Cheshire: The Exile

Chapter Twelve

A few minutes later Natasha comes bounding out of her room, her face the picture of excitement.

"So how are we getting there, Katrine?"

I grab her arm gently and we cavort to New York Central park.
The perfect place to open and close the Rabbit Hole.

"Have you ever actually read Alice in Wonderland?"

Natasha rolls her eyes and replies, "Yes I actually have."

I cross my arms over my chest and ask her, "Then how does Alice get into Wonderland?"

"Easy, she falls into-" Natasha realizes what exactly is going to happen and says, "Hell no."

"Hell yes."

"That's actually true?!"

"Yep."

I open the Rabbit Hole and before either one of us can say or fall in, Fury appears from behind us along with Thor, Ironman, Hawkeye, Bruce and of course Steve.

"Katrine! What the Hell do you think you're doing?" Fury asks.

"Not trafficking drugs that's for sure." I reply.

"Katrine?!" I slap my hand over Natasha's mouth.

"Drugs? Where?"

I thrust my thumb over my shoulder, pointing to the gateway.

Steve cautiously stands at the edge and without a moment hesitation, both Natasha and I lunge at Steve.

All three of us falling down into the Rabbit Hole. 

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Crashing onto the floor after Wonderland flips the room is starting to get old really fast.

Quickly getting to my feet, I pull out the pocket watch and open the cover.

"Ugh, where are we?"

Turning my head to look at Steve I reply, "Where do you think we are?"

He looks around the Door room and says seriously, "Crazy."

I chuckle. "No, but good guess."

Pivoting I steadily walk over to the right door and slowly turn the door knob pulling it open as I step to the side, revealing Wonderland on the other side.

Natasha's face is excited, while Steve's is dumbfounded.

"We need to hurry and get to the Under Forest."

"The what?"

I grab their hands and we Cavort to the Hatter's home.

The windmill looks just as broken down as when I first saw it years ago when the Red Queen first reigned.

Obviously, the Hatter hasn't been back here since we left to go to the Red Castle.

"Come on, the Guards will be patrolling around here soon."

And right on cue I hear the thundering footsteps of Card soldiers among the trees in the distance.

"Hurry!"

We race up to the windmill and the door flies open as if it knew we were coming.

As I lastly enter the door slams shut behind us, locking tightly.

And when I turn my eyes away from the door the room automatically burst into light, candles on every surface ignite flames one by one.

And once the room is completely lit, I chuckle. Hats are everywhere.

Then something catches my eye.

It glitters in the candlelight and it seems to grow brighter with every step I take toward it.

I smile once I clearly make out what it is. A shield.

I distinctly remember that Hatter was a metal craftsman. However he wasn't at it for long before he turned to Hat making.

Picking it up I flip it over in my hands and Steve notices.

"Is that what I think it is?"
I hand it over to him and reply, "It's a shield made out Wonderland metal."

"Wonder-what?"

"Wonderland."

Natasha bounces around the room touching everything.

Both Steve and I watch her and when she accidentally bumps into a shelf both Steve and I rush to pull her out of the way of it falling. 

"Geez, that was close. Thanks!" I was relieved to say Natasha unharmed and quickly rise to my feet.

"Anytime." I reply.

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We quickly get to work getting everything we will need to survive in the Under forest and the trip there.

Steve of course, being the soldier he is, is eager to help. Natasha, since I had taught her a lot about Wonderland, knows what to do.

I unroll a map of the Under Forest while Steve and Natasha argue whether or not Wonderland should have been called something different.

Tracing the distinct lines with my finger I try to make out the paths that crisscross all over the map.

"This doesn't make any sense..." I mumble. It's true. The lines aren't the ones I remember from the previous map I had.

Either this is a fake or...It's a cover up? Hatter is smart, I know that, but is he smart enough to hide the real picture?

Only one way to find out.

I take a candle and light the paper on fire.

Steve and Natasha jump when the sudden flames lick at their skin.

"What the Hell?" I say bewildered.

"Language!" Steve reprimands.

I glance at him, "English?"

Natasha laughs at that.

"Hey Steve, have you ever read a map before?"

Steve crosses his arms and replies, "Of course I have."

"Let me rephrase that. Have you ever read a map correctly before?"

"What's the difference?"

I scoff, "Seriously?"

Steve smirks and comes around the table to stand next to me.

"Where exactly are we headed?" Natasha asks.

"To the Under Forest." I reply not looking up from my map reading. 

"The what?"

Sighing I begin telling the two the story of the Under land.

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