Chapter Seventeen

Alice clearly hadn't been thinking when she set out with six other men onto the ledges…and the ladders. She'd had a fleeting thought to ask Duchess for some pants while she was slipping the body armor on underneath her dress, but then a thousand other thoughts had pushed that one away. So now, when they came to a ladder, she either had to be the first one down or the last one up, and none of her protectors was keen on that arrangement.

"I'll go first and last," Sandro decided finally. "I'll keep my back turned."

Charlie led the way, since he was the only one who knew where they were going. Alice followed closely behind him, trying to make a mental note of the path they were taking. It was all too easy to get lost in Wonderland City, and she needed to start learning her way around.

In addition to Charlie's supernatural directions, they also had twilight on their side; they could use the deepening gloom and shadows to keep from being seen when they got closer to Dodo's hideout. Alice kept her panic at bay by repeating to herself the objectives of this mission. Find Dodo. Incapacitate Dodo. Incapacitate the Doctors. Save Hatter if he had been captured.

Best case scenario, they got to Dodo first and had the whole thing wrapped up before Hatter got involved. Worst case scenario, Hatter was right now being tortured and they would have to fight their way through Dodo and the resistance to get to him. Alice tried to focus on the best case.

Alice's little army moved steadily along ledges and through buildings until they reached an area that she recognized; they were near Hatter's club now, and would have to be extra cautious.

"Where to, Charlie?"

The White Knight paused, looking around a bit, then gestured to a brick edifice down the ledge. "In there, out the other side, and up a ladder. It will put us at his rear flank without being seen."

"How many men do you think he'll have?" Alice asked Sandro.

"According to our intelligence, Dodo doesn't like to mingle with his recruits. He'll keep three or four lieutenants with him, and those will be the ones we most have to watch for."

Alice nodded, remembering that to be the case when she first met Dodo at the Great Library. Aside from the refugees, she only saw Duck and Owl. Hopefully he was still surrounding himself with less than competent personnel.

"Don't forget the Doctors will probably be there too."

"We'll need quiet as well, Just Alice," Charlie said. "We don't want to tip our hand."

"Charlie's right. Avoid using your guns if you can. If Dodo hears us coming too soon…" Alice couldn't finish the sentence, but her mind was more than happy to supply a visual. She didn't want Dodo killing Hatter before she had a chance to save him.

Sandro made sure everyone was up to speed with the plan and their objectives. The Aces and Toby indicated their readiness to continue, but there was something she needed to do before they went any further.

"What are your names?" she asked the Aces. All three looked startled, and glanced over at Sandro. The Ten of Clubs nodded at them, and they introduced themselves as Randy, Len and Carl. Alice committed their names and faces to memory; if things got crazy later on she needed to be able to call the Aces by name to avoid any extra confusion.

This time Alice took the lead. She slipped inside the open door of the brick building and followed a long, overgrown hallway to the rear door. Charlie pointed to the left, and Alice could see the metal ladder set into the bricks there. She let everyone but Sandro go ahead of her before she started climbing, conscious of every little noise. She didn't want to alert Dodo or any of his men to their presence, at least not until they had to. Surprise was their only advantage at this point.

At the top of the ladder was a metal landing, like a fire escape. There were no windows, and one sorry-looking, crooked wooden door. They couldn't all fit on the landing, so Alice looked down at Charlie to confirm that this was the right spot. He nodded, and they all waited.

Alice put her ear to the door, but she heard nothing on the other side. Tentatively, she tried the knob. The door swung open, revealing another door behind it. This one was metal and the center of it had been dented to such a degree that it no longer closed properly. Alice grimaced.

"Hatter's here," she whispered down to Charlie. The White Knight spread the word through the ranks.

They'd been too late after all. Alice closed her eyes for a moment, forcing herself to breathe. It was officially a rescue mission now, and she needed to focus. She told herself she wasn't going to break down, not now, not when it counted. When her mind had quieted, she opened her eyes back up and gestured to Charlie that she was going in and he should follow.

The door opened up on a narrow room that looked more like a jungle. Green vines climbed and tangled everywhere, and bright red flowers grew along the floor. Slumped on the floor next to the door was a man wearing a blue suit; one whole side of his face was bruised and bloody.

"Hatter…" Alice muttered. As if she needed any other sign that he was here. She wondered how many other unconscious bodies they'd find before they found Hatter.

"Harbinger's handiwork, I take it," Charlie said with a sniff. "The boy lacks finesse."

Alice shushed him, and headed for the open archway on the far side of the room. She peered out cautiously and saw a hallway with several doors. There were fewer vines, but the lighting wasn't very good; fluorescent bulbs flickered in the ceiling, those that weren't dead altogether.

"We have to check every door," she whispered, turning back into the room to address everyone. "Remember, we have to be quiet."

The men nodded. Alice cast an anguished look at Toby and Charlie, kitted out in their metal armor, and hoped they could keep the clanging down.

"Be careful, Lady Alice," Sandro said. He and the Aces pulled their weapons, but kept them pointed down at the floor. Alice nodded, and then stepped out in the hall. She stayed close to the wall, even though the vines constantly caught at her hair. Aside from some muffled conversation coming from somewhere ahead of her, the hallway was silent. Alice didn't know how they did it, but Charlie and Toby kept just as quiet as everyone else, despite their armor. Must be a knight thing, she thought, and had to stifle the sudden urge to laugh.

Every door they encountered as they made their way down the hall had been forced open; there were splinters of wood everywhere. Alice shook her head. Hatter certainly hadn't been subtle in his approach. He'd probably been so fueled by anger that he'd just gone through there like a bull in a china shop.

One of the rooms they checked had two more unconscious bodies in it, dumped on a narrow bed. Alice wondered how many men Dodo had with him; had Hatter taken all of them out? Had he managed to get Dodo as well? It didn't seem likely, since Dodo would have had plenty of time to prepare himself for Hatter's noisy arrival.

As they drew closer to the end of the hall, the voices grew louder. Alice could hear some shouting, but not what was being shouted. Finally there was only one door left, and Alice was as tense as a bow string when they got to it. On the other side of that door was the man she loved, and the men who'd tortured her.

You killed him, you know.

Alice shook her head, trying desperately to clear it. Not now! She put her hands on the wall and rested her forehead on it.

You kept secrets and now he's dead. That's logic.

Alice knocked her head against the wall, once, and embraced the pain. It helped to clear her mind, helped her shove away the taunting voices.

"Are you alright?" Sandro whispered in her ear.

"I'll be okay," she whispered back. She turned to face the men that filled the hall. "This is it. Dodo is in there, with the Doctors and Hatter and possibly some of the New Resistance as well. Be careful."

Everyone nodded solemnly. Alice took an extra moment to pull Toby aside.

"Toby, you hang back and stay out of the line of fire. If they've got Hatter restrained in any way, I'm counting on you to get him loose."

Toby, who had been looking a bit pale and nervous, now rose up to his full height and nodded seriously. "You can count on me, Lady Alice."

"I know I can," Alice replied.

Now there was nothing to do but go through the door.

*o*o*o*

The door, like all the others Hatter had gone through, wasn't fully closed. So when Alice kicked it, it flew open and crashed against the wall. She had only a few seconds to take in the room before everyone started to move, but time seemed to slow down and everything stood out in stark detail.

Dodo stood in the middle of the room, looking decidedly worse for wear. His left eye was swollen shut, his lip was bleeding, and he cradled his left hand against his chest. In his right hand was a gun, and he had his big black boot pressed against Hatter's throat.

Hatter was on the floor, his face turning red and his hands pushing ineffectually at Dodo's foot. He had a bloody cut over his eye and lots of bruising on his face. His shirt was torn, and Alice could see where the Doctors had applied their electro-sticks against his ribcage, much as they had in the Truth Room.

The Doctors themselves stood off to the side, one holding a gun and one holding an electro-stick. Both were sporting bloody noses. There were two other people in the room, each one armed and pointing their weapons at the door.

Alice looked down and saw Hatter's porkpie on the floor. She scooped it up and plopped it on her head. She forced herself not to look at Hatter, instead keeping her gaze on Dodo.

"Kill them!" Dodo commanded. Alice ran into the room and then dropped immediately to the floor, hugging the wall. Gunfire was exchanged over her head. She let the Aces deal with that; her eye was on Dodo.

"Dodo!" she shouted over the noise. "Let him go!"

Dodo turned and snarled at her, his eyes glinting madly. He leveled his gun at her, but she dodged to the side, doing a tuck and roll that probably gave everyone a good look up her skirt. Unfortunately, that put her in the same corner of the room as the Doctors.

"You're a resilient one," said one Doctor.

"We can fix that," said the other. He jabbed his electro-stick at Alice but she moved away at the last second; she could feel the heat of it as it passed over her arm.

"You can't run from us," said the Doctor with the gun. He started to move, and when Alice turned to keep him in her line of sight, his brother came at her again with the electro-stick. This time he got her in the upper part of her leg, and she stumbled back with a scream.

Her entire left leg felt like it was on fire, the muscles spasming painfully. Alice backed against the wall. The Doctors advanced on her, maniacal grins on their faces. And then suddenly there was a wall of red and white metal in front of her as Charlie and Toby moved in to engage the Doctors. Charlie knocked the gun from one Doctor's hand while Toby parried the other's thrusts with the electro-stick.

Alice turned her attention back to the rest of the room and saw that the Aces had taken out Dodo's other two men. Len and Carl were holding their position by the door and Randy kept his gun trained on Dodo. The man himself was pointing his weapon at Hatter's plum-colored face, and Alice knew the others were afraid to make a move.

"Dodo!" Alice screamed. Ignoring the pain in her leg, she launched herself at him from across the room, heading in like a linebacker. He pulled his gun up but not in time; she thrust her shoulder in to his gut and they both went crashing to the floor. Finally released from Dodo's heavy foot, Hatter was gagging and gasping.

Alice grappled with Dodo for the gun. He got to his feet and dragged her up with him. She kneed him in the thigh, and then her leg went out from under her. She heard Charlie yell out Toby's name, but she couldn't look around to see what had happened to the young knight.

"I will kill the both of you," Dodo snarled. "You're nothing!"

Alice called up her reserves of strength and rammed her head into Dodo's nose. "I…am the Alice…of Legend," she gasped.

Dodo wailed as blood poured out of his nose. Alice's head was throbbing now, but she tried to think of a way to get that damn gun out of his hands before he hurt someone.

Gunfire sounded behind her, but still Alice refused to be distracted. She had Dodo's wrist in both hands and she twisted it, turning it as hard as she could to get him to let go of the gun.

"You're the one who's nothing," she said. "Nothing but a petulant little boy who didn't get his way."

Dodo roared in rage and turned so he could knock Alice back with his shoulder. She stumbled on the bad leg and he yanked his wrist out of her grasp.

"Stupid Oyster," he sneered. Alice moved in again to go for the gun, but she was too slow this time. Dodo got a shot off, and the force of the bullet sent Alice back against the wall. She slid down until she was sitting on the floor, the breath knocked out of her from the impact. Even with the armor, the pain of it was enormous.

"Alice!" Hatter was on his feet now, his face thunderous. Alice could only gasp painfully and watch as he rammed Dodo and sent him flying against the far wall. The gun flew out of his grasp, finally.

"Len…" She could barely get his name out, but the Ace heard her. She pointed to Dodo's gun and he quickly went to retrieve it.

Hatter straddled Dodo, aiming blows to his face and ribs. Alice saw him flex his sledgehammer hand, and knew it was time to stop him. Jack wanted Dodo to stand trial, and she didn't want Hatter to kill him.

"No…Hatter…"

Hatter paused, his arm cocked. He looked over his shoulder at her, his face a mask of anger and pain. The Aces moved in, and Alice could see that Carl was bleeding from a wound in his arm.

"Hatter." Alice pulled in a deeper breath. Her ribcage ached where the bullet had hit the armor, and she knew she'd have one heck of a bruise to show for it later. "Leave him."

Hatter looked back down at Dodo, who was unconscious and bleeding profusely. Alice thought it was a safe bet that he'd have some broken ribs as well. She watched Hatter's shoulders heave as he breathed heavily, could practically see his mind working as he tried to decide what to do.

"Hatter, don't," she said softly. She waited, anxiously, but finally he let his arm fall. He backed up off of Dodo and let the Aces move in to make certain the traitor to the crown was secured.

"Alice." Hatter made his way to her side on his hands and knees, his face wet with tears. "Where are you hit, love?"

Alice unbuttoned the top of her dress with trembling hands and pulled the two halves apart to show the black armor underneath. Hatter stared at the armor, his face completely without expression. Alice put her hand on his cheek.

"Hatter. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Dodo." Alice was crying herself now. She stroked his face. "They hurt you."

Hatter continued to stare at her for a long moment, and then he pulled her into his arms, squeezing her so tightly she worried her own ribs would crack. She clutched him back just as tightly, so glad she'd made it in time.

"You should have let me kill him," Hatter muttered into her hair. "He tried to take you away from me."

"Oh, Hatter." Alice rubbed his back with both hands. "I don't want you to be that person. I don't want you killing anyone."

"I have before," was his soft reply.

Alice pulled away so she could look him in the face, but Hatter kept his eyes downcast.

"Those men…you killed them to protect me, in the heat of the moment. It's not the same."

Still Hatter wouldn't look at her. Alice rested her forehead against his.

"I'm sorry," she said again. "This is all my fault. I was just so scared…he wanted to hurt you…"

"I hate to interrupt you," Sandro said, looking down on them. "But we need to get Dodo back to the Palace."

Alice took a deep breath, and looked around the room. One of the Doctors was down, presumably dead judging by the amount of blood, and there was no sign of the other. Charlie's eyes were streaming, and he was helping Toby up off the floor. Hatter helped Alice up; she winced at the pain in her ribs and her leg, but she stood on her own two feet.

"Charlie. What happened?"

"One of the villains got away, Lady Alice. He sprayed something in my eyes."

"Toby?" Alice asked.

"I'll be fine, Lady Alice," the young knight said.

"Electro-stick under the arm," Charlie supplied. "A dirty trick."

Alice turned to the Aces. "Carl? You okay?"

"Flesh wound," Carl responded.

"Okay. Sandro, call for a Scarab and get everyone back to the Palace." Alice limped across the room to the door. "Tell Jack he'll need to send some Suits to look for the other Doctor in the morning. Don't forget to collect up the other resistance members Hatter knocked out."

"We will accompany you, Lady Alice," Charlie said. Alice gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Take Toby to the Palace, make sure he's okay. I'll be fine."

"The King will want to speak with you," Sandro said.

"Tell him I'll come around tomorrow."

Alice stood aside as the Aces carried out Dodo. She followed them, Charlie and Toby behind her. She stood outside on the ledge and watched as her little army faded into the darkness. She waited there until Hatter finally came out and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her.

"I want to go home, Hatter."

"Let's go, then."

"No." Alice turned around to face him. "I want to go home. To New York."

AN: The big rescue. I know a lot of you wished death upon Dodo's head, but I don't want Alice and Hatter running around slaying people. No matter how much they deserve it, LOL!

Now, I know a lot of you are probably pissed at me for the way this chapter ended. Trust me, I was just as surprised as you! Don't worry, though. I think Alice just needs a little breathing room. Boy, I can't wait to see what's going to happen in the next chapter!