I just saw Kill bill: volume 2 so I'm a bit keen with the sword fighting at the moment! The film is amazing by the way, definitely go and see it!

Oh and ignore all the stuff I said about timing I said before. You will see what I mean later when I say I changed it to suit me!
I'm not sure if people will like how I've done this but let me know. I've not made it what you'd expect but I hope people like it anyway! Review loads please!

Thanks to:

ScruffyWes

Charmedfanatic3000

Becks89 – hey thanks for the help. You'll see what I did with it when you read this. Hope you like! Update TYE please!

Anne-Marie

Kyra2

Miz

Caribear

Dreamer Child

SPASH Panther – because Harry can be pretty stupid really…..

Erak – lol sometimes Harry needs a good kicking

Jacey925

Lexi

C@rMeiNa

Hestia – wait for the next chapter for Harry getting in trouble….

Lexinator

Thorn of Blood – I think that deep down Remus probably wanted them to go. He loved Sirius too so secretly he would want them to get him back if her thought they were trying anything.

Lolly6

Vampy the chosen one

Chapter 20 – Through the Rabbit Hole                   

Whirling, swirling colours, then darkness. Before anything, Buffy felt for her watch and pushed the button. A digital beep told her that her four hours were being counted down. Every second was precious. 

The darkness was absolute; Buffy blinked a few times to check that her eyes weren't closed. For a wild moment Buffy thought she was blind. She lifted up her hand in front of her face but she couldn't see it. Inky darkness surrounded her, cloaking her, locking her in. She took a shaky step forward, not knowing what lay before her or behind her. Listening in the dark, she couldn't hear anything, not a sound. She lifted her arms so they were perpendicular with her body and to her surprise her fingertips touched cold enamel on both sides. She nearly dropped her sword but she clung onto the hilt. Slowly, testing every step, she walked forward, fingers brushing over enamel.
Ten steps and she stopped as her left fingers brushed over what felt like plastic. She moved her hand back, ran her fingers over the plastic square that was fitted onto the enamel wall.
 "I don't believe it," Buffy muttered. She pushed the light switch and electric lights overhead flickered to life. Looking around Buffy could see where she was. She was in a tunnel, a perfect square shape covered on every surface with dirty white enamel tiles. She looked at the switch, it was grimy and a small sticker informed her that the lights were indeed 'ON'. The tunnel wasn't large, in fact Buffy started to feel a little tense. Turning to look behind her, she saw where she had come from, a flat wall of white tiles, nothing that looked remotely like an archway or even a portal. Turning back, Buffy squinted ahead of her. The tunnel looked endless; all she could see in the distance was grimy white tiles and lights that occasionally flickered as if threatening to go out.
 Buffy began to walk, her surroundings constant and pallid. The only noise in the tunnel was the faint buzzing of the lights, the kind of noise you would get used to or be driven mad by. The tunnel kind of reminded her of a hospital, deep underground though and unhygienic. Not the kind of hospital you would want to visit.
 "Hey Buffy!" Buffy froze in her tracks, hearing voices was not a good sign. Steeling herself, she turned around and saw the figure of Harry running towards her. He slowed as he drew close and Buffy lifted her sword to hold the point to his neck. His eyes were wide with fear.
 "Show your true form," Buffy demanded. "What are you? Demon? Ghost? Or just my own freaky hallucination?"
 "Ummm none of them?" Harry said nervously. "I'm just Harry." Buffy leant in and looked closely at Harry's eyes.
 "It really is you!" she exclaimed, putting down her sword and hugging him. "If I wasn't so damn happy to see you I'd be furious. I told you not to come."

 "Would you have stayed?" Harry asked her and Buffy shrugged.
 "It's too late now," she said reluctantly. "I'll kill you when we get out. Giles is gonna be pissed. Did you bring your wand?" Harry nodded.
 "I'm not supposed to do magic outside Hogwarts but I doubt they can track it from another dimension," he said with an ironic smile.
 "Good, we might need that," Buffy said thoughtfully. "Take this." Buffy pulled the knife that Faith had originally owned but given to Sirius from her belt and handed it to Harry.
 "It's pretty self explanatory," she said. "If it moves, stab it." Harry looked at the intricate blade.
 "It's beautiful," he said in an awed voice.

"It used to belong to Faith," Buffy explained as they began to walk. "Then I used it to stab her. When we went Sunnydale, Faith gave it to Sirius. I found it among his stuff." Harry nodded, but didn't reply.

 "What is this place?" he asked as they walked.
 "I don't know," Buffy said, looking at the filthy walls. "But it gives me the wiggins."

Harry raised an eyebrow.
 "Me too…I think," he said uncertainly. "It reminds me of a mental hospital."
 "That's what I was thinking," Buffy exclaimed.

 "Am I being paranoid or does it appear to have no end?" Harry asked, beginning to sweat.
 "It will have an end," Buffy assured him. "Or in two hours time we'll just turn around." She looked at the stopwatch which read '3:50:43.' Ten minutes gone already. They walked for a while until Harry spoke next.
 "Is it just me or is this sloping downwards?" he said nervously and Buffy nodded vigorously.

 "I thought the same thing, but then I thought I was imagining it," she exclaimed. As they walked on, it became even more obvious that the tunnel was sloping downwards sharply.
It became so bad that they were having trouble walking.
 "This thing is almost vertical," Harry puffed, using his arms on the walls to stop himself from falling. And then, without warning, the tunnel lurched and became completely vertical, throwing them off of their feet. Buffy felt herself falling down the tunnel, faster and faster, white tiles flashing past and becoming a long white blur.
She could see Harry, just behind her, his face contorted with fear. Buffy didn't know what was happening, or how they would get back up the tunnel. Or what would happen when they landed.
 She soon found out as she landed hard on more white enamel tiles. She ached from the collision but nothing serious, despite the fact that they had fallen a long way. Buffy got up and pulled Harry up with her.
 "You okay?" she checked and he nodded. "Freaky." She looked around and they were in a room, a large cube shaped room, once again tiled with dirty white enamel. Buffy looked up and the hole they had come from seemed to stretch for miles above her. The room was empty except for a black door in a corner with a shiny silver handle. Buffy moved towards the door but before she could get there, a short man appeared in front of it. She jumped back in surprise. The man was about four foot tall and a half foot tall, with dark hair and a white trilby hat. He wore an all white suit except for black socks which were barely visible at the bottom of his trousers. He clutched a sign in his hands which Buffy and Harry read.

 Gateway to Hell

One way trip

No returns
 

"Screw that," Buffy murmured. She faced the man. "We're going through and we're coming back." The man didn't flinch but looked her straight in the face.
 "That is impossible," he purred in a deep voice that Buffy did not expect to come from such a small man.

 "How do you figure?" Buffy asked, cocking her head to one side.
 "There are no returns," he replied smoothly. "This is an entrance to Hell, one of many. It is not an exit."
 "Are there exits?" Buffy asked. The man snorted derisively.
 "There are no exits from Hell," the man answered silkily. "It is not possible to leave.
 "I beg to differ," Buffy replied, equally smooth. "I'm coming back out. I don't see how you can stop me."
 "There are many things you don't see," the man commented and he lifted a hand, palm out, a few inches from touching Buffy. She was lifted off her feet and slammed painfully into an enamelled wall.
 "Are you alright?" Harry asked hurrying forward concernedly. Buffy nodded, getting up painfully.
 "So you've got some tricks," Buffy said, holding her side. "I'm coming back through that door."
 "I shall be forced to stop you," the man replied effortlessly. "It shall be very interesting." Buffy grimaced and moved towards the little man. She lifted her sword and he froze.
 "What the hell happened?" Buffy exclaimed. The small man was frozen as if he was on a video tape and someone had pressed the pause button. Buffy prodded him but he did not move or flinch.
 "He's just stopped for a while kid," a voice commented and Buffy and Harry whirled round. A man eating a hot dog stood before them, leaning casually against the wall.
 "You!" Buffy said in shock. The man raised an eyebrow and took a large bite of hot dog.
 "You know this man?" Harry asked in surprise.  Buffy nodded grimly.
 "A messenger from the Powers that Be," she said, eyes fixed on him. "Goes by the name of Whistler."
 "I missed you too kid," Whistler said dryly. "But let's be serious, you're about to walk into something heavy here."
 "I take it you're responsible for Mr. Freeze over here," Buffy said, gesturing to the small man.

"He has people issues," Whistler said lightly. "The Powers that Be thought it best that we leave him out of the equation."
 "So what is the equation?" Buffy asked. "What's the deal here? And what is this place?"

 "This is kind of a holding ring. It's not hell but it's close to it," Whistler replied. "It's an in between. Truly, its nothingness, this place doesn't count. That door, as you probably know takes you right into Hell. There's not turning back once you go through."

 "You're going to try and talk us out of it aren't you," Buffy said suspiciously.
 "I don't think you understand the magnitude of what you are about to do," Whistler said seriously. "You can't just walk into hell and expect to find your way back out. It doesn't work like that."
 "I can try," Buffy said fiercely.
 "And you'll fail," Whistler insisted. "It's impossible. Don't you think things would be coming out of hell all the time if it were possible?"
 "As I see it, they are," Buffy said incredulously. "What do you think I'm fighting all the time?"
 "Look, bottom line, you can't go," Whistler said, cracking his knuckles. "Even if it was possible to go in and come out, you can't walk into hell with Harry Potter in tow. Do you realise the consequences of your actions if you do that? And you, a slayer. We need you guys. You're our best."

"I think the words I'm searching for are 'tough luck'," Buffy said fiercely. "I don't owe the Powers that Be anything. I'm sick of doing their dirty work."
 "It wasn't supposed to be this way," Whistler admitted. "The problem is you kid. You love too much and people love you too much. As you said once, love makes you do the wacky. Sirius Black did the wacky, he died for Harry Potter. And he wasn't the first." Harry dropped his gaze.
 "Hold your chin up kiddo," Whistler advised. "You've got a long way to go yet."

"So what do you want us to do?" Buffy asked, eyes blazing. "Do you expect us to turn back? Because we won't do that."
"I don't think you quite comprehend what lies just beyond that door," Whistler said slowly, pointing at the black door. "Hell unleashed. Everything you've fought times a million. Demons in their purest form. Evil greater than you can imagine. Torment, death, pain. Madness. You think living back on earth is hard, you don't know pain."

 "I don't care," Buffy said coldly. "I don't care anymore. I have to go to Sirius."
 "They get that about you," Whistler said with a grin. "You're never gonna give up. Which is good in a way, but it can also be kind of annoying. Which is why I've been sent here, to make a deal." Buffy's expression remained unconvinced.
 "They'll give you Sirius back," Whistler said carefully. "If you get the hell out of here and take Harry Potter with you."

 "That's it?" Buffy asked incredulously. "That's the entire deal."
 "Well there's the small matter of destroying that guy," Whistler mumbled.
 "Magical Mr Freeze?" Buffy said wildly. "That guy is mega powerful. Even if I could beat him in combat, there'd be no beating that magic."
 "They disagree," Whistler said ruefully. "That guy has been a big pain in their butts. Got a thing about taking innocent souls and subjecting them to misery in Hell. Don't ask me why. And they want him gone. You help out and you get Sirius."

 "Why don't they get a warrior to do it?" Buffy asked.
 "Why do you think you're here?" Whistler said with a grin. "They knew you'd come."
 "Has annoying ever told you that you are intensely irritating?" Buffy said bitterly. "All you seem to do is show up when I'm having a bad time and make things worse."

 "I'm not responsible for what happens to you kiddo," Whistler said gently. "I wish I could make it better for you, but bottom line, I can't. But don't go in there, you've got more to achieve. You know that. Think about it." Once again, Buffy's thoughts moved to the dusty glass ball in the Department of Mysteries.
 "I'm n," Buffy said quickly. "So I kill him and I get Sirius back? We all get to go back home?"
 "You got it," Whistler confirmed. "No more drawbacks." He grinned at Buffy who stared back frostily. "Good luck kiddo."

Whistler disappeared and the small man jerked back to life.

 "I believe we were about to fight," he said smoothly and Buffy nodded. She raised her sword and he lifted his hand. A long silver sabre appeared in his hand.

The swords clashed together and sparks flew with the force of it. The held them there, each trying to force the sword back towards the other but their strength was matched. Buffy quickly pulled her axe out and the man lifted his free hand, and she was thrown back against the wall.

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled and a bolt of red light flew from the end of his wand. It hit the small man and was absorbed into his body. He froze in his tracks for a split second before continuing walking towards Buffy.
 "Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!" Harry yelled, shooting stunners in quick succession. Each time the man was momentarily frozen, giving Buffy time to clamber to her feet. Her left arm appeared to be sprained slightly. Harry could tell that the man was powerful from the little affect his spells had on him.
 "Let's do this without magic," Buffy said hoarsely. "Combat, the way it was supposed to be."
 "As you wish," the man replied, eyes narrowing. He raised a hand and ropes appeared which flew towards Harry and bound him toughly. His wand clattered uselessly from his hand and he was incapacitated.
Buffy and the man raised swords to each other as Harry could only watch, unable to move. The fight began and their swords clashed together as they each blocked one another's moves and attempted to strike the other.

Buffy jabbed at him with her sword, but he parried and swung around with a thrust of his own, which she also parried. They clashed blades several times, and Buffy ducked a wide arching swing from him. They faced off again and traded blows and parries again and again. The man tried another arching swing from above, but Buffy easily ducked and sidestepped out of the way. They faced off again in front of Harry and traded a few more blows.

The man tried a swing from above a third time, and again Buffy ducked it and escaped to the side. She swung at him again but he parried, and swung at her legs. She jumped up and over his blade and landed on the floor. He tried for her legs again, but she blocked his attempt with her blade. Again they traded several swings, and the man tried a wide swing again, and managed to slash Buffy's arm, a fairly deep and painful wound. He tried to take advantage of her distraction and came at her with his sword held high, intending to swing from above, but she dropped to the floor and rolled out of the way, so he only managed to swing his sword into the enamel wall, cracking a few of the tiles.

 Buffy kicked his legs out from under him and scrambled back up. He turned to face her, still on his knees and swung three times in rapid succession, all of which she parried. He swung a fourth time, and Buffy knocked his sword against the wall with her parry and pinned it there. He backhand punched her in the face, and she spun away. He pulled the sword from the wall and swung it hard at her. She blocked it with hers, and kicked him in the gut, making him double over. She jumped over him into the clear, and raised her sword to continue the fight. He struck, and she parried. Then he kicked her in her sword arm, and she stumbled back a step.

 "This remind you of anything?" the man asked, smiling cruelly as they traded more blows. "As I recall you weren't too successful then either, were you?" Buffy grimaced as she remembered fighting with Angelus in front of Acathla.
 "I did so enjoy keeping Angelus here," the man remarked casually as Buffy swung at him. "Not as much as keeping Black, I must say. His scream has a much better sound. Music to my ears."

Buffy growled deep in her throat. She swung a blinding series of blows at the man but they glanced off of his sword easily. He began to chuckle in his deep voice. Buffy ducked to avoid his swing and hit the ground. She scrambled back to her feet as the small man slowly advanced. She struck, and he parried. She spun around and swung at him, and he blocked her. Her sword bounced off of his and clattered to the ground. The man stepped on the blade before she could raise it again and knocked it from her grip. Buffy ducked as he swung his sword round and kicked his arm that held his sword. His too flew from his hand and fell to the floor.
 "If that's the way you want it," he said grimly and Buffy delivered a stunning roundhouse kick to his head. He returned it with an uppercut punch. He grabbed her man a backhand punched her, one, twice and a third time. Buffy fell from his grip and as he approached she push-kicked him away.

She tried a punch, but he middle blocked her and took a swing with his free hand at her face. She ducked both it and the next punch he threw. She straightened back up and roundhouse kicked him in the side, but he kept his balance and roundhouse kicked her in turn. She ducked it, and his momentum carried him around in a spin. He came to a stop facing her and punched her in the face. He brought his free hand up again, but she smashed her forearm down to block it. He pushed her backwards and she stumbled and he was in her face, backhand punching her. Buffy ducked one and tried a sweeping kick on his legs which he blocked. Off balance, he kicked her stomach and she flew back and slid down the wall.

Her nose was bleeding a little, as was the cut on her arm. A bruise was starting to show on her check, along with a few small cuts and her left arm was still sprained and weak. He stood over her and his foot stood on her strong arm, pinning it to the ground.
 "I think I'll snap your neck," he said in a slow considered voice. He grabbed her hair with one arm and deftly, Buffy reached to her ankle with her free arm, grabbed the small knife at her ankle and plunged it into his right calf. He howled with pain, releasing Buffy and stumbling back. Buffy flipped up and kicked him, causing his head to snap upwards. She uppercut punched him and scooped up her sword from the floor. Buffy gripped the hilt and swung it round, slicing his head cleanly from his body.

Buffy stood over his dead corpse for a few minutes before sighing and moving to Harry. Using one of the many knives still on her person she cut through his bonds and he slipped out of them.
 "That was bloody brilliant!" he exclaimed.
 "It was close," Buffy admitted, tenderly feeling the bruise on her face. "I thought he was going to kill me."
 "You did good kid," Whistler drawled and they turned to see him standing over the dead body. "They knew you would."
 "Whatever," Buffy said wearily. "Now your part of the deal?"
 "You got it," Whistler said with a grin and snapped his fingers. From the hole that they had fallen through earlier, a body fell and landed hard on the ground face down. Buffy moved forward, hardly daring to hope. She gently lifted the body, thinking worriedly at how light he felt and turned him over.
 "Sirius," she breathed as she saw his familiar face, though it was pale and thin. His eyes were closed and Buffy leant in to hear his shallow breathing. She began to cry, tears dripping down her cheeks as she clutched his body to her tightly. She sobbed and her tears fell on to his face, dripping down them and dampening his hair.
 "Be gentle with him," Whistler advised. "He needs a lot of sleep and some general TLC but he should be back to normal pretty soon." Buffy looked up at him through teary eyes.

"I-" she choked. "Thank you."

 "No, thank you kiddo," Whistler said seriously. "Now get out of here."

 "How exactly?" Buffy asked. "I can't climb that tunnel.
 "You kids," Whistler said shaking his head. "Never want to take the stairs." He pointed at a doorway which Buffy was certain hadn't been there before that had a small glowing green sign above it showing a man walking up a staircase. When she looked back towards Whistler, he was gone.

Buffy cradled Sirius in her arms lovingly, brushing back his hand from his face and touching his cheek wonderingly. She couldn't believe she was holding him again, when she never had seriously thought she would. He was back, he was with her again. Buffy felt the pain in her stomach that had been there for so long and had nothing to do with fighting lessen. She was whole again and she could exult in it. All the promises meant something again.
 "Harry," she called, not taking her eyes from Sirius' face. "Don't you want to see him?" She finally looked over her shoulder and Harry stood still, staring at Sirius' still form in her arms.
 "He looks dead," he said uncertainly. A spasm of fear flickered across his face.
 "He's not," Buffy assured him. "I can hear him breathing and I can feel his heart beating." Harry took a few steps forward and knelt down next to Buffy. He extended a hand and touched Sirius' face with his fingertips withdrawing them quickly.
 "He's alive," he murmured and Buffy nodded. "Alive." Harry grin in joy and his eyes began to tear up. He covered his face with his hands and rubbed them hard. He looked back at Buffy and his eyes were shining.
 "He's alive," he practically shouted and Buffy beamed. Harry jumped up and grinned, a purely happy grin that made Buffy grin back.
 "Let's get the hell out of here," Buffy said still grinning. "No pun intended." She slung Sirius' arm around her shoulder and picked him up. Harry led the way to the staircase which was long and winding.

"How much time?" Harry asked, once they reached the top and moved to the end of the white tunnel where they had entered. Shifting Sirius' weight in her arms, Buffy glanced at the stop watch.
 "Thirty seconds," she said in surprise. "Time must move quicker here. Good thing we didn't miss it." Shifting Sirius again, she reached in her jeans pocket and extracted the crystal. She handed it to Harry who placed it on the floor, foot poised over it.
 "Three, two, one!" Buffy counted down and as she finished, Harry stamped down hard on the crystal.
A lilac powder was released and flew up into the air, beginning to swirl around. It grew larger and more colours joined it. It increased in size until it was a complete portal.
 "Here goes," Buffy murmured and she stepped into the portal, Sirius in her arms and Harry a step behind her.

******

There you go! Everyone who wanted Sirius back, he's back! So I expect lots of reviews!