All the Best People Are
Summary: Alice is submitted into an insane asylum by Hamish Ascot. Mirana feels something is off for Alice hasn't visited like she promised. Now with her newly reunited sister, the two must enter the Abovelands with no idea what's in store for them.
Disclaimer: I do not own Alice in Wonderland or any of its plots and characters. This is simply for entertainment purposes. All rights belong to Tim Burton, DIsney and Lewis Carol.
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Chapter One
But there's nothing wrong with me.
She had been in this situation once before, but she had managed to get out of it. She hadn't been so lucky this Time around. And so, she sits there, restrained in a strait jacket, staring at Hamish as her blood boils. If only looks could kill. He doesn't look at her, but she knows he can feel her glare burning through the back of his head as he signs the documents, giving up her freedom.
"Thank you for bringing her in, Lord Ascot," the head doctor address him pleasantly, sealing the deal with a firm handshake. "Insane women on the streets are bad enough, nevertheless one traveling around the world. Quite a shame, she has helped our economy but oh well."
He now turns to her. "Well, Miss Alice Kingsleigh, if you'll be cooperative and not make a fuss, we can get you settled in just in Time for dinner. Does that sound good?"
Alice remains silent, her blue eyes ablaze with fury. She watches as he approaches her, a large syringe in his hand. "The last thing I want to do is hurt you." He runs his fingers through her drenched hair. Her face is bright red for she had been struggling for nearly a half hour before she was restrained with the help of two extra men, four in total. A new record. "Such a shame a beautiful girl like you is a looney," he mumbles, brushing her cheek with his fingertips.
"Get the fuck away from me," she warns. "I won't hesitate to bite your finger off, bastard. I've done it before, I can, and I will do it again."
She gasps out of shock as the doctor grabs her chin roughly, his voice dangerously low. "You have no rights where you're going. I could kill you if I so desired without any repercussions, so I suggest you be smart about everything you say or do."
"My crew will come back for me. I know they will."
"Your crew does not care about you," he replies. "If you think that they care about a woman, you're more insane than I thought you were," he snarls before shoving her to the ground roughly. She grunts, unable to catch herself. She somehow manages to keep her head from slamming into the floor.
Alice sits up, two works grabbing her and beginning to pull her away. "You won't get away with this! The world knows who I am!" she yells, struggling against the workers.
The man walks over, staring at her with a twisted smirk playing on his lips. "Oh, but Captain Kingsleigh," he uses the name sarcastically. "I already have. Begone with her." He waves a dismissive hand and walks away now, the doors slamming shut behind him.
XxxXxxx
"Dr. Dawson, do you really think it's necessary to lock her up?" Helen inquires, standing when he enters the room. "Lord Hamish Ascot sees her as not only competition but also as someone to not be fond of due to a marriage proposal rejected. She's had no history of any mental illnesses. I truthfully believe that he brought her in to spite her. She's a brilliant young woman, just like her father. Please. I'm practically begging you at this point to let her go."
The doctor stands there, unimpressed at her small speech. "I'm afraid not, Mrs. Kingsleigh," he says simply. "Your daughter has already been evaluated and has shown plenty of signs of textbook insanity, even if she has been one of the more functioning people. That being said, she will be prepared for treatment and other attempts in an effort to allow her to re-enter society as a member. There is no guarantee that it will be successful, however. But if she dies, you will be paid as a thank you in the name of science."
Helen's eyes widen at that. "W-what? You can't experiment on her! She's not a rat! I demand that you let her go this instant! Money does nothing for me if she's dead! You can't do this! She's my daughter!" she pleads now, fearing for her child's life.
"Unless deemed fit to leave, she must stay here with me," he replies simply. "She is incapable of going back into society. The experiments have been getting better. Injuries and deaths have become minimal. I assure you that she is in good hands."
"Good hands?! You just told me that-!" She turns when she hears the doors slam open, Alice rushing out, somehow out of her straitjacket as she grabs her mother, absolutely frantic.
"Mother, please! Get help! I beg of you! Get Patrick if you're able to! He'll know how to help! Please!" Tw men rush out after her, grabbing her and yanking her back. "They're gonna torture me! Mother!"
Helene can only watch, completely helpless as her daughter is literally pulled away from her. She doesn't know what to do, having never been in this situation before. But she does know that if she doesn't do anything soon, there's a large chance that she'll never see her again, alive, that is... "Please. You can't take her away! She has her whole life ahead of her! You can't just allow this to happen! You have the power to stop it, Dr. Dawson!"
"Security!" he calls out and Helen knows there's no use. She grabs Alice's belongings, turning and leaving the asylum, flipping through her daughter's logbook where she has all the information of crew written down.
She enters a carriage after telling the cab driver her home address, scanning the names, looking for Patrick's, cursing beneath her breath before returning to the beginning of the book, knowing well that Patrick has been an old crewmate of hers, going towards five years of working with her, now. She finally finds it, letting out a breath of relief, quickly folding the page at the corner so she doesn't lose the spot. She relaxes, if only slightly knowing that she needs to contact him as soon as she can, else Alice would be subjected to things she doesn't want to even imagine.
"Don't worry, Alice. You'll be out of there soon enough," Helen whispers to herself, knowing that she'll have to get Margaret involved as well. She truly doesn't know why she trusted Hamish to begin with. More than likely because for some strange reason, she believes that Hamish is like his father, a noble, honest man. But no... He isn't. She should have realized it when Hamish attempted to run Alice out of business and now that Alice was on the verge of bankrupting Hamish's business, he decides to fight dirty.
Helen knows that women don't have many rights and the moment that they're deemed insane, they lose all of them and she has a sick feeling that the doctor would use Alice for his own personal needs.
She is aware that her daughter isn't deemed sane under the view of society. She knows that Alice has her own wants and visions for her future. She has ambitions and goals. She knows that she had been planning a year long journey around the world to open trade and just explore. Settling down for her might never actually be a reality for Alice. Helen has accepted that now and she's glad that her daughter has found her own way. But she fears now that it might have just cost her her life.
She blames herself partially. Actually, more than partially, especially since she continued to talk to the family long after Alice herself had cut ties with Hamish and his family. She should have known that something was wrong, especially since her daughter told her that she thought Hamish was going to do something. "Why didn't I listen?" she mumbles to herself, hating the thought of losing her daughter over something she could have prevented. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
Helen leans her head back against the carriage seat and for the first Time since the passing her husband, she allows several tears to fall.
XxxXxxx
"Get away!" Alice yells, still struggling against the men. Her eyes widen as the doctor begins to stalk closer to her, a needle in hand. "You can't! There's nothing wrong with me! Let me go!" She grimaces at a hand that goes over her mouth, quieting her before Dr. Dawson inserts the needle into her neck.
Alice stumbles, her vision almost immediately growing blurry before she's set down by the two men, her energy dissipating quickly. She whimpers tiredly before passing out. One man turns to Dawson now. "Shall we get her a room?"
"Yes..." he says slowly, staring at the young woman, a sinister gleam forming in his eyes. "One of you prepare the experimentation room. The other actually get a room for her ready. I don't care who does what, but I want her ready in the span of five minutes." He claps to dismiss them, leaving the room.
The men share a worried look, knowing well that the doctor would be fascinated with Alice for a while now. He hasn't had a young girl to experiment on for well over a year. The doctor, unsurprisingly, isn't married, older, around his mid-forties. He's been in the business for over a decade and has done plenty of despicable acts all behind closed doors. He experiments brutally on men and fulfills his desires on women. No one has said anything simply because people don't care about the mentally ill or unstable. They believe that they have nothing to offer to society so they are thrown to the side, forgotten by everyone except those who know how to cheat the system without getting into trouble with law enforcement. Those are the truly insidious people.
Dr. Dawson is the perfect example. Neither of the men know what to do. They know who Alice is. Mostly the whole world knows who she is. She's opened dozens of trading routes around the world. She's talked to world leaders. She's done things that barely men triple her age have accomplished. If anyone finds out about it, maybe they can do something. "She told her mother about someone," one whispers to the other. "If we manage to talk to them, we can get the rest of the crew involved."
"And what's that gonna do?" the other demands. "He has control over us, over this asylum."
"Yes, I know but Captain Kingsleigh is known throughout the world. If anyone hears about it, they'll fight for her to be let go. She's spoken to hundreds, perhaps even thousands. One person versus all of them? He'll have to give in. We can't just let her just be subjected to this... fucker. Don't you think it's Time to do something? Anything?"
The man looks down at the woman, his expression hardening. "You're right."
xxxXxxx
Mirana leans over the balcony, watching the sunset in silence, a feeling of peacefulness in the air but something seems missing. "Wasn't Alice supposed to be here a week ago?" Tarrant inquires as he walks over to the White Queen.
"She was," she confirms. "But Time works differently up there. Perhaps it is not up yet."
"She's always been here when she's promised," Hatter returns. "Do you think that something happened to her? It's unlike her to not show up, you know..." He pauses. "... I felt something strange wash over me today. As though something happened, told me that... She's in danger."
Mirana looks over at him now. "What? Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Because I wasn't... I wasn't sure what it was, actually," he responds. "I never felt it before, but it was a warning, almost. I don't know..." He looks towards the sunset, merely thinking. "I don't know."
"We have to do something! We can't just leave her to defend herself!" Mirana begins to panic before she rushes inside.
"It could have been something I ate," Hatter jokes, following his queen, attempting to calm her down. She glares at him in return, not finding it too amusing.
"She's my fiancée. I know her like the back of my hand. Now that you said something, I know that something's wrong. I knew she shouldn't have left. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it," she reiterates, pacing back and forth now, absolutely hating the fact that she doesn't know what is happening. "She's in the Abovelands. Even if I did know what's happening, I don't know how to get up there. Oh Gods, this is terrible. I can't even. I-."
Hatter walks over, pulling the monarch into a hug. "Calm down. She's fine. She can take care of herself. You know she can."
Mirana nods, trying to calm herself down. "I-I know," she whispers. "I know but I can't help but worry. Do you know any way to see if she's alright? From here? Without going to the Abovelands?"
"If there's a way, I don't know it," he answers truthfully.
"McTwisp knows how to get there. He'll be able to lead us to her."
"If he still remembers," Tarrant replies. "He has the memory of a goldfish and the bravery of a squirrel," he begins, following the queen as she enters the library. "What are you searching for?"
"Blocked passages into the Abovelands. My parents have sealed over hundreds of them that lead to different places there. I need to find the one that leads directly to... England, I believe that's what she said her home is."
"She's a sailor. She might not even be at home. What if she got injured at sea? There's no entrance to that. We know nothing about the customs up there. We don't know how they act, their morals. For all we know, we can be killed as soon as we step foot there," Tarrant argues.
"I doubt that's the case. If Alice is from there, there must be some good morals there."
"But she also spoke about how much she truly doesn't like it up there. I mean, she said that she'd prefer to live down here with us as opposed to where she was raised."
"That doesn't mean that everyone up there are these murderers who need to kill new people as soon as they see them. Look. We'll go there and we'll lay low. We'll see what they wear, what they act like. Don't forget. We're doing this for Alice," Mirana reminds him.
"I know but up there seems far more barbaric than it ever will be down here," he responds, sitting down as Mirana searches for the book, cursing under her breath when she sees half of the spines faded.
"Remind me to get the book covers restored when all of this is over. I've kept forgetting," she speaks aloud, however, mostly to herself.
"Glad to know that you have your priorities straight," Chessur says as he appears. "Here." He hands her the book that is easily older than all of the others.
Mirana takes it with a thank you, beginning to flip through the pages quickly, reading over the passages and where it brings the person in the Abovelands. She searches for England specifically, growing annoyed as she struggles to find it. "Where the Hell is it?" she whispers, becoming frantic.
Hatter walks over, carefully taking the book before flipping to the page she's looking for, handing it back to her with his signature smile.
"Thanks," Mirana whispers before taking the book and reading over the page slowly and carefully. "Alright. There's an entrance down in Salazum Grum that leads directly into Manchester, England. I'm not entirely sure where Alive lives but she did say that she's fairly popular up there so we can potentially ask around and find her out. Tarrant, I'm going to need your help with this. Get some of your modest clothes that aren't coloured too brightly and not damaged. I need to get my own clothes."
"Is Bloody Big Head coming?" Hatter inquires, causing Mirana to hesitate as she thinks.
"She's intimidating, that's for sure but we need to redo her hair if she is to join. That being said, she might not be as willing to do so. But I'll ask regardless. Go get ready. I don't want to be here waiting any longer than we need to especially not if Alice is in true danger." She leaves the library, still re-reading the page to ensure that she has everything right.
Mirana heads over to her sister's room, knocking on the door. "Racie, can you come out? I need to talk with you. It's about Alice."
Iracebeth opens the door, looking at her younger sister. "What's the matter?"
The White Queen explains the situation to her, finishing with a deep breath. "So please, I desperately need your help."
"Well, I have one reason to not help and another reason to. She killed my Jabberwocky, but she risked her life to reunite us when she had absolutely no reason to."
"Two reasons more. She's my fiancée and your soon to be sister-in-law."
The Red Queen nods. "And for me to go? I have to fix my hair? I quite like it like this," she jokes although there is a serious undertone in her voice.
"We can't raise any suspicion up there. Alice knows more about Underland than we ever will with the Abovelands. That being said, we have to pretend that we're not royalty. People won't know who we are the slightest bit."
Iracebeth nods. "I'll go fix my hair, then. Would a braid be sufficient?" she inquires, Mirana nodding in return before leaving and heading to her own room to get ready.
She opens the large closet, staring at the dresses in silence before choosing a very light pink one, plain, no frills or anything in that regard. She just hopes that it won't look that strange. She goes to close the door but stops as navy blue catches her eye. She looks at the jacket in silence, taking it off the hanger as she holds it.
"You trust me enough to keep it safe?" Mirana teases as she watches Alice hang it up in the closet.
"It's a token and an incentive to come back to Underland," Alice jokes in response, smoothing out any creases she sees with her hand.
Mirana rolls her eyes, walking over and wrapping her arms around her waist. "But seriously," the monarch begins, looking into her fiancée's eyes. "Will you come back to me?"
Alice smiles gently in return. "In no more than two months," she whispers. "I swear it." She presses a kiss against her lips, beginning to pull away but the White Queen merely holds her tighter, not wanting to let go, as though afraid that if she lets her leave, she'll never see her again.
"You swear?" Mirana practically whimpers.
"Of course. I always do. You know that," she responds, becoming confused. "What's the matter? What's wrong?"
"I... I truthfully don't know," Mirana answers. "Something just is telling me that if you go, that I might never see you again. I don't know why. It's the strangest feeling."
Alice pulls away, gently taking her queen's face in her hands, connecting their eyes. "I will come back. I swear on my father's grave, and you know that I don't take that lightly, not one bit. Mirana, I haven't lied to you. Ever. And I certainly won't start now."
Mirana nods, pulling Alice back into her arms. "You better fucking not," she mumbles in return. "Or I'll find you and drag you back down here."
Alice chuckles as her cursing, holding her tighter as she buries her face in her hair. "And you act as if I'm opposed to that."