HERE WE ARE MY FRIENDS!

YOU KNOW, I'VE NEVER REALLY ADRESSED THIS BEFORE, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO NOW. I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU A TIP ON HOW TO MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS AND O.C'S MORE BELEIVABLE! FIRST, ONCE YOU PICK A PERSONALITY, STICK TO IT. YES, LET THEM MATURE AS YOU GO, BUT KEEP THEM IN GENERAL. SECOND, WHEN YOU WRITE, THINK AS THOUGH YOU WERE THAT CHARACTER. YA GOTTA BE THEM. AND THIRD, DON'T LET YOU'RE CHARACTER DO THINGS THAT SEEM OUT OF CHARACTER! A MILLION TIMES, I'VE READ FANFICS WHERE THE NICE, EASYGOING O.C'S GET JELOUS OVER SILLY THINGS. IT JUST DOESN'T STRIKE ME AS SOMETHING THE PERSON WITH THAT PERSONALITY WOULD DO. LET THE EMOTIONS OF THE CHARACTER THROUGH, BUT DON'T GO FLYING INTO SPECTUMS THAT THE CHARACTER DOESN'T HAVE A REAL AFFINITY FOR!

THAT IS ALL

Ch.62: Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jog.

My pen scribbled absently on the forms as I sat in Train's office, trying to focus on my paperwork. Nothing seemed right anymore. After I had woken up, I ran home to find I'd only been gone for about two hours. Leftover stared at me lazy eyed as he always had, and went back to sleep, unaware that I was freaking out. I was in my old (original) clothes, the blade and vial were gone, and any other items I'd acquired in Wonderland.

Was…was it really just a dream? I shook my head. There was absolutely no way in hell that was a dream. I can barely remember my dreams, and the ones I do remember are never that vivid. So why am I here?

I jumped about a foot as I registered someone knocking on the table near my head. I jerked my head up to see Glenn, the chief, standing over me. He frowned, "Are you ok C.J? You seem out of it." I nodded, "I', ok…."

Train's messy hair peeked over the walls of the cubical, "No, you're not. You've been spacer than usual all day. What's up Thourn?" I wrung my hands and looked down at them, "Well…a…a while ago…I had to go away somewhere…." Both nodded, following. "I got stuck there. At first, all I wanted to do was come back, but then I met a bunch of people. I…I got really close to them. A lot of s*** happened…I even met a guy I liked." Two sets of eyebrows hit the roof and the older men exchanged a look.

"But then, I had to come back. I really miss all of them…." Train sighed, "See? Told ya something was up." Glenn shook his head and glared at Train, "If you're not going to say anything helpful, shut up. That's an order." Train rolled his eyes as Glenn looked back at me, "C.J, you're been working the summers here for a while now. You're an amazing detective and a good friend to everyone here. If anyone here deserves to be happy, you do."

I looked up at him, "But…." "Summer interns are a dime a dozen. None that can do field work, but they can handle your paperwork. If there's somewhere you'd rather be, go." I frowned and looked down again, "But…I'm not sure if I CAN go back again…." Train tilted his head, "I don't know what the hell you're on Thourn, and I'm not going to bother. But you won't know until you try."

I looked at them, and nodded. "You're right. I have to try."

WHITE:

I threw open the door of Nightmare's office, tossing Gray aside when he tried to stop me. I stalked to his desk and slammed the hateful thing on the table, "WHAT THE HELL?!" Nightmare, though he seemed frightened by my rage, didn't seem surprised.

"Joker, calm down!" "Don't tell me to calm down! Tell me what the f*** happened!" Nightmare puffed up a little, "I will if you'd try to calm down!" I stood there, forcing my anger back into my throat and sat stiffly in the chair nearby. Gray shuffled behind Nightmare, ready in case I flipped out again.

Nightmare looked down hatefully at the crystal vial. C.J's vial. "Joker, I'm just as upset about this as you are. Just about everyone, even the faceless, are ready to riot." I gripped my hands together to keep myself from punching something. "Joker, if anything, take solace in the fact that C.J didn't CHOSE to leave." I jerked my head up to look at him, "WHAT?! What the hell do mean?!"

"From what I can gather, C.J left Wonderland not because she chose to, but because she won her game." Gray frowned, looking as disturbed by this as anyone, "But…if she won, she should've been able to stay, right?" Nightmare nodded, "In the foreigner's game, yes. But I'm coming to suspect that wasn't the game."

I leaned forward, rubbing my forehead. "What?"

"C.J was never playing the game of foreigners. She was playing an entirely different game. And the goal was to kill Alistair."

…..

I stood outside the Tower, unable to leave. I had seen Alice on my way out. Unlike normal, when she saw me and ran away, she walked up to me and asked how I was. I put a hand over my face. Perhaps the worst part was; this is the lowest I've ever been.

C.J wasn't playing the normal game. The whole time, she was just here to kill Alistair and leave all of us alone. Not fair…it's not fair! They can't do that! They can't let us have her and then take her away like this!

The Joker exists outside of the game of foreigners. An observer that occasionally acts to turn things around. My whole life…my whole life, it was just me and Black in that fringe. Always watching the others and knowing that even if we did try to mix in, we'd always be pushed out and left out. Always on the outside looking in.

And so was she.

ALICE:

I climbed the stairs of the Tower, which felt unusually quiet and cold. I felt a dull ache in my heart, knowing what the cause was. C.J left. She went back to her world…OUR world, without saying goodbye. I felt tears sting my eyes as I plodded upwards.

I had seen White in the hallway earlier. He looked so…drained. I think that, despite all the things he's done, he really did care about her. Why did she leave?

I shouldered open the door to Julius' space and saw that, for once, he wasn't working. He was standing at the window and staring out.

"Hi…." He turned to see me, "…Alice, you shouldn't cry about it." I blinked and swiped at my face to see tears. He walked up to me, "I talked to Nightmare. C.J didn't choose to leave, she didn't have a choice." I stared at him, open mouthed.

He sighed and straightened his glasses. "It seems she wasn't playing the same game as you. She was playing a game where she had to kill Alistair and go home."

His words echoed in my head, "…air…." He looked at me, "Hm?" I took a step to him, fresh tears spilling, "That's not fair!"

He backed up a little, then caught me and pulled me into a hug. "I-it's ok…?" "No, it's not! This isn't right! They can't take C.J away! N-not…not if she didn't want to leave!"

He sighed and pushed me back a little, "Alice, its ok. She'll be back." My tears almost evaporated, "Huh?"

A tiny smirk twitched, "Call it intuition, but I have a feeling she will be. People like her have a tendency to turn up again like a bad penny."

THERE, A SHORT ONE, BUT I HOPE YOU LIKED IT. IF ANY OF YOU HAVE A SUGGESTION ON HOW C.J WILL GET BACK TO WONDERLAND, I'D BE PLEASED TO HEAR IT! BECAUSE MY IDEA IS PRETTY LAME….PLEASE REVIEW, AND STAY TUNED!