A/N: This was meant to be a super short one shot - practically the first little section of the below story BUT it didn't happen that way and it became a 2500 word monstrosity. Well monstrosity is probably the wrong word! But anyway this has MAJOR spoilers for the end of Looking Glass. You have been warned, but its actually just a cute little fuzzy monster.

Enjoy!

"Is there a particular reason you are nursing a black eye Mr Harcourt?" Helen Kingsleigh had bustled into the office to see her right hand man holding a damp rag over an undoubtedly sore eye.

"There is, but I'd rather not have you ask M'lady." James winced, standing as she shut the door behind her. She waved him to sit, and gratefully he slid in the chair behind him.

"Mmm, I suspect not." Helen clucked, taking the cloth away from his face and inspecting the black shadow forming on his cheekbone. "Have you been here all night?" She hummed turning his cheek to the light for a better view.

"I fell asleep here M'lady, you don't mind do you?" He asked anxiously.

"Not at all, I suspect whilst you worked for Hamish you spent more than enough nights in an office finishing his paperwork…" Helen looked around for a pitcher of water which she dunked the rag back into, squeezed out and handed back to the slightly battered man.

"A fair few…" He admitted with a half smile.

"I don't expect you to run yourself to the bone over me or my daughter Mr Harcourt…" Helen sat herself behind her desk and flicked through the paperwork quickly.

"With no disrespect intended milady, I'd happily run myself ragged for Kingsleigh & Kingsleigh. I've never seen anyone to stand up to the young Lord Ascot with such talent and brilliance, for that I know you make worthy employers." James bobbed his head as Helen tried to hide her smile.

"Such praise Mr Harcourt." She raised one eyebrow. "Go home, get yourself cleaned up and report back to me tomorrow morning. I dare say I can last without you for a day." When James opened his mouth to argue, Helen raised one eyebrow and looked every inch the mother. He closed his mouth again with a twinkle in his eye, bowed to her quickly and vanished out of the door.

~A.K~

"Mother, is there any reason my first mate is sporting a rather fetching black eye?" Alice Kingsleigh had stepped back into their portside office, with an armful of receipts and business to pass back to into the capable hands of her mother.

"Oh dear, Mr Grant as well?" Helen was still scanning through her own pile of paperwork as her daughter arranged the next pile neatly.

"What do you mean as well?" Alice frowned as receipts were quickly sorted for either their steward or her mother to work through.

"Mr Harcourt may have received a black eye a few days back as well." Helen smiled, looking up at Alice whose features showed her confusion.

"I left Mr Grant here to check about investing a second ship and I come back to find my first mate bruised up, and now you tell me Harcourt is in a similar state. What in heavens has been going on for the week I have been away?!"

"My darling daughter, we are the only females working on this dock, apart from some rather unfortunate women – I imagine they were protecting our honours." Helen sighed. As Alice was often away captaining The Wonder with a rather wonderful crew that were unwaveringly loyal to Captain Kingsleigh regardless of her gender, Helen bore the brunt of the dirty looks, the mild threats and the nasty attitude from many a sailor. That was why James Harcourt was such a wonderful addition to Kingsleigh and Kingsleigh.

"Mr Harcourt is this true?" Alice raised an eyebrow in a spitting imitation of her mother from a few days back and James, now stood awkwardly in the doorway nodded silently. "Well then, we must vet our new crew carefully, for I will not have any impudence or insubordination aboard my vessels."

"New crew Miss Kingsleigh?" James would have frowned but his cheek was still feeling a little tender.

"Certainly, I believe Mr Grant has found the perfect vessel. A smaller one than The Wonder no doubt, but The White Knight is faster and of a newer build. Do you wish to come and see it?" Alice turned to inquire of her mother who had already gathered up her coat and gloves.

"Of course, Mr Wilkins!" She raised her voice to the newly acquired clerk in the backroom. The round spectacled face peered out at her summons. "Would you mind holding down the fort, I'm off to see a White Knight." Helen grabbed Alice's hand and the pair quickly bustled from their offices down through the wharves with James on their heels.

There was a rather nasty surprise waiting at the wharf where The White Knight was currently moored. A rather unfortunate head of red hair was waiting, examining the ship with apparent interest – thought Alice knew Hamish held little to no knowledge of ships at all. He was usually only interested in the profit a vessel brought back.

"Ahh Miss Kingsleigh." Hamish spotted Alice, his voice full of distaste at seeing the blonde haired woman. "Mrs Kingsleigh." His voice was only a modicum more polite at spotting the older woman who was leaning on James' arm, her pace slower than her daughter. "Have you come to admire my new ship?" He waved a hand dismissively at The White Knight and Alice frowned.

"Your ship Hamish?" Alice's deliberate use of the impolite and overly friendly greeting made his face sharpen but she only smiled sweetly back at him.

"I never said it was your ship sir." The older man that was stood a little further away made all heads turn to him.

"Well I believe I can pay the higher amount of money for this boat." Hamish sneered and the other man's features changed minutely. He was a merchant and used to dealing with all manner of unpleasant people, Lord Ascot was just one in a long line of horrid experiences. He was also used to hiding his disgust behind a rather neat mask of indifference.

"My ship is not just about the money Lord Ascot – it's about the welfare of my crew working her." He turned to Mrs Kingsleigh, seeing the apprehension written into her features. "Captain Grimsley my lady." He gave her a short bow. "I am to understand that you are the other half of Kingsleigh and Kingsleigh. I've heard favourable things floating around here. But shall we discuss this in an office rather than the dockside?"

"A woman shouldn't be in an office. Let alone making business negotiations with men." Hamish spat and even Captain Grimsley couldn't stop his mask from slipping.

"Well then, perhaps my office is not such a good idea as my wife and many of our female kin work in it." His voice was hard but Hamish barely noticed the distaste.

"Your office is the closest Captain, why on earth would we go elsewhere." Hamish started to sweep off, oblivious to the disgusted look the Captain was glaring into his back.

Until the day he died, Hamish was still unable to see what Captain Grimsley saw in the two Kingsleigh women that he didn't see in Ascot & Co. The young Lord would bluster his way to the board as to why The White Knight was not registered in their books and was in fact the second ship for a rather dangerous rival. He would seethe at seeing Helen christen the boat with a bottle of rum, much to the delight of the sailors they had now added to their staffing rosters.

Granted, a few experienced sailors had left the crew of The White Knight in disgust at having a female guvnor but they would soon realise that Ascot & Co cared little for the sailors under its command. However the Kingsleighs' soon filled the empty gaps with willing recruits and the business was flourishing.

~A.K~

"I wish you would stop getting into fights James." Helen was dabbing at the man's split lip tenderly as the man beneath her winced.

"That will only stop when the crews of Ascot & Co stop behaving like scoundrels." James huffed through unmoving lips.

"Really, you aren't a common sailor James – Alice and I have more than enough brawling men to protect our honours…"

"Not that either of you need the protection, where did Alice learn to duel with a sword like that?" James watched with dread as the witch hazel was pulled from Helen's reticule next.

"Goodness knows, but I for one am glad she knew how to wield that weapon. You would have thought that after five years working these docks, Hamish would stop sending his hooligans." She was daubing the thick gel over the split skin on his cheek and he hissed in pain. "You knew it would sting." She admonished as meanwhile Alice was also patching up Michael Grant, her first First Mate and now captain of the White Knight who took a broken bottle to the arm.

"Thank you Michael." She was murmuring to the man before her. "I never thought he'd be as cruel as to send five men against one woman."

"I never thought you'd be as daft to walk the docks by yourself." He grunted back at her as she pulled another sliver of glass with tweezers.

"Kingsleigh and Kingsleigh now have three ships moored at these docks, you'd think the ratio of friendly sailors would be greater." Alice hummed as she closely inspected the wound for anything glittering in the candle light.

"Oh you have many supporters milady." James piped up next to them. "That's why the fight stopped so quickly." He grinned, then winced at the split lip. He'd taken a fair few hits reaching Alice in the centre of the fight but when he'd seen the young captain whirling a sword on her attackers he was rather impressed.

"I fear you won't be able to shake your entourage for a few days." Helen smiled, as in their not so tiny office an array of men loitered, waiting to escort both mother and daughter home.

"I should hope not. The Wonder sails in a few days as does The Hightopp, I am expecting nothing less than perfection from my crews." Alice raised her voice, to be met with rousing cheers. "I am also expecting the crew of the White Knight to be keeping a close eye on its Captain and my mother while I am gone." Alice stood again, allowing Helen to move in and slowly pad out the bandage for Captain Grant's arm. "I do not expect my men to let me down."

"Never Captain, we're proud to serve for Kingsleigh and Kingsleigh." One gruff voice came from the throng of men and Alice had to smile. A fair few of her sailors had come from Ascot & Co, which is probably why the company had resorted to such thuggish behaviour. The once small holdings of Kingsleigh and Kingsleigh was now a fierce rival and many a contract went their way, as such shares had skyrocketed alongside their profits and expansion. Alice couldn't have been happier for her mad mother's decision to say no to Hamish Ascot. She turned back at her mother to see her own happiness reflected back at her in the older face.

"Now gentleman, I believe it is time to go home. I suggest we all travel back to our beds before we restock for the upcoming travels." Helen Kingsleigh joined her daughter in front of the men, her voice raised to great cheers. "I am sure you all know when the shift changes on our ships?" The three first mates all stood forward and very soon the assembled men were quickly settled into their duties of who was to be part of the escort group, who was to relieve the current watch shift and who was to bed down for the time being.

Alice stood there in the strange mill of midnight activity with a smile on her face. The Wonder, The White Knight and The Hightopp were as close as she would now get to Wonderland, and this tugged at her heart strings. The mirror she had installed along one wall of the office would remind her of her last adventure with her friends and she smiled wistfully at it. She hoped Hatter would appreciate the naming of her latest ship, even if the men had found it a little strange. But they always found her a little strange, they had just learnt to appreciate the quirks that came with having a female guvnor.

She watched her mother, at ease with the burly sailors before her as soft words and jokes passed between the older woman and the brawny men at least twice her size. She watched the strange tenderness that came from their sailors, as if Mrs Kingsleigh was their own mother and as such they acted far more gentlemanly than man she had met in a ballroom. Alice also remembered the first day her mother had raised her voice in the dockyard and she had to grin at the memory.

"Mother, your manners…" There was no scolding in Alice's words, merely shock at the positively scandalous behaviour Mrs Kingsleigh was displaying.

"Never mind my manners, when this man is trying to extort money out of us. Now you cur, watch yourself. I may look and dress like a lady but I am also a mother and so heaven help you I will give you a thick ear if you even think of pressing me for a single penny. You slack jawed idiot, munz watcher!" Helen was starting to gather attention and the man before her was looking uncomfortable to the crowd around her.

"Is there a problem milady?" James Harcourt, a steady hand to the tiller of Kingsleigh and Kingsleigh appeared from nowhere, as always.

"This cad is threatening something of the sort because he believes I am a woman of means walking through the dockyard. I have to say sir, you best take word back to Ascot & Co that I will not be bullied by a weasel of man who barely knows his hairbrush from his shoe brush. Now get from my sight or your future will have very dire consequences." Helen Kingsleigh, it turned out, was rather a formidable woman when annoyed and Alice smiled in delight at the mother before her as the man fled through the now raucous crowd.

"Tea mother?"

"Tea Alice."

If anyone was to tell young Alice that by turning down Hamish Ascot, and possibly ruining her reputation, she would have possibly the best adventure of her life… she would have believed them. But if anyone had told her she'd be lucky enough to have an amazing adventure with her mother by her side, she would have wondered if that was stretching the impossible.

But now as James offered the captain his arm to escort her home, she looked up to the stars, sent a wish to her Underland friends and walked home surrounded by a gruff protection detail. Her reputation as a Captain meant more to her than it did as a society wife.