All characters of Middle-Earth belong to JRR Tolkien and Buffy is the evil genious of Joss Whedon.

Thanks for the reviews and I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Escape

The Eye had returned.

Buffy stood amidst a vast black void which contained nothing except for a lidless Eye wreathed in flame. Fear washed over her body as the Eye stared relentlessly at her. Then as quickly as the fear had come it was just as suddenly gone. Buffy felt someone take her hand and she looked to her right to find Legolas standing beside her. He looked just as he had when they parted but he stood rigid and tense in front of the Eye which she could have sworn had shrunk slightly at the Elf's appearance. Buffy gave his hand a small squeeze and he turned to look at her.

"Buffy!" Legolas cried his eyes wide with surprise. She looked terrible. Her dress was dirty and there was a large purple bruise covering the right side of her face.

"It's all right," she said soothingly. She felt no pain here.

The Eye suddenly swelled to twice its original size as its malice attempted to reach out and take hold of the Slayer. She could hear a dark voice deep in her mind speaking to her subconscious. Legolas's hand had tightened on hers she heard him call her name urgently.

Buffy faced the Eye confidently.

I'm not afraid of you, she thought.

A piercing scream echoed through the void causing both Buffy and Legolas to recoil. Then all was black.

* * *

Legolas came back to himself with a sharp gasp.

Aragorn was staring at him while Gimli poked the Elf in his shoulder.

"What happened?" said a voice from just behind him.

Legolas turned to see the sharp gaze of Mithrandir regarding him. It was still a shock to see his old friend alive though he was much changed. Now dressed all in white Gandalf seemed even wiser and more powerful than he had before his fall in Moria.

"It was Buffy," said the Elf. "She is in trouble."

* * *

Eowyn had blanched visibly upon seeing the effects of Wormtounge's visit with Buffy. Though the Slayer maintained her cuts and bruises looked worse than they felt Eowyn was sure their creation must have been quite painful.

"Buffy, had I known Wormtounge would do this I -"

"I told you not to worry over this," Buffy said from her seat against the wall. "Wormtounge will get what is coming to him."

Buffy stuffed a piece of bread in her mouth.

"I'll bring you some salve for your cuts tomorrow," Eowyn said.

"Don't bother they'll be gone by then."

At the look of disbelief on Eowyn's face Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Trust me."

Eowyn continued to look skeptical.

"It's time to start planning my escape," Buffy said.

"Buffy you can hardly stand up much less escape," protested Eowyn.

"I will be well enough tomorrow. My strength is returning quickly and I can stand up." Buffy popped up onto her feet and tried to hide the dizziness it caused from Eowyn.

"Should you not wait for your friends to come and rescue you?"

"I am perfectly capable of rescuing myself. I'm not about to wait around for them to show up and there's no telling how long that will be."

"Very well," sighed the pale haired woman. "I will have food brought to the guards tomorrow which will put them to sleep. Then after I bring your things to you we will sneak you out of the dungeon and I can find a place to hide you until your friends return."

"No," said Buffy stubbornly. "I must leave Edoras. I'm not staying if Wormtounge is here."

"Then I will get us some horses -"

"Us?" Buffy asked surprised.

"Of course," answered Eowyn stiffly. "Do you think that after all this I'd leave you to get lost out on the plains?"

"No but -"

"Then it's settled." She handed Buffy a bottle. "Now drink your medicine and get some rest. I will come for you as soon as I have everything together."

"Eowyn, what if Wormtounge returns?" It galled Buffy to actually be afraid of the little man but she was still in no condition to put up a good fight.

Eowyn looked at Buffy soberly.

"You needn't worry that he will return today. He is in council with the King and will likely remain so for the rest of the evening. As for tomorrow . . . I will try to see that he is kept occupied until I am able to come for you but I can promise nothing. If he does return it would be best for you to fain illness so that he will be unaware of your recovery."

"I was only afraid of his returning today. I'm still way too weak to - ," Buffy stopped and looked Eowyn directly in her eyes. "Tomorrow is a completely different story. If he comes tomorrow I will be more than ready for him."

Eowyn nodded and told Buffy once again to take her medicine.

Buffy did as she was told. She couldn't wait to get away from this place.

* * *

It seemed to be a whole new world to Buffy when she awoke the following morning. Her head was clear and her body was almost back to normal. She could tell by the tenderness on the side of her face that she still sported a bruise where Wormtounge had backhanded her and the cut on her lip was still there. She had been so sure that she would have been completely healed by now. Her illness must have slowed down her healing. Well, she was sure they probably looked worse than they felt so she decided to see how the rest her body fared. Standing up still caused a slight dizzy spell so she repeated the action again and again until the dizziness passed. She stretched and began testing her strength by throwing several combinations of kicks and punches. When she completed her exercises she deemed herself to be at about seventy percent of her normal strength. It was not an ideal situation but as long as Eowyn could sneak her out with as little fanfare as possible everything should be fine.

Her exercise after so many days of inactivity wore her out a little so she sat on the floor and found herself wondering what had become of Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas. Where were they? Had they found Merry and Pippin? And the one question that repeated over and over in her mind: How would she ever find them again? She would have to stick close to Edoras, she decided. She refused to stay in the city as long Wormtounge was around. He worked for Saruman and it was just too risky. She sighed as her thoughts turned to her other friends who were now literally worlds away. She missed them but admitted that returning home was no longer her first priority. Killing Saruman was.

Her ears perked up as a sound echoed throughout the hallway outside the door to her cell. Had Eowyn come already? The footsteps grew louder and closer. They seemed too heavy to be Eowyn's so Buffy quickly laid down on the floor and pretended to be asleep. The heavy wooden door creaked open and through slitted eyes Buffy saw two very familiar boots enter. Wormtounge. She made a quick decision. She could no longer wait for Eowyn she would have to escape now. Wormtounge would not lay one finger on her. She grinned a little, this would be fun.

She listened as he approached, his raspy breathing picking up speed. Buffy rolled onto her back faking a miserable sounding moan. She certainly looked miserable enough to be convincing. Buffy concentrated on her hearing, figuring out from the sound his footsteps exactly where Wormtounge came to stand.

Now, her senses told her. Her eyes popped open and she looked up at Wormtounge.

"Guess what?" she asked and then burst into action. Flipping herself onto her feet in front of a very surprised Wormtounge she smiled.

"I feel better."

Her first punch landed in the center of Wormtounge's face causing his eyes to roll back into his head. Then she spun in a blur of motion and delivered a kick that sent Saruman's spy flying into the opposite wall with loud thud. He was out cold.

Buffy frowned a little in disappointment. That hadn't been much of a fight. In fact it hadn't really been a fight at all.

"Loser," she said on her way out the door.

The hallway was dim but she could already see two guards running her way. She took a deep breath and sent the first guard flying back into her cell with a well placed kick. Her foot became entangled in her long skirt and she had to duck quickly as the next guard bore down on her with his sword drawn. A quick series of punches and sent him tumbling to the floor. Buffy quickly deprived him of his weapon and tossed his unconscious body into the cell with the other guard and Wormtounge. She shut the door and was frustrated when it did not lock. The guards did not have keys on them and Buffy quickly scanned the floor in case they had been dropped. She didn't see them and there was no time to linger. She took off down the hallway at a breakneck pace until she reached a narrow staircase. She stopped long enough to rip off the bottom half of her skirt and said quick thanks that she still had on her boots given to her in Lothlorien. Ascending the stairs quickly but cautiously Buffy listened for approaching footsteps. She reached another hallway and decided to take the path to left.

"Halt!" a deep voice boomed from behind her.

Buffy stopped and waited for the man to catch up with her. Just as he opened his mouth to demand who she was Buffy buried the hilt of her stolen sword in his stomach and then sent her elbow flying into the side of his head. He dropped with a thud and Buffy continued on her way.

She ran into a couple of other guards but had no trouble getting past them. This wasn't so bad, she thought. She just needed to find a way out. Behind her she heard many pairs of booted feet and decided it would be best to avoid what was most likely a large group of soldiers. She ran ahead and found a door to her left. It was large and heavy but she got it open and quickly slipped inside. Breathing hard she turned around.

And found herself in a great hall full of soldiers. Directly across from her on the other side of the vast room was a long dais where a shrunken old man sat upon large chair. Just behind the old man stood Eowyn who was staring at Buffy with wide eyes.

"Oops," she said.

A guard near her cried out an alarm and then pure chaos broke out. Buffy managed to get back out the door only to be met by the group of soldiers she had originally been trying to avoid. Having the element of surprise on her side she managed to fight her way through them with little effort though she could feel her strength starting to wane. She ran down the hall and around the corridor where she found Eowyn waiting for her.

"This way," she said grabbing Buffy's hand.

They ran down a flight of stairs and out a small door. The sunshine burst over them and blinded Buffy by its light for moment. Eowyn pulled her around a corner and pushed her underneath a low overhang.

"What happened?" Eowyn asked.

"Wormtounge."

"I haven't gotten everything together yet, we still need -" Eowyn stopped and look down at Buffy's skirt.

"What happened to your gown?"

"It was too long," said Buffy irritated. This hardly seemed the time to be discussing her wardrobe.

"But your bare legs are showing. It is indecent."

Buffy looked down at her white legs.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. They are awfully pale."

Just then the loud crash of many armored soldiers could be heard nearby.

"We cannot linger here," said Eowyn urgently.

Buffy didn't want to get up again. Her dizziness had returned and the energy she had exerted in escaping so far had left her exhausted. But she took a deep breath and forced herself to stand.

"The side gate is just off to the left there," Eowyn said pointing to an opening that sat directly across the yard from them. "If we can make it out into the open land there is a chance we would be able to hide in the high grass."

"Are you insane?" Buffy hissed. "There is no cover at all. Everyone will be able to see us!"

"Too late," said Eowyn.

A soldier had spotted the two women and was busy alerting others to their whereabouts.

Buffy and Eowyn took off for the gate at a dead run. It was farther away than it had looked and Buffy could hear the soldiers closing in behind them. Her weakening body began to tire even more and her vision swam slightly before her. She pushed herself on and as they came closer to the gate she became convinced that her fever must have returned. Because standing before her was Legolas.

The last thing Legolas had expected to see upon arriving in Edoras was Buffy running towards him with an entire regiment of Rohirrim soldiers chasing behind her and half her gown missing. He had spent the last two days in a state of panic because he knew that Buffy was in trouble. He, Aragorn, Gimli, and Gandalf had pushed on toward Edoras even harder after Legolas's dream and the Elf had been convinced that something terrible had befallen Buffy. But here she was standing before him about to escape out of Edoras.

Buffy came to halt before the vision of Legolas. She reached out and touched his arm finding it solid and warm. Swaying slightly on her feet she blinked and stared up at the Elf.

"Legolas? You're here?"

"Yes with Aragorn and Gimli and Gandalf."

Oh this must definitely be a fever, Buffy thought.

"We came to rescue you," Legolas said lamely. Buffy had managed to see to rescuing herself without their help.

"Oh," Buffy said dazedly before blacking out and tumbling toward the ground.