Unrequited (Prequel to IMPOSSIBLE and INFAMOUS)

Part Two: When She Lured Him Back

"Blast it all, woman," Time hissed as he stared anxiously at the scene before him.

This was Alice's fifth brush with death in just three days. Ever since they had met a few weeks ago, she had somehow gotten herself outnumbered, poisoned, nearly drowned, almost impaled, kidnapped thrice, arrested twice, and scheduled to be hanged. Amazingly, she had gotten herself out of each situation with her life still intact.

Through all of this, Time found that he could not stop watching her. It was torture, really. What could he do? He could not interfere again. The powers that be had not punished him for his previous interference, but he didn't know that he could keep pressing his luck. Still, he could not look away. She fascinated him with her blatant disregard for her own well-being. Not only that but the look of pure joy on her face as she tempted fate was absolutely spellbinding.

He was completely entranced by her.

This time around, she was facing off with fifteen men twice her size. The sound of metal against metal filled Time's ears as he watched her fight off each opponent in turn, sometimes two at a time. He flinched with every blow, certain it would be the one to end her. But she held her own, just like she always did.

Maybe it was silly to sit and worry about her. Clearly she was capable of taking care of herself. Perhaps she would have even been able to survive that Queen's Blade. Certainly if anyone could, it would be her. His interference may have been premature. Maybe he should just let her be and—

There was a hiss, and Alice's eyes widened in surprise.

Time watched in horror as she was pulled from her feet and hauled up into the air. She had stepped on a snare and was now dangling from a tree branch. The goons who had been attacking her flashed each other vicious grins, sheathing their weapons and approaching her. She struggled against the rope, but before she could even attempt to free herself, the men grabbed her hands and bound them behind her back. Nevertheless, she tried to fight them off, twisting her wrists to escape her bindings and snapping her teeth at anyone who dared to stop her.

"End of the line, missy," said a rather large man with tattooed arms as he leered down at her.

"You will address me by my proper title, sir," Alice said, still trying to fight her way out of the ropes. "I am Her Majesty, Queen of Thieves."

"I'm afraid we don't subscribe to organized thieving," the man said. "And we're quite tired of you intruding on our territory."

"Territory? If you don't believe in organized thieving, how can you have a territory, you oversized mome rath."

Snarling, the tattooed man tied a gag roughly around her mouth to silence her. However, she continued to mumble what Time could only imagine were insults and threats, muffled though they were by the cloth.

"Time to put an end to your loud mouth once and for all," the tattooed man said, pulling out a long, jagged knife. "I'd ask if you had any final words, but I really don't want to hear your whiny voice again."

He raised his arm over his head, the blade glinting in the sunlight. His mouth pulled up into a cruel smirk as he plunged the weapon towards her throat.

Time didn't even recall doing it. All he could remember was the panic building inside his chest as he imagined a future without her. A future where he couldn't be entertained by her daring feats or impressed by her fearless manner or charmed by her entrancing smile.

And then there he was, standing between her and the tattooed man, the knife only a breath away from his chin. He inhaled sharply, realizing what he had done. Collecting himself, he took a moment to push the brutish man back a step or two before taking the knife from him. He then turned to Alice, who, unlike the others, was not frozen. Had he meant to do that? It would have been better had he not. Less intrusive. Alas, the damage had been done, and he'd best finish what he started.

Using the tattooed man's knife, Time sawed away at the bindings around Alice's wrists. When her hands were freed, she grabbed the knife from him and pulled herself up to cut the rope around her feet. Time watched her with the same fascination as he did back in Nowhere. She was so incredibly capable and resilient. How did she keep going like she did? And with a smile on her face the entire time? She was truly unlike anyone he had seen before.

The snap of the rope pulled him from his thoughts. He lunged forward just in time to catch her in his arms before she crashed to the ground. Not accustomed to heavy-lifting, he staggered slightly, his legs nearly giving out under her weight. Somehow, though, he managed to stay standing. Alice gazed up at him, and when she pulled off the gag, he saw that she was smiling.

"I knew you'd come eventually," she said, a sparkle in her eyes.

Dazed by the way she was looking at him, he blinked several times before furrowing his brow. "Pardon?"

Her smile grew as she shrugged innocently. "You didn't leave me any way to get in touch with you, so I had no choice but to put myself in horrible danger over and over again. I assumed you'd show up one of these days. And I was right."

He knit his eyebrows together as he tried to understand what she meant. "Why did you need to get in touch with me?"

Letting out a laugh that sounded like stardust, Alice quirked her mouth into an adorably crooked grin. "Because I wanted to see you again."

His breath caught in his chest, and he could barely choke out his next words. "See me? Why?"

She leaned forward, her nose nearly brushing against his, and whispered, "Because you fascinate me, Mr. Time."