Queen of Spades (House of Car...

A/N: there's going to be a pic of Mal added, I just need to get to the comp that actually HAS the pic!

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When Alice finally blinked into consciousness, she found herself cocooned into a pile of pillows and blankets on a very low matress bed. She could smell lingering traces of animals and tobacco and knew she was still in Salali's home. On the other side of the door she could hear Mal being angry at someone. The words were too muffled to make out, but his tone of voice was pissed off with a dash of determination. She couldn't remember being woken every 45 minutes since they came from the hospital, but her body felt the lack of continuous sleep and every injury she'd suffered at Stuart's hands. Malcolm slammed the phone down outside and Alice jumped a little, astonished to have found his temper. He'd always seemed so.... professional before. Now though, whatever had pissed him off was making him pace, and even with a door between them, Alice could feel the agitation radiate off of him. She shuffled out of the bed and cracked open the door to see his shoulders knotted with tension, hands balled into fists and his eyes closed as he tried to take deep breaths to calm down.

She waited for him to calm down, taking the opportunity to just look at him properly. His normally smiling face was harsh with anger and Ace was getting the inkling that this was the part of Mal that had found running with a street gang as a youth attractive. Even though he seemed like such a bloody boy scout at times, that was his way of controlling that beastly aspect within himself. Seeing how his chest heaved with his efforts to calm himself down, Alice realized that he'd been suppressing the darker aspects of his behaviour for a while now, and it was taking its toll on him. Finally Mal opened his eyes, surprised to see Alice standind in the door way, watching him.

"Looks like you need this." Alice stated cryptically and then suddenly hugged him. He stiffened up for a second, then relaxed and wrapped his arms around her as she hugged him. "Every now and then, a hug helps." she stated into his shoulder and he chuckled.

"Getting a hug from a pretty lady, Yeah I can see how that'd be effective." Malcolm admitted as he laughed.

Alice grinned up at him, for a moment forgetting her injuries. "Easy there lover boy, keep talking like that and I may get the wrong idea." she joked, while a small part of her brain yammered away about how she already had the wrong idea.

"If I keep getting hugs, I don't think I mind." Mal teased.

"Can I ask what got you so worked up?" Alice asked, not wanting to kill the relaxed mood, but needing to know. She figured it had to involve her somehow.

Malcolm's smile slipped and he sighed out a breath. "I phoned your foster family. Told them that I was a co-worker and that you'd crashed at the boss' place last night. Kept them from reporting you as a run away again. They seemed....less than pleased and demanded that I bring you home. So I told them how we'd had to bring you to the hospital..." he trailed off.

"Which is when they started to get angry." Alice filled in, already knowing that she would just catch hell for this later. She didn't want to resent Malcolm's help, but it was a little frustrating to know that his good intentions would end up with bruises on her body later.

"After that phone call, Mal here called the SSA on your behalf and demanded to speak to a Supervisor. That nurse yesterday had already called in about Agent... what was her name? Anyways, she called in about that idiot Agent yesterday and listed a complaint. Malcolm's call today just added to that. Tell her." Salali instructed from the kitchen. Alice blinked at the disembodied voice wafting their way and tried not to drool at the smell of something cooking.

She looked up at Mal and was a little stunned to realize that he was still holding her in a loose hug. She pushed the urge to blush away and stepped back, reluctantly pulling her arms from around his waist. This was getting ridiculous, she really did have an idiot school girl crush on him! "So what exactly did you do?" Alice demanded, trying not to sound suspicious.

Malcolm ran a hand through his hair and sighed again. "I demanded that you be removed from their care. Even if that Agent didn't believe that you were being abused and raped, even if it was true that you were hurting yourself, obviously the Walter's are not doing anything to keep you safe so they are unfit. There's going to be an investigation into it now. But until then Social Services is requesting that you remain with a guardian." Alice's stomach gave a weird lurch flop sensation. She was exhilerated that there was the hope for help, that the pain could end. But she was also terrified that the Walter's would get away with it and her final months in their care would be the worst ones yet.

"Was that what made you so angry? That they didn't want to help?" Alice asked, still not understanding his earlier suppressed rage.

Malcolm looked from the floor up to catch her eyes. His eyes still smoldered with the anger that danced just under the skin. A normal person might find it scary and step away, but Alice found it intensely alluring and stepped towards him before she stopped herself. Now would so not be the time to touch him, she reminded herself. With her stupid hormones convincing her that having a crush on him was a good idea, she'd probably just do something embarassing.

"I was so angry because they were reluctant to let me act as your guardian." he stated. Alice felt her world tilt a little and was surprised to open her eyes and find herself on the floor with her head between her knees. Malcolm was stroking her back, murmering for her to just breath and relax. Salali was on her other side, holding a glass of water.

"What...?" Alice asked, confused as to how she'd gotten here.

"You sort of fainted. I don't think you should be moving around so much." Salali reprimanded as she passed the water over. "You sit, you eat and you rest. Nothing else. Do you understand me?" the Native woman demanded, her rough voice filled with caring.

"Yes mama bear." Alice replied automatically.

Salali grinned down at her, trying not to laugh. "Squirrel actually." she retorted. Alice frowned, now completely lost.

"It'd be more appropriate to call me mama Squirrel." Salali explained. "My name directly translated means squirrel, not bear."

"Please tell me you weren't named that because you were obsessed with nuts." Alice asked, making both Salali and Malcolm laugh.

"No, it was because I had very little common sense and tended to run off from one project to the next." Salali admitted with a grin. "Now up you go little satinka. Let's get you on hte couch."

Alice let them help her to her feet, a little embarassed to find herself feeling weak. "What does satinka mean?" she asked, trying to distract herself.

"Sacred dancer. Now move." Salali explained briefly and carefully husseled Alice to the couch.

Alice settled onto the couch with a wince as her cracked rib made itself known. She took a few shallow breaths before it stopped hurting so much, grateful that Malcolm handed her the pain killers to go with the water Salali was forcing down her throat. Now that she wasn't so out of it, she could take in details of Salali's home. There was a strange blend of Native culture strewn about with modern Canadian culture and random pieces out of several others. There was a Japanese painted lantern, an intricate Celtic cross and a Mayan mask displayed in cabinets. As different as each piece was, the entire ecclectic whole was beautiful and someone complimented each other.

"I feel bad, making you waste a day of work yesterday, and then being stuck here with me today." Alice confessed, not wanting to be a bother.

"Nonesense. Even I don't work on Sundays unless there's an emergenvy." Salali waved off. "Besides, we fed the animals already, Malcolm is going to take them for a run to help him cool off and you can help me catch up on the rest later. Now would you like syrup on your pancakes or just butter?" the large woman asked.

"Ah... syrup please." Alice answered, overwhelmed with gratitude at this kind woman. She had no reason to be so caring, she didn't owe Alice anything, and yet here she was giving her a 'job', taking care of her and accepting her into her home, all within a day of meeting her. And Alice still didn't know why.

Malcolm went into the kitchen with Salali and once again Alice could hear a low voiced conversation, but couldn't make out the words. It wasn't hard to deduce that they were talking about her, but for once that didn't bother her. Instead she tried to pay attention to the television as it rambled through the boring Sunday programs. It's a sad state of affairs when the cartoons are more honest accounts of society than the news. Since when did so-and-so's celebrity sex life become front page news?

"I'll be back ladies, try not to miss me too much!" Malcolm called from the front hallway, slipping out before either woman could respond.

"He's just a little bit dramatic isn't he?" Alice asked Salali as she brought in pancakes.

Sal smiled, the jowls under her chin dancing with merriment. "That he is." she agreed. "And you very much like it don't you?" she astutely guessed. Despite her usual control, a guilty flush spread across Alice's face as she stiffly sat, sudden;y uncomfortable. "Relax satinka, I don't blame you. If I were a younger woman...." she heaved a sigh and fluttered her eyelashes.

Alice started laughing, even if it hurt. Salali laughed along with her, obviously having said it htat wya to make the younger woman laugh. "You want you some Spanish Inquision?" Alice asked teasingly.

"Would I ever." Salali replied with a smug grin. She patted the younger woman's hand. "Malcolm is a special man. It is not an easy task to love someone as torn as he is." Salali made it a warning. "He has two sides that are not in balance. Each one pulls him in different paths and holds a piece of his soul. For him, it isn't a matter of choosing one self aspect over another, instead he has to find a way to blend them both, or he'll never find peace." the Native woman mused.

"His anger and his laughter." Alice nodding, having seen that other side of him this morning. Salali smiled, a pleased look in her eyes that the younger woman had gotten it.

"Now, while we wait for the investigation to go through, you may stay here with me as your guardian. It posed less... issues than other options. People may get the wrong idea if you were to live with young Malcolm, and although the age of consent is 16 and you are 17, there would be those that would demand his firing if they assumed...."

"If they assumed he was sleeping with a student." Alice finished, already knowing this. It was one of the reasons why having a crush on him was so very stupid. "Besides, it's not like there is any chance of that. So what can I do to help you out right now? My body may be out of commission, but my brain is as awesome as ever." she chaged the topic, too emotionally confused right now to really decide on anything.

"Well..." Salali eventually had Alice go through the inventory list to see if there were any items they were going to have to reorder soon. Sal had already counted the items in store, and now all Alice had to do was check one column against the other. It wasn't the most difficult task, but it was boring and extensive. Malcolm had finished his run with the dogs, played with the cats and checked on the rodents and birds long before Alice had plowed her way through Salali's inventory list. But by the end of it, Alice was frowning at the bottom, her notations under the columns indicating a discrepancy.

"Sal, how often does the supplier short ship you?" she asked, looking from on shipping inventory list to the final sales list.

"It happens once in a while, why?" Sal asked, once again a disembodied voice from the kitchen. Mal had jumped into the shower, after both woman had told him in no uncertain terms that he stank.

"Well, unless I'm absolutely wrong, he's been charging you full price and claiming that the missing amount of suppkies would be made up in the next shipment. But then you normally only receive your standard order. Basically for the last four months you've been paying him for.... eighteen items you've never received. Two top quality brands of dog food, four different brands of bulk dog food, three things of fancy cat food, one case of bird pellets and eight packages of various animal treats." Alice listed.

Salali walked out of the kitchen and looked at Alice. "And you can prove this?" she asked, not seeminf upset.

"Unequivocally." Alice nodded, holding up the shipping lists. It wasn't an obvious thing, eac shipping list had only small items wrong, but added up over a series of months as the supplier had basically stolen almost $2000 worth of supplies from Sal.

Salali nodded, a calm expression on her face. "I'll get the missing items from him. See, it is a good thing you came into my store yesterday. The Great Spirit touches our lives, provided that we make the effort on our end."

Whatever intelligent thing Alice had been about to say flew out the window as Malcolm walked back in the room, wearing his jeans slung low on his hips, the black line of his underwear peeking over the top and a towel draped over his shoulders, obscuring parts of his naked chest. The blood rushed out of Alice's head as she tried not to stare and drool, and from the amused chuckle Salali gave, it wasn't working.

"Sal, I forgot to grab a clean shirt to change into, it ok if I steal one of yours?" he asked, oblivious to the fact that Alice was a puddle with him dressed like that.

"Sure, grab whatever works." Sal waved him in the direction of her room. As soon as he was our of ear shot, Alice let her breath escape in a rush. Salali laughed at the wistful sigh. "Ah the immediacy of youth. To feel all emotions with the urgency of the moment." she sounded almost envious.

Alice went scarlet, unable to push hte blush aside before it painted over her face. "I...I....ah..." she stuttered, feeling even more humiliated now.

"Satinka, do not fret! It does no harm for you to yearn after a man like Malcolm. He is heroic, kind and honest. Even with his dark parts, he is not a man to regret giving your heart to." the Native woman informed.

"It's not like I'm in love with him!" Alice replied, keeping her voice low so he couldn't overhear. "It's just a little crush. It'll go away." she added in a rush, hearing footsteps in the hallway. Suddenly something occured to her. "Wait, Salali, I'm staying here right?" she asked, piecing things together.

"If you want to, yes. If you really want to return to your foster family though..." she trailed off.

"Nonononono. Oh god no." Alice shook her head even though that hurt. "I never want to go back there. But I have to if I want to get my things. If nothing else I need my school uniform." she reluctantly pointed out. Nothing she had there she really needed. Her mp3player with the DJ Mask songs was in her pocket, all the clothes she had she could do without and she'd never kept anything there. It was a sad statement that her most prized possessions fit into her pockets. There was a picture in her wallet of her father and mother, two very young looking lovebirds holding each other and smiling. There was also a picture of Alice with her father, from when she was about seven years old. He'd grabbed her hands and spun her in a circle and one of the ladies at the park had snapped a clear picture. Alice was grinning with her eyes closed as he twirled her, and her dad had his head thrown back in laughter. She'd never let either one out of her sight, not trusting the Walter's to not just destroy it.

Malcolm's hand landed on Alice's shoulder, gently squeezing. "I can go with you if you'd like?" he asked. Alice nodded, a little too choked up to say that she would very much like that. He seemed to understand though, because he smiled at her comfortingly.

"And I shall drive. It is decided." Salali stated, leaving no room for arguement.

Alice looked back and forth at them, hope starting to bubble in her chest. To her horro she suddenly burst into tears, startling Mal, but making Salali come around the couch to hug her. The Native woman seemed to instinctively understand that the tears were not just saddness, but overwhelming joy, and a little bit a grief. For the last seven years Alice had been forced to endure the worse characteristics mankind had to offer and she'd survived. She'd come out of it flawed but still a decent person and hte fact that she'd found people that could show her how a family was supposed to work was just astounding to her.

"You want me to go in for you?" Mal offered, a hint of the earlier anger in his eyes again. Looking into his dark eyes, Alice realized that if he were to go in alone, he'd come out in handcuffs. As much as she would love to have the Walter men given a taste of their own medicine, she did not want to put Mal in that situation.

"It's ok. I think they need to see me walk out of their lives as their world falls apart." Alice stated. It was vindictive but true.

"Let's do this." Salali commanded, already tossing a spare winter jacket towards Alice. Ace pulled the jacket on over her hoodie and tried to ignore how grungey she felt wearing yesterdays clothes. It didn't matter how she looked though, as they pulled up in front of the Walter house. Hopefully this would be the last time she ever saw that dreaded builing, or those horrible people ever again.