It was something Alice would never forget. She wasn’t a scientist, an engineer or a professor of anything, but this she knew. She recognized the patterns in the circuitry, the way it tingled with static electricity, clinging to her fingers and making the hairs of her arm stand on end. It was a phantom sensation she felt on quiet nights in the back of her head where something similar to this once rested.
It wasn’t exactly the same, but it was unmistakable. Its purpose clearly the same as Alice looked down at the man who’d been sent after her. Lucky for the both of them she’d stunned him before he could break any real laws under the influence of the sinister device. And she didn’t intend to hold him accountable for actions out of his control. She left him lying there to be picked up by the ambulance she called. Told them she found a man passed out on the street and where to find him. They didn’t need to know why..
Well... They did. But Alice didn’t want them to know. She was too angry, to sick with rage. She’d warned him. She’d told him that if this ever happened again what would happen to him. The entire drive home she felt like her stomach was tying itself in knots, twisting and churning insider her. He’d barely been out a month and there was already a mind warped innocent chasing her down on a random street corner.
‘When I find Tetch I’m going to-”
Wait.
Something didn’t set right as she recalled the events that occured. She’d been so panicked that she rushed through it, knocking the mystery man out and leaving in such a hurry she didn’t process it fully. As she pulled into her drive way she took that time to reflect. Staring down at the card in her hands, she recalled the man’s actions and how... Unusual that was.
She was on her way home from the movie theater. She’d just seen a movie with a woman from her support group and they had just parted ways. Alice had parked on a different block and was alone when the stranger jumped out at her. This was pretty standard... But what was odd was his manner of approach. Usually, Tetch’s victims seemed more put together. More likely to try and talk to her. To try and coerce her into going with them... His methods usually led to abduction but this time.. The man with the card on him jumped on her, lashing out at her with a tire iron. Frantically, violently. Swinging hard enough to crack the bricks on the wall she’d backed into and narrowly avoided being pinned to.
He was trying to kill her...
That was creepy, and not unlike Gotham but.. It wasn’t like Tetch. And he never attacked anyone so soon after his release because he was almost always under surveillance... He hadn’t had nearly enough time to get away with anything yet.
Sighing she popped open her car door and walked up to her apartment. She couldn’t shake the unease that followed her- How could she? Someone had just tried to kill her not an hour ago.. She could go to the police... They would be able to take care of this-
...
No, they wouldn’t. She tried trusting them to keep her safe and they never managed it. Tetch always got away and they never caught him in time. And they let the man loose on the streets to hurt more people.
Alice would deal with it herself, in her own way. She had to know what changed... Maybe it was a sense of morbid curiosity but she had to know why Jervis’ plans suddenly shifted in motivation. Maybe it was a matter of him deciding that if he couldn’t have her no one could... But she knew Jervis.. He didn’t have the resolve or the backbone to kill her and let the ‘reason’ he was the way he is die.
As far as any one else knew, nothing was going to be different. There were only a couple people she would tell, the two related in the last Hatter attack. They were the ones in the most immediate danger. But, danger of what she couldn’t be sure. Alice planned to ask some questions and look through some files at work at go right to Tetch’s door if she had to.
A short little update for the ‘holiday’. Even if it has almost nothing to do with it.
Usually this day is filled with the smell of freshly baked goods, couples being either sickeningly sweet or just kind of.. Nice because they feel like they need to be. Or people who see it as a big corporate mess. Alice was somewhere in the middle of all of them.
Except her Valentine’s day was turning out to be a complete nightmare. She never would have expected that hers would have a fist fight in the middle of it.
It was a narrow escape but she almost had her. The struggle lasted only a couple minutes but was well worth it to manage to rip a chunk of brown hair out of the bitch’s head. Even if Alice wasn’t the first to swing, she got in the last one before the woman retreated. Apparently this crazy woman wasn’t planning on Alice being alive and well enough to to fight back.
The blonde had known something had gone horribly wrong the moment she arrived and found her father trying to break out of a broom closet with an unconscious Dr. Kates. And upon seeing a gassed Jervis she understood how this woman had been getting away with no one seeing her before she put her knock-off mind control on them.
Normally people get chocolates on Valentine’s, not chloroform.
Alice lost track of the woman outside but knowing everyone was safe was enough for her. She’d stopped whatever the crazy woman’s plan was. Found her standing over a drugged up Jervis , pulling a card from her pocket. Taking a page from his book, apparently. When Alice entered the room the brunette’s saccharine sweet tone changed and she attacked her. There was no doubt this was the person behind everything.
With a heavy sigh, and the realization that now the bitch knew she was alive and would probably send someone after her again. ... Swell.
Alice wiped blood from her lip and trudged back into the lab. She found her dad, groggy as hell, kneeling over Tetch’s collapsed body. Dr. Kates was already gone. Probably gone to do damage control and prevent this from becoming a sensational story within the company.
“He okay?” Alice asked, sniffing as she walked around to stand at Jervis’ side.
“He’ll be fine.That stuff was just concentrated.”
Alice knelt as well, grabbing Jervis’ arm and rolling him onto his back. his head lulled to the side limply and he moaned in discomfort but otherwise he was out like a light. Maybe for the best.
With a long exhale Alice reached into her bag for a tissue and wiped any remaining spray from his face. Look at yourself, Jervis.. Look what you started... If you had just let everyone be happy none of this would be happening right now. No one would have had to get hurt.
“Hhnng... Ugh.” Jervis stirred, drifting into the waking world just enough to try and swat the hand away from his face. “What happened?”
Alice scoffed, pocketing the tissue and offering a now empty hand to him to help him sit up. He didn’t even hesitate to take it.
“Looks like you have a fan..” She mocked, smirking at his clear headache as he moved himself upright. “Not as romantic when someone’s trying to mind control you, is it?”
He groaned, rubbing his forehead strongly, grinding the heels of his hands into the skin. He was going to have a migraine for sure. “She seemed so nice. How was I supposed to know this would happen?”
“I know right?” Alice gave him a slap on the shoulder and stood, suppressing the ironic laughter at the circumstance. “Happy Valentine’s day, you dumb bastard. You got your very own stalker. Welcome to the club.”
He groaned again, letting his forehead fall onto his knees. She wished she could know what he was thinking. Knowing him he somehow still found this attention flattering... Or maybe he was so thick that he really had no idea why any of this was happening to him.
“Get up, Jervis. We need to finish what you were working on and get out of here before she comes back.”
(Warmup drawing of a scene from the last Reunions update. Got tired of working on it and I’m calling it quits at lineart. Isn’t turning out at all like I wanted it.)
After taking FAR too long to get to it, the finale of Reunions is in the works! For those few of you who have followed the plot and stuck with me while I did this I appreciate you. I wrote this for myself to develop my muses and I’m really happy anyone has enjoyed it at all.
The next update will be big and I’m still working out how exactly I’m going to post it but It’s in the works now.And when it comes we’ll come full circle and see Alice and Jervis back where it all began to finish their story for good.
In truth, she shouldn’t have been surprised. With all of the insanity of these last few days, she should have known better thank to think she could leave Tetch in her house with only one person to watch him. At the very least, she’d thought that she’d just come home to a messy apartment.
Instead when she opened the door, she’d found Jervis Tetch standing over a limp mind controlled person, smiling at her like a kid with a new toy. He was holding some chaotic looking device in his hands but she’d never be able to guess what it was supposed to do. Looked like it had parts of her toaster in it though..
“It works!” He’d said, even though she clearly couldn’t know what he was talking about.. God... Why did she let him stay here?
“You mind explaining what works?” She asked, clicking her front door shut and stepping over the blankly staring person lying on her floor. They clearly weren’t dead, but for whatever reason they weren’t moving.
“So glad you asked. Come, come. Sit. I made tea.” Jervis chortled in his joy, taking Alice by the arm to drag her over to the kitchen table. She pulled herself free but sat for what she hoped would be a good explanation.
“You have my attention...” She sighed, crossing her arms.
He dropped down across from her, rattling the table and all its contents. The teapot was still steaming so clearly he’d been interrupted in the middle of preparing it by the stranger on her floor. Beside it was the device he’d started working on in the lab. By the looks of it he’d managed to finish it before working on the contraption he was holding now.
“Well, you see, I originally built a brain wave scanner to uncover the frequency that is being transmitted through the minds of the pawns. With that I’d be able to track that signal and you and I could uncover the location of my secret admirer-”
“Jervis... She’s insane.”
“No need to get jealous, Dear Alice- Anyway. I finished it, then I had a moment of clarity... The device only works when a pawn is being actively controlled. And that’s only when their body is awake... And there’s not a very good track record of the woman’s puppets lasting very long without getting knocked out.” He explained, picking up the teapot and a cup to pour some for Alice and set it in front of her. She didn’t dare drink anything he offered her. “But I thought, if perhaps there was a way to disable the body of a controlled human, but leave their mind fully active, I might be able to subdue them, put the scanner on them and not lose the signal! Clever, hm?”
Alice looked at him, honestly a little surprised he was able to think so far ahead. But she should have been. She’d worked with him for a few years before the initial incident. She knew he was brilliant. Insane.. But brilliant.
“And this.. Doesn’t hurt the person, right?” Alice asked, glancing back to the woman laying on the hardwood floor. Annie, Alice’s dog, was sniffing confusedly at the person.
“Well, I assume not, but they aren’t really in a position to tell us right now.” Jervis shrugged, paying that fact little mind. The man still barely cared for how his actions effected others, even when he was trying to help do the right thing. True he was basically being held against his will- and was too smitten and thick to realize that- but it was still helping catch a bad guy.
“Alright so... Now what? We put the scanner on her head and find out where this ‘Alice’ who’s so fond of you is hiding?”
Jervis sipped his tea, blinking at her as if she’d said something that was meant to be obvious. “Well... Of course. What’s your rush?”
Alice stood, shaking the table and making jervis jump for her cup before it fell over.
“Alice-”
“People are getting hurt, Jervis!” She barked at him, “This makes at least three people this woman has sent after me. You wait any longer and who knows what she’ll send next. She’s already tried to grab you, and what happens if she manages that?”
Alice shuddered at the thought. A Jervis under mind control, this wack woman’s pawn in whatever schemes she might cook up for them. Alice barely thought Jervis had a soul to begin with.. He wouldn’t even be human at that point. He’d be just a machine to serve this new ‘Alice’s’ bidding for the rest of his life maybe.
“Alice...?”
The woman was pulled from her grim thoughts as her ‘guest, reached over and touched her arm. She jerked back from his hand, feeling her skin crawl.
“Alice...” Jervis repeated, and she looked at him to find a look of... Empathy. “We’ll stop her... I promise.”
For a moment, she believed him. Believed he wouldn’t let this woman kill her and that he wouldn’t take the chance at having a woman adore him forever and turn on her. But she couldn’t bring herself to trust him completely.
“Well, then we need to do it. And sooner than later.” Alice told him, looking around the apartment and finally noticing- “Where’s my dad?”
“Your mother called and he had to leave.” Jervis said matter-of-fact-ly, setting her teacup back in its place as if he still expected her to drink it. “I’ve been alone all night.. I walked your dog by the way.”
Alice groaned, realizing people in her neighborhood might have seen him. Wonderful. Tetch probably hadn’t even considered that.
“... Fine, Whatever.. I’ll talk to my dad later. You just get this contraption working and figure this out. I’m going to go change. I’m not going to chase this lady down again in a skirt.”
Alice huffed, turning away and walking back across the living room to the stairs. She stepped over the human throw rug on the floor, whispering an apology on the off chance they were aware of the situation, and rushed up to her room. She was amazed to see nothing had been disturbed in Tetch’s alone time in her house. A ‘gentleman’, true to his word. Huh... Apparently when there’s no one around to give him attention for the things he does, he’s less likely to do them.
... The man made less sense the more time she spent around him.
She pulled a pair of blue jeans from her wardrobe drawer and changed quickly, slipping into her running shoes before Jervis’ voice called for her from down stairs once again.
“Alice? I-... Have you got a minute?”
She rolled her eyes and threw open her bedroom door and stomped back down the steps. She found Jervis awkwardly kneeling beside the woman on the floor, nudging her into a sitting position, flopped against the couch. His expression, despite this was thoughtful as he chewed his lower lip and frowned at nothing in particular. He glanced up at Alice as he picked up the brain wave scanner and began to affix the electrodes to the woman’s head with precision placement. With tape, thankfully. The worst pain this might give the woman would be getting it stuck to her hair.
Alice folded her arms and waited, giving Jervis time to say whatever he’d called her down for. He glanced at her a few times, mouth opening to speak and changing his mind each time. Like he was either trying to find the words, or looking for the nerve to say what was on his mind.
“Anytime now, Jervis.” She hurried him, tapping her foot on the stair impatiently.
“How-....” He began, clearing his throat with an uncomfortable look on his face. As the words came out he looked like he was in pain but pushing through it. “H-How was your night?”
... What?
“It was fine.” She answered curtly, knitting her brow tightly.
He pressed his lips into a line before he offered a tight, tense smile, “Good, good. You two had fun?”
Alice shrugged a shoulder and gave no response. Of course she enjoyed her time with Lyle. She always did. Even when there was a wacko after her- But when wasn’t there?
Jervis finished applying the electrodes and sensors and began to press some buttons on the simplistic control panel. “I, ahm... Did a little thinking while... While you were gone.”
Oh, this should be good.
“And?”
“And you’re not daft.” Jervis said looking up at her, “You’re not the airhead the newspapers made you out to be when we-... When I-.. Well you know.” Alice had to hold back an eye roll, “So I can’t fathom how you can’t tell the man you’re with is dangerous.”
“No more so than you.”
“We’re not talking about me.” Jervis interjected, jamming a button with his thumb a few times until the device seemed to respond. “We’re talking about your boyfriend.”
The Englishman huffed in frustration as one of the electrodes fell off. He reached up to try and hold in on but couldn’t work the control with one hand.
“And why are we talking about my boyfriend?” Alice asked with a sigh, walking over to replace his hand with her own.
“You work in Arkham. Surely you’ve heard or seen what he does to the inmates. How could you miss it? None of that... Concerns you?” Jervis asked, looking up at her, befuddled.
Alice didn’t respond at first. She’d heard the rumors. Seen how the patients acted around Lyle. The signs were all there and she couldn’t act like they weren’t. How else would a guy like Jervis Tetch ever be released for good behavior if he wasn’t forced into it? It was pretty obvious something big changed when Lyle began work, as suddenly the patients were staying in and not breaking out once a week.
“Alice?...” Jervis asked, leaning over to try and catch her gaze, “Do you know what he does to us?”
There was something accusatory about his tone and for a moment Alice worried that he might jump to conclusions and become violent. But he didn’t. He seemed to truly want an answer.
“You’re all dangerous. Thieves, murderers, terrorists... If what Lyle does is extreme then the city can always do something about it... But until then I’m happy for these past couple years of being able to go to the store in peace. Without worrying that some nutjob with a hat might abduct me again.”
It was Tetch’s time to fall silent as a look of offense crossed his features and he looked away.
“I only wanted to make you happy. Give you the happily ever after you deserved.”
“But you didn’t...” Alice corrected, seating herself on the couch beside the immovable puppet that was being forced to sit through their drama. “You wanted to make yourself happy. If you wanted me to be happy you’d have been happy for me, instead of trying to take away my life.”
As always the truth was impossible for Jervis to take. He clammed up and fell silent, refusing to acknowledge his own faults. He didn’t have his hat to make her tell him what he wanted to hear this time. But, even though she would be powerless to stop him if he tried to walk out the door and leave, he stayed kneeling on her living room floor.
.... Why?
“Jervis...? Why are you doing this?”
He shook his head in frustration, “I already told you. To scan for-”
“Not that. Why are you here? Helping me? When you could have easily run off with that woman at the lab... She gassed you because you wouldn’t stay..” Alice frowned, “Why didn’t you?”
The question seemed to catch him of guard and he looked up at her as if she’d asked him the meaning of life and expected an answer. His blue eyes blinked, wide and bewildered as his gaze flicked over her face, unreadable and contemplative. As if searching for the answer within her rather than looking inside for the truth. As if he didn’t know why.
“Because... She wasn’t real.” He said as if he’d just had the first real moment of clarity in his entire life. “She’s everything I’ve written that I’ve ever wanted- But that’s not who she is. ‘Alice’ wasn’t her. It was you... It was always you. ”
Alice swallowed, two parts uncomfortable and one part torn on how to feel. Hearing him go on about how she was made for him was nothing she’d not heard a thousand times pour out of his mouth. But all those times- in court, in Arkham, during the time she was under his control- it was accusatory. It was harsh. As if he was trying to prove it to the world and make them see that it was true when he knew it wasn’t. It was such a long time ago she’d ever just heard him talk like a person... A sincere, human being.
“No, Jervis.” She sighed, pushing back her hair with her free hand. “It wasn’t. I don’t know what your life was like before you met me- I don’t know if maybe you never had a real friend in your life- But what I felt for you wasn’t love. I wanted to be your friend...That’s all I ever wanted. And you destroyed my life! I don’t love you, and clearly you never really loved me.”
Jervis’ mouth fell open, words absent as his wide eyes, filled with what she could only describe as a heart shattering behind them. For all the time this had been happening between them, all their conflict... Never had she had the chance to sit down and tell him the truth. There was always something or someone between them. Some force that made things angry and tense... Instead of being able to talk about it... Like they should have been talking about it for years.
But Alice’s own anger and fear, still bubbling in her gut at the memories, had kept her from just telling him ‘No’. Not that she thought it would do either of them any good. She had no doubt that it would be back to business as usual once this wrapped up. She’d go back to her job, and he’d go back to his alias... Status Quo restored.
This was pointless.
“I-”
“No. Forget it.” She cut Tetch off before he could speak, clearing her throat as she looked to the brainwashed person beside her on the couch, “I don’t know why I bothered. You don’t even know how what you did is wrong, I don’t expect you to understand what you did to me... Let’s just get this done so you can go the hell home.”
Silence hung in the air between them, neither of them looking at the other. Neither of them saying aloud, but both very aware of the new tension in the air. Tetch set the scanner and sat there on the floor, device in his lap as he stared at it. Both of them realizing at once there was no fixing what was broken. No easy way out of it.
Alice pulled up in front of the Gotham City Community Center and fed the parking meter urgently. She climbed the small flight of stairs, skipping several steps along the way, as she moved hurriedly inside. It was a stretch to assume anyone at her support group would know anything about what was going on. It was a stretch to assume they would remember anyone coming in that seemed suspicious. But she had to try.
She knew these halls well. Several years of her life were spent here, it seemed. She remembered every spot she collapsed, leaning on the walls for support as she struggled to find the strength to carry on. She remembered which bathroom stall she locked herself in when anxiety and panic forced her to her breaking point. For the longest time this place was all she had... And maybe part of that was her own doing. She could have tried harder to make her Marriage work... She could have kept Billy and stayed with him no matter how miserable it made them...
But she wouldn’t be that selfish. Her decision allowed them both to grow as people. Now Billy was happily remarried and Alice was a stronger person than she’d ever been.. Though whether her strength was in her confidence or the growing, seething anger that was ripping her apart from the inside out. It could go either way, really.
Alice rounded a corner down another white tiled hall and in the distance she saw the door. Where her support group always met. There shouldn’t have been any meetings since it was supposed to happen yesterday but it seemed the room was in use. She’d hoped that she could talk alone to her councelor but it seemed the world had other plans. Maybe she’d missed a memo since she hadn’t attended yesterday’s meeting... For obvious reasons.
As she peeked into the room she was shocked to see her support group fully assembled and looking... More melancholy than normal. Alice saw the woman she’d gone to the movies with the night this all started with her head in her hands, seemingly weeping into her palms. Geez. It was like a funeral in there.
“Is... Everyone okay?” Alice asked hesitantly, putting her own worries aside to make sure this wasn’t an absolutely terrible time to stop in. She mustn’t forget that these people were also all victims. And their struggles were as real as her own.
“Alice?!”
They all seemed to say in unison as their attentions snapped over to her. They looked a mixture of relieved, shocked and horrified all at once upon seeing her and a great sense of unease swept the blonde.
“Oh, my god! It is you!” The crying woman leaped from her seat and practically threw her body onto Alice’s, “You’re okay! This is a miracle!”
Another woman approached, scarred from an unfortunate run-in with the Riddler and his contraptions. She looked puzzled- no pun intended- and concerned as she gently put her hands on the weeping friend’s shoulders and pulled her back, leaving Alice free but confused.
“Sorry, did I miss something? What’s a miracle?” Alice asked, looking between all the horrified faces in the room.
The scarred woman, Isadora frowned, guiding the other woman back to her chair, “What’s a- You’re alive!”
... They officially had lost her.
“Of course I’m alive. Why wouldn’t I be?” Alice asked, stepping further into the room, “What’s going on?”
The counselor stepped forward, his expression severe but a trained sort of calm. “A woman stopped by this morning. Said you’d been attacked.. Told us you’d been killed!”
Alice’s body ran cold.
“It was horrible-!” Isadora added, “Said the Mad Hatter finally got you. She came to us, told us that we deserved to know since you spent so much of your time with us over the years...Said we, fellow victims, should get to mourn one of our own.”
No... No. This... This wasn’t good. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. In some ways this was great because this meant that the person behind the attacks was under the impression Alice had, in fact been slain. They didn’t know that the mind control tech was glitchy and broken. But this meant that whatever the next step in their plan was.. They were about to start it.
And Alice left Tetch by himself with her father!
“This woman, who was she?” Alice asked, addressing the room, “What do you remember? How did she know about me?”
“Well.. She was small.. Rosy face.. Curly brown hair.. Wore a bow in it.” Her counselor began, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “Had a white coat, maybe a lab coat, draped over her arm. Must have been on her way to or from work.”
Lab coat... That could mean anywhere in Gotham.
“Okay but how did she know me? Did she say?” Alice pressed further.
“She said she worked with you.” The crying woman spoke up again, wiping her eyes with a well used kerchief.
“But-” Isadora interjected again, “-you said you work at Arkham now, right?”
“.. Yeah. I do.”
“She was wearing a Wayne Enterprises badge on her purse.”
“It must be so strange to be back after so many years, Dr. Tetch.”
Jervis glanced out the corner of his eyes at the woman hovering over his work surface. When the woman introduced herself as Alice he had never expected her to be as friendly as the one he’d known in the past... Or more so. She seemed intensely interested in what he was doing and eager to help. He’d been hesitant to share details but when he told her he was working on a special project she practically jumped at the opportunity to help him.
Well it was about time someone appreciated his work!
“It is, miss. I can’t say I ever imagined I’d be back.” Tetch mused as he looked back down at the circuit board he was putting together. Being in his old lab was a kind of haunting comfort.. But it was also salt in an already sore wound.
“Mr. Wayne must have really seen real potential in you.” This new Alice inferred, her fingers drumming musically on the surface of the table. She bit her lip, glancing around the room before she inched ever so slightly closer. He couldn’t help but lean away at the sudden invasion of space. “Can I just say something? It has been a treat working for this company. When they told me I was gong to be studying someone else’s work instead of making my own projects I was against it. But your work? It’s incredible!”
Jervis smiled, glancing between his work, that he was trying very hard to focus on, and the friendly woman at his side.
“Ahm.. Thank you, miss. Very kind of you.”
She grinned, rosy cheeks wrinkling the corners of her eyes. Her hands found the rough draft sketch of what he was building. He didn’t expect her to be able to read his rushed chicken scratch but she read it like it was clearly typed. Like she’d perfectly memorized his terrible penmanship.
“A brainwave scanner, hm? What do you need one of those for?” She asked, curls bouncing as her head fell to once side curiously.
Again he was hesitant to share details. If only because his Alice might inflict physical harm should he say something meant to be private. ... So a little white lie wouldn’t hurt.
“Mr. Wayne asked that I continue my work for him and this is the first step.” He said curtly. Little did the woman know that this was just one part of a device he was building with Wayne’s resources. With it he’d be able to track the signal that this impostor Hatter was sending to control their drone puppets.
“Right. Right. Makes sense.” She stepped back a bit and he was thankful for the room to breathe.
‘Alice’ as she wanted to be called, wandered away to his bookshelf, letting her fingers trail tenderly over the leather spines of the book. As Jervis’ hands worked his eyes followed her, watching her practically sashay in her stride as she seemed to know exactly where to walk to get to the book she wanted. And just as he would have done she found the well worn, and well loved copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and plucked it from the shelf. He opened his mouth to ask her to please put it back when she spoke and cut him off.
“If it’s okay to ask: Why Alice in Wonderland?” She asked, flipping the book open and looking over the pages before looking over the edge at him with a slight flutter of lashes, “Of all the stories with magic and wonder.. Why this one?”
“...Why not that one?” He answered with a question of his own, “What is so wrong with wanting to escape into a world of your own creation. Where there’s nothing wrong with not understanding how the world works, or being mad because it’s all madness...” His smile fell with his gaze as he looked back down at his work. “ No one is weird or out of place in Wonderland..”
“Wow...” She breathed, letting the book fall closed as she held it to her chest warmly, “That’s a lovely sentiment.”
Jervis tried to focus on what he was doing but he felt that itching, anxiety driving feeling of another person’s eyes on him. He worked through it, ignoring that he was not alone in the room until the book in her hands dropped on to the table. The various glass instruments rattled but she didn’t even seem to notice.
“Can I just say, It’s an honor to watch you work.” She said suddenly, leaning across the table, resting coyly on her elbows, “For the last two years I’ve done nothing but study your work and... Gosh, it’s just finally nice to meet you in person. You were truly ahead of your time.”
“Heh... Thank you.” He smiled across at her, “It’s not very often my work is praised like that.”
“I’ve noticed... Minds like yours are so underappreciated in this city.” She sighed, chin falling to rest in her hands. “But I think your work is genius! Even if no one else thinks so.”
“There are others.” Tetch pointed out. “I’m here again aren’t I? I doubt Mr. Wayne would invite me back if he didn’t think I had something to offer.”
“That’s true.. I mean, you’re better at this than I am.”
“Oh, I’m sure you do well enough, miss.” He chuckled, giving in slightly to her fishing for compliments.
“I mean, I managed to recreate your technology on a very basic level but it didn’t have nearly as much finesse. Your control cards are works of art.”
His hands paused, one hovering over the box of tools at her words. His control cards... This is who they assigned to recreating his mind control technology? When she said she was studying his work he assumed she meant his published works. His thesis. His years of unrelated research. This changed things.
“There are some who would disagree...” He hummed, fishing for copper wire, “Otherwise I wouldn’t have ended up in a dreadful place like Arkham.”
He walked away from his project, opening cabinets in the hopes of finding an attachment for the brainwave monitors. Couldn’t do anything unless you could actually get it to hold on.
“Oh, but, that’s not your fault.. You were just born.. Different. And there are people who just don’t understand that.” Her voice was soft, melodious and he could feel her stepping back into his personal space as she spoke. He moved away quickly and pulled open a drawer looking for wire cutters.
It was so long ago that he worked in this lab. He couldn’t remember where he put anything.
“Though, I guess it is a shame what happened to that girl..”
Tetch pause mid stride as he walked to the shelving by his books. His blue eyes found her and his brow furrowed quizzically. Girl? Did she mean Alice? His Alice, rather. Not her. Oh, this was confusing.
... Oh. She must have meant the original incident. After all, Dr. Kates had just discussed it with him as well. Must have been a big topic of conversation before he arrived.
“I... Suppose so.” He cleared his throat, swallowing down the bitter memories and the pain in his chest. He didn’t like to think about his dear one in pain. And the longer he spent here, the longer he stayed among the memories of happier times, the more he wished he could take it all back.
“Gotham is such a ruthless city though. It warps people. Makes them do awful things.” This new Alice continued, following him back to the work station as he found the cutters. He nodded his agreement, agreeing that it must be something else to blame for his actions. After all, he would never hurt anyone he loved.
“But still... She must have been so scared, how things happened.” New Alice mused, sighing listlessly, “No one deserves to go out like that.”
......
What?
He looked up, eyes locked on her and brows raised. He tied to quickly hide the shock and confusion on his features and perhaps it could have been passed off as remorse or grief.. Did this woman just imply that Alice was... Dead? That she’d been killed?
But... She hadn’t.
Something wasn’t right here.
“... Forgive me. It slipped my mind to ask: How did you know I was here today?” He asked, pretending to not be bothered by this new information. Everything felt wrong. There were red flags raising all over this room and the woman slipping in and out of his close personal space suddenly seemed less charming.
“Oh. Sorry.” She giggled, “Dr. Kates told me you would be here. Since I’ve been working in here it only made sense that I come and supervise. Make sure you don’t ‘tamper with evidence’.” Her teasing jab at the end did nothing to ease the tense coiling of his nerves.
It was all wrong. Alice called Dr. Kates personally this morning. If Dr. Kates knew Alice was alive, then why would this woman think otherwise? And where was Mr. Pleasance? Kates was supposed to escort in back by now.
“Right... Terribly sorry to interrupt this delightful talk, but I have an associate who is supposed to be meeting me. I think I best make sure he didn’t get lost in the facility some place.” Jervis smiled tensely but politely as he moved around the edge of the table toward the door.
“What? Get lost? In this lab? There are signs everywhere!” The woman laughed openly, cutting around the other side of the table and stepping into his path, “You’re so funny! Just like your journals. Speaking of which I wanted to ask you about-”
“My dear, this has been delightful but I really must go check on my-”
“No, you don’t! He’s fine! He’s with Dr. Kates right?”
...
He narrowed his eyes, frown wrinkling his features. “How do you know that? She said that before you showed up.”
The New Alice’s face froze up. Like a child caught stealing money from their mother’s purse. Perhaps she got caught up in her ‘cleverly’ constructed lie and didn’t realize the things she shouldn’t have known. She’d slipped up.
“I-... Well.. I heard from down the hall.”
“And you stood out there for several minutes before coming in? When you’re supposed to be ‘supervising’ me?” He pressed harder, stepping once more toward the door. And again she remained in his path. “Miss, I would like to get past you.”
“No. Please. Stay. I have so much more to talk to you about! Just a little longer!” She practically began to beg, hands joined together in front of her chest and eyes large and pouty. Her long lashes fluttered in a pathetic attempt to manipulate a man known for his ability to control others. But he had heard more than enough.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I have much more important things to do right now.”
He sidestepped around her, making a straight line for the door and he heard her speak up once more as he reached for the handle.
“Fine. I didn’t want to have to do this.-”
... “I beg your pardon-WAGH!”
He turned and immediately began to hack and cough as a cloud of vapor assaulted his face. His eyes stung and his throat burned as a semi-sweet chemical invaded his mouth and nose. Despite waving it away and wiping the moisture away with his sleeve almost immediately he felt a drowsiness overcome him. The room around him began to spin and his body became heavy.
“What-... What did you-...”
The next thing he felt was the impact of the floor against his knees as he fell. He knelt there on all fours, fighting a sleep that was yanking him toward it. His eyes were getting steadily heaver and into his blurry view he saw New Alice’s dainty little feet walk up.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt you, sweetie.”
Jervis tried to speak but it came out thickly muddled as he struggled to support himself on heavy limbs. He barely heard it as the door behind him slammed open and his attacker screamed shrilly.
Alice has been staring at her phone all day, wondering how you ask someone not to freak out that you’re letting your violent stalker sleep in your home.
