Alfred in Underland
When Alfred had returned from his service in the air force it had been to his mothers deathbed. He'd asked her about the location of his brother, which she kept silent about until it was choked upon her last words. Upon those words she did tell him of his brothers decline into the world of crime, and with his lover had made quite the name for himself within The Mafia. And not any Mafia, no the largest most renowned of the Mafia's.
The solitary suites.
They where very well known for their four sections, each serving under a different suite and a different “Queen”, and each of those suites feuding all the time, the leader of each always reaching for the role as the head. They had originally been four separate and diverse Mafia gangs that had joined to wipe out competition. But since competition was gone they had turned in on themselves, fighting within their ranks to take the role of top dog, but they dare not separate lest they lose the lifestyle they own. Talk also told of another faction, the tea party, whom usually allied themselves under the service of the leading suite, but as disorder had fell had taken up the role of peace keeper, refusing to swear allegiance to any leader until a certain assignment had been made.
It was on her death bed that his mother told him of it all, how Matthew was so deeply entwined within this net of crimes and how she worried for him. She made him promise to find his brother and make sure he was safe, and not to blame him lest he be cast away.
'After all' she said 'no one paid Matthew much mind until it was too late.' and with a last shuddering breathe she died.
And this was how Alfred found himself in “The Underland”, a club owned by the mysterious leader of the tea party, the Hatter. He'd had trouble getting in past the door man, a tall muscular German who, despite being dressed in a navy suit with a plumage of feathers of aqua on each shoulder, was intimidating. He felt out of place in his white shirt and bomber jacket, especially as he saw the mass' of people wearing full suits or elaborate dress' with small decorations to show their allegiance to a suite, the Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs where shown in the oddest ways, from jewellery to make-up. He wondered if it was the role of a card Mattie had taken up. There of course ordinary people there, dancing, talking and having a good time, but they too seemed to hold favour towards a suite, but there was also people like the doorman who looked uniformed, yet not assigned a suit. It was as he spied the long table up against the furthest wall did he notice his brother staring dumb struck at him.
'Mattie~' the shout was heard over the thrumming of the music and people turned to stare, even the twins running the bar stopped what they where doing to watch.
And that is how Alfred's relationship with his brothers lover started on the very wrong foot.
The albino male stood, gun cocked and pointed directly in Alfred's face.
'Who the fuck are you?' Alfred gulped and raised his hands in surrender. Watching as his brother explained his identity to the red eyed male. He took in Mattie's appearance as he tried to placate the albino. It looked as though he wasn’t allied to a suit, the distinct lack of insignia proved it, however the beige suit with large golden mouse broach signified he was important, much like the doorman. He took in the homicidal maniacs appearance too, although he was now waving around a gun. Said maniac was in a midnight suit with a startling pink shirt beneath, a matching scarf falling out below the suits jacket. The gun was finally put away and Alfred relaxed, the noise level in the room returning to normal.
'What the hell are you doing here Al!' the question was hissed lowly as the American was pulled into an empty chair at the cluttered table. Alfred looked affronted at being pulled around. Yet quickly explained in sharp tones to his brother about the death of their last parent.
'I thought you'd go right out to service again.' Matthew grumbled, and the albino who had been listening in threw an arm around his shoulder. Alfred glared, the man obviously wasn't safe, and he may have been surprised about the gun in his face before, but this time the hero was prepared.
'Who's this maniac anyway Mattie?' he asked as he pushed the mans hands off his little brother, much to the mans amusement.
'This is Gilbert, or the Cheshire cat more commonly.' Gilbert mock bowed his head.
'Well Gilly boy, you best keep away from my brother, right?' he thought it was a fair threat, he even glared and clenched the hand resting on the table into a fist. But the cat merely laughed whilst his brother blushed.
'No can do Ally, he's mein leibe.' at the Americans confusion Matthew re-iterated in English.
'He's my boyfriend Al.' Alfred felt his brain had broke right there and then.
'Mattie~!' he whined 'first your in the Mafia and now this? Are you trying to kill me here!' he looked his brother over again 'what suite are you under anyway? I cant see any on ya' the Canadian sighed, just like Alfred to get so easily distracted.
'We're too awesome to be part of a suite!' Gilbert exclaimed as though the idea itself was scandalous 'well you know I'm the Cheshire cat' at this he pulled at his shirt to reveal his collar bone, upon which there was a tattoo, it showed a pair of cat eyes with a large grin beneath, a pair of ears above and a striped tail curling around.
'And mein Maus is the Dormouse.' Gilbert then reached over as if to show Matthews tattoo also, only to pushed away. To distract himself from the pouts he got from his boyfriend and brother he reached forward and grabbed a cup of tea that had been resting there.
'so your not really part of the Mafia? I knew Ma' musta' been mistaken...'
'No Al...'
Matthew the proceeded to explain what had happened. How he'd moved away from home to the city, and how he'd been in his apartment one night and ended up housing a very drunk Gilbert for the night, Gilbert having confused Matthews flat for his own which resided on the floor above. He'd woken the drunken albino with the smell of pancakes and Gilbert had been thankful, claiming how he'd possibly saved his drunk arse. The encounter ended with the unemployed Canadian being offered the opportunity for work as a suit.
He'd been accepted under the Hearts suite under the insistence of Gilbert who apparently knew the queen himself, and plus what a better suite for the lad. The Canadian had hoped he would be with Gilbert but he was part of the tea party. Gilbert still managed to spend a lot of time with him, sometimes even joining him on the job and eventually they began to date, this naturally led to Matthew meeting the tea party himself. Gilbert chipped in at this point about how the Hatter had liked Matthew right away, he was polite ,calm and could appreciate tea, but that was as far as it went.
Until Matthew found himself, along with a collection of other cards had been sent as support of the Hatter, who had gone out on a bust despite the Cat being out of the city with the Dodo and the Hare being bed bound with illness, being guarded by an irate arms dealer called the Griffon. Alfred listened on despite not knowing the people, the story having him on the edge of his seat.
'I proved myself and got my role.' the violet eyed boy ended pathetically.
'Awww~ how, c'mon you can't end it like that.' Matthew chuckled lightly, but nodded his head as if to say, yes, yes he could.
'This is dangerous stuff though Matt. I don't like you being associated with all this.' Gilbert lay a hand on Alfred's shoulder shaking his head.
'Ally, Ally, Ally. Didn't you see the streets out there? He's safer as part of the tea party. Anyway he doesn't really get sent out to fight, his role is different. It's usually just the awesome me, March Hare and Mad Hatter that go out for that.'
'But he's just said he was sent out with the Hatter.'
'That was as a card. Cards are disposable.' Alfred looked horrified 'Anyway nothin' woulda happened to him. Didn't I already say the Hatter like him?'
'I don't see what that's got to do with anything.'
'wow your really don’t know much about this organisation do ya?' The cat stuck out his tongue before continuing. 'well I suppose I should start with the suits...'Alfred who didn't appreciate the insinuation of him being ignorant interrupted .
'yeah, yeah four suits each with a queen, deal with different things, and the tea party who are meant to swear allegiance but wont until there's a definite leader and have been tryna keep the peace.' his mother was a smart woman after all. Gilbert laughed loudly.
'well done, you pretty much know what everyone does. But do you know why the four suits are separated? Besides the fact they absolutely hate each other?' he shook his head, forgetting to be disgruntled in the face of curiosity. Gilbert pointed up and to the left, and for the first time Alfred noticed a balcony.
'That's the diamonds the current queen is Feliks and the ace is Toris, the diamonds are pretty much sweet enough and kind but have a sharp edge and a mean streak when it comes to recognition, they tend to work with corruption within business' and running some Mafia owned ones, like hotels and crap.' by the look of distaste on his face it was clear to see the cat didn’t get on well with this suit. 'ya see the suit usually represents you, I mean both the queen and his toy boy are pretty good on the outside, good looking, sweet and kind but they're good fighters, just like the rest of the diamonds, they're manipulative.' he shook his head, moving to point to the right side. 'that's the Clubs, the queens Lilli and her brother Vash is the ace, now I really don’t know how Lilli got the queen post, there’s rumours her brothers taught her to be pretty nifty with a gun. He's super protective so while your round these parts note that, he wont think twice about shooting ya.'
'what makes you think I’ll be here that long?' Alfred growled, the albino really grated on his nerves.
'You'll stay because you want to protect Matt and there's no way he'll be leaving any time soon.' with a big grin he continued. 'anyway, the clubs tend to deal with loans and the money within our establishment' Alfred snorted at this. 'alotta people who haven't paid up have turned up dead, so don’t think they're not as dangerous as anyone else. They keep the income for everyone fair, stops it becoming a headache for us. They're quite well rounded, not as crazy as anyone else to be fair, but still lethal.' his hand pointed to the back left corner 'That's the spades, Natalia is their queen and Ivan's their ace, both are as scary as shit, so I'd stay away, if you need them get the hatter to sort it, their both homicidal maniacs, I swear...' what was promising to be a rant was stopped by Matthew placing a hand on top of his. 'right sorry Matt. They deal with the drugs. Not that their happy about it, they'd prefer to do more of the dirty business of our security, I think they 'did for a while, but their temper is awful and numbers depleted overnight. Their deadly, sharp edged like a spade, unforgiving. And finally there’s the hearts, the queen is Francis and the ace Antonio, both real good friends of mine, they deal with back street business' at Alfred’s confused look he elaborated 'ya know, prostitution, street fightin, makin people disappear, that sorta stuff. They represent everything it means to be a heart too, both heart breakers, can charm anyone, but flip em around and their actually kinda twisted, psychotically possessive.' Alfred watched as his brother scowled at the cat, who merely shrugged 'what? Its true, everyone's kinda fucked up here.' he grinned widely at his own words, his brother just sighing. It was quiet around the table for a minute before Gilbert poured a cup, of what Alfred assumed was tea and pushed it towards him.
'Dude, I don't like tea.' he pushed the cup back. Red eyes narrowed.
'I'd probably give it a try if I where you, your starting to attract attention.' the words where said lowly with a meaningful look upwards. Alfred, blatant as ever turned around to see a selection of the leaders looking down at him. He felt queasy. These people, despite their charades, where dangerous. He took the “tea” and drank it back quickly. The burn down his throat nothing to do with heat. Red faced he turned towards a giggling Matthew and hysterical Gilbert.
'what the hell man! That wasn't tea' Gilbert banged his fist on the table a few times before disappearing beneath it, still laughing.
'no, it wasn't it was Irish coffee' Alfred tilted his head, not comprehending what was so funny. 'Coffee with whiskey in it Al' he stared at his brother affronted, but soon softened at his laughter. Gilbert’s laughter was still audible over the thrumming of the music.
'how does the tea party fit into all of this? I know my lil brother isn't messed up!' he asked suddenly, the implications of Gilbert's words finally sinking in. Gilbert’s head popped up from under the table.
'now ya see the thing that’s mostly important in the solitary suits is being good at your role, it just so happens that people at that level of perfection are usually a nugget short of a happy meal.' he laughed lowly to himself 'mein maus for example can disarm people with his seeming innocence, persuade them, they underestimate him an then BOOM.' he cackles wildly, throwing his arms open and nearly falling off his chair, the look Alfred shoots his brother is one that pleads the his brother was joking about this man being his lover. 'the awesome me is the escape artist of the century.' he grinned 'i'm an illusionist', the last parts whispered like a secret being revealed. His eyes dart up and brighten. 'Hare! When did you guys get back!' Alfred turns to see as large blonde man standing above him, a black trench coat lines with red on his shoulders, a red shirt, black tie combination visible underneath, on his head a little black and red hat with a pair of red ear on either side, Alfred immediately notices the suspicion in his eyes as his looks down, how his hand itches towards what is no doubt a concealed weapon.
'You guys do remember what happened last time you brought a cop in here for a joke?' he scratched his head a little, looking confused and perhaps Alfred admitted, a little intimidating. Alfred couldn't help the sound of protest he made, Gilbert snickered and Matthew just shook his head, exasperated.
'He's mein liebe's bruder' the hares face brightened like a child’s
'Jeez, I didn't know you had a brother Mattie!' the American twin pouted, didn’t Mattie talk about him at all? However he was quick to realise his brother probably rarely had the opportunity as the hare and cat began to chat quickly to each other in rushed tones.
'… an Norge gave us these really cool guns, so I took like 3 because you know what Artie's like, he got some awesome new knives and then when I pointed out how rude it was to refuse such cool guns they both ignored me and started to do the thing they do when they speak in gibberish! Bet Artie regrets it now, it sure got messy when that guy tried runnin', really pissed him off, though the guy cant really be blamed Artie's scary sometimes! I mean I lost him for a while...'
'where is he now?' Matthew spoke up looking behind the tall blonde as if expecting this “Artie” to appear.
'Hatter?' there was a nod 'Well, if you'd have let me finished you'd know he had to get changed, really, he got blood everywhere it was terrifyin', didn't even realise there was a dagger in him 'til I pointed it out.' Alfred was disturbed, by the fact the Hare could tell this story with such a grin on his face and the prospect of meeting this Hatter, who evidently was a maniac, the image of some 7 foot black eyed beast came into his mind. Yeah it was safe to say he wasn't looking forward to meeting the guy. He looked to his brother, who should have looked the same yet had the unmistakable look of concern.
'he's being reckless again.' he muttered. The Hares features soften as his puts a hand oh Matthews head.
'Don't worry, he's got to go see Francis who'll probably lecture him, they'll fight an everythin will be back to normal.' he let out a deep breathe at the smaller males disbelieving look 'you know he's gotta do this mousie.' Gilbert, who evidently had realised a “moment” was happening shoved the much taller man away, hands wrapped around the Canadians shoulders he hissed
'hands off, mine!' the Danish mans laughter was loud enough to be heard clearly over the music garnering much attention, the music quietened and suddenly all eyes weren’t on their table.
'….need to stop this!'
'Who are you to tell me what to do, Frog!'
'I am a queen! And you...'
'And I don't give a rats arse... Now if you excuse me your majesty.' the British brogue has evidently realised he's being watched. 'Sod off you nosey bastards!' the man who throws himself into the armchair is nothing like Alfred had imagined. He's shorter than most people in the room, and petite to match, he has angled features that remind him of the pixies that decorated to fairy tales his and Matthew's mother used to read to them as children. His larger than average eyebrows would, on any other face, be something to laugh out but on his they compliment large emerald eyes. Alfred imagines he would be ...beautiful, if his eyes where not narrowed and the gentle curve of his cupids bow lips where not down turned into a venomous scowl. Its safe to say Alfred's immediately intrigued as to how such a ... feminine man is in such a dangerous position here. The luminous eyes suddenly focus on him, the music has been stopped and the Hatter isn't the only one to notice his presence, the Hare, cat and his brother look worried. He suddenly feels like there's an expectation he'll explode. There's suddenly a mask of insanity across the sulking Brits face. He skips the short distance over, throws his arms around the larger males shoulders and frankly cuddles him
'Aliceeee! I didn't expect you! I am awfully glad your here!' it takes a few minutes, but the tension seems to melt away. He can still feel eyes burning into his skull, but its not the whole room, so all is fine.
'You stupid part! Why the hell did you think it was a good idea to march into the base of a renownd Mafia group? I see you haven’t got your brothers brains!' Alfred's initially affronted. He turns to answer and realises how close he is.
The pandemonium that follows confuses him.
I love Alice in Wonderland... I love gangster drama. what can I say. This has been hanging around on my laptop for agessss, so before I could bring myself to finish the next chapter of Bombing of Britain I had to grit my teeth and finish this ... there will be more :) I'm not sure of the main pairing yet only that its initially a triangle :P, but there will be sides of PruCan, AusHun, GerIta, DenNor and possibly more.
Sorry about my absense, Exams, Uni, Work Etc...
Characters include-
Head of Spades - Natalia (Belarus)
Ace of Spades - Ivan (Russia)
Head of Hearts - Francis (France)
Ace of Hearts - Antonio (Spain)
Head of Clubs - Lilli (Leichenstein)
Ace of Clubs - Vash (Switzerland)
Head of Diamonds - Feliks (Poland)
Ace of Diamonds - Toris (Lithuania)
Alice - Alfred (Alice)
White Rabbit - Kiku (Japan)
Hatter - Arthur (England)
Dormouse - Mathew (Canada)
March Hare - Mathias (Denmark)
Cheshire Cat - Gilbert (Prussia)
Tweedles - Lovi + Feli (South and North Italy)
Dodo - Ludwig (Germany)
Catapillar - Wang (China)
The Duchess - Elizabeta (Hungary)
The Duke - Roderich (Austria)
The Griffon - Erik (Norway)
I disclaim ownership of Alice and Wonderland on which this is based and the characters which I have borrowed... the rest however is mine :)
As always thanks for reading, I appreciate the time taken to do so xx