Chapter Two
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Quick shout out to my only reviewer so far - Luna Happtheart, you are the best! Thank you for the encouragement and I hope you enjoy this part as much as the last! Remember, reviews are as my lifeblood! They sustain me.
This would be the part of the story where I employ some artistic license and change the events of the movie slightly. There will be more and more of this as the story progresses, just so everyone is prepared. Also, I can't state this plainly enough - NON-CON WARNING.Nothing graphic, but there could be some trigger points in here if you're sensitive to that sort of thing.
Anyway, I enjoyed writing this little bit of interaction between our favorite Champion and Hatter, and I hope you do to, dear reader!
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He had made it! Tarrant had made it to Marmoreal. To Alice, his Alice. And she was a beauty, in her pale blue embroidered tunic, smiling to see him safely returned! He silently blessed Chessur and his rescue plan, for making this reunion possible.
And now, on the balcony, he pondered her words. I'll miss you when I wake up.
This seemed to imply that there were portions of her visit that she would not miss, which brought his mind back to the trouble with Stayne. He struggled to maintain a modicum of propriety as she stood straighter next to him, taking his arm. Her nearness, the scent of her skin, drove him even closer to madness than he had been. Before he allowed himself even the possibility of indulging in another stolen kiss, he had to know. "Alice..." he lisped quietly, placing his hat on the railing of the balcony. "There is something I... wish to talk to you about. If you don't mind."
"Of course!" she replied, smiling. She took his hands as he turned toward her.
"Can you..." he hesitated. It would be easier, he thought, to hide his concerns behind the veil of a riddle. In this instance, however, he had to begin from a place of honesty. "The Knave. He implied... that there had been something between you."
Alice looked down, examining his bandaged and tarnished hands, her tiny fingers tracing the small scars and stains she found there. Her muchness seemed to be fleeing before his question. "I'm sure... I don't know what you mean," she hedged.
His heart ached. "Alice."
Her eyes closed. "I didn't want him to, I told him no." With a little shudder, she managed to meet his gaze again. "It is only a dream, after all," she whispered, searching his gaze as though looking for confirmation.
"What did he do?" he gently prodded, attempting to hold his madness in check as he caressed the soft skin of her hand, warming it. She seemed chilled suddenly.
"Nothing," Alice said too quickly, avoiding his eyes. Her cheeks flushed with the lie.
The dark madness flared behind his eyes before he pulled it back under his control. "Please. Let me help you shoulder this burden, my Alice. Come, sit." He led her to a bench where they could still find solitude. Yes, he was hopeful that speaking of whatever had transpired between her that the Knave might help, and he needed to know the extent of transgression against her before he pushed too much further with their new-found attraction.
A small, roaring rage demon inside him also insisted on having Stayne's every sin clear to him so when he found his revenge, he could fit the punishment to the crimes.
"Now," he began, holding her hand. "Go ahead, it's just the two of us here."
She shook her head, looking away. "What if what I tell you means you won't like me anymore?" she asked miserably.
"I highly doubt that anything you tell me could ever mean that," he insisted, A twinge of guilt tugged at him, and he grudgingly offered. "If, however, you would feel more comfortable confiding in someone else, another woman, like Mally or the Queen, perhaps... I would understand."
"No, no, please, no one else must know." She clutched her jacket tighter, taking a deep breath and gathering herself. "I had just gotten the Bandersnatch's eye from Mallymkun, you see, and was on the way give it back. A peace offering. I heard someone behind me, and when I turned, he kind of... caged me in... against the wall..." She stopped here, gripping his hand tight enough to bruise. "He said he liked... largeness. Someone was there, I could see her around a corner. I thought she might help, but she just watched."
It was hard to stay quiet. He wanted to rage, to swear, to take her pain away. Instead, he merely held her gaze as she continued. "I pushed him off and told him to get away from me, but then there was a knife in his hand," she whispered. "And I- I'd seen the moat, I didn't want to- I didn't want to die. And that woman, she watched, stood there the whole time and watched. I just let him. I just let him do it, Hatter!"
Grief and rage welled up inside him, and he pulled her onto his lap as she began to weep. "Mae wee little lass," he murmured into her hair when he'd found his voice, "Ah'm sorry Ah was nae there ta stop 'im." She was tiny in his arms, shivering with sobs. How could any of them expect her to fight the Jabberwocky all alone? Brave as she was, prophecy or no, he couldn't allow it. He swallowed around a knot in his throat, his accent thickening. "Ah will avenge ye, mah sweet Alice. Ah will fight for ye, 'n' th' Red Knave'll pay for what he's dane."
She snuggled against him, buried her face in his neck and let him rock her. As her tears calmed, she shifted in his arms, pressing her lips against the bit of his neck that she could find above his collar. The soft, hot pressure made his whole body shiver. "It should have been you," she breathed quietly against him.
"Alice..." he growled, trying to keep his hands still where they were.
"I wanted you to be my first," she admitted quietly. "You. You're my match. You're the right man, the only man for me. It wouldn't have hurt with you."
"Alice."
"Or maybe it would have, but you would have been gentle. I know it; you've always been gentle with me." Her lips caressed his jaw as she spoke, voice low and pleading. "You could be gentle now, if you wanted."
"Nae, no' now."
Alice jerked back as if stung, trying to disentangle herself as her breath hitched. "Of course. How silly of me. How could you want to, when Stayne has ruined me."
"Be still, laddie!" he commanded, bringing himself back under control as he held her in place against him. Alice watched his eyes fade back to a color closer to his usual bright green, but darker, sadder. He could do this; he could stay calm for her. "Alice," he began softly, his usual slight lisp back and his voice sad. "I didn't mean never, I meant you don't have to, not right now. I still... desire you. I don't want to take advantage of you. I think... I think... I think, I think- I thought- I think- I thought- I feel-" His brain frantically searched for words important enough for what he wanted to tell her.
"Hatter!"
He shook his head, frowning. "Feel. I'm fine."
"I understand now," she said, leaning against him again with a sigh. "I'm sorry."
"After the Frabjous Day, Alice..." he promised. "After the Jabberwocky is dead, after Stayne is dead, after my Futterwakken. When you are sure."
She nodded, and tucked her head under his chin. After a moment, he heard her voice, hazy with sleep. "Hatter?"
"Call me Tarrant, sweet Alice."
"Tarrant?"
"Yes?"
"I think I love you."
"Yes, yes," he agreed quietly, threading his stained fingers through her blonde curls. "Those were the exact words I was looking for."
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To be continued again. At least one more chapter, maybe two. Stay tuned!