When Mad woke up, he thought he was blind. The side of his jaw and face hurt horribly and it took him a minute to figure out why he was in so much pain. Trying to get up, he realized that his hands were bound behind him and everything came rushing back.

The burned house. Tamsus. A deadly game of tag. Then Rakta.

Mad wasn't blind. Simply blindfolded.

He struggled to a sitting position and smirked at the tactic. Did they really think not being able to see where he was would scare him? Mad sighed. This was not how things were supposed to end. It was supposed to end one of two ways.

With either Tamsus or himself dead.

Mad's legs were unbound, his feet bare and he used a wall to get to a standing position. His knees wobbled a little and he was sure that if he could see, he would feel dizzy. As it was, he felt shaky, like he hadn't eaten in several days. He discarded the horror of that thought in favor of the idea that the hit to his head was what made him feel so weak now.

Keeping his shoulder against the wall, Mad walked the perimeter of what was probably a cell. The air was vaguely musty and smelled like underground. That, plus the coolness of the air made him think he was most likely in the dungeons under Heart Castle.

Mad wondered if the stone down here was the same reddish marble as the rest of the castle.

The one comfort he had was that he had at least sufficiently distracted Tamsus. He sat back down, grimly satisfied. Mad as a prisoner would definitely keep the Ace away from Alice and the rest. Tamsus would be reluctant to go searching for the King of Spades when he already had Mad at his mercy. The Ace didn't care about the King, and Mad doubted Mavros would send Tamsus away if she thought he would be able to break Mad to her will. Of course... that probably didn't bode very well for Mad's personal health.

He didn't call out. He didn't see the point in alerting anyone to the fact that he was conscious. Mad knew that when they found out he was awake, what Rakta had done to him would feel like little more than a slap to the face.

His head was still achy and his mouth tasted like old pennies.

He automatically looked up when he heard the door creak open, even though he couldn't see. Scrambling to his feet, he backed defensively into a corner of the cell, teeth bared in a snarl.

"Looks like the Ace wins," an unfamiliar voice said with a sigh. "He bet the prisoner would be out less than a day right?"

Mad breathed an internal sigh of relief. He'd been worried that he'd been unconscious for days.

A more nasal voice replied, "You were the only one stupid enough to bet against him."

"Well if you'd seen him when they hauled his ass in here, you would have too. I heard the Queen was furious at the Diamond for messing up his face," the first voice snapped.

Mad heard the two draw nearer and growled, "Stay the hell away from me."

The nasal one laughed, then they grabbed Mad who thrashed, grinning when he managed to stomp his heel down on the instep of one of the guard's feet. One of them let go, howling in surprise and pain.

Mad laughed then grunted, hitting the floor on his knees when something slammed into the back of his head, leaving him dazed.

"Stop your crying," the first guard ordered. "Help me carry him."

Muttering and swearing under his breath, the one with the now possibly-broken foot helped the other guard drag Mad out of the cell, turning left to go down a short hallway, then down a set of stone stairs.

Mad distantly heard another door open, then the two guards threw him into a chair. He bit his tongue when they wrenched his arms back painfully before tying him to the chair, bound with too-tight rope that cut into his wrists and ankles.

"How's the foot?" Mad asked innocently. His mouth felt like he'd been chewing on cotton.

The guards had been leaving, but paused at Mad's taunt. He heard rushed footsteps, someone yelled, "Don't!", then his head snapped to the side as the guard punched him.

Mad snickered, even as the side of his face throbbed. "You must be new. You've got soft hands. I'm sure you can hit me harder than that."

The guard made a strangled sort of noise and probably would have hit Mad again if he hadn't been stopped by the other.

"Let me go!" one hissed. "I'll teach him a lesson!"

"And you'll go by yourself to the Ace to explain that," the other snarled. 

Mad smiled serenely when the other stopped struggling. The expression slipped slightly when he realized that he was under Tamsus' protection from anyone but Tamsus. It was a discomforting thought to say the least. 

"You're lucky his face is already bruised," the guard with the deeper voice said. "Otherwise Tamsus would have gutted you. He gave orders that no one but himself or Valu is to touch him."

Mad grinned. If they were going to give him so much to work with, it would be a shame to let it go to waste. "So I'll just tell Tam on you."

There was a stunned silence.

"He's just as crazy as they said," the nasally one whispered.

There was another long silence, then the first guard said, "He's bluffing us. It doesn't matter either way. He won't be so smug after the Ace is through with him."

"But the Queen set a restriction," the second whispered, like that would keep Mad from overhearing him in this tiny cell. "Tamsus can't do any lasting damage."

Mad laughed at that. "Poor Tamsus. Can never play like he wants to."

"He's a bloody lunatic," the first guard said. "Let's get out of here."

He slumped back when he heard the door slam shut. It was comforting to know that Tamsus couldn't do with Mad as he pleased. But only a little.

Mad was startled when less than twenty minutes after the guards had left, the door crashed open again.

"Think you're pretty brave, huh?" The guard with the nasal voice was back.

"Guess you're angry about the foot?" Mad asked sympathetically, then squinted when the guard ripped off his blindfold.

His eyes teared up at the sudden light of a lantern and he blinked hard. Waiting for his eyes to adjust, he asked, "Just what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?"

When he could see properly, Mad wasn't very impressed. The man in front of him was large, but in a soft way. His face was a pasty color and his hair was a washed out carrot.

"Where is she?" the Heart asked.

"Who?" said Mad blankly. The guard cracked a palm across Mad's face, who grimaced. He'd already lost one tooth already.

"Mm," Mad said running a tongue over his teeth. "I think you might have loosened one up. You know, I'd really appreciate you not knocking my teeth out. Between you and me, they're one of my better features. I've been told I have very nice teeth."

The guard punched him this time and Mad tasted blood. "Now what did I just say?" he asked exasperatedly.

The guard's pale, orangy eyes bulged in anger and Mad couldn't help it, a laugh bubbled up. "Just out of curiosity," he snickered, "who are you looking for?"

Of course, he already knew, but he wasn't telling anyone anything, least of all this guy.

The guard leaned closer, his face right next to Mad's, making him shy away. Mad didn't really like close contact. Especially by big, stupid Hearts who were trying to knock his teeth out.

"You know exactly who I'm talking about," the guard hissed in his ear, making Mad's skin crawl.

Mad just blinked and, in that vapid way he knew made people question his intelligence, said, "I do? I didn't know that! Well, I'm sure I'd be happy to tell you as soon as you tell me what I know, so that I'll know it."

The guard pulled back slightly, confused, and Mad guessed those lessons with Tam had paid off. The guard was still very close and he was about to jump out of his skin.

"I know it's confusing. It's a gift," Mad said, then lunged forward. The ropes binding him didn't allow for much movement, but the guard was so close it didn't matter. He slammed his forehead into the guard's nose, feeling the bones crunch against his skin.

Blood burst from the guard, showering Mad with sticky red. He felt it drip off his eyebrow onto his cheekbone and hoped it looked like warpaint.

The guard stumbled back, hand cupping his nose. "You'll pay for that, Hatter!" he fumed.

"Not as much as you will when Tam finds me bloody and you with a broken nose," Mad taunted, grinning.

"I'll get you for this," he threatened, but it was weak.

Mad just tilted his head back, a caw of insane sounding laughter coming from the back of his throat. "Maybe, but you'll never find her." His face twisted into a snarl. "Never!" he yelled, baring his teeth.

He laughed again, a cultivated sound made to scare the hell out of people. It worked and the guard scrambled backward, fear flashing over his face as he slammed the door shut, the nearby lantern sputtering out.

Leaving Mad Hatter in the dark.