A/N: I logged on and freaked out when I saw that only five out of, like, twenty-four stories/docs remained. I know they expire, but Jesus, have I really been gone that long? Anyway, this is a new OC that I've been playing around with, and I'll just warn you now that Scarecrow and Riddler may be slightly ooc. My focus was on Jervis, not my dear Crane and Eddie.

"Let me go!" Crossword exclaimed. Her voice sounded strong, but she was terrified. The Riddler didn't stop until the door was four-letter-word-for-closed, and the room was momentarily left in darkness. When the lights flickered on, Crossword blinked before seeing a five-letter-word-for-big table with multiple chairs, decorated with silverware and teapots. It looked like a tea party.

"Is this her?"

Crossword jumped with a short cry as the infamous Scarecrow appeared out of the now limited darkness, his ten-letter-word-for-logical eyes scanning over her.

"Obviously." Riddler snapped, glaring at Crossword.

"Please, let me go." Crossword pleaded, her voice now sounding more like a six-letter-word-for-a-baby-cat. Scarecrow glanced at her again, before a third voice spoke.

"March Hare? Caterpillar?"

Crossword and the other two nine-letter-word-for-felons turned to see the equally infamous Jervis Tetch, alias The Mad Hatter. Alias, late Middle English, from the Latin meaning 'at another time' or 'otherwise'. Crossword shook her head to try and clear it. She was so panicked she was relapsing to word origins again.

"Who is this?" Hatter asked, stepping seven-letter-word-for-to Crossword. Crossword could feel the Riddler's grip tighten on her arm, which she was only six-letter-word-for-hardly aware he still had a hold of.

"She's the new arrival, Jervis." The Riddler explained, "The one who doesn't respect her superiors." Respect, late Middle English, from the Latin respectus, from the verb respicere meaning 'look back at' or 'regard'. Crossword held her free hand to her head, trying to stop herself. Next thing she would be speaking in crossword clues again.

"So," The Riddler continued, looking at the Scarecrow and Mad Hatter, "Oblivion, or Wonderland?" The spark of ten-letter-word-for-exhilaration in both Scarecrow and the Hatter's eyes added to Crossword's six-letter-word-for-horror, and she once again struggled to pull her arm free.

"Mr Riddler please have a-five-letter-word-for-clemency." Crossword begged, trying not to three-letter-word-for-sob. She needed more medication, but the last of it had she had four-letter-word-for-utilised three days ago. By now Crossword was sweating so nine-letter-word-for-abundantly her ski-mask-like mask was clinging to her face.

"I understand the name now." The Scarecrow remarked, once again looking at Crossword, "You have an obsession that drives you to speak like the puzzle you are named after. Tell me, what is the definition of 'indefinitely'?" Crossword, eyes now wet with tears, clamped her free hand over her mouth, fighting against the urge, the need.

"Indefinitely, an adverb." Crossword blurted, "Meaning 'for an unlimited or unspecified period of time', or as a submodifier meaning 'to an unlimited or unspecified degree or extent'!"

"And an obsession with the English language, it seems." The Scarecrow nodded thoughtfully, then looked at the Hatter, "I think I would prefer this subject, Jervis." Crossword's eyes widened and she shrank back. Shrink, Old English of Germanic origin, related to the Swedish skrynka meaning 'to wrinkle'. This only seemed to nine-letter-word-for-hearten the Scarecrow, and his four-letter-word-for-azure eyes bored through her soul again.

"Take off the mask." Scarecrow instructed, voice devoid of any emotion. Devoid, late Middle English, from the Old French devoidier. Emotion, originating mid sixteenth century, from the French…

Crossword swayed slightly, cutting off her own train of thought. So many words going through her four-letter-word-for-brain, crossing her vision.

"A…" Crossword stammered, head drooping slightly, "A two-letter-word-meaning-negative." The Scarecrow frowned, and the Riddler and the Hatter only seemed to five-letter-word-for-view as the 'master of fear' did his work.

"Take off the mask, or I will have to do it for you." Scarecrow repeated, "And that may be quite painful for you." Crossword felt Riddler's hold six-letter-word-for-slacken, allowing her the means to remove her four-letter-word-for-disguise. Crossword glanced between the Riddler and the Scarecrow before nine-letter-word-for-timidly reaching up to her mask. Her fingerless-gloved hands took hold of the back of her mask, near the bottom of her neck, and she six-letter-word-for-unhurriedly pulled it off to reveal her short wavy blonde hair and dark blue eyes. Wendy, not Crossword, stared down at the floor, too six-letter-word-for-terrified to look at her captors. Captor, from the Latin capt- meaning 'seized' or 'taken', from the verb capere. She expected more words, maybe even an injection of the fear toxin she had heard so much about. But after a six-letter-word-for-instant there was nothing but silence, and Wendy cautiously lifted her head. The attention seemed to have five-letter-word-for-advanced from her, to the Mad Hatter. He in turn was looking at Wendy, eyes slightly widened.

"Alice?" The one word the Hatter spoke was barely a seven-letter-word-for-murmur.

"Jervis, no." The Riddler said, he and the Scarecrow quickly holding the Hatter almost as if to hold him back.

"You know this is pointless." The Scarecrow added, "You know she isn't Alice." Wendy took a step back, eight-letter-word-for-bewildered. Her name was Wendy, not Alice.

"B-b-but she looks like Alice!" The Hatter spluttered, now trying to move forward. All it took was for the Hatter to take another step and Wendy pulled the mask back over her face and bolted for the door. Bolt, Middle English, from sense one of the word expressing the sense 'fly like an arrow'. Crossword could hear a quick scuffle behind her as she pulled at the doorknob, before the scuffle five-letter-word-for-finished and Crossword whipped around to see what had happened. The Hatter stood, smiling, with the Riddler and the Scarecrow standing behind him, blank-faced and unmoving. Behind their ears was a card reading ten over six.

"Alice, you did try to hide didn't you." The Hatter remarked, slowly walking towards Crossword, "But you don't need to hide, now that I've saved you from March Hare and the Caterpillar." Crossword backed away until her back was against the door, once again six-letter-word-for-scared as the Hatter continued towards her. Her, from the Old English hire.

"Now Alice, please stop hiding." The Hatter's face flickered with different emotions, and when she understood what he meant Crossword once again nervously removed her mask. The Hatter's smile widened in what she seven-letter-word-for-reckoned was approval.

"Thank you." The Hatter said before he noticed her welling tears, "Oh Alice, don't cry." He reached out to brush away the tears, but as soon as his gloved hand touched her face Wendy flinched, pulling her head away.

"No…" The words in Wendy's head were joined by memories as she backed away, holding herself and shaking her head, "A-four-letter-word-for-history, a seven-letter-word-for-misconduct…"

"Misconduct?" The Hatter questioned, "Alice, I wouldn't hurt you." Wendy shook her head again, curling into a ball as she cried.

"A-seven-letter-word-for-past…" Wendy sobbed, "And a…a-four-letter word…a-four-letter-word-for-molesting…" Wendy continued to cry, back against the wall and forehead on her knees as the Hatter's eyes widened again. Molesting…someone would dare rape his poor Alice? They would pay dearly. But he couldn't bear to see his Alice cry, so he simply sat down beside her and hugged her tightly. Wendy was already too seven-letter-word-for-faraway to even notice the Hatter, but she didn't think she had the strength to push him away anyway.

A/N: I know, I know, not enough backstory for Crossword. But this just the beginning, my fellow Wonderlandians! Besides, I should really explain Crossword's costume, since it was never actually mentioned. A white jacket with black collar and shoulders over a black t-shirt, white pants, white sneakers, black fingerless gloves, and a mask similar to a ski mask with no actual holes for any part of the face designed to look like a crossword puzzle (you know, black and white squares).