Okay so I LOVED Alice. Not as much as I loved Tin Man, but loved it none the less. I wanted quite badly to do a Alice/Hatter fic but as I was writing I realized that there was something I wanted to write more: Jack/Duchess.

I know! I think its because Alice and Hatter had such a GREAT romantic scene but there was just so much wasted potential with Jack. So I had to write something. Now i've taken some, um, liberties with past events and what exactly was meant by the phrase "my mother's creation". I was intrigued by the notion of a lifelong love between the two and what, exactly, drove Jack to the breaking point with his going to the other World.

Oh and the Club is Ten, he's the one whose the big important Club whose with Jack at the end. And as of right now Duchess is her name, not simply her title...since, you know, thats what everyone calls her.

So yeah, enjoy!

Jack Frederick Heart had always considered himself a Prince.

Both in the literal and figural sense. He had been born a Prince, born in all the splendor and fantasy the corrupted Wonderland could offer its ruling family. He'd been born to it and, for a time, he had loved it. It was hard not to love being a Prince, no matter how he had gotten there. After all, how could one be expected to hate what they did not understand? And he had not understood what made him into a Prince, only that he was one. It was not until his eyes had been open that he had realized the title was more than just what he was. It was a promise for what he would one day become.

He had just never thought he would be King quite so soon.

Or under such circumstances.

Standing in the makeshift Throne Room, Jack looked at the papers spread in front of him. His mother had been somewhat less than meticulous with her record keeping and making sense of it was proving to be somewhat difficult. Reaching for the tie at his throat, he loosened it as he looked at the numbers. His blazer was over the chair behind him, the bright red color lurid in the otherwise monotone room. Despite the knowledge that it was anything but good, Jack wouldn't help but wish there was some "hard thinking" tea somewhere in Wonderland. But no, there was no more Tea in Wonderland and, of course, that was exactly what the failing economy had depended on. It was the right thing to do, he knew that, but it was difficult to think of what they could possibly do to turn the economy of Wonderland around.

"Your Majesty," he looked up, surprised to see the Ten of Clubs standing there, "my apologies for interrupting but the Duchess has requested an audience with you."

"Send her in," he said, turning around and picking up the blazer, pulling the symbol of his rank on.

Ten bowed deeply before turning around, opening the doors. Despite the knowledge of everything that had happened, Jack felt his heart stutter at the sight of her. His mother had not been lying when she had said the Duchess was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. She truly was. Especially now, stripped of the glitz and glamour she wore so well. Her dress was still snug but the royal blue color was somehow less jarring than the gold metallic creation she had worn. Her blond hair was less high, softening her appearance even more. Of course there was still glamour in her, in the deep colors that lined her eyes and the bright ones that shimmered on her lips. When she moved forward, it was with the impossible grace he had come to almost expect from the woman.

"Duchess," Jack said, moving around the table.

"Majesty," she said, curtseying to him.

She walked forward until she stood right before him and extended a hand. She could smell the perfume she wore, the scent still intoxicating. He knew he should not be affect by anything, by any facet of the woman in front of him, but he had always known the smell of her perfume. He had smelled it the first time that she had stood in front of him and he had smelled it the last time he had hugged her. She hadn't worn the same perfume for so many years, but she knew that this had always been his favorite of her scents. Jack swallowed thickly as he looked at her, trying to maintain control of himself. Opening her palm she revealed the prize. It was a key, a small gold key--the kind that would be used to open a safe or lock box.

"Your father slipped me this before he elected to remain behind," she said, "it opens his records--his real records, the ones that he hid from your mother," she looked over at the papers spread behind him, "I thought they would be useful."

"They will be," Jack said reaching out and picking up the key, "thank you."

"Of course," Duchess replied withdrawing her hand. Jack looked at the key before raising his eyes to the woman in front of him, "there is one other thing," she began. He looked at her, puzzled, "I'm leaving, in the morning."

Jack stared at her, stunned. He had no idea she was even considering leaving, much less that she was actually going to do it. Things had been so chaotic in the short time since the loss of so much, but he had not known that she was unhappy enough to leave. Assuming his silence was something else, a confirmation perhaps, the Duchess turned around. Jack stared at her. Though one of her more modest ones, the dress was undoubtably hers. It was completely backless, revealing almost the entirety of her creme colored back. For some strange reason, he found it amusing that she was dressed as she was, before he immediately wondered why it was the least bit strange. It was how she had always dressed, at least, always since they were teenagers. Then her words registered and he stepped forward.

"What do you mean, you're leaving?" he demanded.

"I'm leaving," she repeated.

"Yes, I heard that, but why?" he questioned.

Duchess froze, shocked that he would even ask such a thing. Did he really not know why she would not want to be there? She had always considered him slightly naive, a idealist even, but she had never thought of him as outright stupid. Still if he was that shocked she was going to have to reassess Wonderland's new King. Even so, that did not stop her from giving him an explanation to his question.

"Why?" she took a deep breath and turned around, "you asked another woman to marry you. You think I'm just your mother's creation. You don't love me," she looked at him without an ounce of shame in her gaze, "I can continue, if you would like more reasons."

"No," he said finally, realizing that she was right, "you are free to go."

"Free to go?" she looked at him, offense in her eyes, "have you nothing to say?"

"What would you like me to say?" he questioned, "I did ask another woman--one I care very deeply about--to marry me. You are my mother's creation, we both know that. And you are right," he looked away for a second before he looked at her, "I do not love you."

Duchess nodded but her features remained completely serene. Alice always shifted, sometimes she bit her lip as well and she always looked at a person, trying to search out everything they were when she was upset. But not the Duchess. She simply looked at him, her hands didn't fidget and her lipstick remained unmarred by teeth. She was perfectly composed. Jack found it somehow both infuriating and enthralling. Though he had always found cracks in her perfect composure. There had even been times when he had made a game of trying to shatter it. Of course she usually wound up winning, no matter what he did. But now, try as he might, he could not see the hints of the woman that perfect facade hid. He had always been able to see them but now he could not and, for some reason he could not understand, he felt saddened by the fact.

"Then I will leave," she said, "there is no reason for me to stay."

"No," he said finally, "I suppose there is not," he looked down at his hand, "thank you, for this. If there is any other thing you can remember--"

"I will contact the Suits right away," she said. Jack nodded, "well then, goodbye Duchess."

"Majesty," she curtsied once more before she turned around. Before she took a step, she turned back towards him, "may I ask you something? You left two days after you asked me to marry you. Why?"

"Does it matter?" he asked.

"Yes," she said.

"I left two days after I asked you to marry me" he began, "because I saw you with my mother."

"You saw me--" Duchess trailed off, realizing with a dull thud of horror what he was saying,

"I heard you," Jack continued, "I heard you tell her when I had left and for how long. I witness her giving you that--" he stopped angrily, "and I knew that you had never cared for me, only for my mother," she looked down, "I could not believe that it was you, that you were the person who had fed her that information. You who I thought I could trust above all others, you who I--" he broke off, "it doesn't matter. The Queen is as good as dead, you may come and go as you wish."

Duchess opened her mouth at his angry words. She could see the hurt on his face and she knew that she truly had betrayed him. Even if it was not as simple as he made it wound, she knew that at the moment he wouldn't hear what she was saying. He wouldn't care what she had really done--more importantly why she had done it. All he saw was the betrayal. A part of her wished that she was a different woman, that she was more like the kind of woman who would whisper soothing words or, at the very least, would leave the room with her lot. But she was not the kind of woman to do such a thing. Despite the fact the new King had bid her farewell and turned his back, both the literal and figurative, on her.

"I did what I needed to do to survive," she said, her voice steady, "someone had to stay behind, with the Queen, with the Court. Not all of us can be Alice."

"No," Jack said turning around, "not all of us can be heroes," Duchess felt anger rise in her at his dismissive tone.

"No," she agreed, her eyes sweeping his form, "not all of us can be."

"What are you saying?" his questioned, his tone edged.

"As if anything I say could make a difference to you," she said, her temper overshadowing her control, "you have made up your mind and I know how stubborn you can be."

Jack stepped forward, one of his hands locking around her arm. Her eyes widened at the touch. Her arm moved back but the effort was half hearted if anything. She knew his touch, knew it far more intimately than just a hand on her fabric covered arm. He looked down at her, his eyes shining with the same passion, the same fire that she had seen when he truly believed in something. When he had something to fight for. All that Jack Frederick Heart had ever really needed was something to believe in. The thing that saddened her, however, was the fact that he didn't really believe in her.

"Why should I change my mind about you?" he demanded, "after everything you've done, what could possibly change my mind about you?"

"I did rescue you," she said.

"You betrayed me before that," he replied.

"And you ran!" she cried.

Her tone shocked the both of them. His hand fell to his side as one of hers flew up to cover her mouth. For a moment she thought she would be sick--sick or that she would burst into tears. But she reigned her wild emotions in, stuffing them down as far as she could. She could weep later, in the privacy of wherever she went off to next. Jack seemed stunned at her angry words. She didn't think that anyone had shouted at him about his disappearance, everyone hailing him as the one who was brave enough to leave and take the ring with them. She was glad for that, really she was, but it did not change the fact that that was what he had done.

"I had to run," he said, "for the resistance. I had to find Alice."

"I know that," she said, her voice far less steady than she would have liked, "I did not mean to impl--"

"What did they do to you?" she looked at him. Jack felt his stomach drop, "Duchess," he stepped forward, "what did my mother do to you when I left?"

"It does not matter," she said, taking a step back, "it is not important."

The fear in her eyes was enough to make him consider backing off. But it confirmed his worst fear--a fear he had not even realized he held until he saw it naked on her face. His mother had punished her for him leaving. They had been sharing a room for two months under his mother's insistence, a situation he had found nothing wrong with at the time. But he had disappeared in the middle of the night and he knew that the last place anyone had truly seen him was going into their room. That made her the most suspicious person, even if she was the product of his mother's whims. He knew that would not be enough to stop his mother, especially not if she was truly angry--as he knew she would have been when his theft of the Ring was discovered.

"What happened?" he demanded, unable to keep the edge out of his voice.

"I told you it does not matter!" she said, her voice rising as her control vanished completely.

"The Truth Room," Jack realized aloud. Duchess closed her eyes, turning her face away, "she sent you there," he stepped forward, "because of what I did, because of my disappearance, she punished you."

"I was the last to see you," Duchess whispered, her voice choked.

"I--" Jack stopped, running a hand over his face, "God I'm so sorry," he shook his head, "I had no idea."

"That was the point," Duchess said taking a deep breath, running her hands over her skirt before reaching up to swipe a ruby painted thumbnail under each eye, "it does not matter. I did not know where you went and your mother realized that if you came back I would be more valuable alive," Jack opened his mouth but she shook her head, "it was not your mouth that sent me there."

"No," he said, "only my actions."

"Actions that were necessary," she said, "for Wonderland," she exhaled, "well that is enough truth for today," she looked up at him, "goodbye Your Majest--" she stopped.

His hand locked around her upper arm.

He looked down at her, desperate, confused--a thousand things that he could not completely name. His fingers tightened around her upper arm as he tried to figure out if she was telling the truth. She had no reason to lie. What was more, she was very very good at lying. Yet her control was shattered. Somehow he did not find that amusing. It was no game, she truly was afraid of what had been done to her. And there was only one thing that did that to people: the Truth Room. Suddenly he wanted to kill his mother, even more than he had before. But there was nothing in her face that said she wanted to stay there. Nothing that said she held even an ounce of trust for him.

"Wait," he began, his voice low.

"If you mean what you said," she said looking up at him, "and I truly am free to go," she looked at his hand, "then let me."

"Of course," he said, stepping back, "my sincerest apologies."

She nodded and matched his actions, stepping away from him.

"Goodbye, Your Majesty," she said.

Then she turned on her heel and walked out of the room. Jack watched her leave but he could not find it in himself to stop her departure. His fingers curled around the key in his hands as the doors closed behind her. Part of him wanted nothing more than to run after her, to stop her and make her see that he truly was sorry. But just as large a part of him told him that it was the way things had to be. He had to let her go. She was a product of his mother's warped mind, nothing more. Everything they had, everything they were was little more than a lie. So, in true Heart-men fashion, he did nothing. Just stood there, as his father had done for so many years next to his mother. The Duchess truly was leaving and, much to his chagrin, Jack realized that he would have cut his own arm off just to hear her call him 'Jack' one final time.

"Your Majesty," Ten walked in with a sweeping bow.

"Now's not a good time," Jack said.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the Kingdom rarely waits for times of convenience," Ten said. Jack glared at him, "acting on your orders, Majesty," the Suite reminded him hastily.

It was true. Jack had ordered the members of the Court to tell him when something was wrong. Especially when it was with him. He knew that Wonderland needed a drastic change and he was determined to be that. Unfortunately it was proving difficult, a fact not helped in the slightest by his two year absence from Court. He looked over at the Club and nodded.

"Sorry, yes, what is it?" he asked.

"It is the records, Majesty. We seem to have located a bank vault in your father's name but the Bank wishes to speak to you if they are to open it without a key."

"Key--" Jack looked at his hand, "I have the key," he held it out to Ten, "here," he said offering it to the Club.

"Majesty!" Ten gasped, "this is--this is wonderful," he looked at Jack, "where did you get it?"

"Duchess," he said slowly looking at the doors.

"Well this is excellent news," he said, "it will make things far simpler," he trailed off, looking at the doors, "Majesty?" he inquired.

"I--" he stopped and looked at the Club, "did my mother send Duchess to the Truth Room?" he asked.

"Yes," Ten replied, "he did," Jack looked at him sharply, "but only for a little while," Ten added quickly, "she did recover quite quickly, refused to say anything about you before or after," Jack said nothing, "if I may be so bold, Majesty, she does care about you a great deal," Jack looked at him, "and it seems you reciprocate her feelings?"

"My feelings are no longer my main concern," Jack said stiffly, walking back around the desk, "I must think of what is good for the people as well."

"Yes, yes of course," Ten said, "but, if I may, Duchess is rather well schooled in the workings of Court--and the Court members. A grand rebellion is good--necessary even--but if you want to continue perhaps it requires a--shall we say finer touch?"

"Its not that simple," Jack said.

"Matters of the heart rarely are," Ten replied, "just look at your father."

Jack wished his words did not make as much sense as they did. His father had been a less than exceptional man, especially when it came to matters of the heart. While Jack wouldn't say that he was an evil man, he did find his father to be the personification of the saying "all evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing". He had sworn that he would never be like his father--any more than he would marry a woman like his mother. In spite of Duchess's noble actions at the end, he still didn't know how much he could trust her. He knew that and yet he was finding it very hard to justify letting her leave. Perhaps it was their history, or maybe it was something else entirely but a part of him would always care about her.

Always.

He didn't know what it was. He had thought he loved Alice. But Duchess had always been in the back of his mind. She had not been simply created. At one point she had been a girl. A stiff, prim girl he had thought had all the nasty things boys thought girls had when they were young, but a girl none the less. And his mother had taken delight in crafting the perfect spy, right under his nose. He hadn't been any wiser, not when they had kissed for the first time when they were teenagers, not when he had blurted out his true feelings after the first time he got injured in a fight. Not even when he had summoned up the courage to ask her to become first a Princess and then a Queen. He had always understood, in some deep part of himself that his mother was evil. But it was her betrayal that had really been the last straw, her betrayal that hurt the worst.

He had watched Hatter follow his heart a few days ago. Moments after Alice had gone back through the Looking Glass, the tea shop owner had backed up and flung himself through the Glass. Guards had wanted to go after him but Jack had stopped them. Alice had told her she wanted something else and, as he watched that something else's bootsoles vanish through the Glass, he knew that he, at the very least, owed her that. There was no sense to Hatter's actions, no rhyme and certainly reason. And yet he had done them. Jack hated to think that there was anything he could have learned from the Hatter--who he was quite sure was mad--but he realized that there was.

"Oh God," he pressed a hand to his forehead, "I've made a terrible mistake," he pushed himself off the desk he'd been leaning on, "she's gone--have your Suits see if anyone saw where she went--"

"I overheard Duchess speaking of leaving," he said, "so I took the liberty of 'misplacing' this," he said holding out an earring clasped between two fingers, the gold disk spinning to catch the light, "your Majesty's last birthday gift to the Duchess, I believe," he said, "she has spoken of them being her favorite piece of jewelry numerous times and I do not think she would simply leave without it."

"Brilliant," he said turning around and taking the earring from him. Turning back towards the door he stopped and turned around once again, "lets, ah, keep the 'misplacement' between us."

"Of course, Majesty," he said. Jack nodded and turned around, walking back to the door, "oh and, ah, Majesty?" he looked at him, "Suits reported her heading for her room--" Jack nodded reaching out for the door, "Majesty, one more thing?"

"Ten--" he began, "if I don't go now--"

"Good luck," the Club said with a smile on his face.

"Thanks," Jack said, "I think I'm going to need it."

Okay so Part 2 should be out soon!

In the meantime, please review!