i do not own Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

Chapter Nine

Alice followed the Footman across the filthy kitchen and into a cramped dining area, with a long table with a tattered white table cloth draped across it. The Duchess took a seat at the head of the table, while the Footman took a big leap into a chair next to a dirty highchair, where Alice placed the baby.

The Duchess motioned for Alice to take a seat directly across from her, and Alice obeyed, tugging at her chain as she moved. She figured this was the extent of the length of the chain.

Alice sat quietly as the cook threw and crashed things in the kitchen area, getting ready to serve them.

"So girl," Duchess said, pouring herself a glass of wine. Alice watched the plum colored wine drizzle into the dirty and chipped wine glass. "You slew the jabberwocky, didn't you?" Duchess asked.

Alice gulped, "I am The Alice."

"So you did." Duchess said dryly. She took a sip of the wine, "When the Red Queen was brought down, I lost everything. I was royal, you know. I had it all, a lot more then this dumpy little hut." She said with disgust, waving a hand around the kitchen.

She chugged her wine and poured herself another glass.

"How did you have more?" Alice asked. Duchess grinned, "I took it, of course. I had some royalty on my own, but barely a scrap of money. When the Red Queen went into power a very high class family was wiped out, and luckily I was right there when it happened, and stole all their jewels and fortune. I took some deeds as well, but I had no idea what the bloody hell they meant so I never used them. Want some, girl?" Duchess asked, holding up the wine bottle. Alice shook her head quickly.

The Duchess shrugged and placed it back down on the table. "Why do you not like your baby?" Alice asked. Duchess grimaced and glared at the baby, who was banging his hands against the table. "It is not my child."

"Whose is it?" Alice asked. Duchess sighed, "That I do not know, girl, and the moral of that is "Know not who they are but know what they become" and I know he shall become a pig soon enough."

"What do you mean? How do you not know?" Alice asked, slightly confused. Duchess shrugged, "Her majesty, the Red Queen, brought him and the footman to me so many years before. She told me to feed the baby a potion to keep him an infant and to turn him into an animal. I love mixing potions but I had such a hard time picking which animal. Why, he's been a cow, horse, dog, cat, and bird but I finally decided on pig, since he eats so much. A few more days drinking his pig potion and he'll finally be one fully. The footman was already frog like when Red Queen gave him to me and very obedient. Sadly, I lost the recipe for the obedient potion so he's had slip ups, which is why I took away his ability to speak." She smiled evilly at the Footman and he stared down at the table.

"Are you sad, footman?" Duchess asked, fake sympathy dripping out of her mouth. The footman nodded slowly. Duchess pulled a small black vile out of her bosom and rolled it across the table to the footman. "I think you're time has been well spent without a word, footman. Try not to talk so much next time." Duchess told him.

The footman quickly snatched the vile, ripped off the cork and chugged the vile until every drop was gone.

His eyes closed tight, like he just drank something extremely sour. He dropped the vile and it crashed against the floor, the glass sliding in all directions. The footman took in deep breaths and Alice stared with wide eyes at the sight of a slimy purple tongue moving around inside the Footman's mouth.

"T-Thank you, ma'am." He mumbled breathlessly. Duchess half smiled, "Just don't talk so much."

Alice heard another loud bang and looked in the kitchen to see the cook walking into the dining area carrying a tray with three bowls.

She slammed one down in front of the Duchess, some of it spilling on the table cloth, the same going for the Footman's bowl and Alice's.

Alice took a spoon off the table and stared at the bowl of what she believed was soup. Their was a gold tint to it, so Alice believed it was chicken soup, but surrounding it was black, which had to have been all the pepper the cook added. Duchess sipped at the soup with no problem at all.

The footman sipped at his, but found great difficultly at it. Alice decided not to try the soup.

A few minutes passed before the Duchess noticed something the baby did not have. "Cook!" She shouted. Their was a loud bang and then the cook reappeared next to the Duchess, "What is it?" She asked, annoyed.

"Where is the pig's bottle?" Duchess asked angry. The cook shrugged. Duchess stood up, her face turning bright red with anger. "You idiot! If the bloody pig so happens to miss one day of his potion the effects will wear off and he will become human again in an instant!"

"Well the potion wasn't in the bloody cabinet!" The cook shouted at her. The Duchess pushed the cook aside and ran into the messy kitchen, the cook following close behind.

The footman hopped up on the table and over to Alice.

"Listen to me, Alice; you must get the baby out of here." He told her quickly, his voice hushed. Alice looked at him with distress, "But I'm chained to the house."

He shook his head, just as a loud bang and shout came from the kitchen. "I will distract and get the keys from the Duchess, so you can unlock yourself and escape with the baby. Take her away from this place, as far away as possible."

"What about you?" Alice asked, The Footman shook his head, "Do not worry about me, Alice. All that matters at this moment in time is yours and the baby's safety."

"She will kill you, won't she?" Alice asked her eyes glassy. The footman's face grew sad, "Possibly, Alice. I am willing to risk my life for yours, Champion of Underland. It would be a great honor, indeed."

Alice shook her head, "You have been kind to me, I will not leave you behind." she said sternly. He smiled at her and patted her hand, "You are very kind, Alice, but I will not let you be hostage to the bloody big head while I am still like this. Take the baby and leave at once, and I will try and follow you."

Alice gave him a concerned look before nodding slowly. The footman hopped back to his seat just ask the Duchess walked back into the dining room, pulling up piles of trash and throwing them around the room, "Where is it? Where the hell is it?" She screamed over and over again.

"What are you looking for?" Alice asked quickly. "The vile, you bloody two beaten rag doll! Without that damned vile this bloody pig will morph back into his original state! Then it will take twice as long for him to transform into the pig he is!" Duchess screamed, throwing more and more trash across the room.

Alice quickly stood up, jumping out of the way as some of the trash flew in her direction.

The Duchess stopped quickly and glared at the Footman, "You!" She said with clenched teeth. The footman stared at her with wide eyes. "You stole it, didn't you? You took the pig potion because you wanted to find the damned potion for your tongue, didn't you?" she asked, pointing a long and wrinkled finger at the footman.

The footman hopped onto the table and nodded his head, "I did steal the potion."

"Give it to me!" She snapped angrily. He hopped closer to the Duchess, pretending to reach into his pants pocket. In the blink of Alice's eye, the Footman grabbed the wine bottle and splashed it in the Duchess's face. She grabbed at her eyes and screamed out in pain. The footman jumped on her and she fell flat on her back. He reached into her bosom and pulled out a set of keys, throwing them at Alice. Alice caught them, ran over and picked up the baby and ran out of the kitchen.

She ran to the beginning of the chain and bent down to unlock her ankle. Alice placed the baby down next to her as she fiddled with the many keys, trying to find the one for the chain.

The racket and screaming in the dining room grew louder and the baby began to cry. Alice shook her head, "Hush now, baby. You must be quiet." She said sternly, trying the fifth key in the lock, but no avail. The noise grew louder and closer and Alice's hand began to tremble as she moved onto the sixth and seventh key.

Finally, on the eighth key, the chains unlocked and she threw them off her ankle, picked up the baby and ran for the door.

"Stop!" Duchess screamed, running though the kitchen door. Alice pulled open the front door, surprised that it fell off its hinges and onto the floor. Alice didn't take the time to try and fix it; she quickly ran out the door into the night, the Duchess quickly on her tail.

Alice looked behind her and saw the Duchess was practically a few feet behind her. Alice quickly stumbled and The Duchess reached out and grabbed Alice's bow, untying it and causing Alice to fall straight onto the ground, most of the potions spilling out from her pockets.

The baby fell out of Alice's hands and flew across the ground, his screams reaching to such high proportions Alice thought her mother could hear the screams. She turned around and the Duchess pounced on her. Alice kicked up her legs to keep the Duchess away from her. Alice franticly reached for something around her as the Duchess tried scratching at Alice's face.

Alice felt a cold tube in her hands and pulled off the cork, splashing the contents of the vial onto the Duchess's face. She jumped back, clutching her face in horror as steam erupted from her skin. Alice quickly picked up the rest of the vials and stuffing them into her pockets. She ran over to the baby and held him tightly against her chest as she ran deeper into the woods.

Alice turned to look back once more, and stared in horror as the Duchess disintegrated into the smallest of flames, until nothing was left but a skull.

Alice slowed down her run into a small jog before falling against an old, wooden tree and sliding down to the ground. The baby was still screaming and, without looking, Alice started rocking the baby back and forth until the cries subsided.

Finally she looked down at the baby and looked at him shocked. He had shrunk into the size of a real new born, his hair was still golden blonde and his nose was no longer a pig's, but small, like a button. Alice smiled at him as he studied his hands happily and sucked on his fingers.

Her body tensed when she heard leafs cracking somewhere behind her. She was preparing herself to get up and run again, in case it was the Red Queen or Stayne.

"Alice!"

To her relief, The Footman appeared at her side, his clothes even more tattered them before, and a small trickle of dried blood at the side of his mouth. "Are you alright?" Alice asked, reaching out to touch the Footman. He shook his head, "I'll be fine. Just bit my tongue is all. How is the baby?" He asked quickly. Alice held the child out and the footman smiled. "It's been so long since I'd seem her as her true self; I'd forgotten how much she looks like her grandmother."

"I thought she was a boy!" Alice said shocked. The footman chuckled, "A well known mistake many make. Even the Duchess thought she was a boy, but she is a baby girl. The potion had changed her sex as well, I suppose." he explained.

Alice reached into her pockets and pulled out all of the vials, "I stole these. I hope they can help you." She said, lying them down on her lap.

The footman pulled them close to his face, trying his best to read the tag in the darkness.

Finally, he picked up a vial that had a red liquid inside of it. He grinned and pulled off the cork, chugging the contents of the vial.

He there the vial across the ground and Alice watched in amazement as, at first, his green skin melted away to a pale complexion and his froggy face morphed until his eyes were back in it's sockets, a wide and pointed nose grew in the middle of his face and thin, light pink lips stretched across his face. A mop of straight white blonde hair grew from his head that reached down to his cheek bones.

A neck appeared under a strong chin and strong, square shoulders appeared. His white shirt stretched and strong arms appeared, his webbed fingers gone and replaced with big hands and long fingers. He grew tall and his green webbed feet covered in red paint morphed into large, pale feet with cracked paint chipping off of them.

The footman sighed happily and hugged himself, tears sliding down his cheeks, "I never thought I'd have my body back again." he mumbled to himself. Alice pushed herself up, the remaining potions falling off her lap and onto the ground.

"So this is you?" She asked. "Might I ask your name?"

He smiled at her, brushing his long hair out of his eyes, "Yes, of course. It is Manfred of Mamoreal. Thank you, Alice, for helping us."

Alice smiled at him, "It is no problem. Now, we must get going before the sun rises so we can make it to the White Queen and return to Memorial." Alice explained, trying to push Manfred into the woods.

He chuckled and pushed her back, "That is very grateful of you Alice, but we must bid our goodbyes, young champion."

"What? Why?" Alice looked at him confused. He smiled at her, "I need to find a safe place for her. I will be back but for now I must hide her. You do understand, don't you? You must return to the Duchess's home and wait for the Red Queen, like nothing has happened. You must go on, Alice. I have a plan. It will all work out in your benefit." he explained.

Alice gave him a sad look and then handed the baby over to him. He took her, and smiled down at the infant girl. "Thank you Alice. Fairfarren for now." he whispered to her before running off into the dark woods.

Alice watched him leave, until she could no longer see the white of his clothes anymore. She bent down and picked up all the vials and put them back in her pockets. She walked back in the direction of the house and reached down for her ribbon when she passed the remains of the Duchess. She tied her bow around her waist and walked back into the house.

She looked around the filthy home and her blood began to boil. "Why must I go along with the plan?" She asked herself. She stormed into the kitchen and was surprised to see no cook at the stove. She moved her way passed the mess and started digging in drawer after drawer for something, anything, she could use for herself in case of a backfire tomorrow morning.

She found it! A sharp, small knife sitting in the drawer, with the initials L.T.H carved on the handle. She placed in on the inside of the ribbon around her waist, and walked to the basement door. She closed it and sat at the top of the stairs, waiting for the return of The Red Queen and Stayne.

She only had a few more hours left.

A/N

heyy. i had a total meltdown writing this chapter, you have no idea. i found out i made a MAJOR mistake in the last chapter! DX the white queen never had a son, she had a DAUGHTER and i got sooo mad. i went back and changed her child's name from Christopher to Lily, like it's suppose to be. because of my major mistake, i'm sure everyone knows what my plans are *pouty face*

anywho, thank you all for your lovely reviews on the last chapter and i hope you liked this chapter :3 i worked hard. it's the second longest chapter in this story. and even tho their are a few hours left until the exchange, their are a lot more chapters (i hope) for this story :3 and oooohh,i wonder what Manfred's plan is ! are you curious? i know i am. lol . anyways

review/alert/fave/all that jazz

tootles!

~Taylor