-BLARES OF TRUNPITS- AS C.J ONCE SAID, "I'M BAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!" YES, I HAVE RETURNED! I'M SORRY FOR THE WAIT, BUT HERE IT IS! GET READY FOR AND EPIC 2ND HALF TO C.J'S WONDERLAND! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! –ENDS TRUMPITS- P.S- MY STYLE OF WRITING HAS CHANGED A BIT, SO BARE WITH ME.

Ch. 22: The Return of C.J!

I pounded and kicked the door as hard as I could, but it was useless. The door, as well as the windowless walls, were rock solid. I screamed at the top of my lungs, ignoring the fact that I must have sounded like a trapped coyote. Damn it, I've had to have been in here for a half-hour already, where are they! I huffed in frustration and stormed to the corner of the room, where I sat down and pulled my knees up to my chest.

After dragging me to their mansion from the camp, I had been thrown into a room and locked away until further notice. I paused for a moment, then silently got up, went to the other side of room, unplugged the lamp, and removed the shade. With the potentially blunt force object in hand, I quietly returned to the corner, this time leaving a space between me and the wall to hide the lamp.

Having noticed the sudden silence, whoever was standing guard gently knocked on the door. "C.J, are you alright?" I huffed and mumbled, "Blood…."

Turning my head back and, now yelling, "Sure, aside from being stabbed in the back, humiliated, and kidnapped, I'm just peachy d***** keen!"

"It is for your own good!"

"Since when the hell do you give a d*** about my wellbeing?"

"…I don't, but my men do! And if I don't get you back to your normal self, they'll all panic!"

"…."

"…C.J, I'm coming in now."

True to his word for once, Blood slowly cracked the door. He eased into the room, perfectly aware of the fact I might injure him. No matter, I could wait until he felt safe; a head is no easy target. He paused, halfway in, and gave me a wary look. I waved him in, "Come on, I ain't gonna hurt you."

He eased in more and more, until he was all the way in and closed the door behind him. I smiled, "However, I can't say the same for this lamp." I hurled the bulky lamp at him with all my might. Being bulky however, he easily sidestepped the large projectile and protected himself from the shards as it shattered on the door behind him.

Blood stood there with his hands over his head for a second, in case I had more ammo. Seeing I had yet to throw anything else at him, he straightened and came toward me again, "I guess I've no hope of being paid back for that lamp." I huddled in my corner and fumed. Taking my silence as 'not opposition,' Blood sat down, a few inches of space between us.

"…."

"…."

I sighed, "Where'd the others go?"

He took off his hat, set it next to him, and ran a hand through his hair. "The twins are gathering role holders and Elliot is in the infirmary. I think he's fine, but a broken rib…or three, would be nice to know about, should they exist."

I winced, "I didn't hit him that hard, did I?"

"He won't have an easy time sleeping on his side…or on his back."

I looked at the wall next to me, feeling guilty. I could feel Blood's eyes boring into my head. "…So, why are you so reluctant to talk?"

I turned my head around and glared at him. He raised his hands in an innocent appeal, "What? I'm asking why you won't talk, not asking you to talk."

I sighed and hung my head, "I've spent the better, no, larger portion of my life sitting in chair, being expected to soak up one therapist or another's psych-babble-bull ****. Every last one of them said I needed to talk about it for "closure". Many of them even resorted to hypnotism, forcing me to relive the pain over and over. In short, I've been talking, and now I'm SICK OF TALKING. I'm more of an action person anyways. I just want to forget and get on with my life."

"And you couldn't have just said that?"

"No one would've understood! No one ever does. And I hate being pitied."

He smirked, "If it's any consolation, I don't pity you at all." I gave him a small glare. He shrugged, "What? Yes, what happened to you was tragic, but it seems to me you have a good handle on it. You're not the type to give into such things."

I glared at him, "Since when do you know me that well?"

He shrugged, "For some reason, once someone's given you a black eye, it's easier to guess their character."

We sat in awkward silence a bit, until he spoke up again. "If you ask me, you don't need to talk about it or forget it, you need to let go of it."

"…Let go….?

"Yes. I think you've been trying to forget about it when really you should accept it and let go of your resentments. Forgiving is the first step in forgetting. If you really talked about it with the 'therapists' then you're already halfway there. You just need to stop letting your resentments control you."

I couldn't help it, I stared open mouthed. "…holy crap, that's actually pretty good advice."

He waved a hand, "Who do you think is the twins father figure?"

I rolled my eyes, "And you did a great job with that."

He chuckled, "A better job than you think. One time, they…."

…

I stared open mouthed, "Are you kidding? They actually did that?"

Blood nodded sadly, "Unfortunately, yes. Poor Elliot still has the scars to prove it."

I laughed for the first time in a while, to Elliot's expense, of course. "Poor Elliot!"

Blood sighed, "I'm surprised he didn't quit then and there. The twins have been a thorn in his side since they got their roles, so I really wouldn't have blamed him."

I looked up absentmindedly, "He didn't leave because he likes you more than he dislikes them." That's me, blunt as always.

Apparently freaked out by my bluntness and VERY poor choice of words, Blood started sputtering. I waved my hands, catching my stupid mistake. "NOT WHAT I MEANT! I only meant he thinks of you as a very close friend! Heaven knows why."

"He is very loyal. That's a surprisingly hard trait to find in this world."

I sighed, "There are a lot of traits that are hard to find here. Honesty, loyalty, integrity…as great as this world is, the big virtues are in even shorter supply here than they are in my world. No one values life here enough try their hardest and work to make the world better. And unlike my world, there aren't those who try to make it WORSE, their just…stuck. No one puts it past themselves to do something important because it doesn't seem to matter." I looked at Blood, "If everyone and anything in this world is 'replaceable', then what is this world and anything in it worth?"

He stared at me thoughtfully, then leaned back and groaned, "And a world where no one really dies seemed so good on paper."

I nodded, "Like communism."

…This is the part in an anime where we turn to chibi's as dots appear over our heads. Blood stared at me. "Ok…I have a feeling I don't want to know."

Feeling awkward, I changed the subject. "So what's your problem with Alice? I can't imagine she did anything to you."

Smoothly ignoring my random topic jump, he simply said, "I haven't the slightest clue what you mean."

"Oh, come on! 1 second you're letting her browse your library; next you're attacking her innocence. What up?"

He chuffed, "Innocence? You could hardly call it that. You've only been here for a fraction of the time she has, so you wouldn't have noticed, but the 'innocent' you so fondly revere has been flirting non-stop with every male in Wonderland since arrival."

"…So your idea of flirting is being NICE? Is this world so rough that everyone thinks that you have to have ulterior motives to be civil? What the hell do you think I am?"

"An oblivious nuisance."

I glared at him. He glowered right back. "What? As if it's any worse than your opinion of ME."

"I think your arrogant, pompous, sadist a** who wouldn't know a komodo dragon from an overgrown iguana." I smirked, "So I guess you get to keep your arm."

He rolled his eyes, "How kind of you."

"Wait a sec, why the hell would you care if Alice was being nice to people?"

"…."

"I'm waiting." I punctuated that by tapping my foot.

"…I-"

"AAAAACCCCHHHHOOOOOOOO!" echoed loudly.

"Bless you" "Giessen tide." Blood and I both blinked, blanked for a moment, then looked at each other.

"What the-" I began before the door CAVED in to show all of Wonderland tumbling through the door way, led by Alice, Nightmare, and …Bum bu bu buummmmmm...the White Joker! (Which I guess means both Jokers…?)

MOSTLY DIOLOG AND RATHER SHORT, YES, BUT AT LEAST I'VE FINALLY UPDATED! IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK! T-T-F-N!