This is awkward isn't? Moving on. Your Ambassador to Earth is doing well. He hasn't got arrested… yet. Even when he tried to claim Coney Island tea cup ride for the glory of Wonderland. Or when…never mind.
He's fitting in well. Of course, I think he'd fit into a coal mine, a circus or the sixth planet orbiting Alpha Centauri after about ten minutes. Nothing seems to faze him. Yeah, that's not true. Hatter had to go lie down after hearing about the Boston Tea Party. He has a thirty minute rant on Senator Kelly and his anti-mutant policies. And he hates telemarketers. Though that's most people
Also, he sees laws as suggestions. It could get to be problematic…
On a different subject; how are your leg kicks coming? I'm still your sensei and I expect a distinct improvement the next time I see you…
The Cranston Estate was large and imposing and it loomed in the morning drizzle like a strangely prim guard dog.
The cab pulled to a stop and Alice Hamilton slid out. Once more, she was not required to pay. She slipped past the iron wrought gates and laughed. A golf cart waited for her underneath a large chestnut tree.
She shook her head and hopped in. It would have taken a while to get to the house on foot. Alice liked the grounds. It was like a private park.
Alice laughed as she approached the door. A discrete brass plaque had 'Wonderland Embassy,' etched on it.
She raised a brow, for when she pushed the doorbell it mooed at her. Alice pushed it again, train whistle. When no one came she pushed it again, the Jaws leitmotif. Again, Three Stooges Nuk Yuk noises, she continued a little fascinated, the Roadrunner's 'Beep! Beep!' all of 'Trogdor the Burninator.'
Alice wondered if introducing the Hatter to Homestar Runner was a good idea.
The door swung open and there was the Hatter. Barefoot, hat-ed and in black slacks and a tight blue tank top he sped up her breathing.
"Alice!" he said joyously. His smile faded as he took in her appearance.
"What?"
"Oh, Alice. Sweet, miraculous Alice. Why?" the Hatter pleaded, his eyes glued to the top of her head, seemed to glisten.
Her eyes traveled upwards her…baseball cap. The New York Mets. "It's raining and I couldn't find my umbrella."
The Hatter grabbed up her hand and led her into his mansion, "Hats are wonderful things. But, that thing atop your adorable head is not a proper hat." As if removing some kind of vermin he disdainfully sniffed as he dropped it into a waist paper receptacle.
"You just can't go around throwing away other peoples hats, Hatter!" Alice protested.
He made a tisking noise. "It's not up to discussion." He held up a quelling finger, "Who is the expert on haberdashery?"
"You are," Alice sighed. Bye, baseball cap. You kept my head dry.
She shrugged out of her gray coat.
The Hatter had the memory of an elephant crossed with the attention span of a goldfish. She smiled smugly as the latter came into play, hopefully make him forget the hat lecture.
The Hatter gulped. His wonderful Alice who had regrettable taste in headgear was a genius when it came to sweaters. It was fuzzy, clingy and purple. "Nice sweater," he squeaked like a dormouse on free government cheese day.
"Thank you," Alice made a show of stretching. The Hatter's eyes bulged. She decided to take pity.
The Hatter loved being hugged by Alice. And there was something extra special about being hugged by Alice while she was wearing a fuzzy, clingy, and purple sweater.
---
Alice followed the Hatter down the long corridors. The last time she was here the place was all old time elegance. Now, she could see touches of the Hatter everywhere she looked. A collection of bright yellow rubber duckies in descending sizes sat on a delicate curio shelf. In random corners she spied tall curved hat racks holding a growing collection. A wall of Edwardian silk wallpaper had been replaced by painted butterflies that slowly opened and closed their wings.
Tea sets and chess sets in various states of play occupied the tops of side tables. The orange and yellow flowers that grew in such profusion in Wonderland were planted in what had to be Ming dynasty vases.
He'd donated a third of the antique furniture to the local Goodwill. When told how much the furniture he'd shrugged, smiled and said, "Then I'll have made someone very happy. Won't I?"
She adored how a man with such a wide steak of greedy could be so effortlessly generous. And he was greedy. For tea. For anything chocolate. For hats and fancy clothes. Her lips…
He had discovered strange pieces of furniture that shouldn't work. But, somehow did. A contemporary 'gardener's sofa' of Scandinavian design that was meant for the outdoors sat opposite a bright teal leather couch.
The Hatter had a thing for art deco and left it littered every which way. Amish wooden tables warred with furniture that looked like it belonged in some modern art exhibit.
The former occupant, whoever he maybe, left priceless art from all over the world. The Hatter kept it; he just arranged it in a more interesting way.
Alice tried not to laugh. In the living room a muted plasma screen was playing Spongebob Squarepants. She'd been fascinated to learn that Jack quelled a revolt just by introducing them to the yellow guy who 'lived in a pineapple under the sea.'
She approved of the Hatter's taste in music. Mostly. Sometime in the future they'd have to talk about why Alice went mad and smashed all his polka CDs. And the majority of the disco. And the Japanese opera.
The track changed and Ziggy Stardust was suddenly there. Oh, dear. He'd discovered David Bowie.
"When I moved in I never considered dust. The dust bunnies have teeth. I'm going to have to hire a cleaning, person, thing. 'Cause, ya know who's going to clean. Not me!" He reached out and snagged her hand pulling her into the main library.
"I've got something to show you," the Hatter said happily. The library as libraries tended to be…was filled with books. There were the elegant leather bound tomes that it came with the house. And then there were the leaning towers of books that you would find anywhere in the residence. He claimed to have a 'system.'
With Alice in tow, he trailed his fingers over a row of shelved leatherbacks. And grinned naughtily. His naughty grin did all sorts of interesting things to her insides.
Alice's air rushed from her lungs as she found herself pinned by the Hatter to the bookshelf.
" 'Ello, Alice."
"Hi," she breathed as he trailed his lips down her neck.
He smiled at the juncture between her neck and shoulder that smelled like apricots. He rejoiced that he could make her feel so very much. Leisurely, he reached up and pulled on a copy of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment.
Alice blinked as she felt the wall open, "Hmmm?"
Reluctantly, the Hatter pulled away and nodded at the opening, "After you, milady."
"Holy Stately Wayne Manor, Batman!" Alice couldn't help but say.
He glared.
"Sorry." He liked Batman. But one thing hadn't made him happy. To say the Hatter hadn't been amused by the depiction of one Jervis Tetch, The Mad Hatter in the Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb was an understatement. There had been a temper tantrum. It had culminated with the Hatter sending an angry letter to DC comics. And a dozen unhappy weasels, in a box. Alice did not want to know where he had gotten the weasels.
"Sorry," it would be a while before he was over it.
He huffed and followed her down a little downwards going staircase. It was a large room full of …outdated superhero stuff.
The Hatter leaned against a dusty desk as Alice inspected the room. An old fashion ticker tape machine and a strangely familiar fire opal ring that flashed red when she touched it caught her attention. She picked up an old journal that was leaned against an oddly advanced looking radio.
'Lamont Cranston,' was written in spidery handwriting on the flyleaf. She flipped through the pages. "Oh! Do you know what this is?"
The Hatter looked up from the pair of ivory handled revolvers at the suddenly up tone her voice carried. He could feel her excitement bubble. "What is it?"
"This is the headquarters of the Shadow!" Alice bounced up and down.
The Hatter admired the bouncing. "Who's the Shadow?"
"Apparently, Lamont Cranston! The Shadow was a superhero in the 1930's who had the 'ability to cloud men's minds.'
He made a show of shivering and wriggled his fingers, "Oooh. Spooky."
Alice continued, "My great grandfather, Cliff, used to tell me stories about him. Claimed to be one of the Shadow's agents in his youth." She held up the ring. "I have one just like. A fire opal. The Shadow gave one to each of his agents. Granddad gave me his."
He found himself reflecting her contagious happiness, "So, what you're saying is I've inherited a piece of your family's history?"
Alice nodded happily. "And I wish we could stay and explore every bit. Unfortunately, we have a date." She pouted a bit. "We can give it a more thorough look over later."
"We don't have to. If you want to stay here…"
"No. It'll be here when we get back." She sighed. "We're expected and Robert and Virginia have been looking forward to interrogating you."
The Hatter looked alarmed, "Meet me. Looking forward to meet me, you mean?"
"No, I really don't."
----
"I have something for you," he dangled a key attached to a sparking A key ring in front of her eyes. He'd gotten the A from a jewelry store called Tiffany's. He didn't know who Tiffany was but, she had good taste.
"As a member of the diplomatic staff, you really should have a key to the place," he murmured.
"Thank you," Alice pecked him on the cheek. She was amazed at herself. He was giving her a key to his place. He'd known her what? A few days now? And it wasn't too soon.
"But, that's not your unbirthday present. This is your unbirthday present," he handed her a glossy box with 'Andalasia Fashions' scrolled across the top in golden cursive.
She eyed the box and the Hatter suspiciously, "You're gonna invoke my unbirthday every time you want to give me something that isn't for my actual birthday or a sanctioned holiday aren't you?"
The Hatter took off his hat and began to twirl it on his finger, "Maybe?" This hat didn't go with his dark green ensemble. The black straw derby would do much better.
"Open the box, Alice. You know you want to," he purred.
Alice bit her lip, "If anybody else said that to me. Especially, in that tone of voice I'd throw them into a wall and run for the hills."
The box beckoned. Nestled in layers of sheer snow white wrapping tissue was a velvet coat. Carefully, she removed it from the box. It was knee length, wide cuffed and had large lapels like the one he'd given her in Wonderland. The velvet was a color somewhere between pale lavender and pussy willow gray, the lining was a contrasting dark purple and silver pinstriped silk. The buttons were made of iridescent turquoise glass.
"Do you like it?" the Hatter asked bashfully.
It was an awesome coat. And like all of Giselle's designs, there was something different about it. 'Soft and warm, stronger then Kevlar and I'm stain proof,' whispered the coat. "It's wonderful." She glanced down at a loss for words at his delighted expression.
She blinked, "Hatter, does this fit your precise specifications for a real hat?" Alice pulled a woman's hat from the box.
He trotted over, "Let me see." It was a round crown cloche with an asymmetrical brim and a tonal self band with bow trim. And it was made of grayish lavender felt.
The Hatter nodded gravely, "That is a hat worthy of your head."
----
They stood outside of the gates of their mansion. He'd insisted on the 'their.'
He admired Alice in her new coat and hat for a moment. She looked stunning. He shuffled around. It wouldn't do to rush her.
A moment of contemplation and she stuck out her thumb; And was startled when an obsidian black Tesla roadster rolled into a stop in front of her.
The Hatter felt something particularly male well up in front of him at the sight of the graceful machine purring in front of him. He was heard to declare, "I want one."
A window rolled down and an elegant face framed by pale gold hair peered out, "Alice, is that you?"
Alice sighed. "Felicia. Hi. New car?"
Felicia smiled a catlike smile, "My new baby. You like?"
"Very much."
Observing, the two of them, the Hatter knew several things right off. First, Alice found this haughty blond one intimidating. Second, the haughty blond one admired Alice.
The Tesla's owner looked her over, "I like your coat."
"Thanks." Alice squirmed. "Ah, Felicia Hardy meet my boyfriend. David, this is Felicia. We went to high school together."
"Howdy do?" He said cheerfully. Internally, he was jumping about. This was the first time she'd called him her boyfriend.
Felicia eyed him critically. Cute, in a stepped out of an eighties movie kind of way. They looked good together.
"Can we get a lift?" Alice asked hopefully.
Felicia smiled, "Get in."
The Hatter liked the name of the restaurant. It was alliterative! 'The Den of Decadent Delights.' The food had to be good with a name that tasty.
"Thanks, for the ride, Felicia. It was nice to talk to you again."
The blond women smiled, "You're quite welcome."
"Oh, David?" she said.
"Yeah?"
"Hurt Alice and I'll claw out your eyes," Felicia smiled sweetly at him.
The Hatter considered this, "Sound fair."
-----
It only took a sniff for the Hatter to come to the conclusion that this is where food, if it had been good, came when it died. His saliva factory came to like as he was assaulted with every good food smell in all of existence.
Alice went umph as she found herself in the middle of a cousin sandwich. Group hugs were all well and good. They just shouldn't come with the tall male cousin hugging too tight or the small female cousin digging her sharp little chin into your shoulder.
"Hi, Robert. Hello, Virginia." She managed with squeezed lungs. Great, Mom told them about the hospital stay.
"Ally-cat, are you feeling better?" Robert pulled away and scrutinized her.
"Robbie, I'm fine!"
She scowled at the Hatter who happily mouthed, 'Ally-cat' at her.
Virginia tugged at her sleeve, "You're sure?"
Alice rolled her eyes, "Yeah. Give it a rest."
The Hatter could see the similarities between Alice and her cousins right off. All three were dark haired, blue eyed, and pretty. Alice, hovered somewhere between Robert's strong features and Virginia's more delicate continence. Also, she was right in the middle height wise.
The Hatter was a man who noticed clothes. They said a lot about a person. He noticed that both cousins's shared Alice's understated fashion sense. All three were in sweaters. Robert wore a blue v-neck and Virginia sported a short sleeved, scooped neck in pale mint green.
"Hello, Hatter." It was Giselle. Today, she wore a peach dress with a white shrug.
"Are they always like that?" he wondered as Alice succumbed to being fussed over.
Giselle laughed, "Oh, yes." She noted with pride how well the coat suited Alice. She patted the Hatter on the shoulder. "They are very close."
The Hatter felt a tugging on his knee and looked down into a pair of huge hazel eyes in an elfin face. "Hello," said the Hatter.
"Are you really the Mad Hatter?" The tiny girl was wearing a bright pink dress with many ruffles, and a suspicious expression, "The one from the book."
The Hatter knelt down, "I am the real Mad Hatter; Just not the one from the book. That was many alternate Wednesdays ago." He smiled. She was really, very cute. "You'd be Luna, then?"
Her eyes narrowed, "How do you know that?"
"Alice told me all about you. She said that, Luna Snowdrop Wolfson was smarter then a tank of thinking fish, sweeter then a hive of butterscotch bees and prettier then a pretty tree."
Luna tilted her head, "Do you like tea?" This was said with all the gravity of someone requesting the codes to stop a missile launch.
"More than custard pudding," The Hatter said with a wink."
Luna smiled. Showing off her many tiny sharp teeth, "I like you."
----
Alice had taken off her coat and slung it over the back of her chair. She took off her hat and set it down on Luna's head.
The small girl smiled at Alice. The brim kept falling down over her eyes.
The Hatter, by contrast was balancing his derby on his knee. His eyes were wide as Robert peppered him with questions. Where did you and Alice meet? What was your role in the Resistance? What is your education? How do you expect to make a living in New York? Ye gads. Didn't the man ever let up?
"Robert, stop sharpening your litigating skills on the man," Virginia told him. "Just look at the poor guy. He looks like your going to carve out his heart with a butter knife.
Robert rolled his eyes, "Like your not playing good cop, trying to get information by looking sympathetic.
"Hold on a mo…litigating skills?" The Hatter's eyes widened in comic horror, "Alice! You never told me your cousin was a barrister." He said 'barrister 'like other people say 'tax collector, 'sewer worker,' or 'reality television show host.' With distain and fear.
Alice didn't laugh. Oh, she wanted to. The convulsive faces the Hatter was making were just too funny. "Why is it important?"
"Alice love, it's like being introduced to a rabid bandersnatch. You never know when it's burrow into your lungs and suck the marrow from your bones," he said seriously.
"That's a new one," said Robert with a laugh.
Besides Miss. Luna, there were two other children. There was Virginia's boy Warren, all dark curls and mischievous smiles.
And Robert and Giselle's daughter Morgan, who looked liked a tiny Alice. She even wore a blue dress.
The three children were ignoring the grownup in favor of arguing amongst themselves. Morgan and Warren thought that the new season of 'Bolt!' was absurd with the plastic surgery and alien abduction.
Luna, who had no taste, thought it was compelling.
"Why's Robert being a lawyer so important?"
"If you'd said something earlier, I could have put together a statement. Gotten some letters of reference, affidavits attesting to my character," the Hatter ran a nervous hand through his untamed hair.
"There are affidavits attesting to your character?" Alice wondered doubtfully.
The Hatter squirmed, "I could have…have some forged." His mutter was low and a touch resentful. As it happened, he did have affidavits attesting to his character. Sadly, they all called him a conniving conman.
----
"I have come baring a feast! The likes that mortals have never seen," said a tall and rangy handsome man in a white chef's smock pushing a stainless steel trolley to their table.
"Why is he wearing a muffin on his head?" hissed the Hatter in agitation.
Alice replied, "It's a chef's hat, Hatter. It's not meant to be an affront to your delicate sensibilities.
"Ah, my dreamy, creamy wife," Virginia let herself be pulled into kiss that raised the rooms ambient temperature twelve degrees.
Virginia tugged off the 'muffin' of the chef black hair, "Hatter, this is my husband."
The Hatter eyed the other man cagily. This was no tame thing.
"Yeah, Virginia of the radiantly dewy skin married the big, bad wolf," Wolf grinned goofily.
"You're in denial. Medium sized, moderately naughty wolf would be a far more apt description," Virginia slapped his shoulder with the chef's had.
Giselle broke down into merry silver giggles. They were so cute!
Wolf pouted, "It's not denial. I'm just selective about the reality I choose to accept."
His eyes flashed amber as he sniffed, actually sniffed the Hatter, "Do we like him. Or should I fetch the woodcutter's enchanted ax?"
"The juries still out," Robert said with a shrug.
The children looked from the Hatter to their parents like this was a tennis match.
The Hatter stood and put his hat over his heart and waxed mushy, "Gentleman, ladies. It's not like I don't know that Alice is as far above me as the North Star."
"Hatter…"Alice protested.
He waved her off. "This is the thing. When she left I was walking around with a hole somewhere in my chest. And that was after knowing her for two days." The Hatter locked eyes with Alice. "The idea of what it would feel like in a lifetime scared me silly. A scoundrel I may be, but stupid I'm not. So, I chased after her. I'll never stop chasing after her."
Another perfect moment, Alice wondered if he kept them in his pockets for just these kinds of occasions. He made her cracked heart whole.
-----
Wolf had outdone himself. The trolley did hold a feast. Two kinds of mini quiche, mini eggs benedict on a toasted bun with steak or salmon and topped with cheese, scrambled eggs with bits of bacon. Chocolate chip waffles with strawberries and cream, cinnamon rolls dripping with warm caramel and nuts, breakfast steaks and fried potatoes, a mountain of sausage and bacon, buttermilk drop biscuits with gravy, bacon avocadoquesadillas, potato pancakes with applesauce, and a selection of fresh fruit cut into cunning shapes.
To drink there was rich black coffee, mimosa, Darjeeling Tea, milk and hot chocolate.
"What?" Alice said as she cut into her waffle. Wolf had been looking at her oddly.
He rubbed his for head with two crooked fingers, "Huff puff, Alice. You smell different."
"So, I've been told."
"It's like you've grown all wild." He tilted his head and sniffed.
Alice swallowed, "I have I ever expressed just how creepy that is?"
"On multiple occasions. Yes." Wolf sniffed again.
Then Warren sniffed her.
And Luna sniffed her.
And the Hatter sniffed her, "What? I didn't want to get left out."
"You smell like…a forest gone crazy," Wolf analyzed the scent.
"Tulgy Wood. Has to be," opinioned the Hatter.
"And well…" Wolf wondered if he should say anything.
He was saved from his dilemma by Warren and Luna
"You smell like Mama!" said Warren.
----
Virginia had come back to the Tenth Kingdom different. She was stronger, more able and kinder. She'd found and lost and found her mother. She had gained a brother in Wendell, which was good as he was, in actuality, her stepbrother.
Also, she's come back pregnant with a Wolf in tow.
Virginia and Wolf got married. Twice. Once in New York. Once in Kissing Town. They went into business as restaurateurs with funding from her father Tony's followers.
That still gave her the willies.
She was different. More then she knew. She didn't notice at first. Life being so hectic and she was so caught up in Wolf and the coming baby, in her brother's political problems, in her father's industrial revolution. Virginia had missed it.
In hindsight, it was so obvious. Her life had never been easy. It had seemed like an empty struggle to get from day to day. And just like that her world, her kingdom was overflowing with wonders and marvels.
Her consequent freak out when she learned that she was the heir apparent of both the evil queen and Snow White was understandable.
From her mother, Christine, she'd inherited a gift with mirrors. From Snow White she had found within herself the talent to help people. Instinctively she seemed to know the needs of people and how to help.
She had always taken care of her dad with a mixture of resentment and affection. But, now it was different. She enjoyed taking care of people.
Coming to terms with the first talent was more problematic. She didn't want to look into a mirror and see people's secrets.
Virginia had eventually come to terms with her mother's gift when it had helped her find a missing girl.
She'd gone back to school on what Wendell had insisted on calling, 'The Snow White Memorial Scholarship,' and had gotten a degree in child and adolescent psychology.
Virginia became a youth councilor. Using, her degree and her gifts she was helping girls (and boys) that were lost in the woods find their way.
Alice was different too. Virginia ignored the conversations about hats, lamb chops, the dangers of magic shoes, talking chipmunks, inter-dimensional jet lag, and karate holds going on around her. She ignored her humming engagement ring and focused on the reflections in the mirror.
Wolf and the cubs with glowing eyes, Robert and Morgan's solid strength, Giselle…who looked like she was from an animated Disney movie were all reflected. Then there was herself, holding the mirror (the one she'd thrown in the river) that Snow White had given her.
The Hatter was entirely himself; scoundrel, conman, spy, dandy, mad man, hero, hopeless romantic and tea fancier.
Alice. Dear, sweet, dependable action girl with a percent for strange situations and meeting strange people had saved a world. And so, here she was with a naked heart and innumerable tangled possibilities swirling around her.
This would be interesting.
Alice wondered what Virginia had meant. "Do not think. Become," her diminutive cousin whispered in her ear. Ginny wasn't given to the cryptic.
Currently, she and the Hatter were on their way to Ellis Island. The Hatter was impressed. That was a very large woman.
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" Alice recited.
"To be free…is a great thing," said the Hatter as he swung his arms around her.
-----
"You are all mad," the Hatter said as they strolled down the creepy corridors of Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. "What is the point of all this?"
"I don't think it has a point," Alice mused.
"And it's all made of wax?" he switched their hats, shook his head and switched them back.
"Yeah. Hey! Wait. You can't go carving 'Hatter was here' on Elvis!" Alice cried. "There are security cameras!"
Carol was sipping coffee when Alice all but, skipped into their apartment. "Hi honey," her mother said with a distinct lack of happy.
"Good morning mom," she merrily kissed her mother's cheek.
"You stayed the night at David's?" Carol asked a touch tartly.
Alice nodded and took of her hat, "Hmm. Yes! I had to cook breakfast because he can't do anything but, make tea and toast." She sat on the arm of the coach and fell backwards giggling.
Then she caught sight of her mother's expression and quickly sobered. "Mom! It was nothing like that. I just…fell asleep." She blushed.
Carol smiled ruefully, "He really is different isn't he. I've never seen you so gaga…over anyone. Ever."
"He makes me crazy," Alice confided. "He's the antithesis of every guy I've ever gone for."
Carol rolled her eyes, "He really not. He's not normal."
Alice laughed, "Normal is a dryer setting."
Her mother sighed, "I hope you know what you're doing. You've been hurt before," she cautioned.
Alice stroked her velvet sleeve. "I trust him."
"Oh," Carol managed. That was something different all right.
The Hatter followed Alice through the halls of a hospital. It wasn't really any different from the one Alice had recently spent time in. All white walls, glass walls and depressing wall art. The smell of sickness, death, and artificial pine smell wafted about.
A pretty Asian girl in a nurse's smock was holding the hand of a curly headed woman with tear filled eyes.
"Ming! Mrs. O," Alice panted.
Her old girls basketball coach was shaking like a leaf. "It's bad Alice."
"Mr. O isn't doing well," her former classmate Ming said.
The Hatter could feel the sea salt tinge of Alice's sadness swirl around him.
Her explanation had been short. Mr. Dillon O'Brian had been an important part in her youth. He'd taught English and had run the school's glee club. A glee club was not a laughing club. It had something to do with music.
They had been in line at the movie when her cell had ringed. Alice had been out the door before he could ask her what was wrong.
The Hatter knew that this Mr. O was important to Alice and that's really all that mattered.
Ming rang her hands together, "I called you because you always know what to do."
Alice sighed and ran her fingers threw her hair. A habit she was picking up from the Hatter. "Can he talk?"
The nurse nodded, "Yeah, but he's fading fast."
"Let me see him?"
The Hatter sat by Mrs. Abby O'Brian and wished he could comfort her. The 'my lover/friend/spouse is dying and I can't do anything' feeling that the woman was emitting wanted him to find grab Alice and never let go.
Hesitantly, he reached out and patted her hand.
Abby O'Brian looked up and squinted, "You came with Alice."
"Yeah," he took off his hat.
"Are you her boyfriend?" she asked.
The Hatter nodded, "David Write. Alice calls met Hatter."
This elected a weak smile, "Alice and the Mad Hatter. Really?"
"Yes, that's it! It's always tea time," the Hatter made a show of looking at the clock and quoting the book.
Mrs. O giggled reluctantly.
The Hatter looked up at the glass hospital room where Alice was stroking the limp hand of a man with pale violet eyes and dark blond hair. She was speaking in a low voice.
Alice nodded at Mr. O and smiled tremulously.
She strode out Ming Yu at her heels. A determined cast to her features.
Ming smiled slowly, "I know that look. What are you going to do?"
"Mrs. O, I'm going to need to borrow the Glee-Mobile." Alice grinned at Ming. "I'm getting the band back together."
Ya know what? I wish I could see all my 'Rising Stars' perform together. Just once more. All my kids are special, but, you guys…you guys were my first. You taught me so much…
The Hatter clung to the inside of the short brightly painted mini-bus. Alice could drive like a manic when motivated. It was exhilarating the way she plowed through the streets. The bus came to a screeching in front of the Meade Building and a tiny women with delightfully Wonderlandian fashion sense clambered onto the bus.
"Hi, Betty," Alice closed the doors with a whoosh.
Betty grinned widely showing off teeth trapped in green plastic and metal, "We're getting the band back together?" Really?"
Alice barreled away, Betty crashed in to the Hatter.
"Hello!"
----
Spider-Man and his dark shadow Venom were locked in epic combat. The kind some cultures would write epic songs about.
"Ya know something? It's really gross when you stick your tongue out like that!" Spider-Man remarked conversationally to his foe.
Venom growled, "Stay still, I want to eat your spleen! With a spork."
"A spork. Come on, you've got to have better material then that," bantered the wall-crawler.
"Hey! Don't make me come up there!" an amplified female voice called.
As one, the two arachnid themed adversaries looked down to see Alice Hamilton with a bullhorn and Betty Suarez glaring up at them.
"What the…?" they said more or less simultaneously.
"Peter, Eddie come on down," Alice demanded.
Both figures just stared. Spider-Man looked at Venom. Venom looked at Spider-man.
"Oh, for crying out loud," Betty snatched the bullhorn. "Guys everyone in glee knows how you two run around in footie pajamas! Mr. O's dying and he wants to see us. All of us. And you're coming even if I have to pull you by your ears!"
Alice pointed a thumb at Betty, "What she said."
Peter Parker sighed and pulled off his mask at the same time Eddie Brock's symbiote costume rippled and melted away. Two baby faced young men looked down with similarly paling faces.
"Sure. You could have just said," Peter said as swung down off the building.
Eddie followed, "You didn't have to yell."
----
"Who's this guy?" Eddie pointed an accusing finger at the Hatter.
Peter laughed, "That's Alice's boyfriend." He folded himself into a seat. "Don't worry about your secret identity. It's not like he's gonna tell." He grinned. "Would you believe he's from Wonderland?"
Eddie Brock laughed, "That sounds like Alice." He casually yanked the Hatter from his seat, "Hurt her and I'll strangle you with your own intestines."
The Hatter adjusted his tie. What was one of the more vivid death threats he'd ever received.
"Awww, that's sweet," Alice said from the driver's seat. "Psychotic. But, sweet."
"Ow!" Eddie rubbed his arm. "What was that for?" his tone was wounded.
Betty glared at him, "For becoming a supervillian. What were you thinking?"
----
Flash Thompson, Gwen Stacy and Taylor Davison came next.
"What are you going to tell people about the spandex?" Taylor wondered.
Peter looked at Eddie, Eddie looked at Peter.
"Costume party?" Peter ventured.
----
Gwen, who was a teacher at their old school, wondered how she could have missed it. She worked with Mr. O. If he were sick shouldn't she have seen it?
"Stop, beating yourself up," Betty said.
"I wasn't?" Gwen protested weakly.
Betty shook her head, "I know the look of 'what could I have done different' very well. This isn't your fault.
----
"So, how'd you find out?" Peter asked the one time bane of his existence who was now the president of his official fan club awkwardly.
Flash shrugged, "That time those Cobra operatives took over the school. I saw you changing."
"Hmmm," He had wondered why Flash stopped bulling him.
----
Mary Jane Watson soon to be Parker was taking her bows. She had rocked the part of Velma Kelly. And why was Peter sans mask but in costume running up to the stage?
Her fiancée had whispered urgently in her ear. She paled, pulled off her wig and was soon running from her very confused adoring audience.
----
Next was Felicia Hardy in a sequined gown. She shrugged off her date. This was far more important.
"Darling," she purred. "I'm worth waiting for." Then she sprinted out of the restaurant.
----
"And what about the allegations about your metal health?" the reporter asked.
Harry Osborn smiled as the cameras flashed. He was an attractive man with a scarred face and a nice blue suit. "According to my doctors, I've fully recovered from my psychotic break."
He paused. The Glee-Mobile in all its horrific glory was waiting, parked illegally, behind the throng of paparazzo on the steps of city hall. And the Forest Hills High Glee Club: Rising Stars were waving at him. Including, Peter and Eddie. In costume. And they hated each other. This bore investigating.
Now, how to get away from the throng…inspiration!
"Hey, look! There goes Wilson Fisk!" the former Green Goblin II pointed out the crime lord.
Fisk and his lawyers, all five, looked startled as they were descended by media vultures.
Harry laughed like a supervillian as he loped down the steps.
----
The ride to the hospital was pretty much what Alice expected. A rolling argument complete with wild accusations, insults and death threats. A shouting match between hero and villain, actress and thief, with the fashion editor's assistant trying to calm them down.
Ah, and the former villain making snide comments.
Gwen and Tyler were the only ones sitting down and not getting into a fight. Gwen was staring out the window trying to ignore Eddie's creepy one liners and Tyler was listening to his ipod.
"Are they always like this?" the Hatter wondered.
Alice swung a head left, "What, like a bag of cats? Pretty much."
"Hm. And yet you felt that getting them together was a …good idea?" the Hatter asked.
"I made a promise. And even if I have to wrangle these whack-jobs…" Alice muttered.
----
"Listen up!" Alice yelled. "Mr. O is not expected to make it through the night."
There was a hush.
"His last wish? It's to see us all one more time," Alice smiled grimly at her audience. "He wants us to sing."
The yelling returned in full force.
"With him?" Eddie demanded pointing at Peter. "I'd rather stick forks in my eyes. Dirty forks!"
"We haven't sang together for years!" protested the ever sensible Tayler.
Betty frowned, "I don't think the hospital staff would let us."
Alice listened to their protests, her lips in a hard thin line. She hit the bus's horn three times and when the noise died down. "We are going put whatever difference we have aside and we are going to go in their and make Mr. O proud. Or else."
"Or else what?" Eddie challenged.
She smiled at her former school mates. The Hatter tried to burrow into the vinyl seat cushion. It was the same smile she gave the Queen when she refused to take off the ring. It was a smile you didn't want to get on the wrong side of.
"The only way you're leaving is if you think you can take me," Alice turned her diamond hard gaze on him. "Do you thing you can take me, Eddie?"
Eddie Brock who was powered by a symbiote from outer space and an internal volcano blinked and sat down.
Harry laughed, "Alice, you've gotten scarier. I didn't think it was possible."
Alice glared.
"What do you want us to do?" Flash asked.
"Before, we go grab Ming from her rounds we need to figure out what we're going to sing…"
As he trotted after Alice and her fellow Rising Stars, the Hatter who had always been sensitive to time, noticed something, every clock in the hospital had stopped. In fact, they were all stalled on the exact moment Alice had left her teacher's hospital room.
He wondered.
"You can't all go in there!" a nurse protested.
Ming hid behind Harry. She was so fired.
"Hi Ming," Harry said lazily strumming the guitar he'd bought off a patient for five hundred dollars.
"Hi Harry," Ming whimpered.
"Didja hear? We're gonna sing."
Ming sighed, "Yeah, Betty texted me. Alice never does what you'd expect does she."
"Not as long as I've known her."
----
It was a good thing that Mr. O's laptop stored music for every performance his glee club had ever preformed mused Tayler as arranged the Playlist. He looked up to see Alice and Betty ordering directing the boys as they moved chairs around in the visitors lounge. Felicia was bribing the dean of the hospital to look the other way.
And Alice's weird boyfriend was talking in a low voice to Mrs. O. Taylor was glad that someone was looking after her.
----
Mr. O was wheeled out into the visitor's lounge. He looked a little better and was sitting up. His wife, his wonderful Abby sat down and too his hand. "Abby, what's going on?"
"You'll see."
What would you think if I sang out of tune,
Would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not to sing out of key…
Sang the Forest Hills High Glee Club: Rising Stars.
Mr. O sat up with a start…how? Why? Alice. He should have known that she would take his wistful suggestion as a challenge. Peter, Eddie and Harry in the same room without bloodshed was an accomplishment.
Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends,
Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends,
Mm, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.
Mr. O shook his head in delight. They were as good as he remembered. He could only hope that he had enriched their lives as much as they did his.It was a kind of magic, MJ thought as she belted out 'You Can't Stop the Beat.' All their old hits, old chorography and they weren't so much as missing a beat or a step. It shouldn't be possible. It was just like the old days when every song seemed to tie into lives.
Felicia sang 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friends.' Followed by the 'To Dream the Impossible Dream/In Your Wildest Dreams,' 's divine rendition of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow.'
Harry's spot on take of 'Walking in Memphis,' Peter and Eddie's hilarious musical dual in 'Everything You Can Do, I Can Do Better.'
Alice nearly brought the room to tears with, 'Wild Horses.' Her boyfriend looked like he was having heart palpitations.
Ming and Taylor's duet, 'All I Ask of You' from Phantom of the Opera, Gwen's impressive Tori Amos cover of 'Kissing in the Rain,' one song flowed into another like drops of rain into the ocean.
The Elvis Presley and Elvis Costello mashup that helped win Sectionals. Meatloaf and Johnny Cash, the Supremes, Billie Holiday, Lewis Armstrong, all a language he taught them.
They had come to honor a man who'd believed in them no matter what. It didn't matter what differences (blood feuds) his kids had between them for this one moment. All that mattered was that they loved him.
Dillon O'Brian slipped away to 'Unforgettable.' It was fitting and he wouldn't be forgotten.
The clocks started and spun around to the correct time.
----
"You think I stalled time?" asked Alice in disbelief.
The Hatter shrugged, "Alice love, the clocks stopped when you made your promise."
She mulled it over, "A touch of magic?"
He slung he arm around her shoulders, "Sometimes, a little time's all you need."
----
Dear Charlie,
Losing people never gets any easier does it? All we can do is treasure them while they're here…
Notes
Senator Kelly is a anti-mutant activist in the Marvel Universe.
As we know the Cranston Estate was once the property of Lamont Cranston a.k.a the Shadow.
Cliff Marshland, a wrongly convicted ex-con who infiltrates gangs using his crooked reputation is a canon ally of the Shadow. Also, look at that description. Remind you of anyone we know?
Felicia Hardy is the civilian identity of the Black Cat, a thief who part times as a superhero. She has strange luck powers.
This is a different verse from my 'Once upon a time in New York' story. In that Warren and Morgan aren't cousins. Just so you know.
Remember, the Disney movie Bolt. That happened in this world.
Wilson Fisk is the Kingpin.
Cobra and J. I. Joe exist in the Marvel Universe.
I was watching Glee and this just happened okay?
The Forest Hills High Glee Club: Rising Stars Members Register.
Alice 'Of Legend' Hamilton
Peter Parker / Spider-Man
MJ Watson
Betty Suarez
Felicia Hardy/ Black Cat
Harry Osborn/ Green Goblin II (James Franco Model)
Eddie Brock/ Venom (Topher Grace Version)
Gwen Stacy
Flash Thompson
Ming Yu (OC)
Taylor Davison (OC)
It's not denial. I'm just selective about the reality I choose to accept. ---Calvin, "Calvin and Hobbes"
'Normal' is a dryer setting. --Elizabeth Moon The Speed of Dark