Disclaimer: I in no way, shape or form own Alice. Just thought I should remind you.

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The Death of an Area Rug

"Did everything go alright?" Hatter asked, peering over the top of the couch at Alice. He wouldn't mention to her the fact that her hair was an absolute mess and that her breath smelled horrible. He just leaned over further and kissed her on the cheek as her eyes opened.

"'Suppose so…" She murmured sleepily. He smiled and looked around at the room. Duchess was lying on the floor, curled up with one of the couch cushions. Some of the Chinese food cartons were still open and on the coffee table. It would have been nice if they could have put the food away, but he figured from the crying that he had heard that they had been thinking about other things.

He picked up a carton and sniffed at it, before pulling out a piece of sweet and sour chicken. He popped it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully as Alice sat up.

Hatter was tempted to ask exactly what the women had been talking about that prompted such theatrics, but he knew they wouldn't answer. Only one thing could cause tears like that on such short notice, a male.

"I feel disgusting." Alice stated. Hatter silently vowed not to agree with that comment, no matter how funny it would be to see Alice's reaction. Even if she looked like living death, he would still never say a thing.

The unappealing sound of Duchess gagging reached his ears. He looked over in time to see her vomit all over the area rug. The smell was overpowering.

"That's not my responsibility." He said quickly, hoping that he wouldn't get wrangled into cleaning up the mess.

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Alice nearly gagged herself as Duchess ran to the bathroom to continue throwing up. Alice promised herself that she would never eat ice-cream and Chinese food together ever again if only she didn't start throwing up as well.

"I'll handle it." It wasn't something that she wanted to do. But after the night before, she viewed Duchess as a friend. And what were friends for if not to clean up after you got sick? At least that's what Alice had to tell herself.

Duchess was sick for most of the rest of the morning, causing Alice to question if she had gotten food poisoning. But they had eaten all of the same food. Alice just hoped that Duchess and Hatter weren't more susceptible to colds in her world. Thankfully Hatter hadn't so much as sneezed since he arrived, let alone vomited everywhere.

"I'm sorry about the rug, Hatter." Alice cringed in sympathy at how raw Duchess's voice sounded. Constant gagging would cause anyone's throat to be sore, especially when added to the coughing that usually accompanied violent vomiting.

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"Not a problem. It was ugly anyway." The rug had been designed to look like a deck of cards had been spilled out on the floor. It was exactly the sort of thing that Hatter expected of a Heart. In fact, Hatter was rather glad that Alice's attempts at cleaning the area rug had failed. If he was going to stay here, he was going to have to get rid of Jack's things. In fact, he would take great pleasure in destroying them one by one. Not that anyone else would ever hear about it.

He tapped his pen on the paper in front of him. The appointment with the lawyer was scheduled for Monday but he didn't feel like he could just sit around the apartment that long, especially if Duchess was sick again. There were many things that he could stand in life, falling headlong into pits full of stakes, getting shot, and crash-landing in a lake all made the list. But he could not be around people who were sick to the point of vomiting. Injured was one thing, sick was entirely different.

"I'm going out." He said, pulling on his coat and setting his hat on his head.

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Alice didn't comment on Hatter's departure. If he felt like leaving, that was fine for now. But he had better come back soon. Her bedside manner wasn't exactly the most developed in the world.

By mid-afternoon, Duchess looked a bit better and she was able to keep food down (a relief to Alice who had had to clean up again after Duchess's failed attempt at eating breakfast). They watched television together, laughing at the dramas that played out before them.

"Life seems simpler here." Duchess finally admitted. "I don't have to pretend to be someone else to do what I want. You know, I only served the Queen because it let me stay close to Jack. She used to threaten me with finding him a different fiancé if I didn't spy for her. I guess I wasn't ready to give him up yet." She said this all with her eyes pointed at the screen.

Alice didn't comment. Within the last few hours, she had learned a lot more about Duchess than she had ever thought to know. The woman had depths that Alice hadn't guessed at and a heart that she had very wisely hidden away for years.

Alice wondered if she would give up everything that she cared for and even risk Hatter's hatred just to be able to have the chance to be near him. It seemed like such a strange thing to do. But if Duchess was right, the blonde's willingness to serve the Queen had protected Jack more times than it had harmed him.

"I think you made the right choices." Alice answered, once she realized that her opinion was being sought on the matter. The pale, sick woman smiled.

"I'm glad you think so, Alice." There was no sarcasm in Duchess's tone. "It's nice to have someone I can talk to about this." Alice found that she had to agree. Even if they had just complained about men for most of the night, it had been relaxing. Both of them had been able to vent about the problems that Jack had caused. Neither of them mentioned his current role in their lives as benefactor. It was easier to make him the villain than to admit that in some ways they still needed him.

Alice's fingers caught in her hair as she tried to brush it out of her eyes. She cursed, realizing that she still hadn't taken a shower, brushed her teeth or combed her hair. She slid off the couch, draping the blanket that had been in her lap over Duchess.

"Jack doesn't know yet." Duchess's slurred together as she drifted off to sleep.

And all Alice could think was, Jack doesn't know what?

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AN:

Why can't I just make things easy for them? The answer is, because I am evil. Well, not entirely, but I can still toy with them a bit.

First off, my theory on Jack's decorating skills is that they would tend towards gaudy and disturbing. Just look at the oversized round white bed that he is lying on in the show.

And secondly, vomiting until you start coughing with the force of gagging is one of the worst feelings.

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