Disclaimer- I do not own Batman (animated series or otherwise). I do not own Alice in Wonderland, in fact I don't own anything at all.

A/N- My first ever Batman related fic, I hope you like it.

The Waiting Period

It was a typical night in Gotham city. The police sirens were wailing in the air and if you looked out at the clear sky you could see the bat signal. While this reassured many people that they were safe, there were some that hated the sight of it. Alice Pleasance was one of them.

When it was only the police sirens you could be sure that it was something simple. A burglary or a hold up of some sort. When the bat signal was up, there was a very good chance that someone had escaped from Arkham and unless you happened to see the inmate escaping into the night, there was no way to tell who had gotten free until you read the next mornings paper. In some cases you had to wait even longer then that for Arkham to release a statement.

Alice watched through the curtains of her room, out onto the street. Gazing sadly at the silhouette of the bat framed against the sky. She knew that there was nothing that she could do now but wait. Sinking down into a chair that she kept near the window, she kept her silent vigil deep in thought.

This was what Alice hated about the bat signal. That horrible period of time where all she could do was wait to hear who had escaped. She was always so stressed during this time period. She sometimes wondered if that was the reason that her and her fiancé Billy still weren't married. She couldn't help it though, she was always worried that she would open up the paper one morning and read that he had escaped.

Alice was one of the few people in Gotham who knew that the self-proclaimed Mad Hatter was really a man named Jervis Tetch. A man who used to be her boss and her friend. A friend she had driven to madness. She knew she shouldn't blame herself. Billy didn't but that was Billy. He'd never really liked Jervis even before…well before everything had happened.

Billy was the one that was making her go see all the psychiatrists. They were all very nice but none of them seemed to be able to convince Alice that she wasn't to blame for what had happened.

She sighed looking over at the list Billy had written. The one with the names of all the psychiatrists in Gotham. Almost half of them were crossed out with large red scratches. Alice sometimes thought that she would end up seeing even more doctors then the inmates at Arkham themselves. She had once even suggested to Billy that maybe she should be sent there. She had meant it as a joke but Billy just seemed to look even more worried. He seemed to think that she should be taking things more seriously.

That was another thing. He seemed to think that Alice should hate Jervis. She supposed in a way it was expected of her but she just couldn't make herself do it. She blamed herself because, as she had told psychiatrists, looking back it seemed obvious that something was up. She freely admitted that she had been stupid. Blinded by her relationship with Billy she had never thought that her quiet spoken boss liked her. She could see it now though. All the little things he'd said, things that she'd just attributed to them being friends.

Suddenly the phone rang, bringing Alice out of her deep thought. She glared at the device but made no movements to get it. She would let the answering machine take it. She knew who it was anyway, even before the machine started recording.

"Hey baby, it's me…Billy. I was wondering if you wanted to talk…."There was a pause then. "Well call me back if you need to talk…Love you."

Alice put her head into her hands when the answering machine beeped to signify the message was done. She should have answered but he always called on nights like this and they just ended up fighting. She'd stopped answering a few weeks ago and yet he still called. Something else she'd add to her list of things to feel guilty about.

She looked out the window again. The signal was gone now but its damage was done. She'd spend the night wondering if Jervis was on the run from the cops and Batman. The problem was that she wanted him to be getting help and so she wanted him to be caught when he escaped. Though she was worried that he'd be hurt and so in a way she didn't want him to get caught. She'd never told this to Billy, she knew he wouldn't understand.

Alice looked over at the clock on the wall to find that it was only eight. Getting up she tried to keep her mind off of what was going on. She walked down into the living room. She had left a package in the middle of the room, inside was a book her new psychiatrist suggested that she read. She still hadn't opened it yet. The doctor thought it would help her learn more about what Jervis was going through. She liked this woman more then the other doctors she'd met with. This one seemed sympathetic in a sincere way. Not like all those other doctors she'd been to. They seemed to treat her like a baby.

Alice was just about to open the package when the phone rang again. Curious Alice went back to her room. Billy had never called twice before, so she picked up the phone when she got there, thinking it may be work.

"Hello, Alice Pleasance speaking."

"Hi Alice, its Dr. Quinzelle!" Alice smiled a bit at her psychiatrist's bubbly voice.

"I was just calling to ask if you read the book I sent over."

"Um, not yet." Alice admitted. "I just got back in from work a little while ago. I haven't even looked at it yet."

"Oh, that's okay." Dr. Quinzelle continued. "I also called to tell you something. It was Re—I mean Poison Ivy that got out of Arkham tonight."

Alice paused for a moment. "How do you know that?"

Dr. Quinzelle laughed merrily. "You could say I have contacts inside Arkham itself. Just thought I'd tell yah, so you wouldn't be worried about poor Jervis."

There was a slight pause again. "Thank you." Alice replied quietly.

"No, problem! Hope yah like the book!"

After hanging up the phone Alice looked out of the window, relief sweeping through her. It wasn't him, he was still safe. Thinking back to her strange psychiatrist she thought that she might be the one that could actually help her.

No longer worried, Alice went downstairs to see the book. She grabbed the package and some scissors and sat down on a chair to open it. After a few minutes she had opened the package. Now the book lay on her lap as she sat staring at it. It was a large red book that's title simply read:

The Collected Works of Lewis Carroll

Slowly, Alice opened the book to the first story, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Underneath the title was the picture that Jervis used to have hanging in his lab. The tea party picture. She knew fully well that Billy wouldn't want her to read them but Alice was curious. She'd never read the stories before and maybe reading his favorite books would help her understand Jervis. So Alice took a deep breath and turned the page.

Chapter One: Down the Rabbit Hole ……………….

And down she went.

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Well I hope you liked it. I'm fairly certain you all know who the psychiatrist was….If you're wondering why her name is the same it's because most people wouldn't recognize it. Anyway please leave a review and tell me what you thought.

As of right now this is a oneshot.