

"He saw the imagination, and the hunger got to him. And when he's like this, he just doesn't stop at imagination. He eats everything. He drains your mind till you die."

The guard stopped jerking, clearly dead, and, with a moan, Jabberwock withdrew his hands. Standing, he blinked rapidly, eyes going through a rapid color change before straying to its usual yellow. He turned, scowling, "Who tied me up?"

Hatter held Alice still in his arms as he glared at his liege, "No one did, sir."

"I was chained to the wall! With…" Jabberwock trailed off and glanced at his blood-stained hands, "…with… flowers?"

Smirking, March growled, "Only person in there was Alice, and I don't think she'd tie you-"

Jabberwock's eyes flickered back to a black and he stiffened before cupping his head in his hands, "I-I'm going down to the dungeons… T-take Alice and go… do something with her." Moaning, he turned and staggered down the hall.

Alice wiped her eyes and mumbled, "Where's he going?"

Stroking her tenderly, Hatter gently pulled her up, "He's going to go get prisoners to drain. Last time he went mad, he drained five people before he felt better. The guard here was just the appetizer…" He kicked at the corpse and grimaced.

March sighed and glanced at Alice, "You want to go somewhere? Jabberwock will be testy for the next few hours. You'll look like a candy to him."

Glaring at him, Alice muttered, "That's not funny."

Hatter leaned on her and tousled with her hair, "Want to go for a ride?"

"Where?"

"Out and about?"

"Fine."