HatterXReader(SyFy Alice):Part 9

You rode the elevator bus upwards for a time while Hatter regathered himself. As soon as he could breathe normally again he stood up with his usual fluid gracefulness and made his way past you to the driver's seat. He pulled on some levers which brought the bus downwards and you had a panicked moment thinking that he meant to go back to the library, but before you could question him about it the bus came to an abrupt stop. The jerk of the clunky machine made you stagger, but thankfully you were able to keep a tight grip on the steel pole so you didn't fall. As soon as the doors to the bus hissed open you stormed out of them. You walked down a short concrete hallway that opened up into the fresh air of the outdoors. You slowed your step a bit mindful that these buildings often led out to open drops hundreds of feet in the air. This one led out to a small clearing of dirt at first sight. You charged your way ahead, but had to stop when you realized that it too sadly only led to a giant drop off. A bit of vertigo came rushing back as you caught sight of the massive free fall below. You quickly took a few steps back as you grabbed the base of a large tree that was somehow growing there. You were angry, angry at this world, angry with the people in it, angry at this situation, and more than that you were desperately holding onto the anger inside you because without it you would be left feeling nothing, but crippling fear and confusion.    

"Where do you think you're going?" Hatter called out after you in his cockneyed British accent as he tried to catch up. "Anywhere but here," you answered as you carefully tried to make your way around the tree. You circled around the tree trunk placing it in between yourself and Hatter who was still trying to reach you. "There are no go areas in this town," he said calmly as you both stopped on opposite sides of the tree. "I don't believe this is happening!" you cried as your poor brain tried to come up with a new plan, but failed. "This place! You people! This is all too weird!" you snapped your frustration at Hatter. He took a small step towards you, locking gazes with you from across the tree as he said, "Listen calm down, I'm going to try and get you home Okay?" He seemed sincere, but then again he did before and look where that had gotten you. "Really?" you snarked sarcastically while breaking eye contact and moving to place the tree firmly in between you both again. "Yes," he answered matter of factly while trying to move towards you again. You both circled around the tree once more like a strange dance, you fixedly trying to keep him at a distance and he determined to close it. "Really. Could you just- could you just keep still?" he said, while suddenly stopping in his tracks. Before you could realize it though you had managed to come around the tree again which brought you face to face with him. "Oh really? What's in it for you? Let me guess you want your usual cut up front?" you threw the words he had said to Dodo earlier in the library back at him. "Look I don't blame you for being angry. I acted impetuously."          

"No, Selfishly," you shot back, "You acted selfishly!" This man was as slippery and self serving as a used car salesman. He had "bought" you from Ratty no doubt to trade you over to Dodo for a better return for himself. Had it not been for the Stone of Wonderland who knows what kind of deal Dodo would have eventually made. Who even knew what kind of "business" they had done together before? Looking like someone who had just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar Hatter said, "Whatever word you wanna use. Let me make it up to ya!" You stared back at him hard without replying. Your mistrust plastered all over your face. Hatter stopped and looked into your eyes again as he said with a more genuine and serious tone this time, "This is a dangerous place. Trust me, you're going to need my help." You both stood there and stared at each other silently. Trust wasn't something you associated with this charming drug dealer, but at the same time you had no other option. There wasn't anyone else you could rely on and you were in a world where you knew none of the rules. He was your only way to get to the Casino at the moment so you would just have to follow his lead for now while keeping a close eye on him. Part of you was weak towards his general air of humor and harmlessness, but you wouldn't be fooled again. No amount of pretty words or charismatic expressions were going to cloud your judgement again.

You nodded your head towards him in silent assent as you held one hand out motioning for him to lead the way. He walked in front of you and began to guide you through the labyrinth like buildings and suspended sidewalks. You were currently following him closely on a narrow stretch of a sidewalk ledge. After some time Hatter broke the silence saying, "The Looking Glass is the only way to get you back home and it is here in the city, but it's the most heavily guarded piece of kit in Wonderland." Only a couple strides behind him you quickly replied, "I've got to find Alice first." Hatter stopped dead in his tracks and spun on his heel to face you. The look on his face was disbelieving as he objected, "Have you not heard a word I said?" You stared up at him and his rich brown eyes seemed to be sincerely struggling to understand you. "I don't know how she got mixed up in this, but I know that she's not a thief. The man in white said she stole it, but I don't believe that. Alice isn't that kind of person. Somehow she ended up with this ring and it has landed her in a pile of trouble. If it wasn't for this thing she'd be home safe." Hatter's eyebrows furrowed as he peered at you intensely, "How did she get hold of it?" It was the same thing he had asked you before on the elevator bus and again you had no answer. Dodo had asked you as well but his eyes had been filled with an avaricious glint at the time. Hatter's were more skeptical and cautious like he wasn't entirely sure what was going on but wanted to get to the bottom of it nonetheless. He never took his eyes off you as he waited patiently for your response. Feeling uncomfortable you side stepped around him and began leading the way down the narrow ledge as you finally answered, "Well I don't know, but the point is that I'm the only one who can get her out of this mess." Hatter's sure legged strides caught up to your cautious ones in no time. "How'd you figure that out?" He queried. You could feel his eyes still trained intently on the back of your head. "Well I've got the ring I can use it to negotiate her release." Hatter immediately let his disapproval be known "Alright, no. No." You stopped and leaned against the wall for support. You still were incredibly uncomfortable being up so high with nothing substantial to hold on to. Hatter was by your side and leaning closer towards your face. His usually merry and nonchalant demeanor was completely gone and replaced with sober wariness. "No, you can't negotiate with the Queen she's crazy. You have to cut your losses and get out of here while you still can."

You immediately rejected this plan, "No, I can't just abandon Alice. She's innocent and besides she's my best friend." Hatter rolled his eyes and mocked, "Oh she's your friend?" Not liking his attitude you looked at him defiantly and said, yes. He took a step back like you were ridiculous before he side stepped you and took the lead again. "My best friend!" you called out towards his back as you quickly tried to catch up to him. He stopped suddenly, and turning towards you he stressed, "Trust me, I know a thing or two about liking people, in time after much chocolate and cream cakes like turns into what was her name again?"  You shook your head unable to comprehend such a thing. "No, not in my world. Look I don't have the best record with friends..." Hatter made a face and broke in with a sardonic, "There's a shock," before turning his back on you once more. You didn't let that stop you though as you followed him and continued on, "And this is the first one that has meant the most to me. There is no way that I am going to give her up now." Hatter's confident pace slowed down suddenly. He held out one of his arms to tell you to stop. His attention fixed on something ahead of you. "Stay close," he commanded as you both began to deftly maneuver around the building ledge. You looked ahead and saw that you were now back in front of the crosswalk that lead to the Tea Shoppe.

Hatter and you quietly hid off to the side of the red telephone box in front as you both watched while the men in black suits who were standing on the latticed front porch stopped to question people. "Hey have you seen her?"a man with a smooth white porcelain hare shaped thing over his head demanded as he shook a poor clueless man harshly before throwing him off the porch with a cruel, "Get out of here!" The man tumbled and hit the very edge of the suspended crosswalk before falling right off the side to his doom. You could hear his scream as he fell who knew how many stories down. You were so high off the ground that his screams slowly faded into nothingness. You never heard any moment of impact. The man with the hare head didn't even seem to care he just turned to the next person and said, "You! Have you seen her?" Upon closer inspectiom you were able to recognize that the small filthy man talking to a tall man wearing a black robe and a matching bowler hat was Ratty. The man he was conversing with almost looked like a type of priest except for instead of a crucifx hanging from a chain around his neck he wore a a large silver clover. He too didn't seem that upset or even put out about the man who had just been thrown to his death so clearly he was no priest.

You were both close enough to be able to faintly make out parts of their conversation. The man in black said, "She told you she was looking for Alice?" True to his namesake, Ratty nodded emphatically, "Yeah, yeah!" Your stomach lurched as a sliver of fear began to course through you. "You work with rats long enough and you turn into one 'ey." Hatter said with his cockneyed British accent, taking the words right out of your mouth. You squinted your eyes, trying to get a better look at the man with the white porcelain thing shaped like a hare on his head. What is that?" you quietly asked Hatter, unsure of what that thing on his head was supposed to be. "Nothing I've ever seen before. Wait," you both watched as the man with the hare head's body was turned towards the side, but the head twisted in an exorcist type fashion towards where you both were hiding. If he had been human his neck would have been broken. "No, it can't be..." Hatter trailed off as the man with the hare head began purposefully marching towards your direction. You and Hatter took off, not waiting for the suits and the strange hare headed man to find you. You were both jogging, trying to navigate over the thickly weeded area in between the dilapidated buildings and the ominous looming sidewalk edges. Hatter stopped for a moment to look back. "What?" you asked him before turning around yourself to see. "We should run," he said urgently. You had spun around to see all of the men in black suits chasing after you both, the man with the hare head in the lead. "RUN! QUICKLY!" Hatter bellowed as you both sprinted off deeper into the weeds and concrete. Being faster than you Hatter ran ahead and stopped suddenly, sliding on a bit of dirt patch he yelled, "Come on!" as he turned and motioned for you to follow him into a hidden off stairwell. You followed him down the stairs your heart pounding in your head and your breath coming in ragged gasps. When you reached the bottom Hatter hastily surveyed your surroundings before tapping your wrist gently, pointing to the left, and saying, "That way!" You ran in the direction he had motioned and soon you came upon a little wooden pier off of a small canal much like the one you had, had to swim through to get back to the city after you had fallen from the scarab air ship. Hatter wasted no time in untying the small lonely speed boat that was hooked up to the dock. "Down here, we'll smuggle into the boat. Quickly!" he urged after hopping in the boat. He began fervently to pull on the cord to start the motor, but it wouldn't budge. You looked behind you in panic to see the suits gaining on you. "Hold on there's a knack to this." Hatter said as he pulled the string back again. It still didn't start. "Which apparently I never learned!" Hatter quipped while he jumped to the front of the boat and turned the key. With his other hand he hit the top of the wooden dash and screamed, "Come on!" Miraculously the boat started up and you both zipped away, leaving the suits to watch you both leave back on the dock.      


To be continued…

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Author’s Notes: Hello again guys! This chapter was chock full of Hatter so I hope you liked it. Hatter has so much personality it is hard to translate it into words. Still I hope you all find him as rakishly charming as I do. This is just a short chapter for now. I have a Valentine's Day chapter already planned that will be full of Reader x Hatter interactions to celebrate the day with. So for all you Valentine's Day haters don't get too down because Hatter will be here waiting for you. Anyways be sure to check back soon for the next chapter for more Wonderland goodness. If you are interested you can find the full DVD on Barnes & Noble’s website.
Until next time guys!