Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"I'd like to see this Ring," Joyce said, staring at the large object on the screen in the office. "In person."

"I'm not sure it's safe," Rona said. "We haven't cleaned it out yet. We've been focusing on the Ring."

"Who's guarding it?" Xander asked, frowning.

"Millie and her partner," Rona said.

"Millie and Vinnie?" Xander said. "Weren't they up at that portal in Scotland?"

"They just rotated off of that assignment," Rona said. "They were looking for something a little less stressful, and they're less likely to wander around looking for adventure."

"Millie and Vincent are fun," Brittany said, grinning. "They always look so serious."

"I don't think I've met them," Joyce said.

"They apparently know Holmes' people," Rona said. "Millie said she'd rather stay on this side of that Ring than be anywhere near the Potter mania. Vinnie started a betting pool on how long it would take for Potter to drive Giles crazy."

"The Ring?" Joyce said, once Brittany stopped giggling.

"As long as you have an escort," Rona said. "I'm not telling Buffy I let you wander around this horror show by yourself."

"I think Xander and Brittany can handle that," Joyce said.

Xander sighed, but didn't object. "As long as you listen to us, Joyce-mom," he said.

"I want to see the Glass Elevator," Brittany said. "I've always wanted to go for a ride in it."

"Did you want to come with us, Enid?" Joyce said. "It should be perfectly safe."

Xander groaned, shaking his head. "Now you've done it," he said.

"We're just going to look?" Enid said. "I'm not dressed for Wednesday level shenanigans."

"Yes," Joyce said, glaring over at Xander. "No adventures planned. I'm just curious."

Rona nodded. "We have a small armory if you need anything," she said to Xander.

"All set," he said. "We packed just in case back at the main office."

Brittany nodded. "Got the pointy things." She flashed a long thin blade.

"Anything you want us to bring to Millie and Vinnie?" Xander said.

"Not at the moment. Just bring them back in one piece," Rona said, waving them out of her office.

"That's the plan," Xander said. "Shall we ladies?"

Chapter Text

"We should probably find something better than that if there's going to be a lot of traffic," Xander said, looking at the collection of scaffolding and ladders leaning against the side of the factory. "Looks like a strong wind could blow it down."

"A little exercise won't hurt," Joyce said, shaking her head. "How do you keep up with Brittany?"

"I give him a head start," Brittany said, winking at Xander.

"Safety first," Xander said, striking a pose. "Saves trips to the infirmary, for those of us who don't bounce when we fall off things."

"As long as you believe that," Brittany said, giggling.

"No door at ground level?" Enid said, grimacing.

"Nope," Xander said, looking down at a piece of paper with lines drawn on it. "The entrance to the Ring is in the middle of this section. It's up to the roof, a bit of walking and down through the roof."

"I'll go first," Brittany said, grabbing the ladder to the first level of the scaffold. Giving them a wave she quickly scrambled to the top. "Easy!" she shouted down. "Sturdier than it looks."

"Slayers," Xander said, sighing. "Okay, off we go. One at a time."

"Higher up than it looks," Joyce said, looking around the vast expanse of empty roof. "Next stop?" She pointed at a large tent out in the middle of the roof.

"Next stop," Xander agreed. "Should be cameras here somewhere so Rona can keep an eye on it."

"One there, there, and there," Enid said, pointing at the tent, and several other places on the roof.

"That's good for a non-slayer," Xander said, nodding.

"Being watched makes my senses sort of tingle," Enid said, shrugging.

"The magic hiding them makes my senses tingle," Brittany said, as they trekked across the roof.

"Long way down?" Joyce said once they were all inside the tent. A large hole surrounded by a metal railing, with a gate, contained a ladder leading down into the factory.

"Slayers first," Brittany said, stepping through the gate. "See you at the bottom." Grabbing the sides of the metal ladder, she jumped into the hole and quickly slid out of site. A minute later her voice drifted up to them "Down! Next!"

"Typical slayer," Xander said, sighing. "Yeah, let's not do it that way," Xander shook his head. "Same order as the trip up."

"I can ladder it," Enid said. "Leaping into the unknown isn't my thing." Stepping onto the ladder, she carefully made her way down into the factory.

"To be that young again," Joyce said, waiting to hear Enid's shout before stepping onto the ladder herself.

"You're not fooling anyone," Xander said, before her head disappeared down the hole. Her only response was a quick laugh.

"And last," Xander muttered, after hearing Joyce shout up at him. Swinging onto the ladder, he quickly made his way down, joining the others at the bottom.

The door into the Ring room as open when Xander reaches the bottom, with one person leaning against the wall.

"Hey Vinnie," Xander said. "Looking good."

"Harris," Vinnie said. "Come to see?"

"Large glass box and a large metal ring?" Xander said. "Wouldn't miss it. Anything exiting happen?"

"Quiet," Vinnie said.

"The others gone inside?" Xander said. Vinnie shrugged. "Right," Xander said. "Guess I'll go look. Keep up the good work." With a nod, Xander slipped into the so called 'Gate Room'. To his right was the glass elevator that apparently took a very smart person to operate. It could wait.

To his left was the large Ring that everyone seemed to be interested in. Millie was off to the side just observing. Occasionally he wondered what kind of boarding school produced Millie and Vinnie. And how the same place had produced self proclaimed chaos agent Harry Potter.

"What do you think," he said, stopping next to Millie. "Something special or a movie prop?"

Millie raised an eyebrow. "It's something," she said. "Not seeing the attraction but Ms. Summers seems to think so. Doesn't ping for any visiting slayer."

Xander looked over at Joyce who was leaning against the Ring, one hand on it with a frown on her face. "Yeah, movie prop was the least likely, unless Hollywood has started building real portals."

Joyce turned to him and gestured him over. "And that's my signal," he said. "If you have any useful insides let someone know," he added before heading to the Ring."

"Don't poke a sleeping dragon," Millie said in a low voice, shrugging.

"What do you think?" Xander asked Joyce, looking up at the large metal-ish ring. "Cracker-jacks prize?"

"Not my first," Joyce said, shrugging. "Though it gives off a slightly different vibe than the ones I've run into before. And then there's the extra setting."

"Extra setting?" Xander said, stepping back from the ring and looking at the entire thing. "How do you even know what the settings are?"

"There are ten," Joyce said, pointing at indentations along the rim. "The nine normal ones and that one over there." She pointed at a spot on the ring that seemed to blend in. "When Dawn and Sam went through they didn't set that one."

"Any idea what it's for?" Xander said. "Think they just missed it?"

"Daniel Jackson is with them," Joyce said, frowning. "He should have noticed it, unless something hid it from them."

"One of your 'time travel' things?" Xander said. "Or other?"

"Other," Joyce said. "We might need an expert to confirm that. Which I'm not. I was more of a tourist."

"A non-portal expert?" Xander said. "Because our borrowed portal expert is on the other side of that thing." He waved vaguely at the large ring.

"I'll have to make a call," Joyce said. "Tonight. I'm sure Sam has everything under control wherever they ended up."

"So, trust in the General and call your backup expert. Got it," Xander said. "Seen enough?"

"For now," Joyce said. Looking towards the glass box, she raised her voice. "Enid? Looked around enough? We can come back tomorrow."

"Sure," Enid said, joining them.

Chapter Text

Watching the human beans poke around the throne room, Arrietty tried to figure out what they were doing to find the little Queen's chambers. They were acting almost like Pod when he was searching for something in a new place. But they weren't Borrowers, so it didn't make much sense to her the way they were moving around.

There were so many things she'd forgotten since coming here. That silver stick two of them were waving around. She couldn't remember ever seeing anything like that, but maybe she was just getting old?

She was sure she still had birthdays but couldn't remember when her last one was. It had been a long time ago, but the days in this Oz just seemed to blur together. She must be getting older but looking in the mirror she still saw her twenty year old face.

And she couldn't remember why she'd gotten into that bag. Or what had happened since going on that trading trip with Spiller. The memories were just gone. Nothing between leaving and hiding in that bag.

Having such a hole in her memories was worrying. Was she now living with Spiller? Had she moved out, leaving Pod and Homily behind? Had she moved in with some other borrower? Was she still a Clock?

But she could still see Pod and Homily, and sometimes Spiller, in that picture so it couldn't really be that long ago. They didn't seem to be missing her, so they must have known where she was.

The only thing positive about living in this green place was being able to hone her borrowing, something her father had always been very reluctant to let her to do, even when there hadn't been much choice. She liked to think she was now an expert borrower. Maybe almost as good as her father.

Suddenly, the human beans stopped talking.

Luna stopped moving, tilting her head. "Shh! Someone is watching us," she said, in a whisper.

"What?" Granger said, in a low voice, looking around the throne room. "Where?"

"In the walls," Luna said. She frowned, listening for something only she could hear. "Stay back. Don't frighten them," she said, when Harry started to get closer. "They're curious about us. If they run away we'll never find Ozma's wand."

"Do they have it?" Carter asked in a whisper, not moving.

"They know where it is," Luna said. "But I don't think they know what it is."

"How are they watching us?" Andrew said. "Magic?"

"Old throne room?" Harry said. "Some kind of spy hole? Shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Find the entrance to the Queen's chambers first," Carter said. "Finding our watcher can wait. If they're curious they'll come to us."

"Can you See them yet?" Wednesday whispered, after silently moving next to Luna.

"Not directly," Luna whispered. "Something is still shielding them."

"Interesting," Wednesday said. "I've had no visions of anyone watching us either."

"How reliable is your Sight?" Carter asked, her eyes scanning the wall behind the throne.

"I only see possibilities," Luna said. "If something might happen, I should see it. But I'm not. I know there's one possibility where our watcher helps us find Ozma's wand, but I'm not seeing them."

"It's like Slayer hunting magic," Andrew said excitedly. "You know, how a slayer can stay hidden even if you know they're there. Like magical camouflage."

"It's nothing like that," Wednesday said. "And that isn't magic, just a way of being still. Most eyes just slide off of that stillness."

"So, find Ozma's chambers, and the magic picture, and then we'll find the wand and our watcher?" Harry said.

"And free Ozma," Luna said, nodding.

"Of course," Granger said.

Chapter Text

"There's something here," Dawn said, tapping a panel directly behind Ozma's throne. "A secret panel?"

"Hmm," Granger said, pointing her probe at the section of wall Dawn was pointing at. She frowned at the results. "It's a different material from the rest of the wall," she said. "But it's not something I recognize."

"Sam?" Dawn said.

Sam joined them and scanned the section of wall with her sonic. "It looks like it's a laminated material. A layer of crystal between several layers of thin wood." She adjusted her sonic and scanned a larger area of wall.

"Is it a door?" Harry said. "How do we open it?"

"There are no hinges or any kind of mechanism," Carter said, frowning. "If it's the door to Ozma's chambers, I'm not not seeing any way to open it."

"Magic!" Andrew said. "We're in Oz, so it probably needs magic."

"If we need Ozma's wand, that's going to be a problem," Dawn said.

"We have a magic user here," Harry said, nodding at Luna.

"My magic is still unstable," Luna said. "It's more likely to vanish the entire wall and everything behind it."

"Let's not do that," Carter said.

"Is it an actual door?" Granger said. "Or something you can walk through if you're Ozma?"

"A magic portal of some sort?" Dawn said.

Andrew pressed on the wall with both hands. "It has some give to it, doesn't it? Maybe if we all pressed on it together?"

Dawn sighed, and moved Andrew away from the wall. "It's a thin material. If there's nothing behind it, there will be some give to it."

Wednesday followed his example, and leaned against the panel, frowning. "Not feeling anything," she said. "It's a solid wall." Luna nodded in agreement.

"Next," Dawn said, waving at Harry. "We might as well all try it."

"Nothing," Harry said, pushing against the panel.

Shaking her head, Carter also pressed on the wall. "No visible movement," she said. "That just leaves you, Dawn."

Dawn grimaced, but nodded. Placing both hands on the center of the panel, she pushed against the wall. "What?" she murmured, stepping back from the wall. Shaking her hands, she leaned forward and pressed her hands against the wall again.

With a large popping sound, Dawn fell through the wall, disappearing from sight.

"See?" Andrew said. "I didn't imagine it!"

Chapter Text

Dawn tumbled forward through the panel, her hands slapping against a cold floor, preventing her face from hitting the floor. She lay there for a minute, before pushing herself up from the floor. Turning, she could see vague shapes moving on the other side of the panel.

Turning back around, she carefully moved into the center of the small chamber she found herself in. The walls were painted white, with gold scrollwork. A door was opposite the panel she'd fallen through, with a large gold O centered on it.

"Go forward? Or go back," Dawn said. Sighing, she turned around. "Responsible adult it is," she mumbled. "This is going to hurt," she said. Placing both hands on the panel, she pushed again. There was another loud pop and she fell back through into the throne room.

Hands caught her, as she fell, preventing her from hitting the ground.

"Hi Dawn," Luna said, holding her up. "You found it."

"I found something," Dawn said, straightening up. "Thought I'd come back before doing any exploring."

"Good idea," Carter said, nodding.

"What's on the other side," Granger said.

"It's a small empty room, maybe two meters square. There's a closed door with Ozma's symbol on it," Dawn said. "You can see through that but it's like looking through frosted glass in a shower."

"Probably so you don't run into someone on the other side," Granger said.

"Or so you can suddenly appear, like magic," Andrew said excitedly. "Mysterious like the Wizard."

"Did you see anything that looked like a door knob? Control panel?" Harry asked. "It's going to take a while to explore if you are the only person who can go through that."

"A camera would be useful," Carter said, "assuming you can take it with you."

"You're in luck," Granger said. "Give me second." She went over to the corner where they'd put their bags. She dug in her bag for a minute. "Here," she said, handing a small black object to Dawn. "Clip that on. It likely won't have a very long range here but we should be able to hear you and see what you're looking at on my phone."

"Can you hear me while I'm wearing it?" Dawn asked.

"You'll need the earpiece," Granger said. "Has the same range as the camera. Don't lose them. I don't have spares with me."

"Let's test that before you go back through," Carter said.

"Definitely," Dawn said. She clipped the small camera to her blouse pocket, and put the earpiece in her right ear. "Other side of the throne room first?"

"And out into the hall, at least as far as the Gump," Harry said. "That tech can be finicky."

"I've modified it," Granger said smugly , "so it's not as 'finicky' as the tech you're used to."

"When we get back, you and I need to have a chat," Harry said, sighing.

"We'll see," Granger said, smirking at him. "I'm not your Q, as you may remember."

"Focus," Carter said. "Dawn, you and Luna head to the other side."

"Yes, Not-Mom," Dawn said. "Come on," she said to Luna. They quickly hustled across the the room. "Can you hear me now?" Dawn said, turning in a circle. The video on the phone rotated, showing the throne room in a small window. She took several steps to her left. "Can you hear me now?"

"Cute," Carter said, shaking her head. "Can you hear us?"

"Yes," Dawn said, her voice clearly coming through Granger's phone.

"Good," Carter said. "Now go to the Gump."

"We need video too," Andrew said, scribbling a note to himself. "Not sure if Willow has done anything with that yet."

"They break in the field," Wednesday said. "Rosenberg is still working on something a slayer can use."

"Oh," Andrew said, clearly disappointed.

"We've used a similar setup," Carter said, "but they're a little bulkier. So add another request for a demonstration," she said to Granger.

"I'm sure we can work something out," Granger said. "A trade of some sort."

"I can find something to trade also," Harry said. "I'm sure I can get something you need."

"The General has cooler toys," Granger said. "I already have all of your tech."

"Can you see the Gump?" Dawn's voice said, coming out of the phone.

"A little fuzzy," Granger said, frowning. "Probably needs to be tweaked to handle the different energy levels."

"It's good enough for now," Carter said. "Dawn, come back here."

"Yes, ma'am," Dawn said. They could hear Luna giggling in the background.

Chapter Text

"As you can see, there's nothing here," Dawn said, slowly turning in a circle in the small room. "Just that see-through panel, and the door on the opposite side."

"No visible way to open the panel," Carter said. "And the door?"

"No door knob," Dawn said. "But there's a slightly worn spot here." She pressed on it, and there was a sharp click. The door sunk several inches into the wall. "Now what?"

"It's a sliding door?" Harry said. "Four possible opening directions."

"If it followed our convention it would slide to the left," Granger said. "But this is Oz so…"

"It's likely to be in the opposite direction from the worn spot," Carter said. "But try all directions, at a slight angle."

Dawn pushed up on the door. "Not up," she murmured. "And not down," she added, pushing down on the door. "Not much leverage to go right." She pressed right. "A little movement. It's a little loose."

"That just leaves the left side," Carter said.

Dawn hummed, and pressed on the door, leaning left as she pressed on it. "It's moving," she said. "Could use a slayer for this. Probably hasn't been opened in a long time."

The door opened just wide enough for Dawn to slip through, before sticking. "Looks like that's it," Dawn said, stepping through the door. "Are you seeing this?"

"Fancy furniture," Luna said. "And more doors. Four?"

"Is that the magic picture window on that wall?" Granger asked. "It's not very large."

"Do we think this is Ozma's private chambers?" Dawn said, turning. "It's big enough in here for a decent party."

"For when Ozma wanted private audiences with her court?" Luna said. "That's what I'd use it for."

"I'm going to check the doors before looking at that picture. Maybe one of them goes somewhere else in the palace."

"Just be careful, Dawn," Carter said.

"Clockwise?" Dawn said, standing in the middle of the room. She moved to the closest door to her right. "At least they have doorknobs this time." Dawn opened the door and peaked in. "Personal office? Nice desk. Bookshelves with actual books on them."

"So Wonka didn't find it?" Granger said. "Messy? Neat?"

"Save it for later," Carter said. "What's behind the other doors?"

"Okay," Dawn said. "We'll come back to this one." She closed the door and moved to the next door and opened it. "Bedroom of some sort," she said, stepping into the room to give the camera a good view. "Ozma must like fluffy pillows. I wonder how soft that mattress is? And a large closet?"

"Probably shouldn't poke around in her private bedroom," Luna said.

"Yeah, let's not be creepy," Dawn said, grimacing. She closed the bedroom door, and opened the door next to the bedroom. "A large bath? Just what every queen needs."

"Running hot water?" Andrew said. "How does Ozma like her bath?"

"We don't need to know that," Carter said. "Check the last door."

Dawn cautiously opened the last door. "A hallway," she said, leaning out into it. "Doesn't look familiar."

"So there's another entrance to Ozma's chambers," Harry said. "We just need to find it. Is there any way you a block that door open?"

"And if it's trapped like the other hallways?" Dawn said. "Would rather not trip over one."

"It can't be far from here," Granger said. "Not more than a hundred meters from the throne room, based on where that door is in the room."

"We'll come find you," Harry said. "Must be an offshoot from the main hallway."

"Plenty to look at in here," Dawn said. "Even if we don't creep and ignore Ozma's private bedroom and bath."

Chapter Text

Wilma and Daisy spent the morning after Carter and the others left for the Emerald City exploring Glinda's palace. They discussed their findings with Matilda, Glinda, Bones, and Daniel when they stopped for lunch.

"Whomever trapped Glinda and her people in the palace didn't leave any evidence," Daisy said. "The only possible sabotage appears to be a pile of large stones blocking a large door, near the soldier's barracks. It smells like an armory."

"Matilda, could you ask Glinda how many of her people should be in her palace?" Wilma said. "Are they all here? And what does she want to us to do about them?"

"It would take us days to put all of them in their quarters," Daisy added. "Unless she has some way to magic them to their beds. But any that are in dangerous places we can move."

"Like that guard outside?" Daniel said, looking up from the Book of Records.

"And there are a few who fell asleep in the middle of hallways and doors," Daisy said. "We should probably do something about them."

"All of my maids and girl soldiers are accounted for," Glinda said, after several minutes. "I can feel all of them. Everyone was in the palace when time stopped."

"And do any of them need to be moved, and to where?" Wilma said.

"I can feel that they are all in the palace," Glinda said. "But there isn't enough magic for me to see where."

"How often did Wonka visit Oz?" Daniel said, carefully turning a page. "So far I've only found two times after you were frozen. And nothing about the Gate."

"The Book does record everything," Glinda said. "But there's so much in it that it is easy to miss something."

"Where did it come from?" Bones asked. "Has it always been in Oz? And who made it?"

"I can't say," Glinda said. "It simply appeared one day, and I've protected it ever since. The palace was originally built to keep it safe."

"It's definitely a magical artifact," Matilda said. "Not sure it has a brain but I can feel it poking around in my head."

"There are times where it seemed to direct one's attention to specific places," Glinda said. "It isn't really alive."

"Oz has a lot of things that are alive, that you wouldn't expect," Daniel said.

"Such as?" Wilma said.

"Just off the top of my head... there's the Gump. And the Scarecrow," Daniel said. "Strictly speaking, they aren't living creatures but are alive."

"And the Tin Woodman?" Matilda said.

"I suspect he's an exception," Daniel said. "He was a real person, Nick Chopper, and whenever he accidentally chopped something off, like an arm, or leg, it was replaced by a mechanical tin version. Until, eventually everything was replaced."

"Which would only happen in Oz," Matilda said. "You can't just chop all of your parts off and still be living. Unless you have magic."

"Is the whole chopping experience recorded in the Book?" Daisy said. "Would Glinda have noticed and stopped it from happening?"

"It doesn't work quite like that," Glinda said. "The Book records everything, but there's so much information going into it that it's easy to miss something important."

"Like whomever attacked the Emerald City or here?" Wilma said. "It doesn't seem to be very useful for preventing things from happening."

"It needs to be something big before it stands out from the rest of the pages," Glinda said. "Small, simple events tend to get lost in the Book."

"What decides what is important or not?" Daniel said.

"Everything, every event, is important," Glinda said. "But some make a larger impression on the Book than others. And some people are able to read the Book easier than others. They can see the deep details."

"Does it have an active defense?" Daniel said. "I'm assuming the only reason we're able to read it is that we came in with it."

"Is that the Ring?" Matilda said, leaning over Daniel's should to get a better look at the book. "It's bigger than I thought it would be."

"There are Rings in space," Wilma said. "What? It was in the briefing. They had little tiny spacecraft that could go through a Ring."

"Does the Book see everything?" Daisy said. "If someone got lost, would it tell us?"

"The Book of Records is just that," Glinda said. "It's just a record of things that happened all over the world, not just here."

"While it's interesting, and can be useful, we should not be relying on it," Wilma said. "It only tells us the 'what', not the 'why'. And I may only be a slayer, but sometimes it's the 'why' that tells us what we need to know. It doesn't tell us what Wonka was doing in Oz, just when and where."

"He was looting the city," Bones said. "Anything that wasn't nailed down, he'd try to bring back to the British Museum. And he probably didn't know where or what much of it was."

Chapter Text

"So, where do we find your non-portal expert?" Xander asked, once they'd climbed down off the factory roof, and reached the Council Rover. "And what are they an expert in?"

"I don't think there is really anything they don't know," Joyce said. "But Sam is the 'portal expert' so they're called the non-portal expert."

"This is one of those Cali Girl Buffy things, isn't it," Xander said. "Maximum confusion to the unwary. A feature not a flaw."

"Dawn came up with that actually," Joyce said, shrugging. "I'll need something out of my bag," she added, waving at the vehicle. "I don't normally have it on me."

Xander nodded, unlocking the Rover. Pulling open the boot, he grabbed her carry-on bag and pulled it out.

Joyce gave them all a firm look. "You didn't see me doing this," she said, unzipping a side pocket and sticking her entire arm into the pocket. It took her a minute to find whatever she was looking for.

"A carry-on bag that is bigger on the inside?" Xander said. "Nope, didn't see that."

"Didn't see anything like that either," Brittany said, nodding solemnly.

"Wednesday has something like that," Enid said. "She won't say where she got it from. It bites anyone who tries to open it."

"This doesn't bite," Joyce said. "I suspect hers works in some special Addams way. This, is just a bit of alien science. Which you didn't see."

"Let me guess," Xander said, groaning. "The answer rhymes with time travel."

"I can neither confirm or deny," Joyce said. Pulling her hand out of the impossible pocket, she held up a slim phone-like object. "I'll be right back," she said, stepping away from the Rover. Putting the device to her face, she started talking in a low voice.

All three of them watched her, as she had a conversation with much waving of hands.

"Tricky," Brittany said. "Can't hear her. Just a buzzing."

"More 'alien' science?" Xander guessed.

"You don't seem surprised," Enid said.

"One Halloween, Buffy got turned into an elf," Xander said. "It was a big thing. She always claimed she'd turned into an alien, not an elf. And then there's General Carter, who does something related to portals for the US Government."

"There was a seminar a few years ago for all the slayers," Brittany said. "How to identify real aliens and who to call if you run into one. No one has run into aliens yet so…" She shrugged.

"This Joyce stuff is a bit different. Her alien thing is different from General Carter's alien thing.," Xander said. "And the governments, none of the ones we work with anyway, claim to do actual time travel."

Joyce put the communicator in a pocket, zipped up her carry-on, and lifted it back into the boot.

"She was in the middle of something, but should be able to join us shortly," Joyce said.

"Tracking device in your thing?" Xander said. "Or do we need to meet this person somewhere specific."

"On the roof," Joyce said, "would probably be best. She'll come right to us."

Xander nodded, locking the Rover. He waved at the ladder. "Shall we ladies? Don't want to keep the expert waiting."

Chapter Text

"I'll just poke around while I wait for you to find that door," Dawn said.

"It shouldn't take long," Luna said, in her ear. "Remember how fast Wednesday went through those other traps."

"She should probably do a seminar some time," Dawn said. "It seems like a useful skill to have. Not just that obstacle course idea."

"Can you look at the magic picture?" Granger said.

"Not Ozma's office?" Dawn said. "Lots of paper and books."

"Unless you think the wand is in there, it can wait," Carter said. "If, as we suspect, the attack was a complete surprise, there wouldn't be any evidence about it in her office. It's all in her head."

Nodding, Dawn turned until she was facing the large picture. "Do you think that is it?"

"Is there any other large picture on a wall?" Granger said. "Did you see one in her bedroom or office?"

"Nope," Dawn said. "No other pictures, not even portraits. That seems a little odd, doesn't it?"

"Could be cultural," Granger said. "Some societies believe that drawing someone's picture can lead to bad karma. Though there might be statues instead."

"Or, if they are portraits of previous rulers, there might be a separate gallery for them," Luna said. "The noble families where I grew up often had the important portraits in the family private library or in hallways in private spaces. Though that could be because they were alive and you could talk with them."

"Alive how?" Granger said.

"Magic," Luna said. "They knew things. It's not something I ever studied, my father refused to have any portraits in our house and they were all kept in the family vault."

"She's making a note to herself," Andrew said, in a faux whisper. "Once we leave Oz, she's going to be interrogating us for weeks. Who's going to be the good cop?"

"I'm just curious," Granger said. "Just in case I forget to ask later."

"I think it's cute," Luna said, giggling.

"The Royal library didn't have any portraits," Dawn said. "And the only thing I've seen on a wall was that palace map and the Gump."

"If Ozma had a picture that could show her things, and Glinda has that book, the people of Oz might not want things on their walls that could watch them," Carter said.

"Okay, I'm in front of it," Dawn said. "It has a metal frame of some sort. It's just a picture of a large metal castle in an empty field. Nothing moving. Does someone know how it works, assuming this is it?"

"It's not showing up here," Granger said. "It's very blurry. The picture should change, though I don't know how often."

"If it requires magic, and there is very little magic left in Oz, it may not change very often," Carter said.

"Just ask it," Luna said. "Ask it to show you something?"

"Anything specific?" Dawn said.

"What did Ozma use it to see in the books?" Carter said.

"Dorothy used it to see her Aunt Em, and Uncle," Granger said.

"Okay," Dawn said. "Hopefully it doesn't require lots of hand waving or the wand. I want to see Mom," she said, in a firm voice.

"Is anything happening?" Granger said.

"Low magic levels," Luna said. "Give it time."

"Huh. And now it's changing to something else," Dawn said, "Not sure what that is yet."

"Dawn? Are you in there?"

"Oops, looks like I have company," Dawn said. "And it's still blurry, but there are four people standing in front of something. I wonder where Mom is?"

"I was supposed to meet her at Heathrow a few days ago," Carter said.

"And you weren't there? Wouldn't want to be in your shoes, Sam," Dawn said.

"She'll understand, I hope," Carter said.

"Dawn?"

"Coming!" Dawn said. "I need to get that." Turning, Dawn crossed the room to the door into the hallway. "Wednesday! Harry! You found me. Come on it."

"I'll go back for the others," Wednesday said. "Don't go anywhere. The rest of the hallway is still boobytrapped."

"Fancy," Harry said, looking around. "Find anything interesting?"

"Just the magic picture," Dawn said, leading him over to it. "Sam said there probably isn't much magic needed for it to work."

"Still life?" Harry said, leaning forward. "I don't recognize any of them."

"The picture isn't visible to the camera," Dawn said. "It's just a blur to everyone else. But that's my mother, and Xander, and a slayer. Not sure who the fourth person is."

"Do they know we can see them?" Harry said. "Looks like they're outside the factory. This would make a great intelligence asset."

"None of the Oz sources mentions that," Granger said. "But at least we know it works."

"We'll be there in several minutes," Carter said. "Try not to use it until we get there. We have no idea how much magic it needs to work."

"Got it," Dawn said. "No experimenting until the big brains get here."

"And the rest of us," Luna said, giggling.

Chapter Text

Turning around, Dawn watched the entire Emerald City team troop into Ozma's chambers from the hallway. "No one watching Ozma?" she said, taking the earpiece out.

"Spare camera," Granger said, holding up her phone. "If anyone enters the throne room we'll hear or see them."

"We all wanted to see the magic picture," Luna said, bouncing excitedly on her feet.

"And no one wanted to hear Andrew whinge about missing it," Carter said to Dawn, in a low voice.

"Gotcha," Dawn said. She turned back to the magic picture. "It's really slow switching between locations. Five minutes or so to become fully visible."

"Is that motion?" Andrew said, squinting. "Did I just see someone move? Who's the fourth person?"

"It's Wednesday's wolf," Luna said. "Did you know she was visiting? And that she knows Ms. Summers?" she asked Wednesday.

"She must have caught an early flight," Wednesday said. "We're supposed to meet up and visit relatives of mine next week. I don't know how she came to be at the factory with Ms. Summers, but she is very good at meeting people."

"It's not live action," Dawn said, staring at the changing picture. "Not exactly video. If we want to use it to search for anything, we're going to need to find a power source, or fix Oz."

"So, using it to find Ozma's wand?" Carter said.

"Is going to be frustrating. Very frustrating," Dawn said, nodding. "But maybe we'll get lucky?"

"What kind of power source?" Granger said. She waved her silver probe at the picture. "We don't have any way of getting more Ozian magic."

Carter examined the frame. "There's faint writing on it," she said. "Blends in with the frame. I'm sure I've seen it before somewhere." She took out her sonic, adjusted it and traced the frame.

"Tolkien was here?" Andrew said. "That looks like Sindarin, but doesn't make any sense."

"At least it's not Klingon," Harry said. "I'm sure someone has a translator on their phone for all of the Tolkien languages."

"Only enough to record it," Granger said. "I would need a connection back to my office to get an actual translation, assuming it actually is Sindarin."

"Any good linguist can probably read that," Dawn said, frowning. She carefully traced the writing on the frame. "Except it doesn't make any sense. It's the correct alphabet but those are nonsense words. Maybe Dr. Jackson can translate it? Do you remember where you've seen it before, Sam?"

"No," Sam said. "But the frame seems to be made from an oddly familiar alloy. Not quite the same as the Ring, but close."

"So, the Ring might have been built in Oz? How did Wonka get the one in his factory?" Granger said.

"Earth is littered with similar artifacts," Sam said. "It's possible he just found it somewhere, and figure out how to use it to come to Oz."

"What else can we look at?" Harry said. "It's great that we can see things outside of Oz but that's going to be boring unless we can juice it up."

"Ozma's wand," Luna said. "That's what we wanted to find the magic picture for. If we find the wand we might be able to unfreeze Ozma."

"Okay," Dawn said. She thought for a moment and then addressed the magic picture. "I want to see Ozma's wand."

The picture didn't change, remaining the slowly moving image of Xander, Joyce Summers, and the others.

"You have to visualize what you want to see," Granger said. "What kind of wand did you ask for?"

"Something like Luna's," Dawn said. "Don't they all look the same?"

"Ozma's wand is a bit bigger," Granger said. "Closer to a scepter. It would have been molded after a mace to represent the martial prowess of the ruler."

"Hmm..." Dawn thought for a moment. "Probably something fancy? With jewels and 'Oz' on it somewhere. Not something you'd actually hit someone with. I want to see Ozma's scepter."

The magic picture slowly changed. In the center was a long golden stick, tapered and encrusted will a large number of gems. There were several places that looked like handholds, and at the thicker end, 'Oz' in green and white crystals.

It seemed to be nestled in a pile of shiny trinkets. It seemed to glow with some inner light.

"That's fancy," Andrew said. "But where is it?"

"In a closet or trunk?" Carter said. "The picture doesn't give us any idea of scale or distance?"

"No," Granger said. "But it's not huge. There are several coins and a ring."

"It may take a while to search the entire palace for that," Wednesday said. "Unless there's some kind of magic to find it?"

"There are spells to find lost things," Luna said. "But my magic isn't stable enough yet for something requiring a light touch."

"So, you were right," Harry said. "We need to find our watcher, and they'll lead us to it?"

"That's still the most likely probability," Luna said.

"Can we use the magic picture to find our invisible watcher?" Harry said.

"We could try," Granger said, "but we don't know their name or what they look like."

"So, we know what the wand looks like now, but not the person who knows where it is," Dawn said. "Maybe there's a clue about them somewhere in here?" She turned in a circle. "Plenty of places to hide."

"The Queen's office? Or bedroom?" Wednesday said. "Or somewhere in this room?"

"No time like the present," Carter said. "We'll split up and search the rooms. Just be careful and non-destructive."

"Of course," Harry said. "That's Year One agent training, 'How to search an apartment without alerting anyone'. Just takes practice."

Chapter Text

"Do you think your expert can help us get everyone back from Wonka-land?" Xander asked, as they stood next to the tent on the factory roof. "And how are they getting here? Helo? Not sure how strong this roof is."

"Something a little more exotic," Joyce said. "The roof shouldn't be a problem."

"It feels like we're being watched," Enid said. "And not just by all of the cameras. Is that your expert?"

"Possibly, though unlikely," Joyce said. "Most people can't detect Idris unless she speaks directly to you."

"Idris? That's your friend's name?" Enid said. "What's she like?"

"No," Joyce said. "Idris is the name of her ship, who can be very chatty if she finds you interesting. Romanadvoratrelundar is an old friend."

"That's a mouthful," Xander said.

"No-one takes me seriously when I tell them to call me Fred," a musical feminine voice said, as a short, young looking woman with long blonde hair stepped out of the tent behind them. "But you can call me Romana."

"Didn't think the tent was big enough," Joyce said, pulling Romana into a hug.

"Idris is in a mood," Romana said, stepping back after a moment. "You know how she gets around magic."

"Is she still holding a grudge from that time Ethan Raine tried to hijack her?" Joyce said. "Or has that not happened yet?"

"I don't think we've encountered an Ethan Raine yet," Romana said.

"Ah," Joyce said. "I won't spoil things then. It was a couple years ago for Sam and myself."

"Something to look forward to then," Romana said. "And who are these lovely people? This must be Xander, based on Buffy's description."

"Yes," Joyce said. "An old friend of the family, the the current Counsel's Fix-it person."

"That's oddly accurate," Xander said. "I fix things people break. Lots of practice with this crew."

"A slayer?" Romana said, looking at Brittany. "We're post Sunnydale then."

"Yes," Joyce said. "We've really pulled you from somewhen else, haven't we. Are you traveling alone right now?" She gave Romana a concerned 'mom look'.

"As you know, Time isn't linear. Just dropped you and Sam off at the mountain," Romana said. "You know how that works. And you've picked up a shapeshifter?"

"Enid," Joyce said. "Her girl pal is with Dawn."

"I only have one form, a wolf," Enid said. "Didn't realize it was possible to shift into multiple creatures?"

"Like Joyce then," Romana said, nodding. "It seems to be a useful survival trait, though I don't have the ability myself."

"I don't think the universe is ready for that," Joyce said.

Romana shrugged. "You mentioned something about an unusual Ring design and a candy maker?"

"Willy Wonka," Joyce said. "Not sure what the story is but both Dawn and Sam and a few others, went through one of those portal Rings looking for him."

"Wednesday," Enid added. "And Luna, her partner."

"And some government spooks, and some of our people," Xander said.

"The good kind?" Romana said. "Or do we need to sneak around them."

"They mostly work for Mycroft Holmes," Xander said. "We have a decent relationship with him."

"One of the Holmes brothers?" Romana said. "Sneaking doesn't work very well around them. Shall we go see this Ring?"

Romana walked around the Ring, her sonic occasionally flashing as she pointed at something on it.

"What do you think?" Joyce asked.

"That tenth setting isn't something I've seen before," Romana said. "Seems to add a time component. And possibly a pocket dimension ability to the portal."

"Time?" Xander said. "So not just a portal but time travel?"

"Not exactly," Romana said. "I suspect it allows for travel to places that are outside this time stream. Where time moves faster or slower. I've read about experiments with that but usually there were serious drawbacks."

"So they could have gone somewhere where time moves faster or slower? Any way to tell?" Joyce said.

"Not until they come back," Romana said.

"Pocket universe?" Millie, who'd been watching them, said. "What's that mean?"

"Exactly like it sounds," Romana said. "A bubble in the fabric of space and time. Not very common in this dimension. It takes a lot of energy to create one, if it isn't natural. And the laws of science can be different."

"Can Idris take us to that one?" Joyce said. "Is it possible?"

"Not as currently configured," Romana said. "Theoretically, there might be a way, but we'd probably have to make a trip to Gallifrey to get the proper equipment. If it even exists."

"So, no guarantee?" Xander said. "Unless you feel like it's an emergency," he said to Joyce. "That we have to go get them from this pocket universe?"

"No, nothing like that," Joyce said. "Just worried. I know Sam will get them back."

"This Willy Wonka," Romana said, turning to look at the Glass Elevator. "Something of a mad genius? That's an interesting device. What do you know about him?"

"Not much," Joyce said. "I remember reading books about him to Buffy and Dawn when they were little. Didn't know he was a real person until recently."

"A real person that no one remembers outside of those books," Xander said. "Willow said the books were part of the reason people think he's fictional."

"Interesting," Romana said. Humming to herself, she headed towards the elevator. "What do we know about this?"

"Impossible to understand controls, and it can take you to anywhere in the factory, according to Granger," Millie said, who'd kept pace with her.

"Granger is one of the people who went through the Ring?" Romana said.

"One of Mycroft Holmes people," Xander said.

"She's a bit of a swot," Millie said. "Can be a bit obsessive when she finds something new."

"Lot's of smart people are like that," Brittany said. "Like a dog with a bone. It's best to let them be when it happens."

"You've known people like that," Joyce said, as they watched Romana examine the inside of the elevator.

"Yup," Brittany said. "I've learned to cope from experience."

"I recognize parts of the design," Romana said, stepping out of the elevator. "But the way they're used is unusual. It appears to be needlessly over complicated. It can wait." She nodded to herself.

Chapter Text

Title: Day 12 -
Author: acs
"Does the Book ever get any thicker?" Daniel said. "It must have thousands of pages in it."

"No," Glinda said. "It uses some very clever magic to allow you to go to a specific day. I'm not sure you would understand it if I tried to explain how it works."

Daniel flipped to the back of the Book. "It occasionally changes languages?"

"Yes and no," Glinda said. "It records in the language of the location of the events being recorded but there is a spell that translates the languages into that of the reader. Or it is supposed to."

"That's clever," Matilda said. "Is it something you can teach us? There are all sorts of books I'd like to read but don't know the language."

"If Daniel is seeing multiple languages, the spell must have worn off," Glinda said. "There may not be enough magic present to keep it working."

"I can see where Dawn's team came through the Ring," Daniel said. "That entire section is in English, except for a section in the Ancient's language recording the actions of the Ring."

"Does it have the co-ordinates for home that we need?" Matilda said.

"No," Daniel said. "I'm still searching for a record of when Wonka went back through the Ring, but searching through years of material will take time."

"Was that why you asked if the Book got thicker?" Matilda asked. "So you could get closer to what you're looking for."

"Yes," Daniel said, giving her a smile. "Without an index or table of contents, which many really old documents or manuscripts don't have, you learn different techniques for searching through something like this."

"Willow has a spell that lets her find a specific word or phrase in a book," Matilda said. "But it takes a lot more power than I have so I can't use it."

"The Book is also constantly updating," Daniel said, "so that makes it more complicated. For example, here's a new section." He pointed at a paragraph. "I can make it larger and it gives us a snapshot of an event." He demonstrated. "It records one of the Council, Xander Harris, and several others meeting someone at the factory, to look at the Ring."

"So they're trying to figure out the Ring from the other side?" Matilda said. "So they can come get us?"

"It appears so," Daniel said. "But the writing suddenly changes from our English to some kind of swirling circular language. They met someone at the Rind and suddenly that part of the Book is in a language I've never seen before."

"A swirling, circular language?" Glinda said. "Could I see the Book, please?"

"Sure," Daniel said. He held the book up so she could see that passage.

"It's a form of Gallifreyan," Glinda said. "Someone must have contacted a person from there. I can't read it myself but I do recognize it."

"Gallifreyan?" Daniel said. "I'm not familiar with that term."

"They're a very ancient race," Glinda said. "There are very few of them left. They tend to appear when someone has been dabbling with Time."

"You asked General Carter if she was from there," Matilda said. "Why?"

"A Gallifreyan craft leaves behind a faint unique residue on those who travel in them, and your Carter has it." Glinda said. "As if Time has touched them."

"It's possible she's run into someone from there," Daniel said. "We've been to a lot of places over the years. And experienced a few temporal events. But I can't be sure."

"Who does the Book say was there?" Matilda said. "Before it becomes unreadable."

Daniel peered at the Book. "It doesn't say other than Xander Harris and companions."

"While the Book does record everything, it doesn't record every single detail, second by second," Glinda said. "It'd be unusable if it did."

"I wonder who called in one of these Gallifreyans," Matilda said. "I don't think I've ever heard them mentioned."

"If they are actually looking for a way to get here we'll know soon enough," Daniel said. "If we don't find the Ring address first."

Chapter Text

"We need to find that scepter," Dawn said, looking at it in the magic picture. "Luna, do you still believe our watcher from earlier knows where it is?"

"Nothing has changed," Luna said. "I'm still seeing that as one of the possible outcomes, the only one where we find it and rescue Ozma."

"So what do we do?" Dawn said.

"Find that spy hole?" Harry said. "If they were using it they couldn't have gone far."

"Unless they were using magic or some kind of Ozian tech to watch us, it's in that wall," Granger said, pointing towards the throne room. "A hidden passage of some sort."

"We can't all cram into that room," Carter said. "Wednesday, you seem to be able to easily find traps here. How hard will it be to find a hidden passage?"

"It depends on how small they are?" Wednesday said. "And who it was made for?"

"We don't actually know what many of the Oz citizens are like physically," Harry said. "Weren't munchkins fairly short? And how big would one of those Borrowers be? Were they native to Oz?"

"From Glinda's book, I don't think they are native to Oz. Larger than fairies, but not by much, so not very tall," Granger said. "The furniture we found in the map room would have been usable by someone two to three inches tall."

"So we're looking for a hidden passage that is big enough for something at least three inches tall, but probably much more," Wednesday said. "Can either of those probes find empty spaces in walls?"

"Not yet," Granger said, frowning.

"Mine has a number of capabilities that I haven't figured out yet," Carter said. "It might."

"Can't we just tap on the walls?" Andrew said. "Or can either of those detect temperature differences? The wall isn't that thick. Won't a hidden passage be a different temperature."

"Possibly," Carter said. "It would depend on a number of factors."

"So, not simple," Dawn said. "Maybe that can wait? We haven't gone through Ozma's office yet. And we haven't really checked that magic picture. Maybe it can do more than show other places."

"Okay," Carter said, nodding. "We have a semblance of a plan then. Wednesday and Harry can search for that spy hole. I'll look through Ozma's office to see if there are any clues. Luna, if you and Dawn could see what else you can find out about the magic picture, that would be great."

"Got it," Harry said. "After you," he said to Wednesday. "There's probably a panel in the passageway."

"Or a Borrower can get into the walls," Wednesday said. "The spy hole might actually just be a hole in the wall."

"And me?" Andrew said, bouncing eagerly on his toes.

"The throne room really needs to be checked," Carter said. "Who knows what else is hidden in it? And do an inventory of our food."

"On it!" Andrew said, hurrying out of Ozma's chambers.

"He didn't bring any of his Klingon delicacies, did he?" Dawn said. "You know he's going to set up dinner for us."

"I don't think anyone checked," Carter said. "We were in a hurry."

"Oh joy," Dawn said, sighing. "Well Luna, shall we research a magic picture window?"

"I'd be delighted," Luna said, hooking her arm through Dawn's and pulling her to the picture.

"I guess I'll search Ozma's office," Carter said. "Hopefully she wrote in a language I know." She grimaced. Idris and her ability to provide language translations to her passengers would be really helpful now. Though, getting Romana's TARDIS to Oz would take a miracle.

Chapter Text

Having no desire to be Seen by the bumbling human beans, Arrietty slipped out of the Queen's chambers, climbing as high as she could get to in the wall, towards the ceiling. There was a large empty space above the throne room, where she stored a few things she'd borrowed. It was something like an attic but there was no entrance large enough for one of the humans.

She didn't know a lot about human bean architecture, other than what she'd seen over the years and the one old book she'd managed to read several pages of back when they'd lived in the parsonage. But she was sure a large face, that reached almost the ceiling of the attic, was not a normal feature.

There were a lot of things in the attic that she couldn't figure out, and had given up trying. She'd managed to drill holes in the ceiling, using a large pin she'd gotten from the Queen's bedroom, that let her see down into the throne room, though there usually wasn't anything to see. The girl in the large crystal, that the human beans called Ozma, has already been like that when she'd come to Oz in that bag.

If the human beans stayed in the Queen's chambers, she'd have to find another place to live. It was too risky. If she was a lot younger, she'd have introduced herself but she'd made a promise and would keep it. She didn't think there were any other Borrowers in Oz but just in case, she wasn't going to reveal herself.

Part of the throne room attic actually extended over the Queen's chambers and she'd dug out a hole looking down into it, so she could watch. Even after several days of secretly watching them, the actions of the human beans was still a little puzzling. Somehow they could talk between rooms. She wondered if that was like one of those telephones, though she didn't see any wires.

Most of the human beans were just odd, but one of them seemed to have an extra bit of oddness. A faint green glow surrounded them. It wasn't the same green as Oz, but a little darker. It moved like a cloud, always surrounding that one bean. She wondered what did that. It wasn't anything like any of the ghosts she'd seen.

She was keeping a close eye on that bean, just in case.

Sam stood in the doorway to Ozma's office. One entire wall behind Ozma's desk was covered in bookshelves. Another wall was covered with small portraits. She approached the portraits first. Some of them were familiar while others were not. Taking out her phone, she started taking photographs of them.

Several were fairly obvious. A metal man with an axe over one shoulder could only be the Tin Woodsman. A large lion was probably the Cowardly Lion. And the scarecrow was also obvious. She only recognized a few of them. The large tiger had her stumped.

A small boy sat on a wooden horse, in the center of the wall. A small girl in a fancy dress, fit for a fictional princess, was next to him. She was holding a small dog, that Sam assumed was Toto, making the girl Dorothy.

There are other girls on the wall, all dressed up like princesses for a fancy party. She wondered why they all seemed to be the same age, just barely in their teens.

Hopefully Granger could identify them for her later. Pictures taken, she went around the large desk and tried to make sense of the books. Something sparked, giving her a shock, when she tried to take one of the books off of the shelf.

She was shocked again when she tried to take a different book. "Not going to learn much from the books, then," she mumbled to herself. Turning, she examined the desk. It was mostly bare. Either Ozma was very good at keeping her desk clean, or it was rarely used. Reaching down, she pulled open one of the desk drawers. It came out silently, and empty.

Sam went through all of the drawers, finding nothing, not even a scrap of paper. Shaking her head, she took one last look around and left the room. She joined Dawn and Luna, who were staring at the magic picture.

"That was quick," Dawn said. "Learn anything?"

"There are a number of portraits," Sam said. "But Ozma's desk is completely empty, and there's some kind of protection on the bookshelves. It's possible that you can get past it, but all I got from it was sore fingers."

"Watching this picture is like watching paint dry," Dawn said. "It changes very very slowly. There's a clear picture every five minutes or so."

"What are you watching now?" Sam said.

"Recognize that person?" Dawn said, pointing at the short blonde woman standing with Joyce in front of the Ring. "Mom must have called her."

"We could use a little help of the Romana variety here," Sam said. "We may need an alternate way to free Glinda from the time lock in her palace."

"And Ozma," Luna said. "She's not stuck in time but a Time Lady has an education in all sorts of arcane sciences."

"Do I want to know how you know who Romana is?" Sam said.

Luna just shrugged. "Sometimes I just know things?"

"Part of seeing possibilities?" Dawn said.

"Not directly," Luna said. "Oh! Look, there's a metal dog."

"The TARDIS is parked on the roof," Dawn said. "How did K-9 get down that ladder?"

"K-9 is full of surprises," Sam said. "In this case, someone must have carried him down."

"Or they've cut out a door so you don't have to use the ladder to get to the Ring room," Luna said. "Or can the metal dog actually fly?"

"Might have seen plans for a version of K-9 that could fly," Sam said. "It's possible Romana has given K-9 flight."

"I wonder who is traveling with Romana now?" Dawn said. "If Mom is right there, and you're right here who could be with her?"

"Someone called Missy?" Luna said.

"Oh, that won't go well," Sam said. "Joyce and Missy don't really get along."

"Which is probably why we haven't seen her yet," Dawn said. "Romana probably has her locked down somewhere."

"That won't last very long," Sam said, grimacing. "We really need to find that scepter and get back."

"Nothing will happen that isn't supposed to happen," Luna said.

"And that's a bit ominous," Dawn said.

"I do what I can," Luna said.

Chapter Text

Harry looked around the tiny room between the throne room and Ozma's chambers. "Nothing here screams hidden entrance to a spy hole," he said.

"It wouldn't be hidden if we could see it," Wednesday said. "Unless it's a magical door, like that one," she tapped the entrance to the throne room, "it shouldn't be too hard to find."

"If it is, we'll have to get Dawn or Andrew to look for it. Because whatever magic that takes I don't have."

"It's not magical ability," Wednesday said. "Luna is the most powerful of all of us and she couldn't go through that panel. And Andrew could feel that it was there but only Dawn has whatever it takes to actually use it as a door."

"So, she's some kind of magical key?" Harry said. "I wonder what else she can unlock?"

"Things we don't ever discuss," Wednesday said. "Things that you won't speculate about and never mention to anyone." She poked him with her stiletto to emphasize the point.

"Okay," Harry said, carefully pushing it away from his chest. "Was only wondering. No plans to investigate an apparently sensitive subject."

"Many people have secrets that it would be best that no one knows," Wednesday said. "Even if one guesses. The misery of your childhood would be one of those things, though an Addams would wear that badge proudly."

"Yeah, let's not," Harry said. "I'm not an Addams."

"You could be, easily," Wednesday said. "But. I suspect we would have to fight Granger for you."

"No one beats Hermione in a fair fight," Harry said. "And nine times out of ten in an unfair one."

Wednesday made a noncommittal sound. "I suspect the entrance is in this wall," she said, tapping the wall to the left when facing the throne room. "It's not hollow, exactly, but it vibrates at a slightly different frequency in several places."

"So more than one?" Harry said. "But not magical?"

"Not magical," Wednesday said. She ran the fingertips on her right hand along a portion of the wall while tapping it with the but of her stiletto. "Put your hand here," she said, pointing at a section of wall. She tapped the wall again. And then had him move his hand over several feet while she continued to tap. "What do you feel?"

"That... was different. The first spot was a slow vibration while the second was a series of sharp taps." He frowned. "Which is the real wall?"

"The slow vibration is from the real wall," Wednesday said. "The sharp taps come from whatever mechanism holds the door shut."

"How'd you figure it out?" Harry said. "And how do we figure out where it is on this door?"

"I had an Addams childhood," Wednesday said. "You learn how to find hidden things in order to survive over enthusiastic relatives."

"Do we test the other wall?" Harry said. "Could it also have a secret entrance to something hidden in the walls?"

"There's a high probability that the other wall has a hidden passage also. If we can find the one in this wall, finding it in the other wall should be simple," Wednesday said.

"If I had some C4 we'd find it a lot faster," Harry said.

"If our little watcher is still in the wall, we don't want to turn them into paste," Wednesday said. "That would defeat the purpose of looking for them."

"A small drawback," Harry said. "But you have to admit an explosion would be a wee bit satisfying."

"I prefer a more subtle approach," Wednesday said. "I suspect you would get along very well with Pugsley and Uncle Fester."

"Fans of the fine art of redecorating with high explosives?" Harry said.

"And other things," Wednesday said. "And here it is," she added, running a thumb along a small section of wall. "You can barely feel the separation between the wall and the door. There must be an element of magic to its construction. I know it's there but can't actually see any difference."

"And how do we open it? Stab it?" Harry said. "Pound on it?"

"It shouldn't take much effort," Wednesday said. "Just need to find the correct place to apply pressure." She proceeded to apply pressure on the small square section of wall in a careful pattern.

"Nothing?" Harry asked a few minutes of watching. "Maybe it needs more pressure?"

"I've been pressing much harder than you would be able to," Wednesday said.

"Pressure point not on the wall, maybe?" Harry said. "Maybe on a different wall? Or the ceiling or floor?"

"Ceiling is unlikely," Wednesday said, looking up at the ten foot ceiling. "If it was there only a very tall person could get to it. But the floor?"

"Stand in the right spot and it opens?" Harry said. "Based on weight or stepping at the exact spot?"

"Weight would make it too easy for someone to accidentally find it," Wednesday said.

Harry squatted down on his heels and started scanning the floor for anything resembling a switch or pressure plate. "What about that?" he said, spotting two small indentations where the floor met the wall, several inches apart.

"Possibly," Wednesday muttered. She ran her hand over one of them. "Not soft and has no give to it." She then placed a thumb on each indentation. There was a low click and the section of wall she'd found swung in and out of sight.

"Well, that answers that," Wednesday said. "Looks like it's built for a small person."

"Must be magic of some sort," Harry said. "It's as if it was never there. Close it from the inside?"

"That's going to be a tight squeeze," Wednesday said. "Are you claustrophobic?"

"Not a bit," Harry said, shining his pocket torch into the opening. "But I'm also too big for that. And you might also be." He continued to examine the hole in the wall.

"I don't think any of us will fit through that," she said. "Maybe Matilda? If she went on a diet? Or one of the little girls that Ozma seemed to collect. What can you see?"

"There's a ledge," Harry said. "A couple inches wide running down the passage. And I see at least two places where light is coming in from the throne room. So it looks like we found the spy holes."

"But not the watcher," Wednesday said. "I didn't think they'd stay here with us wandering around."

"Close it up or leave it open?" Harry said.

"We can show the others and then close it back up." Wednesday said.

"Okay," Harry said.

Chapter Text

"So that's where he put it!" a cheerful female voice said behind them.

"Danger approaches, Mistress," K-9 said, whirling to face towards the entrance.

"You brought her?" Joyce said, glaring at Romana.

"She showed up a few weeks ago, complaining about being bored," Romana said. "And you know how much chaos she can cause when she gets bored. I thought it was best to find her something to do in my TARDIS."

"You couldn't just drop her off on some unsuspecting planet in the middle of a revolution?" Joyce said. "Taking over that would have kept her busy for months."

"That would just be planetary cruelty," Romana said. Sighing, she turned around to greet Missy. Joyce grudgingly followed suit.

"And you have your little Furling here too," Missy said. "I would have dressed up if I knew there was going to be a reunion." She pouted in an exaggerated manner.

"Hello Missy," Joyce said, her face expressionless. "It hasn't been long enough since I last saw you."

"Nice to see you too, pet," Missy said. "And who else do we have?" She circled the room, pausing in front of everyone for several seconds. K-9 kept her in his sights the entire time.

"No one to concern yourself with," Romana said. "You know something about the Ring?"

"An interesting group you've assembled," Missy said. "A couple of those demon slayers, a man who reeks of manual labor, and another one who likes to pretend they are invisible. Your pet Furling, of course, and I don't think I've seen one of these on this planet before." Missy stopped in front of Enid and circled her. "How'd you get your hands on a shape shifter? The possibilities that opens up!"

Romana sighed. "You are not playing with any of them, Missy," she said.

"We'll see," Missy said. She glided around the large group and stopped in front of the Ring. "Looks like Willy kept my changes. Would it be too much to hope he kept notes of any travels?"

"Was your change that tenth setting?" Joyce said. "Does it actually work?"

"Clever little Furling," Missy said. "Do I detect some skepticism? Of course it works. I am me."

"It appears to have been used to travel to a pocket universe," Romana said. "A so-called fairy land."

"We have two teams there now we'd like to get back,"" Xander said. "Do you know how to operate it?"

"A fairy land? Interesting," Missy said. "Fairy magic may have unforeseen effects on the Ring's operation."

"Can you tell us?" Xander said.

"I'm not sure you can afford my consultant fees," Missy said. She took a small card sized object out of a pocket and placed it against the Ring next to the tenth setting. "You're in luck," she said. "This setting hasn't been triggered yet. They might return with no ill effects or side effects."

"What kinds of ill effects," Romana said.

"Time displacement?" Missy said, shrugging. "If it over adjusts anyone going through may end up far from their original time stream, with no way back. Or they may suddenly age in the wrong direction."

"How do we prevent that," Joyce said. "You wouldn't have just added that without a way to undo it."

"You never know when you might want to reverse a temporal accident," Missy said. "A temporal undo just seems so crass." Missy looked around the Ring chamber for a minute before turning back to Romana.

"Where is Willy?" she asked. "His odd travel contraption is here. He shouldn't be far away."

"He hasn't been seen in over half a century here," Xander said. "That's why we're here, trying to find him."

"Really? Some of his candy experiments could get gloriously vicious," Missy said. "Maybe one of them ate him?"

"He had a little help when he disappeared," Joyce said.

"Memory adjustments for the entire planet," Romana said. "Or someone pruned the timeline."

"Everyone loves the candy man," Missy said. "Or so I've heard. Can't stand chocolate myself. Well, none of my business." Turning, she headed towards the door, skipping to some internal beat.

"Good riddance," Joyce said, nodding. "Her help is not the kind we want."

"She knows how the Ring works," Xander said.

"We can figure it out," Joyce said. "Without her special brand of helpfulness. Right Romana?"

"Of course," Romana said. "And she won't actually go far. That would ruin whatever game she's playing."

Chapter Text

Title: Day 17 -
Author: acs
Rating: FR-13
Crossover: BtVS / Wednesday / Harry Potter / Charlie and the Chocolate Factory/Stargate / Borrowers / Oz
"Finding the spy hole isn't going to help us find the scepter," Wednesday said, standing next to Luna.

"But you did find it?" Carter asked. "Or the entrance to it?"

"It wasn't hidden very well," Wednesday said.

"And you'd have to be a midget to use it," Harry said. "Or really really short."

"Like a borrower fairy?" Luna said. "They must be only a couple inches tall if that was their furniture we found in that desk in the map room."

"The scepter is probably bigger than they are," Wednesday said.

"That does limit where they could have hidden it," Carter said. "Unless you think they are actual magical fairies and not just small creatures and used magic to hide it."

"I think there's only one of them," Luna said. "And I'm not sure if they are magical. Or can use magic."

"Wouldn't they need to be magical to be that small?" Harry said. "Can a living creature be that small?"

"Hummingbirds are small and seem to do okay," Granger said. "Though it could have been magic that made them that size. And if they're native to Oz anything is possible."

"I don't think they are native to Oz," Luna said. "Have you ever heard about small people like that in any of the Oz books?"

"They weren't mentioned in that Scamander book on magical creatures," Dawn said. "But that doesn't mean much. He seemed to focus on the larger and more dangerous creatures. Only the really dangerous fairies got a mention."

"Borrowers don't seem to be too dangerous," Harry said. "Unless they borrow something like a bolt and it breaks something in a dangerous way."

"We need the scepter," Carter said, "and we appear to need to find one of these Borrowers. Any suggestions?"

"Maybe we can just ask?" Luna said. "Unless they're like nifflers and like shiny things they may not know what it is and would trade."

"Trade?" Andrew's voice said over the video camera in the throne room. "What would a two inch tall fairy person want that we would have?"

"Food?" Harry said. "Or something they could use to make their life in Oz better?"

"A tool of some sort?" Granger said. "I'm sure I have something in my bag that I could spare."

"Or we could offer them a ride home, if they aren't from Oz. I'm sure they have friends or family that are missing them," Luna said. "Especially if they came here with Willy Wonka. They probably haven't been home in a long time."

"They might like it here," Andrew said. "Oz is an amazing place. When the magic is working anyway."

"Unless they're watching us now, it's a moot point," Carter said. "You're also assuming they speak the same language."

"With Oz's magic on the fritz it's very possible they won't understand us," Granger said. "There's been some speculation that Oz has some sort of translation spell in place. There are just too many creatures and groups isolated within Oz for them to all speak the same languages."

While eating her dinner of dried fruit, Arrietty listened to the human beans talking. They'd found her secret watch hole in the throne room wall, so she couldn't use that any more. She still had the holes in the ceiling, like the one she was leaning over but sound didn't carry very well unless there was shouting.

She still wasn't sure what was so special about that long pole thing she'd found. If they'd talked about it she'd missed it. But they really seemed to want it if they were willing to trade for it.

She was tempted to pop up and just ask, though there were very few places she could safely do so. And going home? This Oz place was certainly interesting and an adventure she'd never expected to have, but the chance of going back to Pod and Homily might be worth it. Though they must be getting really old by now.

She continued to watch and listen, though they used a lot of words she wasn't familiar with. Yawning, she wondered when they would leave so she could get some sleep. She'd been awake for days, since they first showed up.

She'd have to start thinking about what to take with her if she left. There wasn't much that would have value at home.

Chapter Text

"We aren't going to try to go through it?" Xander asked.

"While it could be a grand adventure, we don't know anything about what's on the other side," Romana said. "Even if it's perfectly safe, we could end up far from the others."

"It's best to wait for them to return," Joyce added. "You already have almost a dozen people missing, if I remember correctly."

"We could put together a search and rescue team fairly quickly," Xander said.

"They have Sam and four slayers," Joyce reminded him.

"Mycroft's people aren't exactly incompetent," Brittany said. "Not quite up to our standards when it comes to hunting demons but they should be safe wandering around Oz." She poked Xander. "They'll be fine."

"And we just wait?" Xander said.

"We could take the elevator for a spin," Brittany said. "I bet that would be fun."

"There's a certain randomness to its controls," Romana said. "It may not bring you back to where you started." She turned to look at it across the room. "Wonka may have liked that but it's not the best way to travel."

"Wandering around this big candy factory just for fun? In a large glass box?" Xander said. "That doesn't feel very productive."

"It's not supposed to be," Brittany said. "Just a distraction from other things."

"We've gone on some very random trips with Idris," Joyce said.

"Random to us," Romana said. "She always has a good reason."

"That isn't clear until after we've done whatever she wants us to do," Joyce said.

"We're not going through the Ring, and we're not taking that glass box for a ride," Enid said. "Are we just going to wait here until someone comes back through?"

"Waiting is always the boring part," Xander said. "It's why we swap out guards every couple of hours."

"Plenty of time left on our clock," Millie said, looking at her watch. "Though the rest of you don't have to stay here to keep us company."

"So, this happened because someone was wondering what happened to a candy maker?" Romana said. "It's not practical to go to this pocket universe, whether it is Oz or not. But it should be possible to go back to when this was an active factory."

"A candy maker no one remembers except in a couple children's books and a movie," Xander said. "You can go back in time?"

"Yes," Romana said. "And space."

"What's stopping you?" Xander said. "Let's do it!"

"Missy?" Joyce said.

"She'll behave. Maybe," Romana said. "K9 will keep an eye on her."

"Yes, Mistress," K9 said.

"Most trips in the TARDIS tend not to go as planned," Joyce said. "Idris tends to wander into interesting places."

"We can handle interesting," Xander said. "It's our motto, after 'Don't Die!'"

"You just want to be the first Scooby to travel in Time," Brittany said.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Xander said. "Everyone should do at least one impossible thing before they get old."

"I'm sure Buffy has traveled in the TARDIS at least once," Joyce said, "though the memory is a bit frayed."

"Probably in a timeline that no longer exists," Romana said. "The only reason you remember it is because of your ancestry."

"Oh, right," Joyce said. "Time really likes to mess with some memories."

"If we time travel find Willy Wonka, and I can't believe I'm saying that, we won't forget afterward will we?" Enid said. "I like having all of my memories."

"It depends,"" Romana said, shrugging. "Different races have different stickiness to their memories when it involves Time travel."

"No more chit-chatting," Xander said. "Adventures in Time and space await!"

Chapter Text

"It's bigger on the inside?" Xander said, following the others into Romana's craft.

"Or the outside is smaller," Brittany said. "This is so cool. Time travel!"

"How do we find him?" Enid said. "Can you just type in his name and your ship will find him?"

"Unfortunately, it's not that easy," Romana said. "If someone has a big enough psychic presence, Idris can sometimes just go to them. But that's rare. Mostly it's a Time Lord that will show up in the Time Matrix like that. As far as we know, Willy Wonka isn't a Time Lord."

"No, just an unusual, quirky candy maker," Brittany said. "Who disappeared."

"Any special events he's known for?" Romana said. "Something that would appear in the national or world news?"

"There was that contest," Enid said. "Find a Golden Ticket in a Wonka candy bar and get a tour of the factory."

"Was that real or just in the books?" Joyce said.

"A Golden Ticket was found in the old Council Archives," Xander said. "That's what started this whole thing. Giles wanted to know what happened to Wonka, and Dawn got the research job."

"I don't think he expected her to go through some portal to a place that might be Oz," Joyce said. "And someone should have told her no."

"It's Dawn," Xander said. "Who was going to tell her no?"

"I'd rather not argue about it," Joyce said. "Finding Wonka could tell us how to get them back through the Ring. He must know how it works, it's in his factory."

"Or he found it and liked the way it looked," Brittany said.

"Missy did say that she made several modifications to it for him," Romana said. "It must have been functional at some point. So, he must have some knowledge of how to use it."

"He tried to stiff me on my payment," Missy said, appearing in the control room. "He'll never do that again."

"Was he still alive when you last saw him?" Romana said. "And when was that?"

"He might have been a little short of a few of those Oompa-Loompa creatures of his," Missy said. "But I left him alive. No permanent damage."

"Do you know anything about his contest?" Xander said. "Or was that after you helped him?"

"That's why I looked him up," Missy said, shrugging. "It was a brilliant idea, that contest. But he wasn't willing to take full advantage of it. All he wanted to do was find someone to take over his factory who wouldn't run away when they saw his experiments. It could have been used for so much more."

"I suspect we don't want to know what you would have done with it," Joyce said. "I'm sure it would have involved some kind of world conquering action."

"Of course," Missy said. "Why else would you promote something like that on a global scale? There were all kinds of things to could have been done."

"Like what?" Enid said.

"Mind control candy, for one," Missy said. "Every child was buying the nasty stuff. Control the children, control their parents, control the world. But he didn't see the beauty of the idea."

"Do we know how long after the Golden Ticket contest he disappeared?" Romana said. "Or even when it was?"

"When was the contest? There was nothing orbiting the planet," Missy said. "Space around the planet was mostly empty. Very boring."

"So, according to Idris, early fifties for the contest," Romana said. "Did you change the Ring for him before or after the contest?"

"Years later," Missy said. "The Golden Ticket contest didn't do what he wanted. He didn't find someone to take over the factory. And he got bored running his factory. I don't blame him. You can only do so many candy experiments without a loss of life before it puts you to sleep."

"Let's go find a Golden Ticket," Romana said. She quickly punched in some numbers on Idris's control panel.

"Do we get to keep it if we find one?" Brittany said. "I've always wanted one."

"Unless it's dangerous," Romana said, "I don't see why not."

"Do you want to take the Golden Ticket tour?" Xander said.

"Missy finding it boring doesn't mean it's safe," Romana said.

"Would I mislead you?" Missy said. "It was just a boring scavenger hunt, with chocolate, and a tour of all of Wonka's experiments at the end."

"Do you want an answer to that question?" Joyce said.

"If his experiments were anything like the books, they were not always safe," Enid said.

"Okay, first stop, the Golden Ticket contest," Romana said. "But no buying any candy."

"That's no fun," Missy said. "Let them have an adventure in candy land."

Chapter Text

"This is the closest I can get," Romana said. "Early 1952." She pulled up a local newspaper on the screen. "Wonka Candy announced the contest a week before Christmas."

"Right before a big candy holiday," Xander said. "Makes sense. Was Halloween a big holiday back then?"

"None of us are old enough to remember that," Joyce said. "And I don't recall traveling to this decade? It really has nothing to recommend it."

"McCarthy, and Korea, and Blacklists, Oh my!" Brittany said. "Lots of nostalgia for it a few years later, I think."

"Happy Days!" Xander said. "I remember watching reruns. The Fonz was so cool to ten year old me."

"What are our chances of finding a Golden Ticket?" Enid asked. "How many were there?"

"Just five in the book," Brittany said.

"That doesn't seem to be very many," Xander said. "How do you expect to find one? They must have sold millions of Wonka Bars that year."

"Luck?" Enid said. "Or is there a way to search for one that doesn't mean buying every Wonka Bar in a country?"

"We do know who found them in the book," Joyce said. "But that's unlikely to match the actual contest."

"Strange names I'll never forget," Brittany said. "Augustus Gloop, Mike Teavee, Charlie Bucket, Veruca Salt and Violet Beauregarde. Obviously not real. You knew something was going to happen to them as soon as you saw them."

"All children," Enid said. "No adults. Adults would have had too much sense to be impressed by his factory, I think. Or stroke his ego?"

"Do either of you remember the rules?" Xander said. "Did they get announced in the paper or on the radio?"

"From the ticket, you had to show up at the factory at 10am on February 1st," Brittany said. "Not quite a year after announcing the contest. You were allowed o bring a couple family members, but nothing was said about age."

"Plenty of time for people to buy all of his candy and find the Golden Tickets," Enid said.

"So, we aren't going to find one of the tickets?" Romana said. "Didn't you say that the Council archives had one? How did they get it?"

"Probably bought it," Xander said. "Or stole it from one of the winners."

"Do we just show up at his factory on that date?" Enid said. "Will we be able to get in?"

"Sneak in after?" Brittany said. "We don't care about the contest, we just want to talk with Wonka."

"We don't even really want to do that," Xander said. "We want to know how and why he disappeared. Unless he did it during or after the contest, we need to find out when that was. And do we want to stop his disappearance?"

"Not necessarily," Joyce said. "We just want to talk with him about that Ring in his factory. Solving the mystery of his disappearance would be a bonus."

"We have a date to start with," Romana said. "We'll have to make small hops forward until he disappears and then find the exact date."

"And once we have the exact date... Pow!" Brittany said.

Chapter Text

"They are good candy bars," Enid said, nibbling on a Wonka bar.

"This one is pretty good also," Xander said, unwrapping another Whipple Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight. "Not sure I'd want to eat however many it would take to find a Golden Ticket."

"You can never eat too many Wonka bars," Brittany said, licking her fingers. "They are very addictive."

"You can have too much of a good thing," Joyce said. "I think half a Wonka bar is my limit. Feels odd on my tongue"

"Not to my taste at all," Romana said. "Something in it just tastes wrong."

"Of course it tastes wrong," Missy said, snatching a Wonka Bar for herself. "Wonka liked to experiment. It's not just chocolate."

Romana took out her sonic and scanned to candy bar she was holding. "Not sure what that ingredient is," she said. "Some kind of hallucinogenic? It's not native to this planet. I don't think it affects humans."

"So it's safe to eat?" Enid said, putting down her Wonka bar and looking cautiously at the remaining box of Wonka bars they'd picked up.

"Idris wouldn't have allowed them inside if they were harmful," Romana said. "But harmful and having unexpected side effects are not quite the same thing."

"So, alien drugs in the candy?" Xander said. "Where'd he get them from?"

"Not from me," Missy said, humming to herself. "No point in adding an ingredient that has no effect. "If you want to find out where he got it from you'll have to ask him or search his factory."

"You said he got the Ring after the Contest?" Joyce said.

"Did I?" Missy said. "I believe I said I modified it for him later. He had it before then obviously. I don't think I met him until after the Contest was a flop."

"A flop?" Romana said.

"Failure. Disaster. That kind of thing," Missy said.

"The books make it seem like the Contest was a wild success," Joyce said.

"It certainly sold a lot of Wonka Bars," Missy said. "But go forward a few months afterward and you'll see what I mean. He needed to try something different, which is why he wanted the Ring modified. By an expert. Me!"

"Does anyone want to see the actual contest event?" Romana said. "Or go forward a month after it ends?"

"Unless we can get to Wonka at that time, I don't see any point," Joyce said.

"Unlikely," Xander said. "He probably had guards and other things to keep people away while he gave the ticket holders the factory tour."

"Then let's shift forward," Romana said. She pushed a few buttons and turned a dial, and then threw a switch. There was a brief hum.

"It's nice to see a TARDIS correctly piloted," Missy said. "Only I could have done it better. But certainly better than the Doctor."

"He pilots his TARDIS more by feel," Romana said, sighing. "It works for him but is a little too random for me."

"So, go find a paper?" Xander said, pausing at the TARDIS exit. "I think there was a newsstand on the corner earlier?"

"It's only been a month since the contest finished," Joyce said. "The papers should still be talking about it. And magazines."

"Got it," Xander said. "Back with the news in a minute."

"And more Wonka bars?" Enid said. "We're almost out."

"Any other requests?" Xander said. "Or we could all go."

"No, it's better if we stay in the TARDIS," Romana said. "We'll watch from in here." Pushing a button, she tuned the console room screen at the newsstand.

"No pressure," Xander muttered. "Candid camera is such a fifties kind of thing."

Chapter Text

From inside the TARDIS, they watched the newsstand as Xander held up first one and then another newspaper. Both had headlines about Wonka's recent Golden Ticket contest. The local paper's headline said "Wonka Not Speaking After Contest Disaster" while the other was a national newspaper and its headline said "The Yard Investigating Wonka Candy Company."

"Can you get the entire article from here or do we need Xander to bring both of them back?" Joyce said.

"It looks like we can get the basic idea from what he showed us but the details must be on an inner page," Romana said.

"I'll go tell him," Brittany said. "And I'll make sure to get the Wonka bars." She hurried out of the TARDIS and towards the newsstand.

"Won't they notice she's not dressed very fifties-ish?" Enid asked.

"The TARDIs has a perception filter," Joyce said. "Idris makes people think they are seeing what they want to see, so they won't notice. It helps if you dress the part but it isn't absolutely necessary."

"The longer you're away from the TARDIS the more important period accurate clothing matters," Romana added.

"You've traveled with Romana a lot, Ms S?" Enid said.

"I first met Romana in high school, which was longer ago than I like to remember," Joyce said. "Keeping track of time can be complicated inside the TARDIS but I think I've spent several years in total living in the TARDIS. Long enough to have my own room, assuming Idris kept it."

"Idris likes you," Romana said. "You'll probably always have a room of your own with us."

"Every trip is certainly an adventure," Joyce said.

"Time is a very non-linear thing when it involves traveling aboard a TARDIS," Romana said, as they watched Xander and Brittany head back. "Joyce was much older, temporally, when I first met her."

"She rescued Sam Carter, General Carter, and myself from a creature known as a Goa'uld. Thanks to a certain someone, I'd completely forgotten my earlier travels with Romana," Joyce said, glaring at Missy, who gave her a smug grin in return.

"Ancient history," Missy said. "And well within my rights as me."

"And not an argument we need rehashed here and now," Romana said. She returned to Enid. "Time Lords, and Ladies, often have a superior attitude when it comes to entities from much younger civilizations. I'll occasionally exhibit it myself, though Joyce and Sam have helped me moderate it. It's not a failing the Doctor ever seemed to have."

"Oh he can be quite the superior one," Missy said. "He just hides it better, trading in companions frequently."

"Think we have enough?" Xander said, rushing into the TARDIS, followed by Brittany.

"They practically threw the Wonka bars at me," Brittany said. "Guess they were glad to get rid of them?" She put the box down and took out a Wonka bar. "Doesn't seem to have an expiration date on it. Must be before that kind of thing was done?"

"Yes," said Joyce. "If you mean since the 70s. Enough people complained or got sick from spoiled foods that laws were made. It shouldn't matter with those. They wouldn't be older than the contest."

"So, something happened during the contest?" Xander said, looking through the local paper. "One of the children went missing?"

"This one says one missing and two in hospital," Enid said, looking at the other paper. "Do they give more details?"

"Maybe another year forward?" Romana said. "We can find out the results of the official investigation before looking into it ourselves."

"Look!" Brittany said. She held up a Golden Ticket. "Does that mean there were really more than five?"

"The five who went on the tour could have been just the five who found Golden Tickets before the end of the Contest," Joyce said.

"And the book just says five to make it simpler?" Enid said.

"The Council archives had one so it might mean there were seven or more," Xander said. He kept reading. "It doesn't really say much, just that something happened to some of the contestants. Nothing fatal but they weren't talking."

"Were NDAs a thing in the Fifties?" Enid said.

"The contest rules probably said they couldn't talk about anything they saw," Xander said. "Are we allowed to interfere with Time?"

"It's usually better to not make changes," Romana said. "At least not to your personal timeline."

"Anything too different and Time heals itself," Missy said. "You have to work really hard to change history in a permanent manner. It does leave a lot of room for opportunities to profit."

"Let's do it," Brittany said. "Find out what the government says Wonka did and then ask him. And then decide what to do."

Chapter Text

Arrietty was woken from her nap by a loud voice in the room below.

"Borrower person! Are you here? We'd like to talk with you," the voice said from the throne room.

Rubbing her eyes she cautiously approached one of the ceiling holes and stared down it. One of the human beans was turning in a circle in the throne room.

"Little Borrower person, are you in here?" he again shouted, his voice causing the ceiling to vibrate.

She watched as one of the other human beans hurried up to him and shushed him, like he was a misbehaving child. It was a little amusing, though he'd been really loud.

"Andrew! What are you doing?" Dawn said, glaring at him.

"Trying to get their attention," Andrew said, pouting. "Don't we want to talk with them?"

"Yes, but we don't want to scare them away. Which you've probably done!" Dawn said. "Wait until we're ready first. Fairies don't like loud noises."

"Regular sized people don't like loud noises either," Luna said, glaring at him from the throne room door. "If they don't think we're friendly they aren't going to come see us."

"I'm friendly," Andrew protested. "The friendliest."

Dawn sighed. "Did you figure out how we're going to do dinner?"

"We have enough of those canned military rations for tonight and tomorrow," Andrew said. "We'll need to start scrounging or go back to Glinda's palace after tomorrow."

"We can start looking around tomorrow," Harry said from Ozma's chambers, his voice coming over the video camera link. "If they preserved their food in any way, there should be something in a kitchen or storeroom. The palace is a big place. It must have been able to feed a large number of people daily."

"I'll ask the Gump," Luna said. "It doesn't eat but it might know something."

"Go ahead and look, but I don't expect us to find anything edible in the palace," Carter said, her voice also carried to them over the video feed. "Unless they used something like magic it's been a very long time since anything would have been put in storage. It's probably all spoiled by now."

"And the magic has been dying for a while," Luna said, nodding. "But maybe our borrower friends might have some idea?"

"As long as we aren't taking their food," Dawn said. "Anything they know about it is probably something they rely on, unless they grow or hunt their own food. And they probably don't eat much."

"If we bring them with us, we'll have to make sure to bring food they can eat," Andrew said. "What do you think a tiny person eats?"

"The same things we do," Luna said. "Just a lot less of it. If they're from our planet, they might actually prefer our food."

"We'll all eat in the throne room," Carter said. "We'll be there in a minute."

"It's going to be weird, and rude, eating in front of Ozma, even if she isn't aware of us," Dawn said. "Maybe we should eat over there?" She waved to the corner near the door where their bags were.

Nodding, Andrew scurried off to set things up.

"And sorry for making such a racket," Dawn said, in a normal voice, looking up at the ceiling where she was sure something or someone had been watching them. "You can come down and join us if you'd like."

Chapter Text

"Same as last time?" Xander said, once Romana signaled their arrival. "A couple newspapers, and a magazine if it mentions Wonka?"

"No Wonka bars this time, please," Romana said. "I think we have enough." She waved at the pile of boxes in a corner of the console room.

"But they're so addictive," Brittany said, pouting. "How will we feed the addiction once we head back to our own time without a working candy factory? At least check to see if they have any, please."

"Yeah, definitely enough of them for you," Xander said, shaking his head. Grumbling under his breath, he left the TARDIS and headed back to the newsstand, alone this time.

"You aren't really addicted to those things, are you?" Enid said. "Three was my limit. After that the chocolate started to taste kind of chalky."

"Nah," Brittany said. "Whatever Wonka put in them to make them addictive has no effect on slayers. I just like them. And I'm not going to gain weight from them."

"The more recent bars have more of that 'special' ingredient," Romana said. "If it makes them taste different after a few it isn't surprising he started having problems selling them after the contest."

"Okay," Xander said, back in the TARDIS a few minutes later. "Just a small article about Wonka's company on the business pages in the national paper. Nothing local, except a letter to the editor from a former employee. And nothing in any of the magazines that newsstand carries."

"And Wonka bars?" Brittany asked. "Did they have any?"

"All out," Xander said. "They haven't gotten any in over a month. Not since the factory shut down."

"So now would be a good time to check out the factory," Romana said. "Only Wonka and his office staff should be there."

"And those creepy Oompa-loompas," Brittany added.

"The factory was turned into a mad scientist's dream at some point," Xander said. "Think that has happened yet?"

"We can just peak," Brittany said. "That shouldn't be dangerous."

"If I recall correctly, we really don't have any goal other than asking Wonka about his Contest and what went wrong?" Romana said.

"Xander wanted to travel in time and have an adventure," Brittany said. "That is the goal. And we don't want to break time in the process."

"Adventure!" Xander said. "It was either that or just sit around in an empty candy factory waiting for everyone to get back. This way we get to see the non-empty factory."

"As long as we're clear," Romana said. "We are just here to be tourists, and see candy being made? Not to rescue Wonka or fix his problems?"

"And hope this is an alternate timeline so we don't break Time at home," Joyce said, sighing. "I'd like Dawn and Sam to still exist when we get back."

"Time resets can be so much fun," Missy said. "And the plunder can be useful. Things can be easily misplaced."

"No plundering!" Romana said. She started adjusting switches and dials on the main console. "Ready?"

"As always," Joyce said. "You're the Pilot. Do it!"