Work Text
…Her job had run late again.Alice looked up at the clock for the final time, her eyes blurred the numbers but she recognized that it was almost ten. Quickly, she stacked the freshly typed papers, bound them, and put them in her outbox. This was her third double shift in the past month. For two years, she worked under the direct management of Bruce Wayne. While not one of his head secretaries, she sometimes felt as if she were. The pay was beyond expected, but so was the work.Every so often Alice pulled a double and despite what Mr. Wayne said about her not to do it, she felt she should be able to keep up with her fellow coworkers, to be at their level of productivity. Thus she stayed and kept working. Pushing the down button Alice waited for the elevator, content in her thoughts. The extra hours were both a plus & a minus. Granted, she got double pay but she also had to walk home on nights she worked a double shift. The extra hours had lead to a few problems, the defining one is that almost a year ago she and Billy had gotten a divorce.It had been from a multitude of things, some normal, like staying late at her job.Some not so normal.She & Billy had started living together right after their marriage. It did not take long for Alice to find out how incompatible they were; despite years of their on-again-off-again relationship. Billy kept late hours at the police office – which would lead to canceled dinner dates. For Alice, it’d been her dedication to whatever job she could hold down. That too would often cut into their time together. The final nail in the coffin came from all the attention the media gave Alice about her contact with Jervis; a catalyst that quickly made a large wedge in their everyday lives.It came to the point that they were just living together, and not in a way a normal newlywed couple should. They still loved each other & worried about one another, but they weren't in love with each other anymore. Billy had wanted to stay together for her sake, but she couldn't let him do that. Therefore, within a short time, they annulled their marriage. Alice Pleasance Reynold became Alice Pleasance once more & a single woman to boot.So after everything had been handled Alice kept the small flat and her Ex took the car, and while she'd been meaning to get a new vehicle, she just never found the time. Not that she really had the money to do it, mind you. As for Billy, she’d heard he’d be getting married in a few months, and that she was invited to the wedding. She decided not to go on the grounds of how awkward it would be.Normally, she took a taxi home from work, however, this particular night she couldn't manage to track one down. Waiting next to the Wayne towers front door Alice “huffed” at the empty streets. After standing for another half an hour she gave up and began to walk a couple of blocks to the subway. Alice never liked the subway – especially it's frequent mentioning in the papers.But she needed to get home to sleep.She had work tomorrow.Night time in Gotham was dangerous and always seemed to present problems, but she had a bottle of pepper spray and knew it wouldn't take her very long to get home. Pulling out her earphones Alice put them on and set her MP3 player to repeat, losing her sense of hearing might be risky behavior but she absolutely loved this song…
“This overload…”
It was only a month prior that he had awoken from his coma. Managing to break out using the technology ripped apart from one of his life support machines. He'd managed to build a "Mind Hat" and a few 10/6 cards. He was on the run and quite sure the Bat was looking for him, but he had to update Alice’s whereabouts. Knowing Alice’s life took priority to his own, even though he always felt overloaded with the knowledge of her blissful marriage to that cad lizard Billy. Then the heavenly blow nearly knocked him down when he learned of their glorious divorce.And Alice…Alice was beautiful.He'd been waiting for quite a while for her to come out. As he watched her from his hiding spot he finally saw her – his Alice! Just as soft & shy looking as the day they first met! And yet… he could see the dark circles under her eyes, even from so far away, and he noticed the tired gate with which she walked. He followed her in the shadows as she started down the sidewalk.Jervis smiled.
“I follow you home every night, just to make sure that you get there alright.”
His heart sped as he came to follow only a few feet from her…Jervis moved behind a trash can just as she turned around. Had she spotted him? No, the clicking speed of her heels didn't suggest she was running, but her pace had quickened and so, now must his.
“Can't think of anything but you.”
For some reason, perhaps from the grimy newspapers that littered the ground, her mind turned to the thought of Jervis Tetch: the self-proclaimed Mad Hatter. She always knew her ex-boss had been a little… off, but she didn't know he was swimming in the deep end till he'd kidnapped her, mind controlled her, and had planned to marry her. It wasn't as if she didn't like Jervis, he was a quiet, kind man, but she'd been in a relationship at the time and…A feeling bubbled up in her chest and her temple began to ache so she stopped and turned around. Alice second guessed coming down the alleyway, she'd used it before as a short cut, but maybe it had been a bad choice. She began to walk a little faster.The subway station was only one more block away. The music was helping to calm her, and as she listened to the verses, she couldn't help but remember Jervis once more. Could she sympathize with the man whose obsession with her person had almost killed her?
“I burn throughout the night, and I can’t live without your love.”
It wasn't hard for him to keep up with her brisk pace. In fact, his short stature allowed him to hide better as he followed her. The paper hat he wore, ironically enough, showed his picture on the one side with the words: Ex-Comatose Hatter Escapes!Jervis had managed to steal a few garments, blue trousers, and a light green shirt off a laundry line. His feet wore a pair of old slippers someone had tossed in the garbage. The outfit was below his standards but it was better than the orange jumpsuit Arkham required he wears.He slipped around the corner as Alice once again turned around. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest. ‘Interesting…’ He thought. ‘Perhaps her mental state is still in tune with my own mind, allowing her to feel my presence? That would mean that an in-depth study would…’ Peaking around the side he watched as she quickly ran down into the subway. He followed her forgetting his thoughts, running to the banister, and slowly peered down over the railing.A loud bunch of juvenile delinquents made a ruckus near him, forcing him to slide down into hiding. On his knees, he watched through the bars as the gang of four went down into the subway. Jervis's mind started to work frantically.Alice was down there…
“Oh, you gotta know, you see me everywhere that you go…”
Alice realized her mind was probably trying to spook her. The hat in the window across the street didn't have a 10/6 card in its brim. The shadow on the wall was not of a man, but just some garbage cans. Sure Jervis was out lurking somewhere, possibly in Gotham, and she was alone with nothing but pepper spray to protect her…“Maybe this wasn't such a good idea?” She said to herself and took out one of the earbuds.It wasn't like she'd never walked home at night, and it wasn't that she didn't know about the city's reputation, but you never expect anything to happen. Of course, in Gotham that was a bad way to think. As if on cue Alice heard something, a clanging sound, she turned around once again.Nothing.It didn't take much to scare her; her thoughts were already filled with the Mad Hatter. What if he was coming for her? Hurriedly, she ran towards the subway, swiped her metro-card, and pushed through the revolving gate.The subway was empty. Alice could hear perfectly as an unknown group of people made their way down towards her. She made the mistake of not hiding right away, thinking they weren't a threat. At the sight of their clothes, tattoos, and piercings, she knew different.When they saw her, one of them yelled to get her purse. Instinctively, she ran and pulled out her pepper spray. Heels were never meant for running; Alice found this out when the one on her left foot broke. She tripped, crashing to the floor, sprained her ankle, and watched as the can of spray rolled over the ledge onto the tracks.Alice lost her breath for a moment.All the horror stories she'd read in the newspaper were going to become frightening real for her. Thoughts of being mugged, beaten, or even raped spiraled in her mind. The irony of the situation was that she wished anyone else, even Mr. Tetch, had followed her. At least she knew her old boss to be a gentleman; he would certainly save her from a bunch of brutes.If only it were Jervis!“Jervis…!”Her mind began to spin…The world got dark…Alice fainted...
“You’ve got to see me though, can’t take another night alone without you.”
Jervis didn't waste any time trying to hide his presence. Pulling the 10/6 card from his hat he carded the closest of the four men. Instantly the boy with the head-wrap came under his control. Jervis gave him a couple of cards and made him run after the other two.He ran up to his next victim, a young punk with a mohawk haircut, the boy sensed him and turned around suddenly. Jervis ducked the punch to his face; quickly he grabbed the gun off the man's belt. Pushing the gun into the young man's gut Jervis fired; blood sprayed the front of his green shirt.The sound alerted the other two that were hovering over Alice’s unconscious form. The one boy with bright orange hair revealed his gun and after arguing with the other, a man with a bald head & large tattoo on his face, went back to look through Alice purse. Jervis watched amused as the young man held the gun at him. As Orangey walked towards Jervis, he passed his head-wrap-carded ally.It was too easy.Now with two men under his control, and one taken out, all he had to do was deal with Mr. Tattoo. Jervis, flanked by his new bodyguards walked up to the last gang member. Mr. Tattoo had been distracted by counting out Alice's money, thinking that the rest of his gang took out the weirdo who’d surprised them. He looked up just in time to see the two-carded men attacked him. Holding him down Jervis attached the 10/6 card to his temple. Mr. Tattoo moved and Jervis walked over, bent down, and picked up Alice bridal-style. She felt lighter than when he'd last held her.It worried him.
“I am so hung up on You…”
Turning around he heard a moan. So Mr. Mo-Hawk was still alive? Jervis smiled. One quick command and Mr. Head-wrap went over to the moaning man. There was a pause and then a loud pop echoed in the subway. The moaning stopped. Jervis gave his gun to Mr. Tattoo just as the sound of the subway train met his ears. The Mad Hatter walked over to the open doors and got in. As soon as it began to pull away, three gunshots echoed in the station.Blood & brain matter splattered the side of the train.“Off! Off with their heads!” Jervis sang to his unconscious Alice; joyfully cackling in his glee at having her in his arms.
“What I need baby, is a little of your company…”
Alice felt warm and her head hurt. Her left foot was in terrible pain, but she gave it no thought. She could faintly hear the sound of music in one of her ears and when she looked up she could have sworn the man holding her was Jervis.The light and sounds were too much for her, overloading her senses, so she closed her eyes again and went back to sleep.
“You’ve got me on my knees, I burn throughout the night.”
He was confused by her choice of music and why Alice put only one song on repeat, but he sat there & listened to it with her in his lap. He wondered what he should do. Alice was literally in his gloved grasp. After all the plans, all the schemes, he finally had her.Now he hadn't the foggiest idea of what to do.What a frabjous day!Jervis smiled down at the peacefully sleeping woman despite the pain she must’ve felt from her sprained ankle.If only she were awake…Jervis frowned at her. She would scream and try to run from him if she were awake. He held onto her a bit tighter and she stirred a little. If she would just love him the way he loved her. He'd even take her sympathy, her pity if she'd give him that at least, and then……and then maybe he wouldn't be so crazy?
“Won't You help me cure… this overload.”
Who was he fooling besides himself? She had taken out a restraining order against him. Why would she love him after what he'd done? His mind was beginning to overload with all the thoughts running through his head.Why would Alice love the Mad Hatter?
“And what I need baby is a little of your sympathy…”
A migraine burned at the back of her head. Where was she? Opening her eyes Alice began to look around, the soft light hurt her eyes but she noticed the interior of the train. Sitting up she held her head. Her mp3 player was gone. She remembered being chased and knew it wasn't a dream thanks to the swelling and throbbing pain in her ankle. How did she get on the train? What had happened to the men chasing her? Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered seeing Jervis, but that part must have been a dream.She shuttered thinking what would have happened if it wouldn’t have been a dream.Alice took another look at her surroundings and froze. Sitting a few seats away from her was a man in a trench coat and hat. Could it be Jervis? Her fingers dug into the seat as she tried to mold against it. It was then that the train began to slow, coming to a stop. Looking out the window Alice realized this was where she had to get off. The doors opened but she didn't move.
“Won't You help me cure… this overload.”
The man in the trench coat got up from his seat…
“Won't You help me cure… this overload.”
She waited, scared and unsure as he passed her…
“Won't You help me cure… this overload…”
The man tipped his hat to her and left the train.
“Won't You help me cure… this overload…”
Thankfully, he wasn't Jervis.
“You gotta help me cure… this overload…”
Alice relaxed and made her way off the train.
“This overload…”
Jervis watched her get off from his spot on top of it. Perhaps he'd come after her again in the future, but for right now, he'd leave her be. There was no sense in kidnapping her again; he was sure it would only end the same way it did before. Perchance, he will let himself get caught, and wait for her to see him.He looked down at the musical device in his hand, the other holding his hat, and looked back up to see Alice leaving the station. The train began to shift and move once more. Jervis smiled and hit the repeat button. At least Alice still thought of him. Jervis laughed as the song Overload began to play once more, but the title on the screen said: Mad Hatter.