A Well in the DeadLand

By Marz

Chapter 12

Tonks' Progress

The pub wasn't exactly awful. The air conditioning was broken and two ancient electric fans were the only source of relief from the sweltering heat. It was crowded, and the doors hung open allowing convenient access for every mosquito and fly that wanted to spend the night. The only food they offered was deep fried, and the waiters were less then friendly to those not purchasing hard liquor. Drunken truckers with amazingly strong B.O. visited her table every other minute, and most of them tried their hardest to spill beer on her maps. Tonks was on her fifth glass of incredibly overpriced ice water, and her shirt was soaked in sweat. The band was pretty good though, so it wasn't exactly awful.

She picked up the abacus again, and slid another bead. Arithmancy was never her best subject, but Trelawney's divining crystals were leading her nowhere, and she had yet to find any sign of a weak spot in the fabric of reality. Bakersfield, the home of this less then stellar pub, was just the last of fifty random locations the crystals had pointed her to on the map. She had the dimensions of the unknown region, and theoretically it was possible to calculate the source of a mystical disturbance, if one had the proper math, and remember to factor in all the other sources of interference, which included almost everything from solar flares to the average weight of nuns in the area. She grunted and erased yet another line from the California landscape. If this got anymore frustrating she'd just give up and go back to the crystals.

She pulled out the book that had come with the crystals, and paged through it once again. The stupid crystals were supposed to direct her to where she needed to be, but were subject to mystical interference. She groaned and put her head down on the table.

There was still no word from the Order. That could mean any number of things, and all of them bad. What could have been going through Harry's head? She'd lost friends as well but she'd never risk destroying all reality for the sake of one person. She sighed again and went back to work.

The barkeep shouted last call and Tonks began to pack away her maps and books. She got up, stretched, and found herself fighting off a yawn. She'd have to find some where to spend the night, probably another alley with appropriate charms. The band was packing up as well. Tonks was about to head out, but she thought she ought to thank them for making the evening at least semi tolerable. The lead singer and drummer were hauling a speaker out the back door, but the base player was still there, winding up extension cords. His hair was an enviable shade of blue. He looked up and saw her standing in front of her.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she said back. "Just thought I'd say you guys did a smash up job."

"Cool," the young man responded.

He continued to look at her politely, and for some reason she wanted to continue talking to him.

"Are you boys playing anywhere else this week?" she asked, though she knew she'd be too busy trying to save the world to see them again.

He shrugged. "We don't have another gig until the middle of August, in San Diego."

"Oh, well…maybe I'll look that up."

"Cool," he said nodding. He looked at her bag, which was half opened, with maps sticking out the sides. "Doing the tourist thing?" he asked.

"Sort of." She looked at the clock. It was just past 2 A.M. She'd have to go soon. She was on a mission after all. If she wanted to justify this use of time she'd have to ask something work related. What the hell, she thought. He'll probably think I'm drunk anyway. "You wouldn't happen to know if there was a large instability in the fabric of reality anywhere around here, would you?"

Instead of blanching or laughing at her possibly drunken rambling, he looked thoughtful. "Why are you looking for one?"

"I've got to keep a depressed teenager from using dark magic to pop it open and destroy the world."

He nodded as if this were the sort of answer he expected. "There are a couple of inter-dimensional gates in L.A., but you're probably looking for the Hellmouth."

"Hellmouth?"

"It's an entrance to hell. I heard it was destroyed earlier this year, but that could leave a weak spot in reality I guess."

"So this Hellmouth is near here?" She wasn't sure if he really knew what he was talking about or if he was pulling her leg, but this was the closest she'd come to a lead in days.

"It's in Sunnydale. Well it was in Sunnydale," he amended.

"It moved?" she asked skeptically.

"No, the town was completely destroyed. There's just a crater there now."

"Oh." That sounded promising.

He nodded.

"Could you show me?" she asked, pulling out one of the maps. Trelawney's crystals tumbled out as she unfolded it, scattering across the floor. She grumbled and bent to pick them up. He took a pen from his pocket and circled a small portion of the map, then bent to help her gather her things. She stuffed them into her bag, and took the map back. It was very late, but she wasn't too tired. She thought she'd be up to Apparating. If she confirmed the instability, she'd set up camp in Sunnydale right away. Her mood was very much improved.

"Thanks!" she said, and without thinking gave the base player a quick hug. She whirled and rushed out the door into the sweltering night.

Oz stared after the strange woman for several long moments. There was something about her that he found very familiar. It wasn't the short blond hair with pink highlights, or the leather and plaid outfit, that was for sure. It was more of a sort of strange buzzing energy that seemed to hover around her in an intangible cloud. She's probably a witch, he decided after another moment of contemplation. He should probably give Buffy and the Scoobies a heads up, as trouble on the Hellmouth was their deal. Oz was about to go look for his cell phone when he saw one of the woman's crystals lying halfway under the stage. He snatched it up and ran out the door. He saw the woman walking under a street lamp a block away. He was about to call out, when she raised her hand in the air. She was holding something, but he couldn't see what. Her arm swept down and suddenly she wasn't there anymore. After another thoughtful moment he said "cool" and then went back to searching for his phone.

It was almost three when his call finally got through. He immediately recognized an exhausted but alert Xander on the other end of the line.

"Hello?"

"Hey," Oz said.

"Oz?"

"Yup."

"Hey man, it's nice to hear from you but were in the middle of a crisis at the moment," Xander said. "Some crazy guy kidnapped Dawn. He took down Faith and two of the new Slayers, and identical twins just appeared in the living room."

"Cute identical twins at least?"

"Guys actually."

"Harsh," Oz said.

"Yeah, isn't it?"

"This crazy guy wouldn't happen to be a depressed teenager trying to pop a hole in reality and end the world, would he?" Oz asked.

Xander was silent for a long moment. When he spoke again his voice was hopeful.

"What do you know?"

Oz recounted his meeting with the witch.

"How fast can you get to Sunnydale?" Xander asked.