Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Word Count: 1,004
Chapter Summary: The Emerald City has seen better days.

There was a loud crunching sound as Dawn followed Luna and Granger through the Emerald City gate into the courtyard, carefully avoiding chunks of stone and masonry. The sound continued for several seconds after she stopped. Turning her head she looked at Matilda and Wednesday, eyebrow raised. "Did you hear that?" she asked.

Wednesday silently pointed at the ground, which was covered in shards of some kind of green glass.

"There's more of that on the ground than there is glass missing from the buildings," Matilda said, looking around. "I don't think it's from the buildings."

"Something large made of glass seems to have exploded here," Granger said, gesturing them over to where she and Luna were standing. "You can see a faint blast pattern. Not one I'm familiar with. Almost like something exploded several meters above the ground."

"Sabotage? Accident?" Dawn said. "What would do this?"

"No way to tell," Granger said. "Might not have been anyone here when it happened."

Luna squatted down and picked up a small piece of glass. "It was years ago," she said, rubbing the shard. She tasted it, frowning. "Very faint magical signature. Some kind of magical weapon?"

"Psychometry?" Dawn said. "That's not in your file."

"It's a fickle talent," Luna said. She dropped the shard back on the ground. "More feeling than facts. Not as accurate as Seeing, unfortunately."

"So that glass feels old?" Matilda said. "We don't have to worry about it happening again? No more explosions?"

"I didn't say that," Luna said, frowning. "I won't make any promises." Looking around for a moment, she silently stalked across the courtyard, while simultaneously appearing to float above the shards.

"How does she do that?" Granger asked, cautiously following Luna, every step making that crunching sound.

"No plan?" Matilda said, poking Dawn to get her attention. "We're just going to wander around?"

"It's an empty city," Wednesday said. "Probably abandoned. Any direction is as good as another. But we should at least stick together."

"Are you sure it's empty?" Dawn said, looking around at the weather worn buildings.

"Not feeling or hearing anything," Wednesday said, slowly turning in a circle. "It's dead. Or really close."

Dawn sighed, before following Luna and Granger. "Hopefully there's a library here somewhere," she said.

Nodding, Matilda rushed after Dawn. "What if there are traps? That could have been some kind of magical boobytrap to keep people out."

"Well, if it's an empty city, it certainly did its job," Dawn said. "No visible squatters."

"I've always thought the Emerald City in the books was just a large palace," Granger said. "There was no other explanation that made sense. It really wasn't large enough to be self-sufficient."

"If that's the case, do we want to find the throne room, where the Wizard hung out, or find the nearest minion's office?" Dawn said. "Or a library?"

"Throne room," Luna said.

"Library," Granger countered. "It's sure to have a map of the palace. A map makes it easier to plan."

"If it's a palace and not an actual city it should be easy to find things," Dawn said. "Library, and then the throne room if there isn't a map," she said. "I don't remember any kind of map in the old stories other than of the entire land of Oz. Pick a direction." She nodded at Luna.

Clearing away debris in a small circle, Luna took a deep breath and started to spin, going faster and faster until she was a blur to most of them.

"One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine... Stop!" Wednesday said, standing outside Luna's circle.

Luna came to an abrupt stop, and pointed towards a large green door across the courtyard, opposite the gate they'd come in. "There," she said, not even out of breath, her hair looking like she'd stuck a finger in a light socket.

"What was that?" Granger said, staring at Luna in disbelief.

"No idea," Dawn said. "I'm afraid to ask."

"It's an ancient Slayer hunting technique," Wednesday said, handing Luna a brush. "When in doubt, spin and shout."

"You can't be serious," Granger said, shaking her head. "That's just some random way to pick a direction, without the requisite childish nursery rhyme."

"Well, yes," Luna said, grinning, patting her hair back in place. "But it works."

"Uncle Fester swears by it," Wednesday said, straight faced. "But despite that it seemed appropriate. He claimed that Willy Wonka taught it to him."

"Wonka must have had a few screws loose," Granger grumbled. "More than previously suspected."

"Random acts of silliness can be fun," Luna said. "But that really is the best direction to go."

"Did you have to do an imitation of a top to decide that?" Dawn said, curious. If it got results she wasn't going to argue too much about slayer amusements.

"No," Luna said, shrugging. "I Saw us enter several different doors along that part of the courtyard and that one seems to yield the best result, with the least number of traps."

"So there are more booby-traps?" Matilda said, wide eyed. "Did you also See how to avoid them?"

"They are unavoidable," Luna said. Nodding at Wednesday, she led them over to the door she'd pointed at. "It's locked."

"Unlock it Granger, I'll go in first," Wednesday said. She pulled out her very sharp sword and stood waiting.

"Don't touch anything except the lock," Luna said, moving in front of the door before Granger could start. "It might explode."

"Might?" Dawn said, stepping back several feet, pulling Matilda with her.

"Old trap," Luna said, waving a hand at it. "Might be a little unstable."

"You don't make it simple," Granger said, leaning forward to examine the lock. "A simple skeleton key pick should do it actually. Not very sophisticated."

"It's old," Wednesday said.

"No one would suspect something like that to be booby-trapped," Dawn said.

"Ready?" Granger said, looking at the others before leaning forward to insert her pick into the keyhole.

"Ready! Wednesday said, followed by Luna, Dawn, and Matilda.

Chapter Text

"Kitchen?" Dawn said, looking around the room, and spotting several large fireplaces, big enough to cook something big. There were also a few other things that if she was guessing right might be stoves of some sort.

"An old one," Wednesday said. She stuck her head in a fireplace, looking up the chimney. "Hasn't been used in a while, or they kept it very clean."

"What's in here that needed that booby trapped door?" Matilda said, brushing the white powder that had been left behind when the kitchen door exploded from her clothes .

"So far we haven't seen anything that justifies any of the traps we've encountered," Granger said. "We don't even know if they were set by palace residents or by someone else after it was abandoned."

"That pit of glass spikes wasn't something you'd just put there on a whim," Dawn said. "It must have taken weeks to create that."

"Twelve hours. If you already had the spikes," Wednesday said. "It was very basic."

"Do I want to know why you know that?" Dawn said, staring at her.

"She's an Addams," Luna said, as if that explained everything. Granger nodded in agreement.

"So, not something they teach at Nevermore?" Dawn said. "They have a very unique curriculum."

"The Evasion senior seminar at Nevermore is taught by an old witch finder," Granger said. "They tend to over engineer their trap examples."

"I tested out of that one," Wednesday said, leaning over one of the stoves to get a closer look. "Used the time more profitably elsewhere."

"I'd heard," Ginger said, "but no one was able to explain how you were able to do it."

"You had to finish the final credit obstacle course in less time than any of the seniors from the prior year," Wednesday said. "Without any injuries."

"Has anyone ever completed that obstacle course without being injured?" Granger said.

"It was child's play," Wednesday said, shaking her head. "Embarrassingly easy."

"I was in the top ten in my class, but none of us escaped being injured," Granger said.

"We should set up our own obstacle course," Luna said. "It'll be fun."

"This was before you became a slayer?" Dawn asked, watching Wednesday rummaging through one of the cupboards above a stove. "How easy would it be now?"

"Too easy," Wednesday said, nodding. "Not a challenge, except for some of the younger Watchers. If we were going to have our own, it would need some serious planning. I'm sure I could ask Father to help design it. He'd like the challenge."

"When we get back, the two of you can write up a proposal for Giles," Dawn said. "But first, let's find that library."

"Looks like they were using preservation charms for the food," Luna said, poking her head into a large cupboard. "But they seem to have done too good of a job." She pulled out a loaf of bread, which turned to dust seconds later.

"Very likely it was poisoned anyway," Granger said. "Whomever built the traps wouldn't have missed something that obvious."

"We do need to find food," Matilda said. "We don't have much left. At the rate slayers eat it won't last more than a couple days."

"We can survive on lite rations," Luna said, grimacing. "Rather not, but we can."

"We'll find something edible," Dawn said. "They wouldn't have poisoned all of their food."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Granger said. "There was that privy that was a wee bit dangerous."

"Is this a door or an illusion?" Matilda said, cautiously poking a decorated panel on the far wall with an old poker she'd grabbed from one of the fireplaces.

"A door?" Dawn said, watching Granger wave her slim silver probe at it.

"Just a simple latch," Granger said, pressing at a spot at shoulder height. There was a loud click and a rectangular gap appeared in the wall. "It opens inward." Saying this, she pushed against the panel. Only to be pushed to the side by Wednesday.

"What was that for?" Granger said, looking up at her from the floor. Wednesday pointed at the area in front of the panel that was now missing a large chunk of floor. Grumbling, she rolled to her feet and cautiously approached the hole in the floor. "That was close," she said. "Thanks."

"Tricky," Luna said, examining the panel. "Push it open and that happens." She waved at the hole. "Slide it sideways and it's perfectly safe." Applying a bit of pressure, she slid the panel to her right, causing the hole to close.

"I'll go first,' Wednesday said. She shone a small torch along the first few meters of passageway. "It looks like a standard dart trap. Step in the wrong place and become a pincushion. There'll be an off switch of some sort at the other end."

"Is anything going to come flying out at us while you're in there?" Dawn asked.

"If I'd designed it, yes," Wednesday said, smirking. "But so far the designers of the palace's traps haven't shown any real creativity, just the usual overused tomb raider tropes."

"We'll stay back over here just in case," Dawn said, directing the others off to the side. "No reason to tempt Murphy. That's Andrew's job and fortunately he isn't here."

"He's like one of those mine field clearing tanks," Matilda. "He'd blunder in and set off all of the traps, making it safer for the rest of us."

"Maybe," Dawn said. "But the screaming would give everyone a headache."

"Yeah, there's that," Matilda said. "I guess we'll have to let Wednesday show us her trap evasion skills instead."

"If you're done?" Wednesday said. At their silence, she nodded and braced herself in the door for a moment. "Back in a moment," she said and flung herself into the passageway.

There was a barrage of soft puffs and the occasional sound of a shoe against the floor. This continued for several minutes before Wednesday reappeared in the passage mouth.

"Done," she said. "It's now a safe passage."

"Not even a scratch?" Luna said.

"Fortunately not," Wednesday said, holding up a slim dart with a dark tip. "Poisoned darts."

"Gimme!" Luna said, holding out a hand. "Sharing is caring." Sighing, Wednesday placed a dozen darts in Luna's hand. "I like!" Luna said, before the darts disappeared into her pockets.

"What's at the other end?" Granger said, stepping into the passageway and cautiously walking towards the other end, before Wednesday could answer.

"Someone's office," Wednesday said to the others. "I don't think whomever was last in the palace found it." She led them down the passageway into a moderately sized office that still looked occupied.

"Books?" Matilda said, spotting a shelf covered wall.

"And a map of the palace," Dawn said, joining Granger in front of a large, colorful painting. "This is going to be useful."

Granger pointed at a room on the map. "This is us, and there is the throne room," she said, pointing at a large area in the center of the map. "No idea of the scale."

"Looks like all roads lead to it," Dawn said, tracing the hallways on the map. "And the library?"

"On the other side," Granger said. "Most of the rooms just have a code on them. There must be a key here somewhere." She looked around the room, her eyes settling on a large roll-top desk against another wall. "Probably in there."

"Booby-trapped?" Dawn asked.

"If it follows the general theme? Yes," Granger said. "Give me s few minutes to get it open."

"We can wait," Dawn said. "Everyone else? Take a break and let her work. Matilda, give everyone one of those energy bars you brought."

Matilda walked around the room, giving an energy bar to Luna, who was examining the books on the shelf, and Wednesday, who was carefully examining the darts she'd kept, and Dawn who took one for herself and one for Granger, while she watched her carefully examine the desk.

"Definitely booby trapped," Granger said after a few minutes. "But that shouldn't be a problem."

Chapter Text

The roll-top desk was not completely dismantled but Dawn didn't think it would ever be the same. Granger had created several piles next to the skeleton of the desk. A strange looking collection of wires and vials that appeared to be the booby-trap, the outer skin of the desk, and the contents of the desk.

"I... was not expecting an actual key," Granger said, holding up a small golden skeleton key with an emerald embedded in its head. "A piece of paper would have made more sense."

"There's nothing else in there? Nothing useful?" Dawn said, staring at the piles of desk debris.

Luna looked up from where she was poking around in one of the piles. "Someone was living in the desk," she said. "Too small to be an Oompa Loompa. Does Oz have fairies? Small ones that would live in the palace?"

"Like Tinkerbell?" Granger said, absently rubbing the key. "There might have been similar creatures but not that I remember. The fairies mentioned in the Oz histories are closer to the Fae, with wings. I think Princess Ozma's mother was a fairy. Possibly?"

"But not creatures who would live in a desk?" Luna said. "Poo! I was hoping to meet one."

"As long as it wasn't a tribe of Oompa Loompa's," Wednesday said. "I'm sure if they are still running around the palace, we'll run into them."

Dawn shook her head. "We can look for little people who live in desks later. How is that key used? How do we know it belongs to the map?"

"There's a keyhole right here," Matilda said, pointing at a small hole with a gold rim under the map.

Granger quickly walked over to the map and inserted the key. Before she could turn it, Wednesday stopped her.

"Check for booby-traps first," Wednesday said. "You should know better by now."

"You think it is a trap?" Dawn said, joining them in front of the map. "If it blew up it'd kill everyone in the room."

"It might not be a trap," Wednesday said, "but I feel that it is more than just a painting on the wall.

Granger took out her probe and waved it at the map, changed several settings, and waved it again. "I'm not detecting any poisons or explosive materials," she said "But there is something in the wall."

"In the floor? Another trap door down into the basement?" Matilda suggested.

"That seems very impracticable," Granger said. "It's probably keyed to this specific key. Use anything else and then something dangerous happens."

"If the map kills us, I'll figure out how to haunt you," Dawn said, before stepping back and gesturing for the others to move way from the map.

"You only live once," Luna said. "Unless you are reincarnated, of course. Turn it."

Shaking her head, Granger turned the key. Nothing happened for several very long seconds. There was then a faint grinding of metal on metal. And silence for another long moment.

"Is it broken?" Matilda said.

"Probably hasn't been used in a very long time," Granger said. "Give it another minute or two."

Luna hummed to herself, tapping her feet in time to her own humming. "I'm not feeling any magic," she said.

"We haven't actually seen any obvious magic yet," Dawn said. "Just a magical creature, and that magical explosion in the courtyard near the palace gate."

"Magic in Oz seems to be more about creatures and beings," Granger said. "Any Great Works of magic are in the distant past. Assuming you believe they were caused by Magic."

A faint glow started to come from the map. There was a grinding noise and a large panel slid open to the right of the map. It contained hundreds of rows of tiny writing. Each row had a tiny button next to it.

"There's your map key," Dawn said. "So, that was the Key to the key."

Granger moved over in front of the key panel. "The print is a bit faded." She took out her torch and shone the light along the panel. "I was not expecting this many rooms in a palace," she said.

"Maybe it's not really just a palace like you thought?" Dawn said. "Or it's a very large palace. The map must not be to scale."

"So we could be miles away from the throne room and the library?" Matilda said.

"One of the histories does make a fantastical claim for the number of inhabitants and buildings in the Emerald City," Granger said. "But that never seemed to make sense to me mathematically, and seemed to be an exaggeration to make it seem more important than it actually was. There was no way that Oz could support a city of that size based on everything that was written about it."

"Or maybe you're wrong?" Wednesday said.

"Or maybe those Oz histories are just a story?" Dawn said. "Whether they are rooms or buildings, the map seems to indicate it is larger than we thought. It could be a large palace. Or a small city. Or both. Everything could be inside the palace walls. Without some idea of scale, we're just guessing."

"Granger nodded. "If it was designed like a medieval castle, the palace could encompass a large number of building inside its walls."

"What do all these tiny buttons do?" Luna said, running a finger down them.

"Press one?" Matilda said. "Will that set off a booby-trap?"

"Or nothing happens," Granger said. "It is an old contraption."

"Well, why be careful now?" Dawn said. "My turn to do something potentially dangerous." Reaching over, she pressed a randomly selected button.

There was a chime and a dot on the map started to glow brighter than its surroundings. After a long pause, a line appeared between where they thought they were on the map, and the dot.

"Clever," Granger said. "A mechanical map with directions. Can anyone actually read the small print?" She pulled a small magnifying glass out of her bag and following the line on the map with her torch examined the map under the magnifying glass. "Without a point of reference, these corridor or street names are useful," she groused.

"Its usefulness is going to depend on how much time we spend exploring the palace-city," Dawn said. "See if you can figure out what they called the library and the throne room on that key. We still need to see if there is any information about Wonka in the city and those are our best bets. Looking in every room or building is a job for a future archeologist or historian."

"Is there a name for the library on the map?" Matilda said.

"Just 'Royal Library'," Granger said. "It's probably named after whatever former ruler built it."

"Or, maybe, it's listed as Royal Library?" Luna said. She pressed a button next to an entry at the top of the map key. There was another chime and a line appeared between their location and the library on the map.

"The path takes you right past the 'Throne Room'," Granger said, tapping the map. "So, no short cut."

"Pack everything up," Dawn said. "Time to visit a Library."

"With a short stop to see the Queen?" Luna said.

"Hopefully there been still isn't in the throne room," Dawn said. "I don't feel like conversing with a mummy or pile of bones."

"If the last Queen was Ozma, she was technically immortal and might still be in the palace somewhere," Granger said. She shrugged. "But so was the entire land of Oz at one point."

"Something must have happened to that," Dawn said.

"Willy Wonka?" Matilda said.

"Hopefully not," Dawn said. "That would make him a little more powerful than we're prepared to handle at the moment."

"Now you've jinxed us," Wednesday said, grimacing.

Chapter Text

It took them two hours of steady walking and trap dodging to reach the throne room from the kitchen. It was at the end of a wide hallway perpendicular to the hall they'd been traveling along.

After the first hour the traps had started to become repetitive, leading Dawn to conclude that whomever had created them was only building the traps because they were under orders to do so. But none of the traps had provided clues as to who was behind them. There was nothing personal about any of them. It was almost as if they were out of some old catalog, the Sears Roebuck of booby traps.

"Another pit with glass spikes?" Luna said, tapping the floor ahead of them, at the intersection. "Boring!" She stomped hard and jumped back as the floor fell in on top of the spikes.

"Very disappointing," Wednesday said. "They obviously weren't experts. With a little more effort each of those traps could have been unique in some way."

"I'm not upset at the lack of creativity," Granger said. "It makes it easier for us to avoid them."

"Until we find one that is different," Dawn said. "So, let's be careful, yes?"

"Of course," Wednesday said. "Now is the perfect time for a very different kind of trap, after anyone who has made it this far has become complacent."

The short throne corridor curved in an arch that went past the throne room's double doors.

"Where do you think it ends?" Matilda asked when they reached the doors.

"Back at the other corridor," Granger said. "The map had an odd scribble about here. I suspect they changed the palace here but didn't update the map."

"Think it's going to be empty?" Matilda asked.

"Most of the rooms have been," Dawn said. "Only the ones hidden like the map room escaped being plundered."

There was a coughing noise behind them, as if someone or something was clearing their throat after a long time of misuse. Turning, they discovered the head of a large animal mounted just above eye level.

"A moose?" Granger said. "How did a moose get to Oz?"

"A magical moose," Luna said.

"Hem, hem..." the creature said. "There is no such creature as a moose. I am the most majestic of animals, a Gump."

"A gump?" Luna said. "Are you sure?"

"Certainly," the Gump said. "What else would I be?"

"A head on a wall?" Wednesday said. "With horns?"

"A stuffed head that talks, Wednesday," Matilda said in a loud whisper. "Is it evil?"

"Why would it be evil? It can't attack us from there. It's not as if it can get down from there," Wednesday said. "Who was your taxidermist?" she asked the Gump.

"I am unacquainted with such a personage," the Gump said. "I was in my forest enjoying a morning snack and there was a loud noise. When I was brought to life by Tip, before he became the Queen of Oz, using Mombi the witch's magic powder, I was like this."

"Was this Queen Tip the last Queen of Oz?" Granger said.

"No, Princess Ozma was the last Queen of Oz, of course," the Gump said.

"How long ago was that?" Dawn asked.

"We do not measure time here in the usual fashion, if Princess Dorothy is to be believed," the Gump said. "There was something before Queen Ozma and now the after. The Queen entered her throne room, and I do not remember her leaving. Something must have put me to sleep after the little men came."

"Little men?" Luna said. "Not Munchkins?"

"They wore white overalls and had orange skin," the Gump said. "I do not think they were from Munchkin Country."

"Did they go into the throne room to meet the queen?" Grange said.

"I do not recall," the Gump said. "My memories ended there."

"That's not good," Dawn said. "Do we think they're the ones who laid all of the traps?"

"In my profession opinion, the traps we've encountered so far were all built by someone our height," Wednesday said. "You can tell by the placement of things like the spikes. The traps would have been different if built by smaller creatures like Oompa Loompa."

"So, no idea if it was Wonka who put the palace in this state?" Dawn said.

"I'm leaning towards no," Granger said. "He likely took advantage of the chaos but it probably happened years before he showed up."

"The Wizard once mentioned a Wonka," the Gump said. "A purveyor of fine sweets, I was told. Not something gumps eat."

"Is there a special key?" Luna asked the Gump. "The doors won't open."

"A Queen is always available for her subjects," the Gump said. "If the doors won't open, Ozma is not in there. You will need to come back later."

"I'm sure we can get it open," Luna said in a low voice. "Hopefully Mister Gump won't object."

"Do you mind if we take a look anyway?" Dawn asked the Gump. "We've traveled s long way to get here."

"You can ask the guards," the Gump said. "Or make an appointment. I am just here to watch and talk with passing friends."

"There are no guards," Luna said. "Where can we find them?"

"There are always guards," the Gump said. "They would not let the Queen be kidnapped again. It would not do."

"Does she get kidnapped often?" Matilda asked.

"It rarely happens," the Gump said. "The Queen is loved by all of her subjects, as a good queen should. There is no reason to kidnap her."

"Sometimes kidnappings just happen," Dawn said. "For no good reason."

"She speaks from experience," Matilda said. "Dawn is known as the Queen of Kidnapping."

"It's been a while," Dawn said. "Buffy made an example of them and the kidnappings have mostly stopped."

"I see," the Gump said. "The Queen will want to see you then."

"The doors are locked," Luna said. "And there are no guards."

"Then you must make an appointment and come back later," the Gump said, repeating himself.

"I think he has a very limited awareness," Luna whispered to Dawn. "If we open the doors he'll probably think it was his idea, the poor thing."

Dawn nodded. "Think you can open it?"

"We can only try," Luna said. "Stand back, this could get messy."

Chapter Text

"That was a bit of overkill," Dawn said, after the doors to the Emerald City throne room crumbled to dust with a wave of Luna's wand.

"There's no such thing as overkill," Wednesday said, poking the large pile of dust with the tip of her sword.

"Closing it might be a bit difficult," Luna said with a sigh, waving her wand again to move the pile of dust to the side of the doorway.

Granger knelt down to examine the dust with her probe. "It's still the same material. It just isn't held together at the molecular level any more," she said. "I'd be curious to see what happens to other kinds of material if you do that again."

"It was a simple Alohomora," Luna said, wincing. "It should have just unlocked the doors."

"Not going to worry about it," Dawn said. "It worked, mostly."

"We're going to need some light," Wednesday said, standing in the doorway and looking into the throne room. "There's some kind of glowing ball on the other side but who knows what's between here and there."

"More traps?" Dawn said.

"I don't think whomever put in those traps was able to get into the throne room," Wednesday said.

"What makes you say that?" Granger said. "Maybe they had a different way in?"

"It smells a bit musty. It's been sealed up for a long time. We should let it air out for a few minutes," Wednesday said.

"What do we have for light?" Dawn said. "Our torches aren't going to do much good. Matilda?"

"I don't know any light spells that could light something as large as that room," Matilda said. "Just barely more light than one of our torches."

"Luna?" Dawn said.

"Sure," Luna said. "But based on how the last one went, you may not like the results."

"Maybe the Gump has an idea? He must have seen something?" Matilda said. She turned back to the Gump. "Mister Gump, do you know where the lights are for the throne room?"

"Lights?" the Gump said. "At night, if something important was happening, Ozma would invite over the fireflies. Or maybe fairies holding candles? I rarely saw. During the day the sun would shine in through the windows."

"What time is sunset?" Dawn said. "If the sun is shining it isn't reaching the throne room."

"Oz seems to have days as long as ours. It shouldn't be dark yet," Granger said. "We ate lunch almost an hour ago, on our way here from the kitchen."

Luna sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you." Standing in the door, she once more waved her wand. Small globes of light streamed into the throne room, gradually dispelling the darkness.

"That's plenty of light," Dawn said.

"Good!" Luna said, shaking her arm. The flood of light globes stopped. "I think that's all the magic I can safely do for now. My magic really doesn't like the quirky Oz magic. It's a little too Wild."

"It's smaller than I expected," Granger said, stepping into the throne room. "It makes sense if everything was told from Dorothy's perspective. She was just a little girl."

"Just like Charlie," Dawn said. "Not the little girl part, though that would certainly be a twist. And how young was Ozma when she became queen? Or that Tip?"

"Once more reminded that children played a suspiciously important part in the histories of Oz," Granger said. "Is the floor actually made from emeralds?" She squatted down and ran her probe along a small section. "No... green marble? That can't be natural."

"The Queen doesn't seem to have gone for a lot of decoration," Dawn said, looking around. "No actual furniture? Did she keep her subjects standing?"

"Or it wasn't nailed down and someone removed everything," Granger said.

"Still no traps," Wednesday said, already halfway across the room.

"The windows don't seem to be actual windows," Luna said, standing in front of one of the throne room walls. "Large thick emeralds, if I'm correct."

"Too thick for light to pass thru?" Dawn said. "Or some magical trick?"

"A trick by the Wizard?" Granger said. "Make everything look green? If I ran a city called the Emerald City, I'd want everyone who came to see me to think they were surrounded by emeralds."

"I think we know what happened to the queen," Wednesday said, having reached the large glowing object on the other side of the room. The others hurried to join her.

"Do you think she's alive in there?" Matilda said. "And how do you think it happened?"

Luna pressed both of her hands against the large green crystal. "Wild magic. A lot of it," she said. "It's protecting her from something, or possibly it was accidental."

"She doesn't look that old to be a queen," Matilda said, squinting to see through the crystal. "I wonder how long she's been in there."

"She's breathing," Wednesday said. "It isn't cold so at least she's not a popsicle."

"More children," Granger said, grimacing. "But where is everyone else? Didn't she have a court?"

"You mean Dorothy and the others?" Dawn said. "Without knowing what happened, it's impossible to say where they went. The Gump certainly doesn't know."

"They could be somewhere else in the palace or elsewhere in Oz," Granger said. "Strange things often happened to people in the histories. Becoming statues. Transfigured into objects. They could be anywhere and be anything. Even dead."

"So, what do we do?" Matilda asked. "Should we rescue her?"

"Do you know enough magic to get her out of there?" Dawn said.

"Nope," Matilda said. "Maybe Luna could do something?"

"It's Wild Magic," Luna said. "You saw what happened to the door. And this thing contains a lot more magic than the door did."

"Let's not destroy the rest of the palace," Dawn said. "Especially with us in it. She's going to have to stay in there for now."

"Can we at least fix the door?" Matilda said. "Anyone could get in here. She's not safe with just the Gump watching the door."

"I can try to reverse whatever happened to the door," Luna said. "But I can't guarantee it will work."

"And it might kill us," Wednesday said. "This isn't really a place to experiment."

"I think we should visit the Royal Library," Granger said. "There may be something there."

"And then come back?" Matilda said. "I know rescuing a queen isn't why we're here. But maybe she knows something about Wonka?"

"Maybe," Dawn said, "but it's more likely that she was already like this when Wonka wandered through grabbing souvenirs."

"We'll come back," Luna said, nodding. "I've Seen it."

"Wednesday?" Dawn said, looking at her.

"Nothing bad happens if we come back for her," she said, "but other than that I'm not feeling anything."

Dawn sighed. "Okay. We'll fix the door and then find the library, and see what happens from there."

Chapter Text

The journey from the throne room had been a relatively booby-trap free hour before they reached the Royal Library. Just enough danger to keep them on their toes, but nothing overly complicated.

The huge emerald green double doors each had a large O above a scroll on them, decorated in gold.

"Oz? Ozma?" Granger said. "It must be an important room. All of the other doors between here and the throne room have been much plainer."

"The Royal Library?" Matilda said. "Or a private room for the Queen?"

"The map near the kitchen didn't have anything else on it on the main hallway, besides small rooms, this far from the throne room," Dawn said. "The Royal Library is as good a guess as any."

"And, it isn't locked," Luna said, pushing one of the doors open.

"That isn't a good sign," Granger said. "Hopefully Wonka didn't get this far from the throne room."

"Or he came in through a different door. The hallway must come out the other side of the palace eventually," Wednesday said.

"If he was here he hasn't left much behind," Dawn said. "There hasn't been been any actual physical proof of his presence anywhere in the palace."

"The Gump mentioned him," Matilda said.

"The Gump had been asleep for a long time, and might have seen creatures resembling Oompa Loompa's but barely mentioned Wonka," Granger said. "We're only guessing that Wonka was here recently."

"At least it isn't dark in here," Luna said, stepping into the room. "I have fond memories of the Hogwarts library. It had a distinct library smell to it. A little like this."

"Musty old books?" Wednesday said, scrunching up her nose as she followed Luna into the room.

"This is the Royal Library of Oz?" Dawn said, looking around the dimly lit room, her voice echoing. There were shelves along the walls and a few shorter ones in rows, and several work tables. Most of the shelves were empty.

"Looks like someone has helped themselves to the books, if there were ever many in here," Granger said. "It's not clear how literate any of the residents were."

"The Scarecrow was supposed to be some sort of big brain," Matilda said. "Wouldn't he want a library?"

"Hopefully the real Scarecrow, if he ever existed, had more for brains than whatever the Wizard stuffed into his head in the stories. Bran, pins, and needles are not much to think with."

"Magical creature," Luna said. "It's all about belief. Sawdust would have probably worked just as well."

Shaking her head, Granger sighed. "Of course, it's a fairy land. Anything is possible. Even brains that seemed more pun than substance."

"See, you're learning," Luna said, grinning.

"Didn't the Emerald City have a school of some sort?" Dawn asked. "A kingdom needs a library for keeping institutional knowledge. And where there's a library there's usually some kind of school for the residents that needs books."

"The stories mention a school but it seemed more of a joke than a real school," Granger said. "It wasn't actually inside the palace. If it still existed we should have seen it on our way to the palace."

"Not many books," Dawn said. "Well, let's bring them all over there so we can look through them." She pointed at a large work table in the center of the room.

After half an hour of scrounging, they ended up with a small stack of large books, and several scrolls.

"Whomever pillaged the library must have been in a hurry," Granger said. She spread out the books in front of the others. "Or they didn't think any of these had any value."

Matilda read the title of the book in front of her. "A History of the Wizard, and Everything He Did. That was the fake wizard Dorothy met, right?" she said.

"He was the only wizard I remember from the stories," Granger said. "Most of the magic users in Oz were witches."

"That's because witches are amazing," Luna said, smirking. "Feeding the Hungry Tiger?" She opened the book in front of her. "A cookbook? It must have escaped from the kitchen. Oh, it's mostly directions on how to keep something called the Hungry Tiger from eating everything in sight."

"I've got a manual for organizing the Royal Army," Wednesday said. She quickly scanned it. "If that was Oz's army, it would have been a kindness to conquer them." She closed the book with a growl. "They would have been helpless against a girl scout troop." She looked through the other books for something more interesting.

Dawn took one of the scrolls and unrolled it. "Now this might actually be useful. A map of Oz. It must have been left behind by accident."

"It feels slightly magical," Luna said, leaning over. "Self updating?"

"That would be helpful," Granger said. "What does it say for the Emerald City?

"Just a blurry green blob," Dawn said. "If it's magical, it's broken."

"Or it doesn't know how to show that the Emerald City is not healthy," Luna said.

Dawn rolled it up. "We can look at it later. What else did we find? Anything to help with the Ozma issue?"

"No. Just books that are only interesting for Emerald City trivia night," Wednesday said. "And then there was this." She placed a crumpled ball of tinfoil and paper on the table.

Granger took it and carefully flattened it out. "A candy wrapper?"

"Not just any candy," Wednesday said. She pointed at the label. "It's from an actual Wonka Bar."

"That counts as proof that Wonka was here, doesn't it?" Matilda said.

"Where did you find that?" Granger said. "Was it the only wrapper?"

"It was on an empty shelf, about knee height," Wednesday said.

"Didn't Wonka pay his minions in chocolate?" Dawn said. "If I remember correctly."

"So we agree he or one of his Oompa Loompas was here?" Granger said.

"As evidence goes it's a bit flimsy," Dawn said. "But unless Wonka opened a candy store in Oz, I don't see how else it could have gotten here except with some help from Wonka."

"So, we're making progress," Granger said.

Chapter Text

"We need someone who knows what that is," Harry said, waving at the large ring. "We aren't going to get far without useful info."

"If it's supernatural we probably have something in the Council archives about it," Andrew said. "Though I don't remember seeing anything like it before in anything I've read."

"It has a mad science vibe to it," Harry said. "Or it's some ancient alien artifact. I'm sure Mycroft knows someone who can identify it. And hopefully turn it on, without kill all of us."

"And she's gone through it," Bones said, walking around it. "That's the kind of thing Granger excels at. Researching odd artifacts and finding unexpected connections."

"Hopefully he can find someone else," Harry said. "Hermione isn't in a position to help us right now."

"It's Mycroft. He'll find someone," Bones said firmly, before going back through the hole to talk with the repair crew..

"Are they putting in a door or replacing the wall?" Bones said, poking her head back through the hole.

"Something we can easily remove without using more explosives?" Andrew said "Can they do that?"

"Yes, but they'll have to go order some hardware," Bones relayed back.

"Okay," Andrew said. "Tell them yes. Daisy and Wilma can wait here for them."

"No signal. I need to make a few calls," Harry said, waving his phone. "If we're going through that ring I need to take care of a few things first."

"IF we aren't going right now, I also need to take care of a few things," Bones said.

Andrew quickly scribbled a note to put on the elevator if Summers, Granger, and the others came back before they could return.

He slapped the note onto the elevator and gestured the two slayers over. "We're going back to the front camp. I need to make some calls, and get some additional supplies. We should be back in less than an hour. Don't get yourselves killed while we're gone," he told them. "Just try to keep anyone you don't know away from the elevator and that ring."

"Got it," Daisy said. "And lunch?"

"The usual?" Andrew said.

"Of course," Wilma said, shaking her head at the question.

""Okay," he said. "We'll be back."

"I need to make some calls and take care of a few things," Andrew said, as he led Bones and Harry back up to the roof. "No idea how long we'll be waiting around for someone to figure out how to use that ring."

"We'll need enough rations for a few days, for us and the Summers Granger team," Bones said. "Hopefully they took enough with them to last until we can catch up."

"Hermione would have planned for a week," Harry said. "That's the standard when going into an unknown situation."

"Two slayers," Andrew said, once they got down from the roof. "They can eat a lot."

"As long as Granger knew they were slayers, she would have included that in her calculations," Bones said. "She's very good at the planning details."

"Very good is one way to put it," Harry said. "Scary is closer. Meet back here in thirty minutes?" He said , when they reached the factory door.

The other two nodded and headed inside to make their calls, while Harry headed over to his car. Getting in, he hit a couple unobtrusive buttons and a faint shimmer surrounded it.

"Heh Ron," Harry said, after hitting a familiar number on his phone. "Yes, I'm staying out of trouble. Still have that family thing going on?" He nodded at the response. "I appear to have been seconded to that thing Hermione has gotten herself involved in. Yes, that factory MI5 lost that team in a couple years ago. Could you pass the word? No reason to round up the team. There's plenty of us involved already. Bones is here, and Mycroft is doing his usual hovering. Those private spooks from the Council are in charge. So plenty of tough operators."

"The short blonde" Harry said, laughing. "Haven't seen her yet. Not sure the ego can take another bashing." Looking around he spotted Bones and the Council dweeb, Andrew something. "Gotta go. Usual check-in in a week, yeah?" He hung up, reset his car's privacy shield and got out.

Popping the trunk, he retrieved several small gadgets that would make even Hermione jealous, several extra magazines for his pistol, and his standard mission rucksack, before joining them.

"All set?" he said, looking at the large bags they were carrying. "Enough for all of us?"

"For lunch, and rations for a few days," Bones said, handing him one of the bags. "We can redistribute these down below."

"Giles is going to have someone search the archives," Andrew said. "Hopefully there is useful information about that ring."

"Mycroft is going to find us an expert on that ring," Bones said. "Didn't say who or where but said it might take twenty-four hours."

"So, usual cryptic Mycroft?" Harry said. "It's a good thing he's on our side. He is one our side isn't he?"

"I don't know about you Potter, but I'm on Mycroft's side. King and country sure, but he pays for results," Bones said. "And doesn't try to weasel out of promises."

Harry shrugged. Skepticism about those in charge and their motives had saved him on numerous occasions. Mycroft could hoard information like the most paranoid bureaucrat, but his projects didn't usually lead to death or serious injury but there was always the first time.

"Giles is a good boss," Andrew said, adding his own opinion. "A bit ruthless, like most of the old Council Watchers. Not someone to mess with. But he cares about everyone who works under him."

"Good pep talk," Harry said. "Shall we get back to the ring? Maybe they'll get back before the expert shows up. I'd like total a closer look."

"Giles asked for better pictures," Andrew said, nodding. "Large round ring with strange runes on it didn't ring any bells."

"The more info we can have ready for this expert when they get here the better," Bones said, before turning and leading the way back to the ring.

Chapter Text

"The Gate expert will be here tomorrow morning," Andrew said, listening to the report from his assistant back in the field office, after handing out the additional supplies.

"They did a good job on the door," Bones said, tapping it. "We should be safe here overnight, if you don't mind going back to the field office occasionally."

"No need. I'm sure there's a loo near here, somewhere," Harry said. "Or something we can use instead."

"No, just no," Andrew said. "We aren't roughing it. We'll move one of the campers closer and you can use the toilet in that if necessary."

Harry shrugged. "Whatever you say. But if we managed to get through that gate ring portal, there isn't likely going to be anything civilized like that out there."

"I've had wilderness survival training," Andrew said. "I know how to take care of personal things in the woods." He shook his head.

"You flunked that," Wilma said, speaking through a mouthful of high protein cheese and marmite sandwich. Daisy laughed before taking a large bite of an apple.

"Poison oak is no joke," Andrew said sternly. "We should have been warned about it."

"We don't usually have time to prepare for wilderness adventures," Bones said. "I took a survival course also. And the yearly refreshers. Haven't needed it yet. We aren't all bonafide field agents, Potter."

"We aren't agents, period," Daisy said. "Some people," she paused to throw her apple core at Andrew, "Some people keep trying to get us to use that kind of terminology but it really doesn't go well with our slaying. We're Council slayers, which implies a certain autonomy that agents don't have."

"Except for on our special IDs," Wilma said, rolling her eyes. "We have fancy government sounding titles for impressing the locals and family."

"A title that sounds like something out of a Bond novel can be useful," Harry said. "It can get you into all sorts of places. But you have to be careful how often you use it. So I try not to."

"Uh oh!" Andrew said, looking at something on his tablet.

"How are you getting a signal down here?" Bones asked.

"The same way the beacon works?" Andrew said. "It's magic!"

"What's the range," she said, grabbing it from him.

"Hey! That's mine!" he protested. "Be careful with that."

"Range? Can it be used as a hotspot? I need to check my messages," she said, backing away from him.

"No," Andrew said, trying to grab it back. "It's still experimental. Willow hasn't figured that out yet. And it can connect to the network in the field office, just barely. Things are really weird this deep in the factory."

Bones looked down at the tablet. "Did Mr Giles or Mycroft find this expert?" she asked. "Or is that experts?"

"Neither," Andrew said. "He was doing research in the Council archives and volunteered to come check it out when Mr. Giles asked him if he'd ever heard of a ring like that."

"That explains the ancient languages expert," Bones said. "I recognize him. And the other? I don't think I've seen her before."

"Someone he used to work with in the States on a secret project," Andrew said, nonchalantly. "She happened to be in the neighborhood, visiting someone, and she comes highly recommended."

Harry learned over and looked at the pictures of the two experts. "Yeah, I'd say so," he muttered. "If you want to know about real aliens they could tell stories. But won't."

"Oh!" Andrew said excitedly. "We had a briefing on real aliens last year. It wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be. Apparently Klingons aren't real?" He frowned.

"It was so we wouldn't accidentally kill some alien tourist thinking they were a demon," Wilma said. She finished her sandwich and licked her fingers making Andrew grimace.

"As if we couldn't tell the difference between an alien and a demon," Daisy said, rolling her eyes. "Demons are evil. Aliens are just weird."

"Supposedly, most actual aliens stay away from our planet for some reason," Harry said.

"The expert who came to talk with us mentioned that, but didn't know why," Andrew said. "But as long as a slayer doesn't kill an innocent alien and cause an intergalactic incident we were told they should be ignored. It's someone else's business."

"I'm sure there was more to it than that," Bones said. "Mycroft doesn't normally deal with aliens but we were given the non-interference warnings and lectures also. And a number to call if we suspected alien activity."

"I've been on a few ops involving aliens, that I can't talk about," Harry said, shrugging. "But the alien wranglers tend to keep to themselves. We've got enough normal super villains and terrorists of our own to deal with."

"We have all sorts of supernatural creatures, so it only makes sense that there are aliens," Andrew said. "Mr. Giles has me going through the Council archives to see if there are any alien mentions in them. Haven't found anything definitive yet. The old Council tended to try to kill anything that wasn't one hundred percent human looking"

Bones handed the tablet back to Andrew. "We should get pictures of the ring for our expert," she said. "Where's your camera and tripod?"

"In that bag," Andrew said, pointing at one of the bags they'd brought down.

Bones picked it up and started pulling things out of it. "Come on Potter, you can help me." She handed the tripod to Harry.

Harry shrugged and followed her. "What did you have in mind?" he asked.

"A full shot of each side and then close ups of the runes," Bones said. "We're probably wasting our time. Jackson will probably want to take his own photographs with his own equipment. I would."

"I've got a deck of cards," Harry said. "If you want to play a game when we're done."

"Not a chance, Potter," she said. "I've heard about your poker games."

"We can play something else," he said. "It doesn't have to be poker."

"Still no," Bones said, shaking her head. "Now put that tripod right there." She tapped a spot midway between the glass elevator and the ring.

Chapter Text

"Giles and the experts are expected up at the field office in an hour," Andrew said, after returning from his turn taking a shower in the camper outside. "Daisy, if you and Wilma could stay here? Please?"

"Can we stay here and stare some more at a large metal ring and an odd glass box? Sure, but expect a large bill when this is over," Daisy said.

"He already owes us for sticking around and not going exploring," Wilma said. "We've shown admirable restraint."

"Well, I think I can come up with even more things for him to pay us back with," Daisy said. "This place is just brimming with adventure and we're sitting here."

"You know I don't have a large budget for slayer treats," Andrew whinged. "You'll wipe me out."

"Should have gotten Mr. Giles or Lady D to give you a bigger budget," Daisy said, smirking. "But run along and get your experts so we can get some adventuring time in before anyone else at the Council sticks their spoon in."

Andrew grimaced, and gathered up the camera and his tablet. With Harry and Bones following he climbed back out onto the roof, past the camper and towards the field office.

"A little mutiny in the ranks?" Harry said, not keeping his amusement out of his voice.

Andrew sighed. "Slayers," he huffed. "Most of them barely tolerate the Council rules. Once they've been part of the Council for long enough, anything not involving the slayage of actual evil creatures and apocalypse endage? They can pick and choose who and where they work. If Dawn wasn't in charge of this whole Wonka project, we would have been stuck with all juniors and not experienced slayers like Daisy and Wilma."

"Of course," Bones said. "Seniority matters. I'm sure even Potter expects certain kinds of missions due to his time put in."

"Of course," Harry said. "I've done my time with the petty terrorists who can't organize their way out of a wet paper sack. I tend to focus on the super villain types who need an experienced touch."

"You sound like a real life Bond," Andrew said.

"We don't have that whole Double-O license to kill schtick," Harry said, frowning. "If we blow something up or cause an international incident we better have had a justifiable reason."

"There's Potter and his gang, and then there's Bond," Bones said. "Bond could be a bit of a loose canon when it came to rules. Harry may be a bit on the flamboyant side, but at least his teams stick within the rules, mostly. Mycroft wouldn't use them if they didn't."

"I didn't know you cared," Harry said, grinning at Bones.

"Results do matter in this business," Bones said. "But you not making cleanup after a mission a month long headache? Always appreciated."

Andrew nodded in agreement. "Apocalypse cleanup is the worst. But an experienced slayer team makes it easier."

When they reached the field office, there were two new vehicles parked outside. Gile's Council car, and driver, and a Rover in blacked-out government trim.

"So, not just ordinary academics?" Harry said, giving it the once-over.

"Nope," Andrew said, sighing. "Please, no poking the bear," he added. Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the factory door and entered the field office.

"This should be interesting," Bones said, smirking.

"You know something about the blonde?" Harry said. "None of my sources could find anything beyond a blacked out service record."

"Working for Mycroft has its advantages," Bones said. "Mycroft was unexpectedly chatty and shared some interesting information."

"And you weren't planning to share?" Harry said, pouting.

"Why ruin the fun?" Bones said, grinning. "Come on, we're missing it."

They entered the building and followed the sound of several voices to Andrew's office.

"Don't say anything, just observe, unless directly addressed," Bones warned him in a whisper before they entered the office.

Mr. Giles and Daniel Jackson were talking in low voices and looking at pictures of the Ring on a large screen that had appeared in Andrew's office since they'd last been there.

The blonde, dressed in clothes that gave off the faint hint of a uniform, though not one he recognized, was glaring at Andrew, who appeared to be trying to hide without actually getting under his desk.

"And you were going to let us know they were missing when?" she said, her voice having that implacable tone that all senior offices used to great effect. "We could have been here days ago."

"Giles knew, General Carter" Andrew said.

"And I've already expressed my displeasure to him," she said.

"Dawn was in charge," he said defensively. "You know how she likes to run her projects. And Buffy knew about how things could go. Even gave her slayers she could trust and work with."

"And Buffy would have come with us, if she'd known Dawn was missing," Carter said. "If not sooner."

"You're not going to tell her are you?" Andrew said, visibly paling. "Dawn isn't really lost. We know where she went."

"She went through a gate to some unknown destination, in search of a potentially evil candy maker," Carter said. "And she has two slayers, a junior witch, and one of Mycroft Holmes' whiz kids with her. And limited supplies. And you have no experience in Search and Rescue on possibly alien worlds or demon dimensions."

"We have a couple of experienced slayers," Andrew said, protesting. "Wilma and Daisy are good. And Mycroft Holmes leant us a couple of people. They aren't amateurs."

Carter, turned to examine Harry and Bones, shaking her head. "Miss Bones is an analyst. Well trained, better than Daniel was when he first started, but still an analyst. With little experience in unusual situations."

"Fair," Bones said, shrugging. "But I have to get it somewhere." Carter raised an eyebrow but nodded.

"Hey!" Jackson said, looking up from his discussion with Giles, having heard his name.

"You know I'm not exaggerating, Daniel," Carter said. She then gave Harry a look. "And then there's Potter. His reputation precedes him. Skilled yes, but his skills are more appropriate when guided by his current handlers. I don't know what Holmes was thinking assigning him here."

"I have a friend who needs my help," Harry said. "He didn't have a choice. I'm not leaving until we get her back."

"Let's hope you can keep your impulsiveness under control," Carter said. "We understand about the friend needing a rescue, but I expect you to listen before running off into danger."

"Yes, ma'am." Harry said, baring his neck, figuratively speaking, to the person who was obviously the biggest and baddest operator in the room.

"Daniel? What do we have?" Carter said, looking over at him. "Other than an unknown Gate going to some unknown destination?"

"They had an address," Andrew muttered, wincing when Carter glared at him.

"The design is slightly different, and some of the glyphs are not ones I've seen before," Daniel said. "I'd like to see it in person."

"We can do that," Carter said. "We'll need some things out of the Rover, and I'll need to notify a few people that we'll likely be out of touch for an unknown amount of time."

Chapter Text

The slayers greeted them with a distinct lack enthusiasm, as they opened the door to the Gate room.

"You aren't happy to see us?" Harry said, pouting.

"Delighted," Daisy said, sighing. She tossed a small knife at Wilma, who tossed it back.

"Not the most exciting place to hang out," Wilma said. "We were hoping you were something we could kill."

"Go ahead," Bones said, smirking. "No one will miss him."

"I would miss me," Harry said.

Carter paused for a minute to look at the glass elevator. "Wonka's elevator? I'd always assumed it was fictional." She stepped inside the elevator for a moment, shook her head and stepped out. "Once we deal with your missing people, I'd like to take some time to study it. It has interesting controls."

"According to her notes, Granger seems to have figured out how to control it," Bones said. "It gives anyone else who looks at it a serious headache."

Recognizing the acquisitive glean in Carter's eye, Bones shook her head. "Don't even thing it. Mycroft is not going to want to let her go work for you," she said.

"I'm sure I can convince him," Carter said. "But first we have people to retrieve." She looked towards the Ring, where Jackson was already examining the writing on it. She joined him near the Ring, though Harry was quick to notice she stayed out of the possible path of the inner opening.

"Verdict?" she said, putting down one of the bags she'd brought with her.

"Slightly different design as I suspected.," Jackson said. "Whether that affects the destinations it can connect to is more your area than mine. Those glyphs are not in a language I recognize. It isn't Ancient or any other language I'm familiar with. This Wonka was human?"

"As far as we know, he wasn't a demon or an alien," Andrew said, staring at the Ring as if it would reveal the secrets of the universe. "He might have been a sorcerer but we have no proof of that. The little magic we've run into in the factory wasn't known by any of our sources. And no one really knows about the ability of his Oompa Loompa minions."

"There's a faint hum of magic near the Ring. It was used here recently," Daisy said. "But Lady D had magic users with her. One of them could have done something before they went through it that left a trace."

"Not a huge fan of 'they did it with magic' being used to explain everything we don't understand," Carter said, walking around the Ring. "But this Gate doesn't appear to have a regular power source or control system. It's possible that someone used an alternate energy of some kind to activate it. And that might mean Wonka, if he was the primary user of this Gate, had some other way to power and control it."

"How much power?" Andrew said. "Matilda can do a few simple things but she's just learning magic. And Dawn? She has enormous magical potential, she practically reeks of it, but claims to not know how to use it. The two slayers that went with them... I don't think they know any magic that would be useful?"

Carter opened her bag and took out an object about the size of two toasters.

"It wasn't Lady D," Wilma said. "Her magic feels different. We would have noticed if she did something."

"No," Carter said. "She wouldn't use her so called 'magic' unless there's no alternative. The Gate would probably have melted if she'd tried to feed it her power. Assuming she could figure out how."

"One of the Slayers that went through that Ring, Luna, isn't a local," Bones said. "She comes from a place where magic is used in a more practical way than someone like Rosenberg and other magic users do. More waving of a wand than beseeching some goddess for a favor. It was probably her."

"How do you know that?" Andrew said, frowning at Bones. "That's a Council secret."

"I did the paperwork for her ID and other documents," Bones said, shrugging. "Mycroft wouldn't have her paperwork processed without knowing who she really is and where she's from."

"According to Willow, her magic isn't compatible with ours," Andrew said. "She might as well not have it." He looked at Carter and the others. "And you aren't supposed to know anything about her other than she's a slayer."

"All the slayers know," Wilma said, shrugging. "We don't keep secrets. She's a bit odd, but so is Wednesday."

"Daniel and I agreed not to share any Council secrets we learned when Giles asked for our help," Carter said. "But don't start spilling secrets if we don't need to know something. But that gives us a possible energy source for the Gate. We'll have to ask her when we get them back."

"Associating with the Council requires knowledge of things that most people would rather not know," Daniel said, nodding in agreement. "I'm not going to say anything."

"Fortunately, I brought our own power sources. With enough power to activate the Gate several times. One for here, and another for the other side, just in case." She set the toaster sized object to one side of the Ring and ran a heavy cable from it, attaching it to the Ring. "Fortunately, whomever designed this Gate must have based it on one of the older ones," she said.

"We don't have a DHD," Jackson said. "How are we going to control it?"

"DHD?" Harry said.

"Gate controller," Carter said. She circled the Ring several more times, placing her hand on it at different spots. "Set it to an address, and spike the power, and it should activate. Crude, but we have limited choices."

"Is that how they did it?" Andrew said.

"Assuming someone supplied enough power, of the correct kind? Yes," Carter said. "It's not the way we normally would activate a Gate but there are redundancies and alternate control methods built into them."

"And we're usually in a hurry," Jackson said. "Most of the time we wouldn't have time to manually control a Gate."

"It sounds like you've traveled through one of these before," Harry said. "A number of times."

"You could say that," Carter said. "Enough to know their general behavior."

"Are we going now?" Andrew said, excitedly.

"Not until we inventory everything you have here," Carter said. "If we need something that isn't here it'll be too late once we go through the Gate."

"Of course," Andrew said, sighing. "I'm sure we have everything we could possible need, but I yield to your superior experience."

"Quick! Someone write down the date!" Daisy said. "Andrew just admitted someone else might know more than him!"

"They'll never believe us," Wilma said. "Probably think we've been sniffing the chocolate fumes."

Chapter Text

Daisy was the last one to step through the shimmering Gate. Carter and Wilma had gone first, followed by Harry, with Bones, Jackson and Andrew in the middl3 of their small party.

The Gate appeared to be on the edge of the ruins of a small, uninhabited blue village.

"Think there's a restaurant?" Daisy said, looking around. "Or grocery store?"

"You just ate," Andrew said, shaking his head. He started walking towards the nearest cottage.

"Explore first, then eat," Wilma said. "Come on. Adventure awaits!"

"Don't go too far," Carter said, before anyone could rush off to explore. "We don't know for sure this is where they ended up." She turned and started examining the Gate.

"This is the only building that isn't blue," Bones said, thirty minutes later, calling Carter over. "Think it's important?" She was standing in front of a small yellow building at the edge of the road just at the point it spread out into the village.

"Without knowing something about their culture?" Jackson said, joining her and Carter in front of it. "It's hard to tell. I haven't found anything about who lived here yet. Not even graffiti. The residents seem to have taken everything with them when they left."

"We're obviously in Munchkin Land!" Andrew said excitedly. "All of the houses are built for short people and everything is blue! Except that, and the road." He frowned and scuffed a foot on the brick road.

"You think that museum Hermione reported finding in the factory contained artifacts from the real Oz?" Harry said, joining them. "Wasn't that fictional? Hermione had all of the Oz books memorized but even she didn't believe it was a real place. Wonka could have just been a big fan of life sized dioramas."

"I think this answers that question," Jackson said, pointing at a small plaque on the yellow building. He read it aloud "Here lies the end of the Wicked Witch of the East."

"Could there be a different Wicked Witch of the East?" Carter said. "I'll admit ignorance of anything Oz. I read classic sci-fi while growing up. Asimov, Heinlein, and others like that, not absurdist fantasy."

"There were four wicked witches originally," Harry said. "Dorothy killed the last one with a bucket of water." At Bones' snort, he said. "If you wanted to survive trivia night with Hermione, when we were in school, you had to at least be familiar with Oz. She doesn't read a lot of fiction but she was a bit obsessive about Oz back then."

"You actually read them, Potter?" Bones said. "You have hidden depths."

"I didn't say that," Harry said, shrugging. "Some university in the US had a course that covered Baum's books and they had study guides you could download. A life saver."

"I take it back," Bones said. "Those hidden depths are very shallow."

"Anyone else know anything about Oz?" Carter said. "The Gate doesn't have a controller. We'll need to find a key to the symbols on it to know which ones will take us back. I'm assuming there's a city somewhere in Oz with a library?"

"If anywhere does, the Emerald City would," Harry said. "But I don't recall hearing anything about one specifically."

"I may know a little bit about Oz," Andrew said reluctantly. "Back when I was evil, I may have been inspired by them."

Daisy giggled. "Those winged monkeys in Sunnydale were you! I remember reading about that."

"That's not in the official Council history," Andrew said, giving her a surprised look.

"You don't think everyone would forget that, do you?" Daisy said. "And you weren't really evil. Just gullible and easily led astray."

Andrew pouted, and took a deep breath as if to defend having been evil, when Wilma interrupted, looking at a withered tree near the yellow building.

"They were definitely here," she said, examining several symbols scratched into the tree. "That's a slayer's mark."

"Can you tell who left it?" Carter said.

"Not someone I recognize," Wilma said. "But it's fresh."

"That's Wednesday Addam's mark," Andrew said, squinting at the tree. "Did she leave anything else to tell us which way they went?"

Wilma looked round. "I'll be right back." Striding off, she followed the road to the other side of the village. "There's another one here," she shouted. "And an arrow pointing that way." She waved at the road leaving the village.

"What's the range on that comm you brought?" Carter asked.

"Ten kilometers, under the right conditions. A lot less in Wonka's factory. No idea about Oz," Andrew said, taking the small hand held device out of a pocket. "But they're too far away, wherever they went. This light is green when we're in range of one of the other comm units." He pointed at a small red LED on the comm.

"The radio Granger took with her has a slightly longer range," Bones said. "But not by much. She'll probably have it off to preserve the battery."

"Hopefully they left a trail we can follow," Carter said. "We'll leave the Gate power source here. It's too heavy to take with us." She waved at the yellow building. "That's the least likely place someone would look for something."

"So, just follow the road until we run into them or the comm says they are nearby and call them?" Bones said.

"We have approximately four days before we run out of rations," Carter said. "So two days out and two back. Assuming we haven't found them, and know our return Gate address by then, we'll go back to the factory and reassess our plans."

"If that is necessary, I can stay here," Harry said, "just in case they return to the Gate after you leave."

"You won't have any rations," Carter said, warning him.

"I can go a couple days without food, as long as there's water nearby. And I'm sure I can find something edible if you don't return by then."

"If necessary, I can stay also," Wilma said. "Our chances of surviving are a lot better with two of us."

Carter sighed, but reluctantly nodded. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Chapter Text

They'd just finished packing the books and scrolls they'd decided to take with them from the Royal Library when Wednesday visibly froze in the middle of the library.

"Something wrong?" Granger said, noticing Wednesday's behavior before anyone except Luna, who was already facing her and whispering to her in a low voice.

Luna waved her off, continuing to talk with Wednesday in a low voice.

"Let's finish up," Dawn said. "If it's important they'll let us know."

"Not sure whether that's creepy or scary," Matilda said, in a low voice. "When I first heard about seers... I thought it was so neat to be able to have visions but the more I see it happen the less I want to do it myself."

"Most slayers do get prophetic dreams," Dawn said, stuffing the map scroll into her rucksack. "But dreams are very different from it happening when other people can see you having them."

"There were rumors when I was at Nevermore that Addams had visions. It's something that her family is known for. But they were just rumors," Granger said. "Seers, the ones people know about, rarely go out in public and almost never go to a school. They usually have tutors."

"Most true Seers have a reputation for being anti-social," Luna said, joining them. "It's a defense mechanism. Give her a minute, she'll be okay. It wasn't anything bad."

"If that's 'not bad'," Matilda said. "I don't want to see 'bad'."

"I haven't had a bad waking vision in years," Wednesday said, quietly joining them. "Someone is coming," she said. "I had a vision of something from their past. Very confusing."

"Coming for us? A friend?" Dawn said. "Someone from Oz?"

"A blonde woman," Wednesday said. "She was with several other women in something that looked like a throne room, in Egypt. Something in it was very evil."

"Not Buffy?" Dawn said. "Just making sure." She sighed in relief when Wednesday shook her head.

"Definitely not," Wednesday said. "I didn't recognize any of them."

Luna giggled, and nodded. "I've seen people coming to rescue us several times since we got here. One of them's giving you a 'Mom' look. And Andrew might be with them."

"Can't be my mother then," Dawn said. "She doesn't get along with Andrew. If she was coming he wouldn't be."

"So, sounds like we've got someone coming to 'rescue' us?" Granger said, grimacing. "Someone must have gotten impatient. We've only been gone for three days."

"We're obviously in a different dimension,' Dawn said. "It's possible time moves differently. It could have been a lot longer than three days."

"But you don't believe that," Granger said.

"Nope," Dawn said, swinging her rucksack over her shoulder. "Someone definitely got impatient and didn't want to wait for us to get back. A blonde who isn't my mother or Buffy giving me a 'Mom' look is a little concerning."

"What about evil Egyptians?" Matilda said.

"I'm sure we can handle a few Egyptian demons," Dawn said dismissively.

"Do we go meet them?" Matilda said. She held up her comm, with a blinking red light. "They're too far away to chat with."

"Just static on my radio," Granger said. "So that isn't an option either."

"I think we should continue with our original plan," Dawn said. "Looking for Wonka or evidence of his presence. All we really know is that he passed through the Emerald City at some point."

"Where to next?" Granger said. "Continue retracing Dorothy's steps? Wonka seemed to be fascinated by her."

"Or he was collecting evidence of her crimes," Wednesday said. "A ten year old did manage to kill several witches and cause general chaos in a magical land. Maybe he wasn't a fan so much as a crime scene voyeur?"

"If the stories are to believed, he used some very esoteric ingredients in his candies," Granger said.

"Wicked Witch gummies?" Matilda said. "A handful of Wicked Witch of the West sand. Part of the building that squashed the Wicked Witch of the East. Just add chocolate and stir over a hot fire made from magical Oz trees?"

"I can see that," Wednesday said. "My grandmother has made potions from similar ingredients, though she prefers dark molasses instead of chocolate."

"Doesn't Glinda have a book where she can see everything that happens in Oz?" Dawn said. "A grimoire of sorts?"

"That may have been fictional," Granger said. "Supposedly she could see everything that happened in her Book of Records. A little too convenient."

"So, if she's still alive she's probably expecting us?" Dawn said. "If she has that book."

"If that is really Ozma trapped in the throne room, something must have happened to Glinda," Granger said. "She had a habit of rescuing Ozma or engineering her rescue whenever something happened to her. That Ozma is trapped here is not a good sign."

"So, another stop on the Dorothy tour or skip the rest of it and off to see Glinda?" Dawn said. "The Wicked Witch was on the opposite side from where the Ring brought us, right? Where is Glinda?"

"South," Granger said. "In the movie they moved her to the north but the real Glinda should be south of the Emerald City. And Dorothy did visit her at some point. We can always come back and check out the Wicked Witch of the West's castle."

"Glinda," Luna said. Wednesday nodded in agreement. "She's got all the answers, if we know how to ask."

"If she's such an Ozma fan, she's probably going to ask us to rescue Ozma, right?" Matilda said.

"If she's not trapped herself," Granger said. "Not sure who or what could be powerful enough to trap her. Wonka doesn't strike me as that powerful. He's more of a scavenger, picking up leftovers."

"So are we all in agreement?" Dawn said. "Once we leave the palace we head south? Do we leave a message for whomever is here to rescue us?"

"Too many unknowns," Granger said. "Whomever did all of this to Oz might still be around somewhere. I don't think we want to let them know what we are doing."

"Can you set an alert on that comm, so it'll tell us when we're close to someone else with one?" Dawn asked Matilda.

"Maybe?" Matilda said. "I'm not sure it's that sophisticated. But I can check it regularly."

"Whenever we stop for a break," Dawn said. "Are we ready now?"

Everyone nodded, picking up their own bags.

"Off we go! Time to visit a Good Witch!" Dawn said cheerfully. "And no singing happy Disney tunes," she said, when Luna started to hum loudly.

"Spoil sport," Luna said, pouting.

Chapter Text

They reached a slowly flowing river that evening, the yellow brick road coming to a sudden halt next to a small hut. If there had ever been a bridge or ferry to cross the river, they were long gone. The ground and crumbling brick road showed no signs of travelers having recently passed through.

While Harry, Bones and Daisy explored the side of the river, looking for a way across, the others search around the hut.

"Did they leave any signs that they've been here?" Carter asked, hopefully. Wednesday had left her mark and a direction on several trees along the way, but the only positive proof that they'd come the right way had been at a small campsite they'd found several hours earlier.

"Yes," Wilma said, poking her head out the shack, "but it doesn't make any sense?"

"How so?" Carter said. Harry wandered up from the river and joined them.

"Just her mark, the symbol for monkey, and the symbol for north," Wilma said.

"They followed a monkey north?" Andrew said. "Why north and why a monkey? There aren't any trees."

"The only monkeys in Oz were the flying monkeys," Harry said. "And they did whatever the person holding a magic cap told them to do."

"It was a three wishes kind of thing," Andrew said. "A classic in European fairy tales. You could only command them three times."

"Well, they aren't here," Carter said. "No way to tell if flying monkeys are real or if that meant something else." She looked at Harry. "Now, how are we crossing the river? Follow it north until we find a safe place to cross or is there way across here?"

"There's something in the water," Harry said. "Could be the ferry. Or what is left of a bridge. And it looks like someone headed up-river along the bank."

"They went north," Wilma said. "It was likely them."

"We should try to get across the river first," Harry said. "We're catching up to them. Crawling through bushes is going to eat up a lot of time."

"I'd rather not," Jackson said, grimacing.

"What are Bones and Daisy doing?" Carter said, watching Bones and Daisy poking around in the water along the edge of the river bank.

"Trying to figure out what that thing is in the water?" Harry said. "Or just playing in the water? It's Bones. She can be quirky."

"Are there fish?" Wilma said. "I could take a break for something to eat that isn't from a can."

"If there are something scared them away before we got here," Harry said.

"It's Oz," Andrew said. "The fish probably talk. I don't want to eat something that can talk back."

"Squeamish?" Wilma said. "You want us to eat weird Klingon dishes but talking fish is too much?"

"It's different," Andrew said. "Klingon dishes are a cultural adventure. Eating talking fish would be weird. Like a pig that tells you what its best cuts are."

"The Restaurant at the End of Universe actually exists," Carter said idly, staring as Daisy fished a long silver chain out of the water. "But the creatures asking you how you wanted to eat them were just holograms. Big tourist trap."

"How do you know that?" Andrew said.

"She's not going to tell you," Jackson said, shaking his head.

"Time travel," Carter said. Smirking, she headed over to where Daisy was pulling on the silver chain.

"Other than that," Jackson said, sighing. He ambled over to where Carter was talking with Bones and Daisy.

"Time travel?" Andrew said. "People can time travel?" He looked hopefully at Harry.

"I think she broke him," Wilma said, then also headed over to the river bank.

"Couldn't say," Harry said. "There are rumors, but there are always rumors when you deal with mad science and aliens." He also headed to the river bank, leaving Andrew muttering to himself as he stared across the river.

"Time travel would be so cool," he said to himself. Looking around he noticed that he was now alone, and everyone else had gone down to the river. Shaking himself, he hurried to join them.

"It connects to something large," Daisy was saying when Andrew reached them.

"If it's the ferry, it isn't going to do us much good under water," Carter said.

"It's Oz," Andrew said. "Could be a magic ferry? Hide it from travelers until they pay the toll?"

"If it is, it isn't something Baum recorded, that I remember," Harry said. "And that is the kind of thing he would have had fun with. He invented a number of magical ways to travel."

"But we're here," Bones said. "Did he make things up or was he writing about a real place called Oz?"

"Which is an interesting discussion for another time," Carter said, cutting off Jackson before he could say anything. "If that is attached to a sunken ferry, do you think you can actually pull it out?"

"Not if it's stuck in the mud," Daisy, said. "Or waterlogged. There's only two of us and even slayer strength has limits. But we can try."

Carter nodded. "If you can't, finding that out won't delay us by much. Go ahead."

"You'll want to move back to the shack," Wilma said, before joining Daisy and taking a tight grip on the silver chain. "Just in case."

"Good idea," Bones said, dropping the stick she'd been poking the water with and hurrying over to the shack. After a brief pause, the others followed her.

Once everyone was clear, Daisy put tension on the chain and spoke in a low voice that only Wilma could hear. "It isn't actually that heavy," she said. "There's a little give to it so whatever it is attached to isn't stuck."

"Okay," Wilma said. "Ready?"

"On a count of three," Daisy said. She gripped the chain tighter. "One... Two... Three... Pull!"

There was a brief pause, and then they were moving backwards before they started reeling in the chain. As they pulled, there was a slight disturbance in the river.

Something started to rise up out of the water as they pulled on the chain. The more they pulled the more of it was revealed.

"That... isn't a ferry or a boat," Wilma said, when they couldn't pull any more of the chain out of the water.

"No, it isn't," Daisy said. "Don't let go of the chain!"

"There must be a place to tie it off," Wilma said straining to hold onto the chain.

"Behind you," Daisy said.

"That's convenient," Wilma said, stepping back and wrapping the end of the chain around the silver post that had popped out of the ground next to the brick road. Once she'd finished, Daisy joined her looking at the post.

"It's Oz," Daisy said.

Wilma nodded in agreement. It was Oz. Things like that happened.

Chapter Text

"Looks kind of slippery," Daisy said, staring at the skinny bridge that had risen up out of the river. A low railing ran along one side.

"Who knows how long it's been under there," Wilma said. "Slimy."

"Think it's safe?" Daisy said. She cautiously approached the bridge and tried to shake it. "Solid as a rock."

"That's interesting," Carter said, as she and the others joined them. "Looks like it's mainly designed for foot traffic."

"Shouldn't there be a railing on either side?" Bones said. "I don't think I've seen a bridge like that before."

"How wide is it?" Harry said, squatting down to look closer. "Not quite a meter?"

"Not wide enough for normal wheeled traffic," Jackson said. "But if you had something like a wheelbarrow or bicycle it could work."

"Assuming anything in Oz had wheels," Bones said. "Maybe they walked everywhere?"

"The Baum books don't really say," Andrew said. "Occasionally someone like Ozma would travel in a carriage pulled by something. I don't think there were many horses in Oz."

"Two," Harry said, "if you stick to things actually written by Baum. One that was a sawhorse and another that was only around for one story. We don't know how much this Oz resemble's Baum's Oz. This bridge is certainly not in his books."

"And there were actual people, Munchkins and others, living in Oz," Andrew said. "This Oz seems to be a very empty place."

"It has the distinct feeling of a collapsed civilization, that has been abandoned," Jackson said. "There are probably new towns and cities elsewhere in this Oz."

"I want to go to the Emerald City," Andrew said. "I know it isn't made from real emeralds but it sounds amazing."

"And Princess Ozma, the Queen of all Oz supposedly lives there," Harry said.

"Lives?" Bones said. "Didn't the books take place over a hundred years ago?"

"If I remember correctly, Ozma was supposed to be immortal and a lot of the characters weren't actually alive except through some kind of magic and should be still around," Harry said. "At least the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman seemed to survive whatever Baum threw at them. And there were others."

"Without knowing how large Oz actually is, we don't know how often we could encounter these characters," Carter said. "And, this land may appear to be Oz, so far, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is identical to whatever Baum wrote."

"But it would be awesome if it was," Daisy said. "I've only seen that musical and the Disney one with the chicken, but Oz seems like a place that has danger but isn't dangerous. Very child friendly."

"Isn't dangerous for a slayer," Andrew said, correcting her. "The rest of us are a little more fragile."

"So, do we use the bridge to cross the river?" Bones said. "If the others made it across the river, at some point, they are on the other side."

"I'll test it," Wilma said. "The water doesn't look too deep and we haven't seen anything in the water that looks dangerous if the bridge collapses."

"Nothing dangerous yet," Harry said. "The bridge had to be down fairly deep if there was ever any river traffic. And deep water could mean things are hiding in it."

"I'll risk it," Wilma said. "We need to get across the river somewhere, either here or we walk until we find a shallow spot." Sitting down, she took off her boots and socks and shoved them into her rucksack. Standing back up, she took out a long thin knife from somewhere. "Ready."

"I'd like to know how she does that," Bones said, in a low voice to Andrew. "It would be a very useful talent to have."

"Ancient Slayer secret," Daisy said, giggling. "We aren't telling."

"Buffy tried to show me once," Carter said, nodding. "I couldn't figure it out. If you were able to scan a slayer with an X-ray machine, you'd see their weapons. But human eyes just slide off of them."

"It's just one of the things that make a slayer good at their job," Andrew said. "The Council archives never actually mention the ability. And yes it would be useful to have that ability."

"Are we done? Anything else?" Wilma said, shaking her head. "If even Miss Willow couldn't solve that, no one else is likely to."

"This should be long enough," Carter said, handing her a spool of thin rope, after tying one end to the silver post. "Just in case."

"Got it," Wilma said. She stepped onto the bridge, "That is not a pleasant feeling," she said with a grimace looking down at her foot. "But doable." Taking a deep breath, she took off across the bridge.

"Bets on if she slips?" Harry said.

"She won't slip," Daisy said. "We've had to walk on worse things, like that time an ice demon decided to turn all of the roads in Cleveland into a skating rink. While we were chasing it. It was really slippery. And cold."

"That was a disaster," Andrew said. "It wasn't just the roads. Everything had a coat of ice on it for days. It was very resistant to melting until Willow did something."

"And she's across," Daisy said. "That didn't look too bad. And no slippage."

"Grab your things," Carter said. "No time like the present to cross."

"Take off our shoes?" Andrew said, shuddering. "I'd rather not step on that."

"It's not going to be any less slippery with bare feet," Daisy said. "You will just have to be a little more careful wearing your boots when walking on that slime."

It took less than an hour for all of them to cross the bridge with all of their possessions. There were a few close calls but no one actually fell into the river.

"We just leave it up?" Bones said, look at the bridge and back towards the other side of the river that they'd come from.

"Not seeing any way to take it down, unless someone wants to swim across the river and back," Carter said. "And we might need it."

"Not me," Wilma said. Daisy shook her head vigorously.

"The shack next to the bridge would have been for whomever raised or lowered the bridge," Jackson said. "There doesn't seem to be a way to do that on this side."

"So, you can leave Munchkin Land but not return?" Harry said. "There must be a bridge going the other way somewhere along the river."

"Which we don't have time to look for," Carter said. "We seem to be moving faster than Dawn and her team, but not so fast that we have time to search for a bridge that might not be there."

"Good point," Andrew said.

Carter turned to Wilma. "Any signs that they came this way?"

"Nope," Wilma said. "Hopefully wherever they crossed upstream brings them back to this road but that isn't here."

"We can take a short break," Carter said. "But there's still plenty of daylight for traveling, so not for too long. I'd like to get a few more miles in before we stop for the night."

"And we can eat," Daisy said, looking around for a place to sit.

"And eat," Carter said, nodding. "We can take a meal break now."

"Finally!" Daisy said. "I was starting to get hungry."

"You're always hungry," Wilma said.

"Slayer. Am I," Daisy said, pulling a small box out of her bag. "Yum. Something vaguely resembling food."

""Sometimes you're lucky to have that," Jackson said, opening his own box. "But real food is better."

"You'll just appreciate it more when we have time to stop for a real meal," Carter said. She grimaced. "Though, I'd hoped to have moved past the MRE for dinner on an unknown planet phase of my life."

"I'm hoping to live that long," Harry muttered, looking down at his own box.

"Come work for Mycroft full time," Bones said. "We get to eat real food every day."

"Don't say anything," Wilma said, pointing at Andrew. "That Klingon stuff you keep trying to feed us in the Council cafeteria isn't real food."

And just sat there and pouted, before sighing and opening his own MRE.

Chapter Text

They reached a crossroad at sunset. One road headed in the direction they’d been going, into the sun, one headed to their left and one to their right.

“North, South, East, West?” Bones said. “Which way do we go? And weren’t we headed east earlier?” She pulled her compass out of a pocket and looked at it, frowning. She shook it and looked at it again.

“Oz,” Harry said, shrugging. “East and West are often reversed.”

“Any sign of our missing Wonka hunters?” Carter said, sighing at the further evidence they weren’t in a normal land. East and West shouldn’t be able to switch like that. “There aren’t any trees that Wednesday could have used to place her mark on.”

“Plenty of signs,” Wilma said, “unfortunately. There are other places to leave a message.”

“How so?” Carter said, as Wilma pointed out Wednesday’s mark in several unobtrusive places. To the north was a small pile of flat rocks, to the south a larger flat rock just off of the road, and to the east, another small pile of rocks.

“How did she even see that?” Bones said, watching them. “I would have walked right past it. And don’t say ‘Ancient Slayer Secret’.”

“If it makes you feel better I won’t,” Daisy, smirking. “Simple. It’s part of our training. Running solo isn’t recommended but leaving a trail so someone can find you if something goes wrong is one of the first things we learn.”

“Which one is the most recent,” Carter said, squatting down to examine the rocks on the eastern road. “Is there any way to tell?”

“Not easily,” Wilma said, “unless Wednesday left something to show which was most recent.”

“See if you can find anything. And Daisy, if you could look also,” Carter said.

Daisy nodded, and started searching the southward road while Wilma increased her scrutiny of the eastern road.

“Can we go to the Emerald City?” Andrew said, as they watched. “I’m sure it’s that way.” He pointed forward, to the road headed east.

“Not if they went a different way,” Carter said. “We’re not here to explore.”

“They came from the north. Probably after crossing the river,” Wilma said, several minutes later. “And then went either east or south.”

“East is the Emerald City?” Carter said.

“If it’s anything like Baum’s Oz,” Harry said.

“What’s to the south?” Carter asked.

“The land of the Quadlings,” Harry said. “Ruled by Glinda the Good Witch of the South.”

“The most important person in Oz, after Ozma and Dorothy,” Andrew said.

“Wasn’t Glinda in the north?” Daisy said, idly tossing a small object between her hands. “She’s the one who told Dorothy how to get home.”

“That’s the musical. In Baum’s stories, she’s in the South,” Harry said. “She even had an army of girls. Hermione thought that was great.”

“Everything in the south is red,” Andrew said. “The land. The people. Everything. Just like Munchkin land is all blue and the emerald city was green.”

“Which direction would they be more likely to go?” Jackson said. “The Emerald City sounds promising. The center of civilization in Oz.”

“The Emerald City,” Andrew said, firmly. “Dawn has a thing about green things.”

“Or, maybe, just maybe, they went there first but are now headed south?” Daisy said.

“Why would they do that?” Andrew said. “The Wizard lived in the Emerald City with Ozma and Dorothy. Where else would they look for Wonka?”

Daisy held out a hand. On it was a flat red rock.

“It’s a rock. A red one.” Andrew said, puzzled. “That doesn’t mean they went south.”

Daisy turned the rock over. Branded into the rock was an odd symbol. She tapped it. “I’m not sure what it means, but if you see that you know Luna has been there. It’s her calling card. Like that other symbol is something only an Addams would use.”

“So, at one point they headed south and Lovegood dropped that rock along the road?” Bones said. “After marking it with that symbol.”

“Could I see that?” Jackson said. Daisy handed him the rock, and he careful examined it. “You don’t know what it means? It looks like a tattoo. How did she do that?”

“Luna does odd things that no one can explain,” Andrew said. “It doesn’t usually mean more than she just wanted to do them.”

“Both she and Wednesday are certainly different,” Wilma said. “They have a reputation for being there when odd things happen.”

“They’re quirky,” Daisy said. “Even for slayers. Buffy usually sticks them together.”

“They’re intentionally confusing,” Andrew said, shrugging. “So, we think they’ve headed south to find Glinda or they think Wonka headed south at some point?”

“If they didn’t we should know soon enough,” Carter said. “Assuming they also stop for the night we should only be a day behind them.”

“There’s a good spot for a camp further down the road,” Daisy said. “That’s where I found that rock.”

“Did they stop there?” Carter said. “And how far is it to wherever Glinda lived?”

“Stopped overnight? Maybe?” Daisy said. “But they cleaned up after themselves and didn’t leave anything behind except that rock.”

“Several days to Glinda’s palace?” Harry said. “Distances in Oz can be very fluid, as you might have noticed.”

“It’s Oz,” Wilma and Daisy chorused, giggling. “It does that.”

“It has all of the trappings of a fairy land,” Jackson said. “Or at least an Americanized version of one.”

“Okay,” Carter said. “We’ll stop there also, and hopefully will catch up to them tomorrow, before they reach Glinda.”

“A snack before bed”? Daisy said. “It’s been a while since we last ate.”

“How does the Council keep you fed?” Harry said.

“Don’t be rude!” Bones said, poking him. “I’m sure you’d be okay being hungry to get their abilities. All that requires energy that has to come from somewhere.”

“Maybe?” Harry said, shrugging.

“I wouldn’t want to be anything else,” Daisy said. “But having to be constantly eating is a hassle.”

“We don’t actually need to eat that much,” Wilma said, shaking her head. “It just seems that way.”

“Don’t give away all of our secrets!” Daisy said, pushing Wilma. “You’ll ruin their training. It’s been going so well.” She winked at Bones.

Chapter Text

At the sound of the outer door to his office being opened, Rupert Giles looked up from the ancient Council manuscript on his desk. If it wasn't important, his assistant would chase whomever it was away. It was one of his few research days and very little was allowed to interrupt him.

A shiver ran up his back. He couldn't make out what was being said by his assistant, but something told him there would be trouble if he didn't make himself available for whatever chaos was about to visit him. He made no claim to having the Sight, it was just not a Giles family talent, but some sixth sense, honed by decades as a Watcher, had him tensing as the door to his office began to open.

"Rupert!" Joyce Summers said, as she stormed into his office, in that smoothly elegant fashion that seemed to be a trait inherited from somewhere alien by all of the Summers women. "I just landed at Heathrow, and you know what wasn't waiting to greet me?" she said, stopping in front of his desk.

Giles wondered if it was too late to call in sick for the day. "I was not aware that you were visiting us this week," he said cautiously. He removed his glasses and wiped them carefully.

"I'm sure one of the girls mentioned it when you weren't paying attention," Joyce said, waving her hand dismissively at his desk. "But that isn't the point. The one person in my life who is scrupulously on time and never misses a meeting, Samantha Carter, was not there to meet me. And apparently, or so I've been told, I have you to thank for that."

Giles blinked at her in dawning horror. The long lasting relationship between Joyce Summers and General Carter was not something he really understood, there being too many secrets and in-jokes for him to 'get it', but involving General Carter in a Council project without Joyce knowing was a sure way to an encounter with a certain angry blonde slayer who would have no mercy.

"We had need of her expertise," Giles said cautiously. "And she volunteered to help out."

"Would this expertise also happen to involve my missing youngest daughter?" Joyce said. "And apparently several junior Council members she was working with?"

"Yes?" Giles said. "How did you find out? It's not something commonly known at the moment."

"Keeping secrets from Buffy?" Joyce said, glaring at him. "I suspected as much." She turned towards the still open door and waved someone in. A young woman, wearing exceedingly bright clothes, and giving off a faint aura of suppressed danger, though not the laid back casual aura of death that seemed to emanate from even the most inexperienced slayer, entered his office.

"Why don't you take a seat, Enid," Joyce said, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of Giles desk. "I'm sure Rupert's explanation is going to be long and tedious."

"Yes, Ms. Summers," the young woman, Enid, said, sitting in the chair to Joyce's right.

"And you are?" Giles said, wondering who this was. She wasn't part of the Council. There were too few of them now for him to not at least know all of them by name, and there was no Enid on Council rolls.

"Enid Sinclair," she said, shifting nervously in her chair. "I'm here to see Wednesday. Wednesday Addams."

"I ran into her in the airport, while making arrangements for transportation here, sine my ride was missing," Joyce said. "Imagine my surprise when Morticia Addams called me and asked me to look out for her, since apparently her daughter, Wednesday, had also gone missing."

"I'm on a break from classes," Enid said. "Wednesday and I had plans for the week, which apparently have been put on hold."

"It'll be fine, dear," Joyce said, patting her hand. "Morticia wasn't worried about her."

"The Addams have a very different idea of what okay means," Enid said, sighing. "If their day doesn't include almost certain death, they consider it a lost opportunity. Loving one of them can certainly be challenging."

"But worth it," Joyce said. Enid nodded.

"They are not coming here, are they?" Giles said.

"The Addams?" Joyce said. "Not that I'm aware of. Wednesday is an adult. If she needed help from family she'd ask for it. So no need to hide under your desk."

Giles breathed a sigh of relief. One encounter with Gomez and Morticia Addams when they'd discovered Wednesday was a slayer was enough for any lifetime. Most Watchers never encountered an Addams. He considered them lucky.

"At least not until I tell Buffy," Joyce said, grinning maliciously.

"Strictly speaking neither Dawn or General Carter are lost," Giles said, now that the immediate danger appeared to have passed. "We do know, more or less where they went."

"And where might that be?" Joyce said, leaning forward.

"Dawn is researching the mysterious disappearance of a Willy Wonka," Giles said. "An apparently not so mythical candy maker."

"He's real?" Enid said, perking up. "I always wanted a Golden Ticket."

"It isn't clear that the missing person is the same as the fictional character," Giles said. "But Dawn and her team, including Miss Addams, went through a portal in pursuit of him. They've been gone longer than planned."

"And you know where this portal goes?" Joyce said. "I'm assuming this is why you've involved Sam? General Carter," she said in an aside to Enid. "That was like dangling red meat in front of a pack of wild dogs." Joyce shook her head. "And you know where this portal goes?"

"Best guess is that it goes to a place resembling Oz," Giles said. "But that isn't certain. There are no records in the Council archives that Oz is a real place."

"I can see why Dawn went, though we'll be having a conversation when they get back about keeping family informed of travel plans," Joyce said.

"Oz Oz?" Enid said. She grimaced. "Talking scarecrows, tin men, cheerful Good Witches and little girls with dogs named Toto? Wednesday is going to hate it. She's going to need an extra long paid vacation when she gets back." She gave Giles a look that implied a certain amount of unpleasantness if that didn't happen.

"Of course," Giles said, sighing.

"We'll be in touch," Joyce said, standing up. "I'll be calling Buffy myself, but you might want to also call her." Stepping away from Giles' desk, she asked Enid, "Did you have any plans for when Wednesday was busy?"

"I wanted to check out several London museums that have fashion exhibits going on right now," Enid said, also standing. "I was just going to wander around and soak up the atmosphere."

"I think we can do better than that," Joyce said. "I know a few people you'll find interesting. If you're interested."

"Of course," Enid said, smiling. "Your introductory text on the meaning of women's fashion in a patriarchal society is a classic."

Giles watched them leave his office, Enid chattering away, with a feeling of relief. Until he realized he would need to call Buffy about her missing sister, two of Buffy's slayers, and her mother's friend. Girlfriend? He shook his head, and reached for his phone.

Chapter Text

"They're getting closer," Wednesday said, slipping through the red trees and back into their night camp. "They should catch up to us tomorrow."

"Did they see you?" Dawn said.

"Do I look like an amateur?" Wednesday said.

"There must be some kind of interference," Matilda said, frowning at the small gadget in her hand. "The Council comm says they're in range but it can't call them. All I get is silence."

"We haven't seen anything like modern technology since we arrived in Oz," Dawn said. "It's possible there's something that keeps it from working."

"It's a magical fairly land," Luna said. "Some kinds of magic aren't compatible with your modern technology."

"Did you recognize any of them?" Granger said, taking out her radio. Turning it on, a burst of static sounded briefly, before she turned it off again and put it away. "Same here."

"Andrew, and I think Wilma and Daisy, the two slayers who were at the Wonka field office," Wednesday said. "Which is probably how they've managed to follow us so quickly. The others I don't recognize, but they aren't Council."

"Okay," Dawn said, digging her phone out of her rucksack. "You had that vision about a blonde woman several days ago, and you would recognize my sister. Is this the blonde?" she said, showing a picture on her phone to Wednesday. "The one on the left."

"Isn't that your mother?" Luna said, looking over Wednesday's shoulder.

"On the right," Dawn said. "I didn't know you'd met her? She doesn't visit the Council offices very often."

"I haven't, yet," Luna said. "When we get back."

"Right," Dawn said, sighing. "You see that as one of your possibilities?"

"Yup," Luna said. "And that's what a real rocket scientist looks like?" She pointed at the other woman.

"I'm... not sure?" Dawn said. "She's flown jets for the US military and is an expert on portals? Which is probably how she got involved with our 'rescue'. But an actual rocket scientist?" She shook her head.

"Close enough," Luna said, humming. Spinning, she wandered off to the edge of their campsite where she started tapping a tree, and occasionally putting her ear against its bark.

"Yes," Wednesday, said, watching Luna with a bemused expression. "That would be her."

"The other person is probably Daniel Jackson," Dawn said. "He was supposed to be researching something in the Archives this week. I was hoping to have a chance to chat with him about my dissertation before this happened. I don't have a picture of him." Shaking her head, she put her phone away.

"Seven people came after us?" Granger said. "Someone must have been worried. We've only been gone for a couple days."

"It's a magical number," Matilda said. "Intentional?"

"Unlikely," Luna said, wandering back over. "They would have been in a hurry to find us and the significance wouldn't have occurred to them."

"Maybe someone was bored and tagged along?" Dawn said. "Didn't I tell Andrew that he couldn't come with us? And he still found a way?"

"Yes," Matilda said. "You even threatened him." She giggled.

"Yes, I know," Dawn said. "The only way to keep him from doing something he really wants to do is to tie him up, and Giles really frowns on that."

"Who would be the other two?" Matilda said. "Three from the Council, a scientist, and a person who hangs out in libraries full of old books."

"Jackson is an archeologist," Dawn said. "He claimed that the pyramids were built by aliens."

"Oh, that Daniel Jackson," Granger said, nodding as if some theory of hers had been confirmed. "Working with a real portal scientist? A suspicious person might believe that they have something to do with aliens."

"I can't say," Dawn said. "You should ask your Mycroft."

"Which isn't the same thing as a denial," Granger said. "And Mycroft refuses to talk about aliens, of any kind."

"Smart man," Dawn said. "So, we have two unknowns coming with our rescue party?"

"Actual search and rescue experts?" Wednesday said. "Or Watcher trainees?"

"Someone from Mycroft's department?" Granger said. "Though I'm not sure who would be available this month."

"You've got your own Harry Potter," Luna said. "Would he come looking for you? I really want to meet your Luna. That would be so fun."

"I don't have a Luna," Granger said, giving her a puzzled look. "And one doesn't 'have' Harry Potter. One tries to avoid involving him in thing he doesn't need to know about. Long experience has shown that he's the living embodiment of chaos."

"If he heard you were in trouble would he find a reason to come looking?" Dawn said.

Granger sighed, taking her phone out. "Possibly? But he's supposed to be out of town this month on a deep cover mission. She held up her phone, displaying a photo. "Is this one of the other people?" She asked Wednesday.

"That would be him," Wednesday said.

"The other person is likely from Mycroft's office," Granger said. "Probably someone he assigned to keep Harry from making a mess of things."

"Mycroft doesn't trust him?" Dawn said. "Should we?"

"Harry is fine," Granger said. "Mycroft probably got him assigned to whatever that rescue effort, that we really don't need, is, to keep him out of his hair."

"We aren't going back until we find out what happened to Wonka," Dawn said.

"And if the rescue party doesn't agree?" Granger said.

"I'm sure I can convince Sam that we need to finish this before we go back," Dawn said.

"I'm sure Luna and I can take Wilma and Daisy," Wednesday said, confidently. "We won't go back until you're ready."

"Glinda is expecting us," Luna said. "We need to talk with her first. I'm sure your Sam will agree."

"She's not 'my Sam'," Dawn said, in a whisper. "My mother has that all sewn up."

"Does that make her your evil stepmother?" Luna said, winking at her. "Without the evil part?"

"They're very close," Dawn said, shrugging. "They've known each other for years, but they don't seem to be in any hurry to get married. Maybe when Sam retires. So, not my stepmother. Or evil, to be clear about that."

"Wednesday and her wolf will get married first," Luna said, nodding. "Some people don't need a ceremony."

"I'm not marrying Enid," Wednesday said, glaring at Luna. "How many times do I have to say that?"

"Until I believe you," Luna said. "But I don't. Believe you." Humming happily, she wandered away again, this time to look at flowers next to the tree.

Wednesday just sighed, before stomping away.

Chapter Text

Like all nights since coming to Oz, it had been eerily quiet. Just the wind blowing through the trees, and the trees occasionally creaking broke the silence.

"This is nothing like the last time I went camping," Matilda said. "It's too quiet."

"There are things out there," Wednesday said, waving towards the trees. "Small animals and birds. But something has them scared, and scared animals try to make no noise."

"We met the winged monkeys," Granger said. "So it isn't completely lifeless."

"And the Gump," Dawn said, "though that was a magical creature so may not count."

"What's so fascinating about the trees?" Matilda said, watching Luna as she alternated between putting her ear against the nearest one and patting it.

Dawn frowned. "She was doing that yesterday." Matilda nodded and wandered over to where Luna was.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "What's so special about the tree?"

"It remembers," Luna said. "This forest used to be the forest of the Fighting Trees."

"What did they fight?" Matilda asked, looking around. "It looks pretty empty."

"Anything that came into their forest, I think?" Luna said. "But that was a long time ago. Nothing has been through here in years, though to a tree that isn't very long."

"But they're alive?" Matilda said, looking around at the withered trees.

"Most of them," Luna said, moving to another tree. "Most trees don't think, but these are magical."

"How much do they remember?" Dawn asked, joining them. "Do they know what happened to Oz?"

Luna patted the tree and turned around. "No," she said. "They weren't concerned with anything happening outside the forest. Whatever happened wasn't instant. It took many seasons for them to go from attacking everything that came through their forest to this. They are almost permanently asleep now. Very sad."

"Can't say I'm sad they aren't attacking us," Granger said. "The less we have to fight our way to Glinda's palace the better."

"I'm sure something exciting will happen," Luna said, shaking off the depressive feeling from the trees. "We're still a couple days from Glinda."

"The others should catch up to us soon," Wednesday said, cleaning up their campsite as they prepared to get back on the road. "In a couple hours."

"We can wait for them here," Matilda said. "No?"

"I'm fine with them catching up later," Dawn said. "If they haven't caught up by the time we stop for lunch, we can wait for them then." Grabbing her rucksack, she threw it over her shoulder. "Shall we?"

"Forward!" Luna said, skipping over to the road, facing towards where Glinda's palace would be. "Adventure awaits!"

Sighing, Wednesday joined her. "Why are we friends?" she asked.

"Because you need someone to balance your Addams-ness out," Luna said, grinning at her. "And your wolfy friend isn't here?"

"Are you sure they don't know we are following them?" Carter asked, looking around what appeared to be the Wonka team's camp the previous night.

"Not that I can tell," Wilma said, looking down at the fire pit. "If they were expecting company they would have left a message or waited for us." She kicked at the cold ashes.

"Or they kept going knowing we'll catch up?" Bones said. "If it took them this long to get here, they must have gone to the Emerald City first?"

"Or they were delayed somewhere else," Harry said. "If they went to the Emerald City, I would have expected them to still be there."

"The Council comm says they are now within range," Andrew said. "But it isn't making an actual connection to the one I gave Matilda."

"And our radios are just static," Bones said. "Could something in Oz be interfering with them?"

"Not enough data to know," Carter said. "If Oz really is a fairy land though we haven't seen much evidence of that so far, and no technology other than the Gate."

"And if we're in a different dimension, the magic might be different enough for things to not work," Andrew said. "That's why Lovegood doesn't do much of it. Her's is not very compatible and can be scary when she uses it."

"Well, that's sneaky," Daisy said, squatting down to look at a small pile of flat rocks across the road. "They know someone is following them." Picking up one of the rocks, she rejoined the others and handed the rock to Wilma.

"How'd they know?" Bones said.

"One of them is better than I thought," Wilma said. "Or someone in that group has a touch of the Sight? It's unlikely to have been a slayer dream for something so trivial."

"What does it say?" Carter said, scrutinizing the scribbled message.

"Slow. Lunch. South." Wilma said. "I didn't think we were that slow."

"Looks like we have a lunch date," Daisy said. "Somewhere south of here."

Chapter Text

"Not much of a Welcome to Oz party," Dawn said, looking around the small clearing they'd settled into to wait for the others. While Wednesday was waiting to meet them before they got too close, the rest had tidied up the clearing, setting up a fire pit, and arranging places to sit.

"Our sunny presences should be plenty," Luna said, twirling as she danced around the clearing, gathering up broken branches for the fire pit.

"No snacks," Matilda said, sadly. "It's going to be a short celebration."

"More of a discussion than a celebration," Granger said. "What are we doing next? Continuing to Glinda's palace? Going back? Something else?"

"We haven't solved the Wonka issue yet," Dawn said. "If we go back now, we may never discover what happened to him.

"Or what happened to Oz or Ozma," Matilda said.

"But is it our responsibility to fix Oz?" Dawn said. "It was broken before we got here. And has been broken for a long time."

"If we stay, we'll need to find a source of supplies," Granger said. "If we turned around now, we have enough food to get back to the Ring. If we continue forward to Glinda's palace we will need supplies even if we decide to go home."

"Do we think Glinda is going to be there? Or is it going to be another ruined palace?" Dawn said. "Just how powerful is Glinda?"

"She was or is the most powerful Sorceress in Oz," Granger said. "If she isn't there, we're basically on our own. Oz shouldn't be so empty, unless someone took everyone away."

"Should we be making a list of the enemies of Oz?" Dawn said. "Which ones could have turned it into a deserted wasteland?"

"Anyone who didn't like happy people was an enemy of Oz," Luna said. "And anyone who likes being happy should be a friend of Oz."

"Just from the Baum histories, the Nome King was a constant threat. There were others but once the Wicked Witches were eliminated, they were almost all on the outside. And Glinda did something to make Oz hidden from them. From everyone," Granger said.

"Do we know what she did?" Dawn said. "Was it something she could have done to make people forget Wonka and his Oompa Loompas were real?"

"A 'Magic Spell'," Granger said.

"That could be anything," Matilda said. "Miss Willow does magic spells all the time."

"Probably intentional," Luna said. "A lot of magic is reversible. If no-one knows what spell you used, how can they undo it?"

Wednesday patiently waited for the 'rescue' team to reach her position. She'd been shadowing them, just out of the range of their slayers senses and now they were close enough for her to make her presence known.

Stepping out into the road, she stood in the center and waited.

"Do my eyes deceive me?" a smooth voice said. "Is there something in the road? What shall we do with it?"

Shaking her head, Wednesday watched the rescue party come into view. "You can keep going south, or you can join us for lunch and a strategy meeting," she said.

"I could do lunch, little Addams," Wilma said. "I'm sure the others can talk strategy."

"Miss Addams," the tall blonde, Carter, said. "I assume you're here to greet us?"

"You could assume so," Wednesday said. "Everyone is waiting fifteen minutes down the road." She waved them on.

"Have you found Wonka?" Andrew said, stopping in front of her. Bouncing on his feet in his eagerness.

"Not yet," Wednesday said. "But we didn't really expect to. We can discuss that over lunch."

"Patience," Bones said, brushing past him. "I'm sure they'll brief us. It's a Granger specialty."

"No-one recognized you," Wednesday said. "Who are you?"

"Bones!" Harry said. "Your infamy doesn't precede you."

"I work with Granger," Bones said. "I even went to school with this one and her. I'm sure she'll be happier to see me than Potter here."

"Hermione is always happy to see me," Harry said, smirking.

"Enough stalling," Carter said. "We can ask our questions in a few minutes."

"Sam!" Dawn said, stopping her pacing as Wednesday and the rescue team entered the clearing. "We thought it was you."

"You know me," Carter said. "Any excuse to get back in the field."

"And play with a new portal," Jackson said, gazing around the clearing with a curious expression.

"That goes without saying, Doctor Jackson," Dawn said. "How'd she get you roped into this? Shouldn't you have your head buried in a book?"

"The chance to learn about a new culture?" Jackson said. "The books can wait for me to get back."

"Not much culture so far," Granger said. "Why don't we all sit down."

"Am I allowed to?" Bones said. "You didn't tell anyone I was coming? I'm hurt."

"You know how I feel, Susan," Granger said. "I figured Mycroft had sent someone to keep an eye on Harry, and it was probably you. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of you to show Luna and Wednesday."

"We'll have to fix that," Bones said, sitting down.

"Did you make it to the Emerald City?" Andrew said, so excited he couldn't sit still.

"It's in ruins," Dawn said. "Of interest only to an archeologist."

"No Scarecrow? Or Wizard?" Andrew said.

"We met a Gump," Matilda said.

"So, you're hoping to talk with Glinda?" Carter said. "Isn't she a powerful magic user? Will she have answers?"

"The Baum stories say she's the most powerful Sorceress in Oz," Granger said. "And has a book that records everything that happens in Oz, and possibly the entire world."

"It's either continue or head back," Dawn said. "I think we've come too far to just turn around."

"Convince me," Carter said, looking around the clearing at the Wonka search team. "Give me good reasons."

"Tough audience," Wednesday muttered.

"Okay," Dawn said, taking a deep breath. "It's like this..."

Chapter Text

"What was the Emerald City like?" Andrew asked, waving a biscuit in his excitement. "Was it really made out of emeralds or green glass? Did you see the famous spectacles?"

"It looked like it was built with some kind of rock, maybe marble, with lots of gold and gems embedded in it. And green crystal as you looked up," Matilda said. "A lot of which was shattered. It wasn't very safe looking."

"It looked like a bomb had gone off, or there was an earthquake," Dawn said. "Cracks everywhere. Definitely not safe to live in. And it wasn't really much of a city. Closer to a huge palace where thousands of people once lived."

"Everything was inside the palace walls," Granger said, nodding. "Whomever told Baum that there were thousands of building inside a city wall? They lied, or he changed it in his stories to be closer to the kind of city he was familiar with." She took a small sketchpad out of her bag and started scribbling on it. "This doesn't do it justice, even the way it is now," she said, "but this is how it's laid out." She held up her pad and pointed at different parts as she spoke. "You come in through this large gate, into a huge courtyard. Something made out of glass exploded. Pieces of it were everywhere."

"It was a magic bomb," Luna said. "It left traces behind. Very pretty, if a little crunchy."

"You could see where it went off," Granger said. "It was some sort of pressure wave."

"Luna found a door into the palace from the courtyard," Dawn said. "We explored for a bit. Found a map in a hidden room near the palace kitchen."

"Library?" Jackson said. "Royalty tended to preserve books, even if they didn't read them."

"Someone got there before us," Dawn said. "It was mostly empty, though we did find this." Opening her bag she took out the map of Oz, and unrolled it on the large flat rock in the center of the clearing. "It seems to update itself."

Carter and the others crowded around the map. "The Emerald City? Palace? Is in the very center of Oz. But it's blurry?"

"Whatever happened to Oz to turn it into a wasteland? We think it happened in the Emerald city," Granger said.

"We've been sticking to 'Emerald City'," Dawn said. "Everyone knows what we mean by that. It still might have been a city, just in one large building."

"The rest of Oz is a bit fuzzy also," Bones said, poking the map. "Is it accurate?"

"Did you find anything to tell you what happened to Oz?" Carter said. "Other than it wiped out most of the population?"

"We really don't know that," Granger said. "While it is deserted in all of the areas we've been, that's less than a fraction of the land."

"Can we stop there on the way back to the Gate?" Andrew said. "Please?"

"It isn't exactly on the way back," Matilda said.

"Speaking of the Gate," Carter said. "How did you plan to go back through it? Do you have the address for Wonka's factory?"

"Not exactly," Dawn said. "Luna was able to open it, so we were kind of hoping she could open it to take us home."

"Possibly," Luna said. "It did take a lot of magic to get it working. And magic here is very subdued, almost as if it's asleep. It may not want to help."

"We brought a power source, so that shouldn't be an issue," Carter said. "We just need a return address."

"Glinda had a book that recorded everything," Granger said. "We're hoping it has answers to our Wonka questions. I'm sure it has the Gate address you want in it also."

"Then back to the Emerald City?" Andrew said again.

"If Glinda is still alive, we expect her to give us a task in exchange for helping us out," Dawn said reluctantly.

"Why?" Carter said.

"Ozma, we think, was still in the palace, in the throne room," Dawn said. "Whatever happened caused her to be encased in some kind of crystal prison. And Glinda is literally like her fairy godmother."

"The girl in the crystal wasn't aware of anything," Luna said. "I think the magic of Oz is protecting her from something."

"But you don't know what?" Carter said, shaking her head. "Should you free her? It could mean something else. It could be protecting Oz from her. This isn't one of Baum's books."

"If we can free her without getting trapped in Oz ourselves?" Dawn said. "We probably should, though I'm not sure I want to go back to the palace."

"Is it dangerous?" Harry asked, listening intently.

"Ever play Tomb Raider?" Wednesday said. "Or that other game with the same theme?"

"Once or twice," Harry said. "Unrealistic but fun."

"The palace is like a big game of Tomb Raider," Granger said. "You can't go more than ten meters before you're walking into a trap of some sort."

"That sounds like fun!" Daisy said in a low voice to Wilma. "We definitely have to go there."

"It gets boring after a while," Wednesday said, shrugging. "Traps started repeating themselves half way to the throne room."

"Those of us not slayers found it exciting enough, even with the repeated traps," Dawn said. "Not something to speed run."

"So, you're all determined to go see Glinda?" Carter said. "What about Wonka? Wasn't that the whole purpose of this expedition? What's your plan at this point?"

"There are plenty of places left to explore," Dawn said. "We actually found evidence that Wonka had been in the Emerald City."

"Slim evidence," Granger said.

"But he was there," Dawn said. "Or one of his agents. He's been in Oz."

"He seems to like collecting souvenirs," Granger said. "If we can get more supplies, or come back if not? Glinda's palace was probably visited by Wonka, and there's the Wicked Witch's castle. He would most certainly have gone there."

"Wasn't that torn down by the Tin Woodsman?" Harry said. "He built himself a castle out of tin."

"It's not clear that he tore the Witch's castle down," Granger said. "It's probably still there. The witches ruled parts of Oz for a long time before Dorothy killed the last two. She must have collected some interesting things over the years."

"Things that would have tempted Wonka?" Bones said. "And make it worth checking?"

"That's the hope," Granger said. "He seemed to be fascinated by Dorothy's murder spree."

"Probably wondered why such an innocent looking child managed to kill two evil witches and deposed a wizard," Granger said.

"That's another thing," Dawn said, frowning. "Why does Oz seem to use children to solve its problems. Dorothy was so young for all of her adventures. Ozma became Queen when she was a child. And there are plenty of other examples."

"Wasn't Ozma a pacifist?" Harry said. "She defeated the Nome King purely by accident. And Dorothy got lucky quite a few times doing things that should have killed her."

"It's a fairy land, literally," Luna said. "And fairies can be tricky. Ozma was more fairy herself than not."

"We'll go with you to see Glinda," Carter said. "But if she's not there we head back to the Gate. No more wandering. It's a dead land and those are dangerous without exception."

Chapter Text

Xander wandered into Giles' office, trailed by Brittany, the slayer who'd attached herself to him during one of his visits to the Council compound in Cleveland, insisting that he needed a full time bodyguard, much to his denial.

"So, what's the word, G-man," he said, flopping down into one of the chairs in front of Giles' desk. He waved Brittany over, but she shook her head.

"I'm okay over here," she said, staying near the door, giving them the illusion of privacy.

"Someday," Xander said, mock glaring at her. "I'm sure your girlfriend would rather you were with her than hanging out with a bunch of old people."

"We have an agreement," Brittany said, shaking her head.

"I'm sure you and Miss Pierce aren't here just to chat," Giles said.

"Funny you should bring that up," Xander said. Digging into a pocket he took out several cellophane wrapped hard candies. He tossed one over his should to Brittany who effortlessly caught it. "Root beer barrel?" he said, offering one to Giles.

Giles shook his head. "Some other time," he said. "I wasn't expecting you in London this week."

"Just passing through," Xander said, popping a candy into his mouth. He sucked on it for a minute before continuing. "We were going to scope out a new slayer house in New York, but then I got a phone call last night and Cokeworth seemed like the place to be. Things are hopping out there."

"Buffy?" Giles said, dreading a positive answer. He'd briefly spoken with her after her mother had left his office, to reassure her that her sister was okay and General Carter was going to assist her with her Wonka project, but that hadn't stopped her in the past from dropping everything and running to Dawn's rescue. Fortunately, whatever Joyce had told her hadn't set off any alarms, yet.

"Should I expect to be hearing from the Buffster?" Xander said, raising an eyebrow in a way he could only have learned from Buffy.

"Dawn is out in the field," Giles said. "It tends to make Buffy nervous."

"So, normal Buffy," Xander said, nodding. "But nope. Got a call from Joyce-mom. She was a little concerned. The General is out there looking for Dawn and she worries."

"Dawn took a small team out looking for Willy Wonka and they were late checking in," Giles said. "General Carter volunteered to help track her down."

"Volunteered? To go somewhere with Andrew tagging along?" Xander snorted. "You're going to owe the General, and Joyce, for that one."

"It shouldn't be a problem," Giles said. "Several of Mycroft Holmes' people went with them. Experienced people."

"The person they call 'the British government' who's more secretive than an old school Watcher? He has people on this little adventure of Dawn's?" Xander muttered something under his breath.

"Xander!" Brittany said, frowning. "That's not polite."

"Looks like we need to get to Cokeworth sooner than I thought," Xander said.

"Whatever you need," Giles said. "You know where everything is."

"Sure do," Xander said. "Might have had a small part in setting that up." He stood up. "I'll be in touch. Always wanted to see a candy factory, and the one in Cokeworth sounds unique."

Waving to Giles, he left his office, Brittany once more in tow.

"All set?" Xander said, meeting Brittany at their Rover. Nodding, she tossed a large bag into the back. Coughing, she nodded at something behind him.

"Joyce-mom!" Xander said, turning around. "And other person."

"Room for a couple extra?" Joyce said. "Enid and I thought we'd like to see a candy factory."

"I can't convince you to stay here?" Xander said. "It doesn't sound like a modern facility. More like some mad scientist's idea of a candy factory."

"No," Joyce said. "Sam, Dawn, and others went in and haven't come back out. While I trust Sam, that doesn't mean I don't want to be there when they get back."

"And you? I haven't met you before," Xander said, looking at Enid. "I know Joyce-mom is hard to resist. But how'd she drag you along?"

"One of the others is my... is Wednesday Addams," Enid said, blushing.

"Oh!" Brittany said, with an excited laugh, picking Enid up and spinning her around. "You're Wednesday's wolf! You're so cute!"

"Brittany?" Xander said. "I'm sure she'd be happier with her feet on the ground."

"But she's so cute," Brittany said, reluctantly putting Enid down. "You have to tell me all about your girl," she said to Enid, dragging her around to the other side of the Rover.

Xander shook his head. "I guess you're coming with us? Do you have anything to put in the back?"

Joyce stepped to the side, revealing several small carry-on bags. "A few things. If we need anything more I'm sure we can find it there."

"Yes, Cokeworth has all the modern conveniences, or so I've heard," Xander said, grabbing the bags and putting them in the Rover. Turning back to her he opened the door behind the driver. "Your chariot awaits, m'lady." He held out his hand to help her get in.

"Thank you, kind sir," Joyce said, taking his hand and getting into the Rover.

"Are we there yet?" Brittany said loudly from her own seat.

"Everyone's a comedian," Xander said, shaking his head before getting behind the wheel. "Buckle up everyone! Places to be! Things to see!"

Chapter Text

After putting together a basic plan for the two teams to follow, until they could reach Glinda's palace, they packed up everything, cleaning up the clearing from their lunch, and prepared to get back on the road south.

Getting a group of twelve people moving, the four slayers, three of Mycroft's people, the three from the Council, and General Carter and Daniel Jackson, was a lot harder than the smaller groups they'd started with. It was chaos until General Carter imposed some order on the group.

Two of the slayers, Wednesday and Wilma, went out in front of the party to clear any obstacles. Luna and Daisy kept watch from the rear. The others were more or less spread evenly, moving around within the group as they traveled. Granger and Harry talked quietly as they caught up since the last time they'd talked.

Dawn talked with Daniel Jackson, now that she had the opportunity. Matilda actively avoided Andrew while being interrogated by Bones. The General talked in turn with Wednesday or Luna, and Dawn, while generally directing things and keeping them on track.

It was still somewhat chaotic but manageable, Carter thought, for a group of people with little or no military background or field training. At some point, she found herself talking with Granger when Harry drifted over to Bones and the young apprentice witch in their party, Matilda.

"I've heard some things," Granger said. "Rumors about what happens under that mountain of yours."

"It's not 'my' mountain," Carter protested.

"But you're based out of there, correct?" Granger said. "Mycroft Holmes, my boss, gets really quiet when the subject of your facility comes up."

"He won't have an issue with you attempting to find out what goes on there?" Carter said, bemused.

"Information is information," Granger said. "He's always happy to learn something new, as long as we share with him and don't drag him into any trouble caused in the process."

"Explain Harry Potter then," Carter said. "He has a certain reputation for leaving chaos in his wake. But Mycroft tolerates him?"

"Harry's special," Granger said. "He doesn't normally work directly for Mycroft. I'm not sure how he ended up here with us."

"He didn't tell you?" Bones said, joining them as they walked. "Naughty Potter!"

"I'm rarely ever naughty," Harry said, briefly joining their discussion before wandering off to listen to the discussion Dawn was having with Jackson.

"Potter showed up at the factory, looking for Granger. Not sure how he heard you were in trouble," Bones said, raising an eyebrow at Granger. "Mycroft was visiting the factory with Mr. Giles, after you went missing, and assigned both of us temporarily to the Council to provide what assistance we could."

"That sounds like something that would happen to Harry," Granger said, shaking her head. "He's unlikely to ever be more than a field agent, but he's fine with that. He likes the freedom he has."

"Just follow the wreckage!" Bones said. "You'll know he's around."

Before Carter could interrogate them further, Wilma joined them. "You have to see this," she said.

"What did you find?" Carter said, following her off the road, the rest of the party following. They walked half a mile from the road, through a grove of trees. Blocking any further progress was a tall white wall.

"A wall?" Andrew said, running his hand along it. "What's it made of?"

"Ceramic?" Granger said, waving her silver probe at the wall. "Not sure of the composition."

"What else can that tell you?" Carter said, giving the probe an interested look.

"It isn't as flexible as I would like," Granger said. "It's able to detect different kinds of energy and the chemical composition of most materials. But it's a work in progress."

"It's like a sonic screw driver? Like the one the Doctor has?" Andrew said, inching closer. "I want one. Can I have one?"

"The Doctor is fictional," Granger said. "I'll admit to being inspired by his classic sonic screwdriver, but this isn't that."

"A sonic is quite a bit more sophisticated," Carter said, nodding. "But for the level of technology we have developed, that is an excellent start." Winking at Granger, Carter pulled a small silver object out of her own pocket.

"She let you have one of your own?" Dawn said, laughing. "She must really like you."

Carter shrugged. "She would say she let me borrow it," Carter said. "Your mother may have convinced her that I could be trusted with it. There are a number of features I can't use due to physiological reasons. But we're working on it."

"You have a real sonic?" Granger said. "Can I ask how?"

"Family secret," Dawn said. "She won't tell you, but maybe she'll let you look at it."

"Let's get to Glinda's palace, and then back home first," Carter said. "And then we can discuss such things." Adjusting her sonic, she pointed it at the high white wall for a brief second. "Good analysis," she said. "Definitely a form of ceramic. The composition isn't one I've seen before."

"So, a local material?" Granger said.

"What is behind it?" Dawn said.

"Several possibilities," Granger said. "Glinda was known to protect vulnerable communities with walls like this. We're in the south so it's possible it's what Baum called the 'Dainty China' country."

"Do you recommend trying to find a way inside?" Carter said. "Or leave it for later?"

"If it is, it's a land of living china creatures," Granger said. "I don't think it will tell us anything useful. And they would be very fragile."

"Can we take a peak at least?" Matilda asked hopefully.

Luna nodded. "I'd like to see the people made out of china too."

"If you can find a door," Carter said, waving at the high wall. "I think we can rest for a few minutes while you look for one."

Daisy and Luna started following the wall, going in opposite directions.

"They aren't going to find a door, are they," Harry said, standing next to Granger.

"Not if it's the actual Dainty China country described by Baum," Granger said. "Dorothy and her friends climbed over the wall. And broke a few things."

Carter nodded. "We'll not be doing that then," she said. "We'll take a break and get back on the road south when they get back."

Chapter Text

Xander pulled into the Wonka factory parking lot, parking next to another Council Rover. "Giles has been very tight lipped about this project," he said turning to Joyce. "Buffy said it was meant to give Dawn something to do that would challenge her but not be dangerous. But he seems to have left something out."

"Dawnie hasn't bounced back from that apocalypse kidnapping like she usually does from something like that," Joyce said, nodding. "Sam offered her a translating job with Daniel Jackson, but she turned it down. She didn't think she was ready."

"She's growing up," Xander said. "It's not a great adventure anymore, like Sunnydale was. Happens to all of us."

"We didn't get out of Sunnydale soon enough," Joyce said. "Living in Colorado Springs with Sam while Buffy went to college there didn't really provide enough change."

"Going from the supernatural swamp that was Sunnydale to the mad science pouring out of General Carter's mountain?" Xander said. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. We couldn't have known about Glory. Or the First, dragging us all back there."

"We dealt with Glory," Joyce said, grimacing. "Sam is good about tying up loose ends. She won't be back. And the First windbag underestimated us."

"And neither of you heard us talking about Colorado Springs and things that happened there," Xander said, giving both Brittany and Enid firm looks.

"We don't know anything about the little green men who are actually grey," Brittany said, "Right Enid?"

"If we see them do we just pretend they aren't there?" Enid said. "Wednesday would probably invite them home to meet her parents. They celebrate the Weird."

"Unlikely to see them," Xander said. "But it's best to just pretend they aren't there unless they want to talk. We have enough strange things to deal with whatever our Council connections are. Like this." He waved at the factory in front of them.

"Candy factory?" Joyce said. "I'll have a long talk with Dawn when Sam brings them back. She isn't alone. She knows that."

"So, no one knows what really happened to Willy Wonka?" Enid said, getting out of the Rover with the others. "He wasn't just some character from a book and movie?"

"Until the construction crew found a safe in the archives, with a Golden Ticket in it, everyone thought he was fictional," Xander said. "Someone did a very thorough job in making everyone forget about him, except for that." He held open the door for them.

"The books were part of the hiding," Brittany said. "As long as everyone thinks it's all a story, no one will remember the real events."

"How do you know that?" Joyce said.

"Miss Willow sends things to Xander," Brittany said. "He lets me read them."

"Not so much let, as can't keep them away from you," Xander said. "That's Willow's theory anyway. But she couldn't find a motive. She was really hoping Dawn could figure that out, not get lost in Oz."

"She still might," Joyce said. She looked around the Council field office. "It doesn't feel special. Just another abandoned factory."

Enid nodded. "Shouldn't there be candy and chocolate smells and small Wonka minions running around?"

"He took the minions with him," Xander said. "At least that's what Dawn's last report said. No minions, no candy making."

"Xander!" Rona said, bustling over, with a slight limp. "What brings you here? Things are under control. Or they were." She looked at his party anxiously. "What brings you here? Ms. Summers, Pierce, and person I don't know?" She tilted her head. "Werewolf? One of the natural ones?"

Enid nodded.

"We heard someone was handing out Golden Tickets," Xander said. "Wanted to get in line."

"Rona," Joyce said, smiling at her. "You're looking well. Hadn't heard you'd moved to England."

Rona shrugged. "Needed a change of scenery. Mr. Giles was looking for someone to keep an eye on this field office and I happened to be available for a few weeks. He seems to be having a hard time getting anyone to stick around."

"Adventure," Brittany said, bouncing on her feet. "It's a chance for something different."

"We'd heard," Xander said. "You aren't going to catch the exploration bug also, are you?"

"I'm not cleared for anything serious for the next few weeks," Rona said, grimacing. "As soon as Andrew and his Holmes minions get back, I'm off to Paris."

"Zombies," Brittany said, nodding. "Not a fan. Brains are too squishy."

"Zombies," Ron said. "Need to work off some energy."

"Zombies?" Enid squeaked. "Movie zombies or real ones?"

"The brain eating kind," Xander said. "You'll want to avoid Paris for a few months until that gets cleaned up."

"We were going to Transylvania," Enid said. "Wednesday wanted to dig up some Addams ancestors."

"Hopefully not literally," Xander said.

"Addams," Enid said, shrugging. "Wednesday is very literal."

"You're Wednesday Addams girlfriend? Of course you are," Rona said, sighing. "So, you're here to see her, when she gets back."

"Girlfriend? Depends on who you ask," Enid said, blushing. "We're still working on that. Ms. Summers let me tag along. No plans to join a candy factory raiding party. Not really my thing. Chocolate isn't my color."

"We'll stay out of your way," Xander told Rona. "I told Buffy I'd check things out. And Joyce wants to be here when General Carter gets back."

"We had plans, that may need adjustment," Joyce said. "And Enid has plans with Wednesday."

"Nothing's happening right now," Rona said, grumbling. "Too many sightseers. Half the slayers and watchers in England have wandered by just to stare at the empty factory. It's not a tourist destination! It's a potentially dangerous mystery."

"We'll scare them away for you," Brittany said, grinning. "Xander is good at that."

"He is, isn't he," Rona said. smirking. "Without the broken bones we'd get with Faith or Buffy."

"Buffy's busy, and Faith is too pregnant to travel right now," Xander said. "But we can sub for them."

"Do you need a place to stay?" Rona said. "The local slayer house is still being set up."

"We've made arrangements," Joyce said. "No need to worry about us."

"If we don't offer you full slayer hospitality, and that gets back to Buffy, we'll have plenty to worry about, Ms. Summers," Rona said. "Why don't you come to my office, and we'll set you up with something to drink. Just ignore the signs of Andrew."

Chapter Text

An hour past the china wall, the road south passed through a huge stone arch. Carved on the capstone was the head of a lion wearing a crown. Beyond the arch was a dark forest, the branches of the trees along the road meeting far overhead like a canopy.

"Think that's the Cowardly Lion?" Andrew said, when they stopped to take a break, before entering the forest.

"In Baum's stories, the wild animals made him their king, after he defeated a giant spider," Granger said. "But that could have just been a legend he included to make Dorothy's journey to visit Glinda more exciting."

"We did find that land of china people," Harry said. "Baum's stories have been reasonably accurate so far."

"And before that the angry forest," Luna said. "I think that's the Cowardly lion."

"As long as his information about Glinda is correct," Dawn said, "I'm not too concerned about the accuracy of every event in his Oz stories."

"He was writing for children," Granger said. "He did tend to exaggerate or have his main characters meet all sorts of fantastical creatures along the way."

"We'll just continue to be careful," Carter said. "How long ago were the events in Baum's stories?"

"Almost a century," Granger said. "That's assuming a lot of things about how time works in Oz. Which we don't have a way to measure."

"One of the tales of the Great Slayer was about a place where time flowed a lot faster," Andrew said. "But what if it's slower here?"

"Does she know you still call her that?" Dawn said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sure she would be interested to know."

"No..." Andrew said, paling. Dawn sighed, shaking her head.

"How far is Glinda's palace from here?" Carter said, frowning as she watched Jackson making a rubbing of something on the arch. "What did you find?" she asked.

"Some kind of writing, though I don't recognize the language," Jackson said. "We can try to decipher it later," he said, when Carter shook her head.

"We haven't reached Quadling Country yet," Granger said. "I don't think her palace is too far from the border. Maybe half a day?"

At Carter's urging, they continued through the dark forest for an hour before reaching rocky ground, a low line of rocky hills crossing the road.

"Beware the Hammer Heads!" a faded sign proclaimed, where the road entered the hills.

"Hammer Heads?" Carter said.

"Heads on springs? They use them to attack people," Harry said, looking around. "They didn't like people wandering through their hills."

"Ten minutes," Wilma said, after whispering something to Wednesday. The two slayers took off at a run down the road, quickly disappearing from sight.

Carter sighed. "Slayers," she murmured.

"Buffy would have done the same thing," Dawn said. "If Faith didn't beat her to it."

"Like cats," Andrew said. "You can ask them to do something but they have their own ideas and priorities and rarely listen."

"And for good reason," Luna said, humming a song no one recognized. "The Watchers who could understand Slayers enough to advise us are all dead, except for Mr. Giles, and the new ones are still learning boundaries. Or so I've been told. I wasn't around." She picked up a rock and tossed it into the rocks.

"Something is watching us," Daisy said, looking around.

"They won't interfere," Luna said. "I'm not Seeing a future where they confront us."

"Can you see who it is?" Carter said, not phased by Luna's seemingly random comment about Seeing.

"Might be a Hammer Head," Luna said, squinting at the rocky hills. "A really old one."

"So someone survived whatever turned Oz into a wasteland," Dawn said. "Should we try to talk with them?"

"They're gone," Daisy said, just as Wilma and Wednesday returned.

"Nothing," Wilma said. "It's a bit rough, hasn't been maintained, but there's nothing except road till the other side of the hills."

"And everything is red, or has a red tint," Wednesday said, grimacing. "The road. The grass. Trees. A barn off in the distance."

"Quadling Country is supposed to be red," Granger said, nodding. "Hopefully it's more occupied than what we've seen so far in Oz."

They cautiously continued through the Hammer Head hills, reaching the border in an hour. Although the road was in a lot better repair than it had been since leaving the intersection with the road to the Emerald City days earlier, it was starting to show signs of neglect also.

"Someone put a lot of effort into this road at one point," Jackson said, squatting down to examine it. "It's better maintained than the road through Munchkin Country."

"Whomever rules Munchkin Country must not have cared too much about the roads," Bones said. "Do you know who ruled it after Dorothy killed the witch?"

"A king?" Granger said. "Might have been married to the other Good Witch, but Baum was a bit vague about that."

"Well, at one point, this must have been a prosperous land," Jackson said. "Roads like this aren't cheap to maintain."

They walked for another hour before stopping for the night in an old barn, next to the burnt remains of a small house.

"We don't want to be tired when we meet Glinda," Carter said, when they stopped.

"If she has that Book, she'll know we're coming anyway," Granger said. "We won't surprise her."

"Think she'll send someone out here to meet us?" Bones said. "I would."

"It's Oz," Granger said. "They'll be friendly, if she does."

The next morning they ate a quick breakfast and packed up, leaving the barn like they'd found it, or as close as they could after twelve people had spent the night in it.

"No greeters," Dawn said, and they started south again in the early morning light. "Think there'll be anyone there, at Glinda's palace?"

"She was the most powerful Witch in Oz, possibly even a Sorceress," Granger said. "If anyone could survive whatever happened, it would be her."

"All signs point to this being some version of Oz," Carter said. "But weren't there a lot of magical creatures running around? I'm concerned that we haven't run into any of them yet. Or anything magical."

"There was the Gump in Emerald City," Matilda said. "That was a magical creature."

"The Gump was asleep until we showed up," Dawn said. "It had no idea what had happened."

"The Fighting Trees in the Angry Forest were still alive," Luna said, humming. "They didn't have a lot of energy, almost as if something had drained whatever magic they had. But they were still aware of things."

And the Flying Monkeys," Matilda said. "They must be finding things to eat."

"But no Scarecrow, or Tin Woodman," Carter said. "Or anything like that that could be walking around."

"Hopefully Glinda has answers for us," Dawn said. Granger nodded.

After several more hours of walking, as the sun warmed things up, Wilma and Wednesday who had ranged far ahead of them, returned with news.

"Large red castle palace thing ahead," Wilma said. "Palace castle"?

"It's a castle. A red one," Wednesday said. "You can see it from a hill several miles from here. Looks vaguely Eastern European."

"It looks a little fragile," Wilma said. "I don't think it could withstand a siege."

"Glinda has magic," Dawn said. "It probably doesn't need to be like an English castle."

"How close did you get," Carter asked. "Does it look occupied?"

"We didn't knock on the main gate or walk around it," Wilma said. "It's huge. But there were no signs of life."

"There was something in the gatehouse," Wednesday said. "Didn't seem to be moving. I think it's empty, abandoned like the Emerald City palace was."

"Hopefully the Book is still there," Granger said, sighing. "I was really hoping to talk with Glinda."

"Maybe she's in suspended animation like Ozma?" Dawn said.

"And we don't know how to get her out of that crystal in her throne room," Granger said. "If Glinda is the same way, if she is even in her castle somewhere, that isn't going to help us."

"We'll find out soon enough," Carter said. "There should still be least be a library of some sort. And if we're lucky, her magic Book." She turned to Wilma and Wednesday. "See if you can find a way in. We should be an hour behind you."

Nodding, Wednesday and Wilma turned around and headed back towards the castle at a quick jog.

"Onward?" Dawn said. "To the castle?"

"Onward," Carter said, waving for everyone to get moving.

Chapter Text

"It's more like a castle than a palace," Dawn said, looking up at the ruby encrusted edifice. "Is that real marble? I didn't know it could be red."

"Baum couldn't seem to decide," Granger said. "She originally lived in a castle with fifty maids and an all girl army. By the last Baum book? It was a palace with one hundred maids and her army."

"I like this combination," Luna said. "Castle to protect the inhabitants and a palace to impress people. And with magic she could always make it more of one or the other whenever she wanted to."

"Any signs of life?" Carter said. "What was in the gatehouse?"

"Nothing moving," Wilma said. "And there's a guard in the gatehouse."

"Dead for long?" Carter said, grimacing.

"Not dead," Wilma said. "Asleep? Maybe?"

"For a very long time," Wednesday said. "Decades based on the layer of dirt."

"Do I want to look?" Carter said, frowning.

"Should we leave them there?" Daisy said. "Or bring them inside, once we figure out a way in."

"Unconscious guard sitting in the gatehouse for decades?" Granger said. "Is there something protecting them from wild animals or bandits?" She took out her probe and scanned the gatehouse. "Or time?"

Wilma shrugged. "Possibly. Looks like their hair kept growing."

"Untangling that mess is not going to be fun," Bones said, peeking in the gatehouse.

"More of that fairyland agelessness?" Dawn said. "A normal human would have died and become a pile of bones or mummy a long time ago."

"Anything unusual?" Carter said, waving her sonic at the gatehouse. "I'm not detecting anything."

"Just a general energy field, similar to the one that hid the Wonka factory gate," Granger said. "But my probe detects some kinds of magical energy. I suspect your sonic doesn't?"

"Not yet," Carter said, sighing and putting her sonic away. "The original design was not developed in an environment with any magic."

"Let's assume they are fine where they are," Dawn said. "Until we can find Glinda and ask her."

"Do we know what Glinda looks like?" Jackson said. "Getting past this gate shouldn't be too hard." He leaned forward to examine the large red gate. "It's all mechanical."

"It depends on which Glinda it is," Granger said. "Baum's Glinda had dark red hair and blue eyes. Later depictions had other hair and eye colors."

"Let's stick to the original," Carter said.

"Do all powerful witches have red hair?" Bones said. "Willow Rosenberg has red hair. Or do you have to have red hair to become powerful?"

"I hope not," Matilda said, looking at a lock of her own brown hair. "I'd like to be more than an apprentice some day."

"Tara was a powerful witch, and her hair wasn't red," Dawn said, bumping her shoulder against Matilda's. "I'm sure it isn't a contributing factor."

"It's possible Glinda's hair wasn't really red," Harry said. "Maybe she colored it to match her land?"

"You can ask her if we find her," Dawn said, smirking. "I'm sure she'll be happy to tell you."

"Pass," Harry said. He joined Jackson in examining the gate. "How do we open it?

"Magic," Luna said, resting her forehead against the gate. "Some kind of charm that made it light enough for Glinda's guards to easily move it. Which needed to be renewed occasionally and has faded."

"Four slayers," Andrew said. "I'm sure that's enough to push it open."

"Not even ten slayers," Wednesday said, looking up at the gate mechanism. "We're strong but not that strong."

"You were able to get the Ring to open," Dawn said, looking hopefully at Luna. "Maybe you can do the same thing here?"

"That was risky," Luna said, "but I'd had years to get the feel of magic there. Oz magic, even that of a supposed Sorceress like Glinda? It's closer to fairy magic. I don't know what will happen."

"Explosion? Everyone turned into frogs? Rain?" Harry said. "Or something worse?"

"Unpredictable," Luna said. She looked around, stepping back from the gate. Sighing, she took out her wand. "Move," she said. "Way back. Really far back. To the hill." She waited for them to move back to the hill where they'd first seen the palace from.

"Ready!" Daisy shouted from the hill.

"Let's do something about that first," Luna muttered, waving her wand in sharp quick movements at the gatehouse. A faint sparkling bubble appears around the gatehouse. Luna nodded and moved in front of the gate, putting a dozen meters between it and herself.

She stared at the gate for several long minutes, concentrating on the feeling of the magic flowing around the castle. It was very faint except for multiple places, that she assumed were other people in a similar state as the guard in the gatehouse. With one exception, that she hoped was Glinda, they were very faint.

Taking a deep breath, she flicked her wand, focusing on what she wanted to happen and throwing all of her energy at the gate.

There was a loud grinding noise, and the gate started to lift up, moving very slowly. Luna could feel her magic draining away quickly as it moved. The backlash was sudden, as something in the castle pushed back. There was a sharp crack, and she felt herself being thrown back before she lost consciousness.

"Luna?" she could hear Wednesday saying, her voice very worried. Gulping air like a fish out of water, she slowly opened her eyes.

"What happened?" Luna asked, pushing herself up.

"The gate started moving up, and then there was a loud popping sound and you went flying," Wednesday said. "Got here as fast as I could."

"I feel like I just had an hour long training session with one of the older Sunnydale slayers," Luna said, looking around, trying to get her bearings. "Something didn't like me touching the castle's magic."

"It threw you a couple hundred meters," Wednesday said. "Carter said to not move you until they can get here and check you out."

"Not going anywhere," Luna said. Tilting her head, she could see that the others were halfway between the hill and her and Wednesday. ""You moved really fast."

"You're my partner," Wednesday said, shrugging. "You needed me."

Luna gave her a big grin. "Does your wolf know how sweet you can be?"

"I'm not sweet," Wednesday said, glaring at her.

"We know better," Luna said. "Did the gate stay up?" She cautiously got to her feet and started hobbling towards the castle.

"You shouldn't be moving," Wednesday said, hovering.

"It hasn't fallen back down," Luna said, once they got close enough to see the gate. "Good. Good. Need to sit down," she mumbled, slowly sitting down in front of the gatehouse.

"You shouldn't be moving," Carter said, hurrying up to them, followed by the others.

"Not moving," Luna said, leaning back against the gatehouse.

"Is it safe?" Andrew said, looking at the half open gate. "Can we go in?"

"Not yet," Carter said. "We'll wait for Luna to recover."

"Just a couple minutes," Luna said. "Could someone get my bag?"

"What do you need?" Wednesday said, bringing Luna's bag over.

"Energy bars in the front pocket," Luna said. "Not the Klingon ones."

"What's wrong with the Klingon energy bars?" Andrew said, looking offended.

"Made my own," Luna did. "Yours don't help with magic exhaustion."

"So, what happened?" Dawn said, as they watched Luna wolf down several of her 'special' energy bars. "It looked like it was working and then Bam!'

"The guard isn't the only person in the castle," Luna said, pausing between bites. "Very faint but there must be several dozen in s similar state. And one very bright one."

"Glinda?" Granger said.

Luna shrugged. "Maybe? They have a very strong connection to the castle. Didn't like me pouring my foreign magic into the gate. Threw me away from the castle."

"Intentionally?" Carter said.

"I think it was just a reflex? I don't think they are aware of anything outside the castle," Luna said.

"Okay," Carter said. "Some kind of self defense mode. We'll send in a small team first." She glanced at the others, mentally building a team to explore the castle.

Chapter Text

"Not as fancy as I expected," Harry said, looking around as the small group entered the courtyard. "Just your basic palace castle."

"Castle palace," Wednesday said, slowly turning around to get a good view of everything. "This is how they build them in the Baltics, though not usually out of red marble."

"Qualding Country," Harry said. "They like the color red."

"Rather clever the way you manipulated Andrew into staying outside," Dawn said.

"Once you know what buttons to push, he's easily controlled," Harry said, shrugging. "He means well, but he's not really suited to being a field operative."

"Luna doesn't really deserve his undivided attention like that," Wednesday said. "You'll owe her for that."

"I'm fine with that," he said. "She's harmless. Well, except for the whole magic using slayer aspect."

"If that's what you think," Daisy said. "I've heard things about her. She'll get you when you least expect it."

"No scaring the secret agent," Dawn said, smirking. "Mycroft wants him back in one piece."

"And Granger might be a bit annoyed at us if we break him," Wednesday said.

"What's the verdict, Doc?" Harry asked Jackson, who'd been jotting notes in a small tablet.

"Definitely some Eastern influences," Jackson said, pointing at several towers. "Whomever designed it spent some time in or around Constantinople and Turkey, pre First World War. Is anything known about Glenda's background?"

"Nothing concrete from Baum," Harry said. "She was older than Ozma, literally her fairy godmother. Hermione has a collection of the post-Baum Oz literature but she said a lot of it was contradictory and didn't have the same feeling of authenticity."

"If you have a chance to read it, her research on Oz, from before we came here, tries to separate fact from fiction, if one were to assume Baum was an actual historian and wasn't telling fairytales," Dawn said.

"If she let you see that, she must trust you," Harry said.

"We've been here for more than a week. We had to talk about something other than Wonka and his misdeeds," Dawn said. "I don't know how much of her thesis I believe, especially after being in the actual Oz. But it is interesting."

"More than a week?" Jackson said. "You'd only been missing for 2 days before we came after you. Does Sam know that time is apparently moving faster here?"

"We briefly discussed it," Dawn said. "Not much we can do about it. When we come back..."

"If," Harry said. "I don't think the General is going to support a return."

"When," Dawn said, raising an eyebrow. "We'll have to take the time differences into account, once we figure out the exact difference. Right now, it feels like a two for one. Two days here are one day back in England. But that isn't exact."

"Which means Oz was a wasteland even longer than we thought?" Jackson said.

"It is, or was, a fairyland," Dawn said. "Time here may not behave consistently or in the expected fashion. For now we can't do anything about it so... later."

Luna hadn't been able to tell the exact locations of the entities she'd sensed before getting thrown out of the castle's magic, other than there were several clumps of them in different parts of the castle and individuals scattered over the rest of it.

They hadn't gone far before finding the soldier's barracks. Most of the beds were occupied by sleeping soldiers with several others slumped against doorways. All with out of control hair hiding their features.

"It must have hit them at night," Dawn said, carefully poking one of them. "All young women?"

"Officers quartered elsewhere," Harry said. "These are the regulars. But it fits Baum's descriptions of Glinda's army of women."

"So that just leaves the other clumps and possibly Glinda," Dawn said. "Do we need to find everyone?"

"We don't know how many there actually are," Jackson said. "And we can't help them like this, so we'll just have to leave them where they fell."

Dawn nodded. They left the barracks and started to work their way across the castle, pausing for a moment whenever they encountered another sleeping person.

Daisy and Wednesday had been venturing further ahead, occasionally stopping to wait for them to catch up.

"We've found Glinda's throne room, we think," Daisy said, waiting for them at the junction of several wide hallways. "Large white doors with a golden G outlined in rubies. Wednesday is waiting there for us."

"And you didn't peek?" Dawn said.

"It's locked," Daisy said. "Or stuck."

"And you want one of us to be responsible for breaking it?" Dawn said, shaking her head.

Picking up the pace, they hurried to the throne room.

"If it isn't her throne room, it's something else just as important," Dawn said. "Probably not her bedroom, given how big the doors are." There wasn't a door knob on either of the doors. She pulled on one of them but there wasn't any give to it. "Is there an actual lock?"

"We might need Luna again," Wednesday said. "Whatever is in there, it doesn't want us coming in."

"We don't want everyone wandering round until we're sure it's safe," Dawn said, looking at Wednesday. "Can you go get Luna, and no one else? She should have recovered by now."

"I can try," Wednesday said. "May end up with more than her."

"As long as it's not Andrew," Dawn said, sighing. "Or Matilda. We don't know what is behind those doors. It could be a booby trap."

"Like the ones we ran into in the Emerald City?" Wednesday said. "We haven't seen anything like that here. But there's always the first time."

"Don't taunt Murphy," Dawn said. "That's Harry's job." She winked at him.

"Hey!" Harry muttered. "I never taunt Murphy. They just like to hang around."

"Go!" Dawn said. "We aren't going anywhere."

It took Wednesday fifteen minutes to return, with a skipping Luna and red faced Granger. "Still not open?" Wednesday asked. Luna drifted over to the doors.

"We're waiting for you," Daisy said, putting away the dagger she'd been balancing on a finger.

"No Sam or Andrew?" Dawn said. "Did you grab Luna and run, without an explanation?"

"No," Wednesday said, looking offended. "And that one tagged along on her own." She waved at Granger.

"Wasn't much of an explanation," Granger said. "She said 'Need a door opened', grabbed Luna and ran back into the castle. I manage to catch up before anyone else reacted."

"Because Luna is still exhausted," Wednesday said. "We had to go slow."

"Still tired?" Dawn said, examining Luna from head to toe. "We don't want to make her worse."

"I can check a door or two for a magic key," Luna said, from where she was gazing at the two doors. She slowly placed a hand on each door and breathed deeply for several minutes. "It's not exactly locked," she said. "But it needs someone, name starts with a G, to tell it to open."

"But it is Glinda's throne room?" Dawn asked.

"Can anyone else, whose name starts with a G open it?" Harry asked, watching Jackson have a quiet discussion with Hermione.

"They need to have enough Ozian magic to trigger the door to open," Luna said, noticing where he was looking. "She doesn't have any magic of that sort."

"No," Granger said. "It completely skipped my side of my family. And it would probably be incompatible with Oz. And it isn't really a useful kind of magic anyway."

"I'm sure some people would find it useful," Luna said. "But it still won't open the door."

Granger took out her probe, and standing next to Luna, waved it at the door. She paused to read its tiny screen, frowning. "There's very little energy holding those doors shut. Probably a good shove would do it."

"I know you can't read minds or anything like that," Dawn said. "But do you have enough control to use it to poke whomever is keeping it closed so it opens?"

Luna pressed her head to the gap between the doors. Whatever she was trying to do wasn't visible to the others. Gasping, she pushed herself away from the doors. "The person who kicked me out of the castle's magic is in there," she said. "She knows we're here now."

"Good thing? Bad thing?" Dawn said.

There was a faint click, and the doors slowly parted, leaving just enough room for them to squeeze through before they stopped moving.

Straight ahead, the walls of the castle disappeared, with a rough looking lawn, covered in grass with a faintly red tinge, sloping down a gentle hill. There was a desert barely visible off in the distance.

"This is not how it looks like on the outside," Wednesday said. "From the outside there's a high wall.

Slumped over in chairs scattered on the lawn were several dozen young women.

A sad laugh drifted through their minds, and they turned their attention to the ruby throne against one side of the room.

A woman, who could only be described as ageless, with deep red hair, wearing a white gown, sat motionless, staring towards the desert.

"Frozen?" Dawn said, standing in front of her. "You must be Glinda." There was no movement from the woman but everyone could feel a brief flash of agreement.

Granger curiously pointed her probe at Glinda and waved it. "Something has her stuck there," Granger said, reading her probe. "It registers as energy but not one I've encountered before."

"But not whatever Wonka was doing?" Dawn asked.

"Not Wonka," Granger said, shaking her head. "What do we do? Luna?"

"It's beyond my knowledge," Luna said, slowly walking around Glinda. "She's there but not there? Almost as if she's inside a ward that covers her skin and she can't move."

"I think we're going to need Sam," Dawn said. "I have no idea how to fix this. If it can be fixed." She sighed. "Can we bring the rest of our team here?" she asked Glinda. "They might be able to help."

A name filled her mind 'Elphaba?' along with a sense of curiosity.

"I don't know an Elphaba," Dawn said. "Anyone else?" There was a mutual shaking of heads. "Wednesday, can you get Sam and bring her here."

"And the others?" Wednesday asked.

"We aren't invading," she said. "Tell them they need to stay out of the throne room for now."

"Got it," Wednesday said. "Carter in here, the others out there, not causing trouble. Back in a flash." Nodding, she ran out of the throne room.

"Sam has the big brains," Dawn said to Glinda. "If anyone can figure out how to get you out of there, she can."

There was a faint sense of agreement before Glinda's attention drifted away.

Chapter Text

Carter entered the throne room behind Wednesday, pausing for a moment at the view towards the desert, shaking her head before continuing.

She stopped in front of Glinda's throne, next to Dawn and Granger. "Optical illusion?" she said, nodding towards the missing wall. There was a brief feeling of interest from Glinda.

"Unknown," Granger said. She waved her slim metal probe. "It registers as some kind of energy. It's possible the wall you see when outside is the illusion."

"I'm sure Glinda can explain that, if we ever get her free," Dawn said.

"She's obviously aware of us," Carter said, "but frozen in time?"

"You think it's time and not just some kind of energy field restraining her?" Granger said.

"Look at the others," Carter said, waving at the women scattered around the room and lawn. "Hair still growing. They're frozen but time continues. Hopefully they aren't conscious."

"Unable to move for decades but aware of time passing?" Dawn said, shuddering. "Yeah, that would be bad."

"And then look at Glinda. What happened to her people was likely a side effect of her being frozen in time," Carter said.

"How can we be sure?" Dawn said. "All we're getting from her are mostly emotions."

"Except that one name," Granger said. "She clearly thought a name when she saw Dawn."

"Been to Oz before?" Carter asked. "Accidentally wandered into a fairyland?"

"Not that I remember," Dawn said, shrugging. "I think I would remember being here."

"Ask your mother some time what it's like to live part of your life out of linear time," Carter said.

"I knew she time traveled," Dawn said, grinning. "Sometimes she just knows things that are beyond even 'Mom knowledge'. And there's that friend, the one who gave you that sonic thingy."

"Sonic screw driver," Carter said, sighing. "It's not a 'thingy'."

"That's what Mom calls it," Dawn said, smirking.

"And talk of time travel aside, what do we do here?" Granger said. "There are things we want to know."

"We'd like to see your Great Book of Records," Dawn said, addressing Glinda. "We're looking for someone and would like to know what they were doing in Oz."

A sharp feeling of warning could be felt coming from Glinda.

"She didn't like that," Carter said. "It probably only works for her or she doesn't allow anyone she doesn't know near it."

"Or whomever did that to her took it," Granger said. "Which is concerning. The kind of knowledge in that book could be dangerous."

"Could be? Is," Carter said. "But first let's see what we can do about this." She took out her sonic, adjusted it and pointed it at the frozen Glinda. Frowning, she adjusted it again and tried again to make sense of what she was seeing.

"Verdict?" Harry said, joining them, having gotten tired of wandering around the throne room.

"Not exactly frozen in time," Carter said, frowning. "We'll need a Time expert to get her free, I suspect. If I tried to force the time bubble she's in it could be fatal."

"Yeah, let's not accidentally kill Glinda," Dawn said, wincing. "Not sure I want an angry ghost to deal with, and we know she'd become a ghost, if she's as powerful as she is supposed to be."

"How do we communicate with her then?" Granger said. "How long would it take to find a real Time expert?"

"I have contacts," Carter said, ignoring Dawn's laugh, "but first we would have to leave Oz to be able to reach them."

"And we need to get that return address to leave Oz," Granger said. "Which means finding the Book."

Luna wandered into the throne room while they were talking, walking up to Glinda. "She really wants to talk," Luna said, placing a hand on Glinda's throne. "But something is blocking everything except her emotions? Someone didn't want anyone asking her questions. I don't think they realized her emotions would leak out."

"Anything in your bag of magic tricks that would let us talk with her?" Dawn said. "Or is your magic too incompatible?"

"I wouldn't want to risk it," Luna said. "If something went wrong we could get stuck in each other's heads, using the charm I know for that."

Granger sighed. "So, we can't break open that time bubble because it might kill her. And you can't use magic because it could go really wrong. What does that leave us?"

"I might know something," Matilda said, having quietly joined them. "It's not something Miss Willow normally teaches because you have to have a talent for talking mentally with someone, but there is a way to amplify someone's thoughts."

"And you have this talent?" Carter said.

"Yes," Matilda said, blushing. "It's how Miss Willow found me."

"Any special preparation?" Dawn said.

"Meditation and burning a few herbs," Matilda said. "It's sort of like adjusting a radio? I'm not as powerful as Miss Willow, so anyone who is going to participate in the conversation needs to be in this room."

"Okay," Carter said. "I think those of us here should be enough. The others can find Glinda's book, and bring it here if possible."

Matilda nodded. "I'll be right back." She rushed from the throne room.

"I don't really need someone potentially poking around in my head," Harry said, grimacing. "I'll take charge of the search party." He slipped out of the throne room without another word, following Matilda.

"I need to stay here," Wednesday said.

"For any particular reason?" Dawn asked, not taking her attention away from Glinda..

"Just a strong feeling," Wednesday said, shrugging.

"We'll need one more," Luna said. "To make seven."

"Jackson was here earlier," Granger said. "That would make seven."

"And he's done his usual wandering off?" Carter said, looking around the throne room.

"I know where he went," Wednesday said. "I'll bring him back." She left them, heading towards the other side of the throne room.

"So we should be able to get those answers soon," Carter said.

Dawn nodded and continued to stare at Glinda.

Granger fiddled with her probe as they waited.

Chapter Text

They sat in a half circle in front of Glinda's throne in no special order, on stools that Harry's scavengers had found just down the hall from the throne room, with Matilda on a large cushion on the floor. Matilda hadn't given them the exact amount of time it would take before she could relay Glinda's thoughts to them, so they waited for her signal. Some more patiently than others.

At one end of the circle, Luna and Wednesday quietly played some Slayer game involving dice and a stiletto. At the other end Jackson and Dawn were discussing something with such waving of arms and hands. Carter and Granger had swapped their probes and were discussing the differences.

"Ready," Matilda said, from her cushion in the middle. "We have half n hour before I have to do that again."

"What do we do?" Dawn asked, quickly breaking away from her discussion with Jackson. "Can we read each other's minds?"

"No," Matilda said. "I'm doing all of the hard parts connecting Glinda to your minds so you can 'hear' her. You can just talk normally and she should hear you."

"Good," Carter said. "So where do we begin?"

"Introductions, if you please," a soft voice said in their minds. "You appear to know who I am but most of you are unfamiliar to me."

"Oldest first?" Dawn said.

"I know your mother," Carter said, in a mock threatening voice.

"And I have Janet's phone number," Dawn said, smirking.

Carter sighed. "I am Samantha Carter, an officer in the United States military. I serve in a command that has experience with exploring distant locations."

"She's also a scientist," Dawn added.

"You are not from Gallifrey?" Glinda asked in their minds. "You bear the instrument of one who comes from there."

"The sonic? No," Carter said. "It was leant to me by a friend."

"I'm Dawn Summers," Dawn said. "I'm a researcher for an organization called the Slayer and Watcher's Council, or just the Council for short. I'm currently leading a field team, some here and others outside, and we're looking for information on a person we believe is called Willy Wonka. We followed his trail to Oz. And General Carter is leading a team that came looking for us because they thought we were lost," she added.

"I'm Wednesday Addams," Wednesday said. "I'm on Dawn's team. I'm a Council agent, a Slayer."

"I'm Luna Lovegood," Luna said. "Same as Wednesday. I really like your ruby throne."

"Thanks you," Glinda thought. "It's pretty isn't it, though good cushions are a must." Luna nodded in agreement.

"Daniel Jackson," Daniel said. "I'm an archeologist, one who studies old civilizations. I'm a consultant for Sam's organization."

"Hermione Granger," Granger said. "I'm an agent for an organization within the British government. I do many things but I am also currently working with Dawn and her team on the Wonka problem."

"Her boss, Mycroft Holmes, is very important in the British government," Dawn said. "The people who work for him are very competent. She's our Oz expert."

"You are an expert on this land?" Glinda said, her thoughts carrying a sense of faint amusement.

"As much as anyone who had never been to a place, and has read and heard many tales can be," Granger said. "Mostly written by L. Frank Baum, a self-styled Oz historian."

"L's stories of Oz are certainly amusing," Glinda said, laughing in their heads. "Oz is a fairyland as he described, but we are, or were, a lot more mundane than his whimsical tales depict us to be."

"And I've already introduced myself," Matilda said.

"The rest of the team is exploring your castle," Dawn said. "It would have put too much of a strain on Matilda to be a mind interpreter for all of us at the same time."

"There are places in my palace that may not be safe," Glinda said. "I do not know how things have faired since I became locked in this pretty cage."

"They are just looking," Carter said. "They'll be careful."

"Much of the magic of Oz has drifted away," Glinda said. "But there are still places to avoid. Small pockets of unguided magic."

"Can you tell us what happened to Oz?" Granger said. "It looks like something sucked all of the energy out of it."

"I cannot See what has brought the land so low, as I am now," Glinda said. ""We did receive a visit by someone calling himself Willy Wonka, but he didn't stay long. He seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with young Dorothy."

"We'd noticed," Granger said. "He seems to be collecting souvenirs of her visits to Oz."

Glinda sighed. "I don't recall what happened here. I'd just had a long discussion with one of my advisors, and was about to head to bed when suddenly I was awoken by someone asking the gate to rise. After dealing with the intruder, I discovered my current predicament."

"So, it was a sneak attack," Luna said. "Do you know what happened to Ozma? She's also trapped inside of something, a large crystal, though she doesn't appear to be awake."

"If someone could bring me my Book, I could tell you. But otherwise, I don't know. Ozma is a gentle ruler but that has gained her her fair share of enemies. If she was in her palace and has her wand, nothing should be able to harm her."

"The Emerald City palace was like a poorly designed obstacle course when we were there," Wednesday said. "Someone did not want anyone getting to Ozma and rescuing her. But they didn't do a good job."

"I cannot help in my current state," Glinda said. "I will need to see my Book."

"We'll bring it here if you can tell us where it is," Granger said.

"It is locked up in my private library," Glinda said. "But you will need my key to retrieve it."

"And let me guess," Dawn said, "You're wearing your keys."

"Yes," Glinda said, embarrassed.

"So, to get your Book, we have to free you. And then you can tell us how to free Ozma," Dawn said. "But to free you, we probably need your book." She sighed in frustration.

"It's a conundrum," Glinda said. "Or you can free Ozma and she might have a way to free me. Neither of us are going anywhere."

Chapter Text

"Is this the Great Book of Records?" Bones said, hurrying into the throne room, carrying a large book.

"Glinda wants to know how you were able to bring it here," Matilda said, relaying Glinda's question. "It was locked up.

"Picking locks is something that Mycroft expects us to learn," Bones said. "But I didn't unlock this. Potter can open any lock that sits still long enough."

"Glinda says the book was enchanted. Only her key should be able to open the locks," Matilda said. "And it can't be taken out of its room. Apparently some wizard stole it once and she'd added enchantments to protect the book?"

Bones shrugged. "Don't know. If it was enchanted, maybe that wore off like most of the magic in Oz?"

"Have you seen any magic since arriving in Oz?" Glinda asked.

"Are the Flying Monkeys magic?" Luna said. "Or do they just use it?"

"They were created many years ago," Glinda said. "They were once enslaved with magic, but they do not need it to survive."

"The Gump," Wednesday said. "It's a magical creature. Or the head of one at least"

"And the crystal Ozma is imprisoned in," Dawn said.

"We were assuming all of your people have been put to sleep with magic," Granger said. "And possibly that time prison you are in. That might be magic?"

"I don't think it is," Carter said. "Not unless you're going to bring in Clarke's Third Law. It's beyond us at the moment but Time is a well studied phenomenon."

"Third Law?" Glinda said.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," Granger quoted. "Or to put it another way 'Magic is anything you don't understand that yields results.' "

"It gets more complicated when you're in a land where magic is real," Carter said. "Magic is often short hand for 'I don't know how that happened, but somehow it did.'."

"Magic has rules," Glinda said. "Things don't 'just happen'. But it sounds like the magic of Oz is dying."

"If we rescue Ozma, will it come back?" Dawn said.

"I cannot answer that question," Glinda said. "I cannot access my instruments for measuring the magic of Oz while I am like this."

"And we still have that roadblock," Granger said. "We have the Book, will it tell us anything useful? Or does it require too much magic to work now?"

"It uses very little residual magic," Glinda said. "There would have to be no magic at all in the world to stop it recording events. Could you please hold it up where I can see it?"

"Is there a table of contents or an index?" Bones said, standing in front of Glinda. "This thing is awkward. At least that isn't real gold."

"It is real gold," Matilda said. "Glinda said Oz gold has special properties. It can be easily enchanted if you know how."

"It must be very common," Dawn said. "I don't think I've seen a door or building here that didn't have large quantities of gold on it somewhere."

"Oz doesn't have money," Granger said. "People gave away their labor because it made them happy."

"Sounds like a Trekian utopia," Jackson said. "What makes it work? Humans tend to be greedy which makes such a society almost impossible."

"It's very feudal," Granger said. "It just works."

"Oz is a fairyland," Glinda said, briefly turning her attention to the conversation. "A wish has the power of law."

"What does your book say?" Dawn said.

"Something started draining the magic from Oz when Ozma was trapped in her crystal. When all of the magic is gone... Oz will become a permanent wasteland."

"How do we stop it?" Matilda said. "Assuming we want to stop it?"

"Not a fan of letting a country collapse like that," Jackson said. "If we can fix it, we should."

"You'll need Ozma's wand," Glinda said confidently. "It can be used to free her, and she can use it to stop the magic bleeding away."

"Where is it?" Carter said. "In her palace?"

"The Book cannot see it," Glinda said. "It says it was borrowed. Whomever took it does not show up in the Book after arriving in Oz. You'll need to find who has it."

"Isn't that impossible?" Granger said. "I thought it saw everything?"

"It does," Glinda said. "I cannot explain it. I did not know there was a way to completely hide from the Book."

"Any other clues?" Dawn asked.

"Just a small entry when Wonka last visited, many years ago. It says 'they' snuck in and moved into Ozma's palace."

"So, back to the Emerald City?" Luna said.

"We still need the gate address for home," Carter said. "We were hoping your book would have it."

"We need a book stand," Bones said. "It may not be heavy but I can't stand here forever holding it."

"Why not?" Luna said. "It's steady employment."

"The gate is the huge ring Wonka used to travel here?" Glinda said. "It may take time to find the moment when this address you want was used. It resists being directly included in the Book."

"You know when Wonka first came to Oz?" Dawn said. "And how often he came back?"

"It's in the Book, unlike whomever came through with him," Glinda said. "But without magic it take longer to find anything."

"No shortcuts then," Carter said. "How far back does the Book go?"

"It has always existed," Glinda said. "It was brought here many years ago. Oz was supposed to be a safe place for it, and it mostly has been."

"Well, whomever trapped you in that time cage didn't take it," Dawn said.

"Probably waiting for the protective enchantments to fade," Luna said.

"Which means they'll be back eventually," Wednesday said. "After everyone dies from a lack of magic?"

"That takes a special kind of evil," Dawn said. "Killing an entire fairyland just to get a book?"

"It's a book that records everything," Granger said. "It's invaluable."

"We can't let them get it," Luna said. "Whatever reason they have for wanting it can't be good."

"Who should stay here while we go back to the Emerald City to rescue Ozma?" Jackson said. "Someone has to protect the Book, and Glinda."

"Magic hasn't completely died in Oz," Glinda said. "If they are watching and waiting for all magic in Oz to die before they come back, there should be time to rescue Ozma."

"You must have other defenses we can put in place?" Carter said. "That you weren't able to do before this happened."

"It will require magic," Glinda said. "Someone in your party will have to learn the magic of Oz."

"Matilda can do that," Dawn said.

"I can?" Matilda said, surprised.

"You or Luna," Dawn said.

"Luna needs to go to the Emerald City," Wednesday said.

"Another feeling?" Granger said.

"A strong one," Wednesday said. "Her presence will be pivotal to rescuing Ozma."

"Okay, that's a start," Carter said. "Bones and Matilda stay here, and Luna goes to the Emerald City. Who else goes or stays?"

Chapter Text

Dawn and Carter stood in from of the entire team gathered in Glinda's throne room, Glinda still frozen on her throne, but watching.

"I don't think it is a good idea, but we have too much to do so we're splitting the team up," Carter said. "The first group will stay here and work with Glinda. Your task is primarily intelligence gathering. You'll work with Glinda as she reviews her Book to see what it can tell us about what happened to Oz. We need to know how she ended up trapped like that, and what happened to Ozma and then the rest of Oz. We're hoping the Book contains that information but it will take time digging it out. We also need you to keep an eye out for any mention of anyone using the Gate in Munchkinland."

"Matilda will be in this group," Dawn said. "The only way we can currently communicate with Glinda is through her. Bones and Jackson will also be part of this group. Their analysis and research skills will be very important."

"And, Daniel, Glinda is giving you access to her private archives, so it isn't just the Book you'll want to examine," Carter said. "I don't know how that will work," she said, holding up a hand to stop his questions. "You'll have to work with her on that."

"We need at least one slayer to stay here," Dawn said. "Wednesday and Luna are going with the Emerald City team. Wilma and Daisy, it's up to you how you decide. Both of you can stay here or you can flip a coin."

"Protection detail?" Daisy said, "Or something else?"

"Someone needs to check the castle for traps and other nasty surprises," Dawn said. "Glinda didn't wake up until Luna started poking around. She has no idea if anything has been done to her palace."

"We'll both stay," Wilma said. Daisy nodded in agreement. "Wednesday and Luna should be able to handle any excitement you run into."

"And we'll have Harry," Dawn said. "He's not a slayer but I've heard he can be useful in a dangerous situation."

"I can be more than useful," Harry said, pouting.

"Keep telling yourself that, Potter," Bones said, smirking. "That's five of us here. Anyone else?"

"Anyone we haven't mentioned is going to the Emerald City," Carter said.

"Yes Andrew, you also," Dawn said. "As long as you behave and listen to us."

"I'm going?" Andrew said excitedly. "I'm going! I can follow orders!"

"If not we're sending you back here," Dawn said. "I'm sure someone to make snacks and meals for the research party could be useful."

"We don't want him making snacks here," Daisy said, quickly shaking her head. "He can take his Klingon snacks with him to the Emerald City."

"You're missing out," Andrew said. "I make excellent snacks."

"I'm sure he can leave some of his snacks here," Dawn said, grimacing. "In fact, I insist."

"We'll be traveling light," Carter said. "Just the basics. Everything extra stays here."

"Like the Klingon snacks," Wednesday said. "Even Pugsley wouldn't eat them on a dare."

"They require a refined palate," Andrew said.

"And an iron stomach," Daisy muttered. "They should be registered as a deadly weapon."

"Any questions? We leave in two hours," Carter said, looking at the team.

"Do we expect to be able to actually rescue Ozma or is this just an intelligence gathering mission?" Harry said.

"If we can find Ozma's magic wand, Glinda believes we can rescue Ozma," Carter said. "It is supposedly in the city somewhere. But first we have to find whomever has it."

"Any clues?" Harry said. "I'm assuming they were able to hide themselves from Glinda's Book, otherwise she'd know exactly where it went?"

"Yes," Granger said. "Someone came to Oz with Wonka and was able to hide from the Book. Glinda doesn't think they left, but they somehow don't register with the Book so she could be wrong."

"They 'borrowed' the wand," Dawn said.

"That was the exact phrasing?" Harry said. Dawn nodded. "That might be a big clue," Harry said. "It sounds familiar. Possibly from a briefing years ago? I'll have to think about it, sorry."

"That's more than the rest of us have," Granger said.

"If you're going, go through your packs and remove anything you won't need," Carter said. "We'll store everything that doesn't go in a room down the hall."

Chapter Text

"It's not quite how I imagined it," Andrew said, when they stopped just inside of the main Emerald City gate, looking across the empty courtyard.

"It's not a city in the way we normally think of it," Granger said. "It's closer to a palace."

"Like Versailles?" Carter said. "Essentially a city but with a single purpose, to be the home for a ruler."

"Versailles is a good analogy," Granger said, nodding. "It's possible that at one point it was just a city with the King or Queen of Oz's residence in the middle, but someone rebuilt it into what we see here."

"And there was real magic in Oz until recently," Dawn said. "It would have been relatively easy for them to remake a city into this." She waved at the inner palace.

"There was a battle here, in the courtyard," Carter said. "Based on the damage, it was over fairly quickly."

"Watch your step," Luna said, stepping away from the gate with a definite crunch. "The courtyard is covered in tiny bits of glass."

"You mentioned a bomb?" Carter said.

"The blast crater is over there," Granger said. "It's not very deep. Some kind of energy bomb, probably just to scare the palace residents into submission."

They stopped at the blast crater so Carter could examine it. She waved her sonic at it from several directions. "Adjusting for the time differential… five decades ago? How does that match up with Wonka's visits to Oz?"

"His first visit was before any of this happened," Dawn said, "if we believe the Gump. We don't know when his last visit was."

"He raided the Royal Library," Luna said, "during his last visit."

"But he didn't do any of this," Wednesday said, waving at the damaged walls and towers. "Or booby trap the palace to keep people from rescuing Ozma. He just took advantage of the chaos."

"So, if we find him we find the books?" Carter said. "Do you think he has Ozma's wand?"

"Glinda seemed to be confident that it was still in the city," Dawn said. "Not sure how she knows."

"If it had been in the throne room when Wonka raided the library, he would have taken it," Luna said.

"If he could have gotten into the throne room," Wednesday said. "In my vision of him, when we found that candy wrapper, he wasn't able to."

"You hadn't mentioned having a vision of Wonka when we were here before," Granger said suspiciously.

"It wasn't really relevant," Wednesday said, shrugging. "We knew he was in the library after Ozma was trapped in her throne room, and I 'saw' him being unable to open the doors to the throne room. It doesn't change anything."

"On the contrary," Carter said. "If he doesn't have Ozma's wand, we know that we don't have to find him until after we rescue her."

"Assuming we can rescue her," Dawn said. "Glinda left out a few details."

"Such as how we free Ozma once we have the wand," Granger said.

"It's safe," Harry said, frowning. "The little people have it."

"Little people?" Granger said.

"Glinda's Book said it was 'borrowed'," Harry said. "I remembered why that sounded familiar. It's the name of a certain kind of fairy. No one really knows where they came from, but they could be found in old manor houses in the countryside. There haven't been any reports of them being seen in decades and most folklorists think they are a myth, but the intelligence services know better."

"They would make perfect spies," Andrew said. "I bet they were spies."

"That's classified," Harry said. "I can't do more than confirm they existed at one point."

"How little are they?" Granger said. "Small enough that we didn't see them?"

"There was tiny furniture in that desk in the map room," Luna said excitedly. Then she frowned. "I hope we didn't destroy someone's bedroom."

"That isn't a lot of proof," Carter said. "How many would have been needed to carry off Ozma's wand?"

"At least two," Harry said. "Depending on how heavy it was it might have taken three of them. They aren't very large."

"So, we need a path that takes us to this map room?" Carter said. "And then to the throne room, preferably with as few booby traps as possible."

"There's a gate near the Royal Library, on the other side of the palace," Granger said. "That's how we left the last time we were here. But it was only visible from the inside."

"So, we have to go back through the traps again," Dawn said. "But they wouldn't have reset, would they?"

"Someone would have to reset them manually," Wednesday said. "They weren't that sophisticated."

"It's that door," Luna said, pointing across the courtyard.

"It's an interesting map," Carter said, once they'd reached the hidden map room just off the palace kitchen, quickly getting by the disarmed traps. "Mechanical?"

"Given how the magic in Oz has deteriorated, if it had been magical it wouldn't have still been working," Granger said.

"The tiny furniture is gone," Luna said, poking around in the piles left over when Granger had dismantled the desk. "So there might still be someone, some tiny person living in the palace?"

"Or something else took it," Dawn said. "Do you recall what it was made from? Something a bug or rodent would find edible?"

"No signs of termites," Wednesday said. "I don't think we've seen any bugs while we've been in the palace."

"Didn't a giant bug run the local Oz Academy?" Andrew said.

"H. M. Woggle-Bug, T.E," Granger said. "But he seemed to be one of Baum's caricatures, not a real creature. A bug that was magnified by a magnifying glass and stayed large seemed too unbelievable even for Oz."

"Nothing else in here?" Carter asked.

"Nothing," Harry said. "If there was any evidence of Borrowers, they've taken it away."

"But you still believe that is what Glinda was referring to?" Carter said. Harry nodded. "Okay, let's take a look at Ozma. Maybe we'll find a clue there in her throne room."

"The Gump has fallen asleep again," Luna said, staring up at the creature on the wall. "There must not be enough ambient magic to keep him awake all of the time."

"We can wake him up later if we need to ask questions," Dawn said. "No point in using up what little magic is here if we don't need to."

"I wanted to say hello," Luna said. "I'm sure he was lonely all by himself."

"I'd like to talk to a Gump," Andrew said. "He must have all sorts of stories about Oz back when Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and Tin Woodman were here."

Carter sighed.

"It would keep him busy," Harry said in a low voice. "We should have left him playing with the map. He might have found something useful."

"Or set off a trap," Dawn said. "An unsupervised Andrew is a dangerous Andrew."

"So, Ozma?" Harry said, nodding at the doors to the throne room. "She's supposed to be very beautiful."

"For a teenager," Granger said. "She tended to look slightly older than Dorothy and the other young girls that she seemed to collect that stopped aging when they ended up in Oz."

"She's a fairy," Luna said. "They can look any age they want to. It probably made people underestimate her."

"I wonder if her Magic Picture exists or if that was a Baum invention," Harry said. "Couldn't we use that to find her wand?"

"That would be convenient. Do we know where it was supposed to be?" Carter said.

"In Ozma's private chambers," Granger said. "So we'll need to find them. It wouldn't show the wand but it should show the person who has it, if we know their name."

"That might be an issue," Harry said. "Would a generic name work? Or does it have to be their exact name?"

"Oz is a Fairyland," Luna said. "Probably need to know the person's true name for it to work."

"Well, let's take a look at Ozma," Carter said. "We can worry about that later." She pushed against the doors.

"Didn't you lock them when we left?" Dawn asked Luna when they opened for Carter.

"Yes," Luna said. "Curious..."

Carter strode right over to the crystal encasing Ozma. "And she isn't conscious like Glinda?" She took out her sonic and started scanning the encased ruler of Oz.

With a sigh, she stepped back, frowning. "It's not the same device used to trap Glinda. There is nothing Time related about it."

"But she's definitely alive in there?" Granger asked. "It looked like she was breathing when we were here earlier."

"Some kind of suspended animation?" Carter said. "I can read her life signs but that crystal just isn't registering. It's as if it isn't there."

"It's the wild magic," Luna said. "I don't think science will get her out of there. Not even ancient alien science."

"So, wand?" Dawn said. "Which means finding Ozma's private chambers. Were they ever mentioned in Baum's books?"

"Yes," Granger said. "There should be a door to them here somewhere. Probably hidden from the public."

Arrietty watched the human beans through the spy-hole she'd discovered in the throne room wall years ago, as they searched for the hidden door to the little Queen's chambers. Except for the Gump, which rarely talked, she'd been alone for a long time. Long enough that the regret from stowing away in that bag belonging to that candy maker had faded to a distant memory.

Oz, as the Gump called it, was unlike anything she'd ever dreamed of. She still didn't know how she'd ended up in this great green human bean city. It had been empty, except for the candy maker, his small workers, and the Gump, when she'd escaped from them. The Gump said the Queen was in the throne room, and there was a woman inside a large glowing crystal that she assumed was her, but she didn't seem to notice Arrietty when she'd explored the throne room.

She'd almost starved that first month, before finding a storage cupboard in a kitchen with things she could eat in it. It was still half full, the food somehow not spoiling over the long years. She'd made herself a hiding place in the old desk in the room next to the kitchen with the strange decoration on its wall.

A home that the human beans had destroyed, looking for something before disappearing for a week. She wasn't sure how to feel about that. They hadn't discovered her store room of things she'd borrowed over the years and probably didn't know she was here. She'd noticed a long time ago that it was in their nature to bumble about stepping on things and being generally destructive of perfectly useful things.

And now they were back and looking for something else, and expected to find it in the Queen's rooms. She wasn't sure what a wand was but the magic picture was probably that huge window that sometimes showed her pictures of her family if she looked at it long enough.

It was a good thing she had decided to relocate to a more protected location in the walls away from the kitchen. It took her further away from her food cupboard but over the years she'd learned to make do. Having to set up a new home took time and a lot of things in this Oz did not resemble the things she'd grown up with so she was busy with that. Pod would have known just what to do.

But he and Homily and the others weren't here. It was just her. She continued to watch them, wondering how long it would take for them to find the door. She didn't think it was very well hidden, but human beans could be blind to the obvious. But after so many years alone it was hard to stop watching them, no matter how dangerous it could be.