Queen of Spades (House of Car...

Alice stared at the house she'd suffered so much in and had to take a deep breath to stop the tremors from shaking her hands. Mental fingers were crossed that this would be the last time she'd ever have to endure these people or this place again. Once her hands stopped trembling, Alice slid out of the back seat and walked with Malcolm and Salali to the front door. She stared at it for a second and even though she had a key, she knocked.

The others didn't say anything, instead waiting like sentinels as they heard footsteps approaching. From the timid sounding clicks, Alice knew it was Mrs. Walter answering. She held no real animosity for the foster mother, just disappointment that she'd never once objected to how her husband and son treated Alice. But it had long ago occured to Ace that maybe Mrs. Walter had suffered as much abuse from them as Alice did.

The door opened and Mrs. Walter gaped out at Alice and her escort. Her eyes were wide and fearful and her mouth was pinched in a tight line. "I don't understand?" she almost whispered to the trio at the door.

"I'm getting my things, and I'm leaving." Alice stated, in wonder at herself for sounding so calm.

"Leaving?" Mrs. Walter squeaked.

"Yes." Malcolm stated, voice void of the anger that clenched his jaw. "We're taking her things and going."

Mrs. Walter just blinked, not really understanding the situation. Alice felt almost bad for leaving her with those two brutes that claimed to be men. But it wasn't her job to protect Mrs. Walter, it was supposed to be the other way around. "You should leave too." she stated softly, finally voicing her concern. Despite the active ignorance Mrs. Walter had used towards Alice's abuse, Ace couldn't help but care a little bit for the other woman. It just wasn't in her nature to enjoy leaving a victim with monsters. Unfortunately someone had heard her little warning.

The door tore open, pulled from Mrs. Walter's careful grasp to reveal a very red-faced and angry looking Mr. Walter. He reached out to grab Alice by the front of her borrowed jacket and hauled her inside, slamming the door before either Mal or Salali could react. He slammed her back against the door where she felt the others pounding to be let in. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he snarled at her, one fist still caught in her jacket, the other pulled back to land a slap across her face. But for once Alice didn't cringe, didn't cower.

"Getting the f*** away from you." she stated calmly. "You and your rapist of a son. Guess what Mr. Walter? Kharma is a b**** and she's coming home to roost." she grabbed his hand and jerked it off of her jacket. Then she calmly opened the door for Malcolm and Salali. Mr. Walter just glared at her, not sure how to handle her newer, calmer demeanor. "I'd like you to meet Malcolm the Boyscout and Sal the Boss. If you or your son ever touch me again, they will end you. Now I'm going to grab my belonging and get out of here." Alice stated, the fear she'd not felt earleir suddenly welling up inside. All of this was sheer bravado, something Mal seemed to realize. His attitude wasn't an act, he stepped insisde the door and ended up really close in front of Mr. Walter.

"Let's grab your things, Mrs. Walter, would you come with us please?" Salali asked, the confused and timid fost mother following in her wake. Salali let Alice point towards the basement and then led the charge downstairs. Of course he was there. Stuart was lounging on Alice's bed, obviously having heard the commotion upstairs. He smirked at the three woman as if they were inferior creatures.

"So I hear you think you're getting out?" Stuart asked, voice smooth with mockery. He rose from the bed and walked over to where Alice was. He didn't even acknowledge his mother or the massive Native woman on either side of her. Stuart leaned down a little, as if he was going to whisper a secret. "But even if you leave, you'll never forget me." he said softly and crashed his mouth down onto hers. Alice jerked back and wiped her mouth off while he laughed at her.

"You only wish you were that memorable! What's there to recall, your pathetic dick size or the fact that you couldn't get a woman to sleep with you even if you offered money? Really Stuart, you're more than a little pathetic." she replied nonchalantly, but inside she felt sick. He was right, she would never forget him. There weren't many physical reminders, but there was enough emotional and mental scarring to last a lifetime of therapy. But now that she was actually getting out of here, she was not letting him get that last win. He frowned down at her assured attitude and opened his mouth to say something snide when they all heard a loud thud from upstairs. The four of them looked upwards as if they could see what was going on through the ceiling above them. A moment after the thud, there was sounds of one set of footsteps and shuffling.

Stuart smirked down at Alice. "Looks like Dad handled your little hero for me." he reached out a finger and ran it down Alice's jacket front as if he were stroking flesh. "Without his strength to back you up, I don't think you'll be going anywhere." he smiled, voice filled with delight. It was obvious that he didn't consider Salali, a woman, as a threat. His mistake.

Salali grabbed Stuart's finger and calmly broke it in her grip. "Little slug, I have taken on wolf packs, bears, bison and horny cheiftans. What challenge are you supposed to pose?" Salali asked, her rough voice a warning. Stuart just gaped at his finger, the pain of the break making his face stunned as he stared at where his digit suddenly bent at a 90 degree angle where it wasn't supposed to.

The door to the basement opened and the women whirled, all seemingly afraid that Stuart's guess was right and that Mr. Walter would saunter in now. But much to Alice and Sal's reflief, Malcolm carefully walked down the stairs. He didn't have a single mark on him and Salali raised an eyebrow at him, curious as to how he'd dealt with the foster father so cleanly. Malcolm grinned at Sal and Ace, eyes holding a little wild spark in them that didn't match the sweet smile on his face. "Let's hustle ladies, time's a-wasting." he cajoled, ignoring Mrs. Walter and Stuart entirely.

 Alice didn't have to be told twice, she jumped to her area of the basement and quickly stuffed her clothes and books into a hockey bag. She'd always kept the ugly thing, it was the bag she'd used the first time she escaped from them. In really cold weather it doubled as a sleepingbag while she'd lived on the streets. She gave one last look around the room, satisfied she'd gotten everything, including the one or two items she'd hid from the family. Mrs. Walters was shocked to see her pull out a wad of cash from one of the bed legs and slide real ballerina slippers out of the basement window treatment.

No one said a thing as she packed, even Stuart kept his belligerent mouth shut, though he groaned and whimpered a few times as his mother tried to set his finger. As Alice lightly ran up the stairs, she saw Malcolm pause in front of Stuart. The finger Salali had broken had finally been set and with an evil glint in his eye, Mal suddenly snapped his hand out and solidly flicked the broken finger. Stuart let out a painfilled yelp and Mal laughed a cold, nasty evil chuckle. Salali pushed her firmly from behind as they scurried back out to the car. Ace looked over her shoulder just to see if she could figure out what'd Mal had been up to while Stuart was trying to terrorize her. She caught sight of one of Mr. Walter's shoes and a floor rug scrunched up as if something had been dragged. But no sight of one of her monsters. For which she was obscenely greatful.

When all three of them got into the vehicle they stayed quiet for about a block. And none of them could honestly say who started first, but they all started to laugh and Salali had to pull her car over. Alice was whiping tears of merriment from her face when she finally caught her breath. "You flicked him?!" she demanded, setting them all off into laughter again. Mal was sitting in the back seat with her, having for some reason thrown her bag of belongings into the front seat.

He was turned on the seat, mostly facing her and laughing his head off. His dark eyes glittered with good humour and they still had that faintly evil glint. It should have scared her, the same thing in Stuart's eyes would have had her running, but in the back seat with Mal, it was enough to make her heart gallop.

"It was either flick his booboo or rip his face off." Malcolm admitted with a laughing shrug. Ace wondered briefly if he was joking, and then wondered if she cared. A very small part of her was curious to know what Mal had done to Mr. Walter.

"Did you just say boo boo?" Alice demanded as Salali started to drive again. The large Native woman seemed content to let the two giggle in the back like children.

"I did say boo boo. Actually I should ask how your boo boo is doing?" he switched gears, no longer joking around. He leaned a little bit closer and Alice lost her train of thought.

"My boo boo?" she asked, confused. No one had actually hit her this time. A little wall slamming sucked but she'd gotten used to it a long time ago. Mal's thumb gently brushed her bottom lip and she sucked in a startled breath.

"Sorry, did that hurt?" he asked, and his voice had gone softer. He was staring at her lip and she fought a blush because he was just worried about her stitches. Her stupid hormones were making more of this than there was.

"Yeah." Alice lied, her voice just a bit breathy. It had felt great, having him that close, but she felt like doing something really stupid, like kissing him again. She knew how his lips felt and hers itched for a chance to try again. She shrugged off the inappropriate thoughts and smiled a little awkwardly.

"Next time I have the overwhelming urge to pick a fight, I'm picking you as my team mate." she stated, trying to break the intimate mood that had built. She looked towards the front seat when Salali made a weird sound, something between a snort and a chuckle. It actually sounded really disgusting, too much like someone trying to hock a loogie.

Mal gave an uncomfortable chuckle, not seeming terribly pleased with the change in topic. "Yeah, well....I thought those days were behind me. I'm not really as safe as I seem to be." he admitted with obvious reluctance.

"So tell me, how exactly did you topple Mr. Walter without even breaking a sweat?" she asked, then winced as the car hit a pot hole and jarred her cracked rib. She panted to catch her breath again and fought off a wave of nausea.

"You ok?" he asked, concerned in a flat second. She nodded and he relaxed a little. "I told him that if he tried anything to hurt you ever again, I'd come back with a few of my friends and we'd teach him and the little s***head of a son how exactly it felt when they'd hurt you." his voice was detatched and uncaring, but the tightness around his eyes told Alice that his actions bothered him.

"He took you at your word?" she asked, a little unbelieving. He turned to look her straight in the eye and she saw something dance in the darkness of his soul. She blinked and caught her breath, fascinated and called to challenge.

"The way to make a threat work is to let them know without a doubt that you do not bluff. Never threaten to do something you won't follow through on." Mal said, voice empty of all emotion. Not like he was surpressing it though, more like he'd simply turned off his emotional brain. Alice looked at him, a little concerned about the dead look in his eyes. She realized what Salali meant about him being torn. He loved and loathed his darker aspects and fought to deny them. But sometimes you need the shadows to make the light brighter.

Without thinking about it she leaned forward and kissed him. It was only a brief brush of the lips and she jerked back as soon as she realized she'd done it. "Thank you." she stated, a rosy colour highlighting across her face. She expected him to be angry, or disgusted, but even in that brief kiss it'd felt like he'd kissed back. Which was just stupid, wishful thinking. Alice couldn't look at him anymore, she turned in her seat and tucked a hair behind her ear. "I don't know what would have happened if you guys hadn't of been there. Thank you both." she offered to Salali too.

Malcolm watched her for a second, then shifted in his seat took. He snapped his seat belt on and the car fell quiet. It held the echo of their laughter and the weight of Mal's answer and Salali turned on the radio to cover up the whisper of that kiss. Before things could get down right awkward, they were back at Salali, and now Alice's house. For too long Ace had been terrified of the concept of 'going home'. But now, she had hope that it could be something she'd look forward to again.

Alice grabbed her hockey bag and followed Salali up the stairs to the apartment they'd left a short while ago. She shifted the heavy bag, off balance while trying to navigate the narrow turn in the stairs. She over tilted and started to topple backwards when Mal noticed and kind of pushed her back on her feet. By grabbing her butt and the back of her soulder and nudging forwards. It was entirely innocent and still made her head giddy.

"Welcome home." Salali greeted as she opened the door. Alice smiled, an honest, relaxed smile. "I have to get you a key cut still, so after school tomorrow just come by the shop and we'll head back together. And if I'm going to be your guardian, we'll have to establish some ground rules." Salali took Alice back to the room with the low matress. Her new bedroom had an actual door!

Malcolm excused himself and headed home while Salali sat Alice down and went over some house rules with her. She had more responsibilities around here than she had with the Walters but she cherished the differences immensely.

And then it was Monday morning again. Looking at herself in the mirror, Alice realized the bruises on her face and the stitches in her lip were terribly obvious and not the easiest thing to explain. So she pushed her shoulders back, held her head up high and decided that if she needed to, she could always jsut tell the truth. That she'd been removed from her foster family because they were unfit. Let others draw their own conclusions from that.