In the Rough, chapter 3/40
Title: In the Rough (3/40)
Author: alittleoddish
Rating: Teen
Characters: Alice/Hatter, Jack/Duchess, Charlie
Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Syfy's Alice.
Summary: "But this is starting to sound like a quest! Quests are such a pain, Alice, they really are. All horseback and food rations and traveling in groups and no truly hot tea, with significantly less sex against trees.”
Author's Notes:
Thanks so much for all of you who have given me such lovely feedback! ^_^ Again, thanks so much to my GORGEOUS betas, zombres and randombattlecry! They are simply fantastic, they always keep me on my toes to provide the highest quality of writing I can. Also, thanks to my amazing Official Fandom Soundboard abscondinabox, with whom I have spent many-a-Skype session discussing the ins and outs of characters and plot, and without whom this story would undoubtedly be a disaster.
Chapter One, Chapter Two
Alice knew at once that this was not a normal trip through the Looking Glass.
Instead of blues and pinks flying around her, all she could see was sickly-looking shades of green and black. Instead of feeling as though she were falling through air, she felt as though she were swimming through soup. And if it weren’t for Hatter’s death grip on her hand, she wouldn’t have been able to see him right beside her.
But before she could even finish thinking Oh dear God, I hope this works out, she landed knees-first on hard, cold marble, throwing her hands out to stop her fall. Alice hissed at the bruises she felt forming and blinked her eyes against the light.
“Well,” she heard Hatter say. He sounded breathless himself. “Never thought I’d be seeing this place again.”
The palace room housing the Looking Glass looked just the same as when she had left it; all red and white and filled with Suits wearing plastic bags.
Except, when she had left it, they hadn’t all been staring at her in complete and utter shock.
“Hey,” she said, standing up and giving them a shaky smile, stretching her arms and fingers and knees experimentally. “We’re back. Sorry to just drop in, maybe we should have… called, or something...”
“What are you doing here?” a Suit asked rudely. “What have you done? You’re… you’re not supposed to be here!”
Alice’s eyebrows rose, and she could feel Hatter’s shoulder edge in front of hers protectively, instinctively. “So much for a warm welcome,” he muttered. She could almost feel his eyes darting around the room, counting the Suits and calculating his odds of fighting them all off if they had to. Old habits died hard… she knew, because she found herself unconsciously doing the same thing, sliding into an attack-and-defend mindset like a familiar jacket. It felt like she had never left.
It felt good.
But now all ten Suits had turned to each other and started talking in low, urgent tones. The One came up to the dais, holding out his hand and looking apologetic.
“I’m sorry, Miss Alice, Hatter, sir. It’s just… you’re not supposed to be here.”
“Yeah, so I heard,” Alice said coldly, forcing herself to relax as they walked off the dais and toward the back of the room. “I said we were sorry-”
“No, you misunderstand,” One said. “The Looking Glass has been acting oddly, so we cancelled all the Jumps just to prevent this kind of emergency.”
“What kind of emergency?” Hatter asked, taking a dark step forward.
“The Looking Glass breaking down,” One said simply.
Alice felt her shoulders tense, and she was secretly glad for Hatter’s hand once more reaching for her own. The odd colors, the darkness, the sound she had heard before they had left… “It broke?”
“Just now, about a moment before you came through. Did you notice anything odd about your trip?” He asked, in the manner of a scientist gathering data for an interesting experiment.
Alice laughed hollowly and shook her head, rubbing a slightly trembling hand over her face. “It broke.” She turned to Hatter. “It broke. Hatter, how do I keep breaking this goddamn mirror!?”
Hatter stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, but did not take his eyes off One. Alice could see his nostrils flaring, they way they always did when Hatter was feeling irritated. “Take us to see the King,” he demanded.
***
Jack hefted the rocket launcher on his shoulder and urged his flamingo on, gaining speed. The large clock was hovering fifty feet ahead, in perfect position to-
But then a streak of red flamingo raced by his left, surprising him by appearing out of his blind spot, and he barely had time to grab ahold of his flamingo’s neck before the aftershock of Red’s rocket launcher knocked him into the lake below. He heard the clock shatter and cursed, urging on to the next clock without pause. His visor reminded him cheerfully that the score was black-red, 8-8 and tied.
Thanks, visor, he thought sarcastically. I don’t suppose you’ll tell me how far ahead Red is ahead of me, too?
300 yards, the script rolled neatly across his vision. Jack grumbled something about cheeky technology and turned off the visor scrolling, reaching into the pocket of his body armor. He found the slightly squishy ball there and grinned, hefting it in his hand and waiting for the opportune moment.
He was closing in on Red now - 200 yards - Red’s flamingo had great speed, but there was no match for Jack’s skill with a rocket launcher - 100 yards - the clock was just ahead of them, almost within firing range - 50 yards - Jack could see Red taking aim…
Jack threw the little green ball as hard as he could, not even stopping to watch as it bounced harmlessly off Red’s helmet. As his opponent brought an errant hand up to their helmet, instinctively looking to see what had caused the sudden impact, Jack aimed and fired.
The clock ahead of them shattered with a satisfying crash, and Jack’s helmet burst into victorious music. Grinning broadly, he brought his specialty black flamingo smoothly down to the landing dock. He yanked his helmet off, breathing in the fresh air.
“You’ll never beat me, you know,” he said as his opponent dismounted next to him. “I invented Clock-block, remember. I’m an expert Clock-blocker - undefeated, as a matter of fact.”
Jack smiled at the distinctly feminine snort that came from under the helmet as the Duchess lifted it off of her head. “You cheat, Jack Heart,” the Duchess accused him, eyes narrowed. She dragged one manicured hand through her hair, getting cool air to the roots and spilling the long blonde strands out onto her shoulders. Jack paused to admire how well her curls contrasted with the red of her suit. “What did you throw at me?”
“Just a ball, nothing more. There was no way it could have hurt you.”
“That was a lousy trick, Jack, and you know it,” The Duchess said, dumping her gear alongside his, where a Suit would eventually take care of it. “I was about to win, too.”
Jack cut off all further complaining by pulling her into a kiss, and she reciprocated just enough for him to know that she was only a little bit mad at him before she pushed him away. He smiled and put a hand at the small of her back, the two of them walking side-by-side back to the castle. They hadn’t gone far before Jack spotted a small, dark-robed figure running toward the Clock-block arena.
“Ten!’ he shouted in greeting. “What’s the rush?”
Ten bowed quickly at the two of them before saying, between panted breaths, “The Looking Glass finally broke, your Highness.”
Jack and the Duchess exchanged a troubled look. “Well,” he sighed, looking back to Ten, “It’s not like we didn’t know it was coming. I’ll get my researchers to work double-speed, and send out a questing party tomorrow. At least we got the Glass blocked off before any damage was done.”
“Well, that’s just it, your Highness,” Ten said, looking uncomfortable. “Two people managed to jump through the Looking Glass just before it broke.”
“Who?” The Duchess demanded.
“Miss Alice and the Hatter, m’lady. They wish to speak to you.”
It was times like this that made Ten very, very happy that the Red Queen was no longer on the throne - because it was during tense, silent, pregnant pauses like these that she most liked to yell “off with their head!” at whoever had borne the bad news. As it was, Jack just broke the silence by coughing and cracking his neck.
“Well,” he said, very calmly and to no one in particular. “We’d better meet them, then.” And he stormed off toward the castle, the Duchess following closely behind.
“Jack,” she said, but he wouldn’t look at her. “Jack, why are they here?” She wrapped a hand around the crook of his arm, struggling to match his pace. She looked closely at his face as she asked, “You didn’t invite them here, did you? You would have told me if… you… had…”
The end of her sentence trailed off as Jack abruptly stopped, turned to look at her, and said coldly, “No, Duchess, I did not invite Alice here. I do not, however, think it is a coincidence that she suddenly appears on our doorstep right when we most need her, so I am going to go answer to whatever it is that she and Hatter require.” He stepped out of the grip of her hand at his elbow. “Now, will you please accompany me to the Throne Room without any more questions?” And he slipped back into his stride as though he had never stopped.
The Duchess stood frozen, for only a second, before running to follow him. “Jack,” she said once within shouting distance. “I’m sorry.”
He stopped and looked back at her, cold expression slipping ever so slightly, and the Duchess realized: he was just as confused as she felt. She set her jaw and looped her hand once more around the crook of his shoulder, the two of them now walking in tandem back toward the Palace. Jack was her husband now, and she was his Queen, she resolved. Whatever had happened, they could handle it together.
**
Next Chapter
Leave a Comment
Author: alittleoddish
Rating: Teen
Characters: Alice/Hatter, Jack/Duchess, Charlie
Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Syfy's Alice.
Summary: "But this is starting to sound like a quest! Quests are such a pain, Alice, they really are. All horseback and food rations and traveling in groups and no truly hot tea, with significantly less sex against trees.”
Author's Notes:
Thanks so much for all of you who have given me such lovely feedback! ^_^ Again, thanks so much to my GORGEOUS betas, zombres and randombattlecry! They are simply fantastic, they always keep me on my toes to provide the highest quality of writing I can. Also, thanks to my amazing Official Fandom Soundboard abscondinabox, with whom I have spent many-a-Skype session discussing the ins and outs of characters and plot, and without whom this story would undoubtedly be a disaster.
Chapter One, Chapter Two
Alice knew at once that this was not a normal trip through the Looking Glass.
Instead of blues and pinks flying around her, all she could see was sickly-looking shades of green and black. Instead of feeling as though she were falling through air, she felt as though she were swimming through soup. And if it weren’t for Hatter’s death grip on her hand, she wouldn’t have been able to see him right beside her.
But before she could even finish thinking Oh dear God, I hope this works out, she landed knees-first on hard, cold marble, throwing her hands out to stop her fall. Alice hissed at the bruises she felt forming and blinked her eyes against the light.
“Well,” she heard Hatter say. He sounded breathless himself. “Never thought I’d be seeing this place again.”
The palace room housing the Looking Glass looked just the same as when she had left it; all red and white and filled with Suits wearing plastic bags.
Except, when she had left it, they hadn’t all been staring at her in complete and utter shock.
“Hey,” she said, standing up and giving them a shaky smile, stretching her arms and fingers and knees experimentally. “We’re back. Sorry to just drop in, maybe we should have… called, or something...”
“What are you doing here?” a Suit asked rudely. “What have you done? You’re… you’re not supposed to be here!”
Alice’s eyebrows rose, and she could feel Hatter’s shoulder edge in front of hers protectively, instinctively. “So much for a warm welcome,” he muttered. She could almost feel his eyes darting around the room, counting the Suits and calculating his odds of fighting them all off if they had to. Old habits died hard… she knew, because she found herself unconsciously doing the same thing, sliding into an attack-and-defend mindset like a familiar jacket. It felt like she had never left.
It felt good.
But now all ten Suits had turned to each other and started talking in low, urgent tones. The One came up to the dais, holding out his hand and looking apologetic.
“I’m sorry, Miss Alice, Hatter, sir. It’s just… you’re not supposed to be here.”
“Yeah, so I heard,” Alice said coldly, forcing herself to relax as they walked off the dais and toward the back of the room. “I said we were sorry-”
“No, you misunderstand,” One said. “The Looking Glass has been acting oddly, so we cancelled all the Jumps just to prevent this kind of emergency.”
“What kind of emergency?” Hatter asked, taking a dark step forward.
“The Looking Glass breaking down,” One said simply.
Alice felt her shoulders tense, and she was secretly glad for Hatter’s hand once more reaching for her own. The odd colors, the darkness, the sound she had heard before they had left… “It broke?”
“Just now, about a moment before you came through. Did you notice anything odd about your trip?” He asked, in the manner of a scientist gathering data for an interesting experiment.
Alice laughed hollowly and shook her head, rubbing a slightly trembling hand over her face. “It broke.” She turned to Hatter. “It broke. Hatter, how do I keep breaking this goddamn mirror!?”
Hatter stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, but did not take his eyes off One. Alice could see his nostrils flaring, they way they always did when Hatter was feeling irritated. “Take us to see the King,” he demanded.
***
Jack hefted the rocket launcher on his shoulder and urged his flamingo on, gaining speed. The large clock was hovering fifty feet ahead, in perfect position to-
But then a streak of red flamingo raced by his left, surprising him by appearing out of his blind spot, and he barely had time to grab ahold of his flamingo’s neck before the aftershock of Red’s rocket launcher knocked him into the lake below. He heard the clock shatter and cursed, urging on to the next clock without pause. His visor reminded him cheerfully that the score was black-red, 8-8 and tied.
Thanks, visor, he thought sarcastically. I don’t suppose you’ll tell me how far ahead Red is ahead of me, too?
300 yards, the script rolled neatly across his vision. Jack grumbled something about cheeky technology and turned off the visor scrolling, reaching into the pocket of his body armor. He found the slightly squishy ball there and grinned, hefting it in his hand and waiting for the opportune moment.
He was closing in on Red now - 200 yards - Red’s flamingo had great speed, but there was no match for Jack’s skill with a rocket launcher - 100 yards - the clock was just ahead of them, almost within firing range - 50 yards - Jack could see Red taking aim…
Jack threw the little green ball as hard as he could, not even stopping to watch as it bounced harmlessly off Red’s helmet. As his opponent brought an errant hand up to their helmet, instinctively looking to see what had caused the sudden impact, Jack aimed and fired.
The clock ahead of them shattered with a satisfying crash, and Jack’s helmet burst into victorious music. Grinning broadly, he brought his specialty black flamingo smoothly down to the landing dock. He yanked his helmet off, breathing in the fresh air.
“You’ll never beat me, you know,” he said as his opponent dismounted next to him. “I invented Clock-block, remember. I’m an expert Clock-blocker - undefeated, as a matter of fact.”
Jack smiled at the distinctly feminine snort that came from under the helmet as the Duchess lifted it off of her head. “You cheat, Jack Heart,” the Duchess accused him, eyes narrowed. She dragged one manicured hand through her hair, getting cool air to the roots and spilling the long blonde strands out onto her shoulders. Jack paused to admire how well her curls contrasted with the red of her suit. “What did you throw at me?”
“Just a ball, nothing more. There was no way it could have hurt you.”
“That was a lousy trick, Jack, and you know it,” The Duchess said, dumping her gear alongside his, where a Suit would eventually take care of it. “I was about to win, too.”
Jack cut off all further complaining by pulling her into a kiss, and she reciprocated just enough for him to know that she was only a little bit mad at him before she pushed him away. He smiled and put a hand at the small of her back, the two of them walking side-by-side back to the castle. They hadn’t gone far before Jack spotted a small, dark-robed figure running toward the Clock-block arena.
“Ten!’ he shouted in greeting. “What’s the rush?”
Ten bowed quickly at the two of them before saying, between panted breaths, “The Looking Glass finally broke, your Highness.”
Jack and the Duchess exchanged a troubled look. “Well,” he sighed, looking back to Ten, “It’s not like we didn’t know it was coming. I’ll get my researchers to work double-speed, and send out a questing party tomorrow. At least we got the Glass blocked off before any damage was done.”
“Well, that’s just it, your Highness,” Ten said, looking uncomfortable. “Two people managed to jump through the Looking Glass just before it broke.”
“Who?” The Duchess demanded.
“Miss Alice and the Hatter, m’lady. They wish to speak to you.”
It was times like this that made Ten very, very happy that the Red Queen was no longer on the throne - because it was during tense, silent, pregnant pauses like these that she most liked to yell “off with their head!” at whoever had borne the bad news. As it was, Jack just broke the silence by coughing and cracking his neck.
“Well,” he said, very calmly and to no one in particular. “We’d better meet them, then.” And he stormed off toward the castle, the Duchess following closely behind.
“Jack,” she said, but he wouldn’t look at her. “Jack, why are they here?” She wrapped a hand around the crook of his arm, struggling to match his pace. She looked closely at his face as she asked, “You didn’t invite them here, did you? You would have told me if… you… had…”
The end of her sentence trailed off as Jack abruptly stopped, turned to look at her, and said coldly, “No, Duchess, I did not invite Alice here. I do not, however, think it is a coincidence that she suddenly appears on our doorstep right when we most need her, so I am going to go answer to whatever it is that she and Hatter require.” He stepped out of the grip of her hand at his elbow. “Now, will you please accompany me to the Throne Room without any more questions?” And he slipped back into his stride as though he had never stopped.
The Duchess stood frozen, for only a second, before running to follow him. “Jack,” she said once within shouting distance. “I’m sorry.”
He stopped and looked back at her, cold expression slipping ever so slightly, and the Duchess realized: he was just as confused as she felt. She set her jaw and looped her hand once more around the crook of his shoulder, the two of them now walking in tandem back toward the Palace. Jack was her husband now, and she was his Queen, she resolved. Whatever had happened, they could handle it together.
**
Next Chapter
Leave a Comment