Chapter Six

Somewhere

Trent's punch went wild as the torches flared up all around the room. He stumbled and almost fell but caught himself just in time. His aching shoulders shook as he pulled himself upright. Calling upon every ounce of strength he had left, he swung out a second time.

Roxanne did not pull away from Trent's blow. She knew the weak man would not be able to make contact with her for his aim was just far enough off to her left to miss her entirely, but what she had not expected was for a screaming, dark blur to come sailing into him. Hooves and boots skidded across the floor as the braying animal knocked into the blonde man and carried both away from her.

Joseph had awakened to something heavy thundering over him. He had yelled out and had attempted to push the heavy creature away, but Donkey had already left. As Joseph lay on the stone floor, his blue eyes looking up at the observation booth where many ugly faces stared back down at him, he could think only of Rogue.

He had failed her. When his beautiful, beloved Rogue had needed him the most, he had failed her. Self-hatred burned in his heart even as he prayed for her survival. He begged the Gods to let her live, to take him instead if they must have a death, but to let her live, no matter what, even if she hated him, which she had every right to do for he had failed her so miserably . . .

Rogue stirred, and her green eyes popped open. The first thing she saw was a girl who she recognized as being one of Jack's crew kneeling not too far from her. She sat all alone and very still, and her eyes intently gazed before her at something that was hidden in the shadows. When the torches flickered on, she recognized a Werewolf who was also not moving. He sat and stared intently back at the woman. What the Hell? Rogue thought as she sat up, watching the two.

And where was Joseph? She hoped her beloved was alive. She stood and looked but did not see him. However, she did see a white-haired woman hovering in the air, throwing out lightning bolts, winds, and rain. No wonder Ah'm wet! she thought and swiped angrily at her hair. She looked around, amazed that only part of the room had rain falling into it.

She looked back at the wolfman and the girl and saw that they were not wet. They seemed to be in a stupor, just staring at each other. She had once seen another couple do that, and a stray tear slipped down as she recalled that now that other couple was dead. She missed her friend, Willow, already and wondered if Kennedy was yet alive.

She shook her head, and again her thoughts went back on Joseph. She knew he'd be pissed at her when he awoke. After all, she had knocked him out and kept him out of the battle, and alas, she had failed in that battle! She would have flown upward, but she did not want to draw attention to herself by whatever was at the top of the room. She knew something was up there, and she did not get a good feeling from it.

She began to walk aimlessly through the room, searching for Joseph, and was barely missed by a sliding donkey dragging a man with him. She heard crying and continued to walk forward toward the sound. When she reached the girl that was crying, she recognized Kennedy, and she knelt down beside her.

"Kenn?" she whispered, waiting for the girl to acknowledge her presence but fearing that she was too lost in grief. She reached out and lifted Kenn's chin. "Ah'm sorry, Kenn. Ah'm so sorry! Ah failed every one!" Her own tears began to slide down her face, and she moved closer to put her arms around Kennedy.

Kennedy responded to Rogue's words even as she collapsed into her embrace. "¡Usted falló nadie! ¡La fallé! ¡Fallé el sauce! ¡Ella es muerta! ¡Mi sauce muerto!" Her tears fell so numerously that they were already beginning to soak Rogue's hair even more.

Rogue did her best to comfort her friend. Even though she didn't know what she said, she guessed that Kennedy was blaming herself for Willow, as well.

For the life of him, Donkey could not stop sliding. He had just picked up too much momentum in his run, and when the lights had flickered on, his back hooves had gone out from under him and he had begun to slide. The impact from the fall had simply taken his breath away from him, and he had not been able to call out a warning to the man who he now had gripped in his front legs. He could see the wall looming, and he knew he would soon be hitting it. He hoped it would not break his legs or hurt the man any further.

Roxanne sighed and murmured in Spanish. "Bien, por lo menos eso soluciona eso." She glanced upward at the angry beings, one of which had already yelled at herself and the rest of the prisoners. She still had no idea who they were, but she knew that they could not be trusted and felt certain that an attack would soon come. "Yasmine, stay on the alert," she directed.

"Sasha, how are we coming?" She leaned back over the injured woman to check on her pet's progress with the bullet. Sasha growled in answer and proceeded to dig through the woman's injured arm with her claw. The little piece of metal was certainly slippery, but she'd get it. Her spotted tail twitched with determination.

Piper awoke the second time to yells of her godmother and younger sister. She felt a heavy weight on her before her eyes opened and knew instinctively that it was Cole. Her eyes opened to find him laying on top of her, still unconscious. She turned her head and looked out to see what was happening.

Lightning bolts flashed across the room, narrowly missing striking several Pirates, some of whom she recognized and others whom she did not. Winds howled, ripping through the area and tearing at clothes and bodies alike. One group in particular that she could see seemed barely able to hold on to the stone floor, and indeed, even as Piper watched, her aunt's winds snatched up the crab who had bravely been using his body to protect two white tiger cubs. The first cub followed swiftly, but the second was caught by a brown and white cat who held her down underneath his own body. Piper winced as the winds grabbed the cat and second cub up and sent them sailing, as well. She tried to raise her hands to freeze them so that they would not be whipped around the room but found her arms pinned to her sides by Cole's weight.

Her brown eyes traveled the room in search of Ororo, who was continuing to scream, and Paige, whose voice she could barely hear as she persisted in trying to talk their godmother down. It was only then that the realization that she could see so much that was happening occurred to Piper. Thank the Gods, the spell had worked, and she had her vision back again! As quickly as that relieving fact struck her, dismay also hit her. She had her eyes back, but they were also caught up in yet another life-threatening crisis that was as far from "normal" as could be . . . Piper groaned. If she'd known that being a Witch would bring so many insane situations to her family's doors, she would have tried to convince her sisters to let their family's religion die with their mother and grandmother.

As soon as that thought struck her, Piper winced again. What kind of daughter was she to think such thoughts! Her mother's and grandmother's belief in what they were had been what had caused their deaths, but they had believed so strongly that they had knowingly accepted their deaths. At least, no one was trying to kill her because of her Witchcraft . . . yet.

Piper's dismal thoughts ceased as she caught sight of Paige. Rain pelted her sister's face and winds tore at her already-ripped dress, but still her little sister stayed standing, blocking the rain from her eyes as best she could with her hand and yelling at the top of her lungs to try to calm their godmother. Unfortunately, Piper realized as her gaze followed Paige's, Ororo seemed as likely to actually hear Paige as sanity was to return to her life.

Knowing that talking to Ororo would do no more good than Paige's attempt and that she could not freeze her godmother until she could move her hands, Piper turned to awakening Cole. "Cole?" she began to call to him. "Cole, baby, wake up." She wriggled beneath him but could not shake him. "Cole? Cole, wake up, sweetheart."

Paige was not the only one looking up at Ororo. Two other young women stood near her, their hair and clothing stuck to their bodies. The brunette had stopped staring up at the Weather Witch and had instead began to look around the now-lit room for her beloved. She had every faith that he would know how to handle Ororo, or at least find a way to be safe from her storm, but she could not see him anywhere in the throng of bodies that filled the cell.

The blonde, who stood beside the brunette and a few feet behind the redhead, was also looking around. Her eyes scanned for not one man but three, and she also looked around for something that could be used as a weapon or for shelter. Alas, she could find nothing that she was looking for.

The brunette had just started to realize that she was going to have to come up with an answer instead of relying on her hero to come save her and the other women when thunder roared through the air again. A flash of brilliant light streaked for them, and in a split second, she realized that the bolt was seconds away from striking the blonde. She whirled and leapt, throwing the blonde to the floor just in time for the lightning bolt to pass directly over their heads. It was so near that both women's long hair stuck out from their heads as though it had been fried and Paige screamed.

"A-A-A-A-A-A-AUNTIE 'RO," Paige could barely manage to talk even after seeing that her companions still lived. "AUNTIE 'RO, YOU'VE GOT TO STOP THAT! YOU'RE GOING TO HIT SOMEBODY! LISTEN TO ME! IT'S JUST ME, JUST PAIGE!" Tears stung her eyes. "CAN'T YOU HEAR ME? CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND ME! AUNTIE 'RO, IT'S JUST ME, AND I LOVE YOU! COME DOWN PLEASE!"

"S-Sh-She's n-no-t g-g-go-going t-to h-he-hear y-you," the brunette's voice trembled and she had to fight her fear down just to speak.

"What else can I do!" Paige demanded, sending a glare at the brunette. "It's not like I have my sisters' powers! I can't freeze her, and I can't telekinetically throw her or anything! Wait." Paige paused. "I could ask for her. That might bring her down here. Oro -- "

The blonde's shaking voice stopped Paige just before she could call for her godmother. "Stop! That might not be a good idea."

As the brunette and redhead turned to look at the blonde and ask why not, their words froze on their tongues and both stared at the blonde instead. "E-Elizabeth," Cordelia finally asked upon finding her voice again, "what happened to your clothes?"

"What do you mean what happened to my clothes?" Elizabeth looked down at herself as Cordelia got up off of her. Her mouth fell open at first at what she saw, but then she screeched. Some one had stolen her dress and left her in nothing but her undergarments! Her arms quickly crossed over herself, but she knew she couldn't stay hiding without something to cover herself with. Where was Will now? she wondered. Now when she most needed his gentlemanly manners and a coat?

As the torches flared up all around him, shining light on his predicament, Smee realized that he was indeed in Hell. It wasn't Hell as most people thought of it, but there was no surer Hell to Smee except for a world where James no longer loved him and that was a world he was already in regardless. He shook even more, quivering like a bowl full of jelly, as he looked up. His glasses were gone, lost Gods only knew where, and he had to squint to look around. Still, he could not see them, but he knew they were there.

He knew this place. It was the place of his nightmares. It was his own Hell and the Hell that predated his worst Hell. This place was the place where he had been condemned, cursed with a curse that had come to fruition this very night when he had lost his beloved James at last. He'd known it would come, but with each passing day, he had hoped that it would not. He had prayed that what he knew would happen would never happen every morning he got up and every night he went to bed.

He would have given anything and everything to keep James' love, but he had lost that chance in the very bowels of this Hell. They had stripped him centuries ago of every reason that James had to fall for him, and he had always known that his heart alone would never be enough to keep James' love. Now that the worst had finally happened, they had come for him . . . But there was nothing more they could do.

And so, as a familiar voice yelled out, Smee shot back. "AND JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DO TO ME! YOU ALREADY SCREWED ME OVER!" he yelled, never dreaming that his boys were near, let alone near enough to hear his foul language. "YOU CURSED ME THAT DAY TO LOSE MY JAMES, AND WITHOUT HIS LOVE, I HAVE NO REASON TO LIVE! JUST GO AHEAD AND DO ME IN!"

He could have guessed his answer before it came, but he didn't bother nor did he retort as the long-haired man yelled down at him. "BE QUIET, SAMUEL SMEE! YOUR TIME WILL COME! AND AS FOR THE REST OF YOU, WHAT IS YOUR EXCUSE!"

Smee did not waste further words. He only sat and continued to shake and cry. As Hansel and Kennedy grieved for their lovers, Smee grieved for James. James might still live. Smee didn't even know. It didn't really matter, though he wished nothing but the best for James.

That thought was what made him remember something else, a thought that had first occurred to him all those years ago in this very Hellhole. I can't blame him for no longer loving me, he thought. After all, he deserves nothing but the best, and look at me! More long tears dripped off of his round, red nose. I'm the worst! His sobs shook his shoulders and stomach, and he didn't even realize when his small, striped shirt popped off of his belly and rolled up his chest. He only continued to cry and wait for whatever new punishment the gatekeepers to his Hell decided to cast upon him.

It didn't matter what they did to him now. Nothing could be worst than what they had already caused. He hoped they'd kill him and would have even prayed for death had he thought any deity would care enough to listen to his prayer, but he knew two things the whole while: No one was foolish or desperate enough to care about an old, fat fool, and he would not be lucky enough to draw a death penalty.

The very second the torches flared on, Kat's emerald eyes began to scan the cell. She turned slowly even while absorbing one of her fireballs back into her skin, but she remained on her guard with her other fireball constantly at the ready. Her fire flickered in the howling winds but did not go out. Zora also turned slowly around, her own eyes searching their cell.

Though Kat had been searching mainly for Ace, she had remained on the look-out for the rest of her animals. Her eyes passed uncaring over most of the two-leggers in the room, only briefly pausing in concern over Hansel who was being cradled by the naked Chinese man who had snuck onto the Monkey and Bishop, who was running as though he was as terrified as the braying donkey who raced through the room. What scared Kat and caused her skin to pale even more was the lack of animals in the room. There was a black cat near a group of people that included Jack Sparrow, his Sorceress Katrina Lewis, and his gunner Faith; a dragon, lioness, and wolf by a group of four two-leggers, two of which she also recognized as belonging to Sparrow's crews; the panicked donkey she'd already spotted; an odd, two-legged dog chasing a poodle with a hairdo that was as unusual as the clothes the first dog wore; a young, brunette woman holding a Siamese cat; a purple dragon hovering protectively nearby another brunette woman; and two jaguars with a Latina woman.

That would have been enough animals for most women, but the sight of so few four-leggers scared Kat so badly her heart almost stopped. All these animals were animals she did not recognize! Where were her babies! Where was Ace! Hell, where were Clyde and Vang! Rising panic clogged her throat and was only paused by a growled direction from Zora.

Kat's emerald eyes tore toward the direction of Zora's gaze, . . . and then her heart did stop for a moment as her eyes fell upon Ace. He lay on the floor as limply as though all his energetic livelihood had been sucked out of him. His brown hair was swept back from his pale face, and his soaked brightly-colored shirt, white undershirt, and striped pants clung to his still body. Clyde sat on top of him, his tiny hands clasped together and his head bowed in prayer. "Bast . . . " The cry that broke from Kat's voice was barely audible even to Zora's feline ears, and without another word, the redhead ran for her lover.

Zora looked away, blinking back tears as Kat landed on her knees and began shaking Ace and crying out at him to awaken in Gaelic. She knew her friend did not even realize that she was not speaking English, and she prayed to Bast that Ace wasn't dead and that Connor, Vang, and Sebastian were still around there somewhere. The tiger's mouth dropped open as her prayer seemed to be immediately answered for her eyes finally spotted Connor, leading his father, brother, and -- thank Bast! -- Vang to some particular location that Zora had no clue of. She had just started to head after them when Jamaican words screamed past her ear. She turned and found Sebastian, both tiger cubs, and Wolfie all caught up in Ororo's winds, which had already put out Kat's fireball though neither she nor Zora had realized it at the time.

James breathed a sigh of relief. There, not too far ahead of him and his sons, sat Smee on the floor, crying as though his poor heart was broken which James knew it was because of him. "There he is!" James cried triumphantly, his wet mustache twitching with barely held-back tears. He immediately started racing gladly forward.

He could not wait to get his arms around Smee. Relief flooded his heart. Smee lived, and with his living, James vowed that he would prove, once and for all, that he loved Smee just as soon as he figured out how! What mattered now was that he get to Smee!

James had always been the perfect gentleman, but for once in his life, he did not pay any attention to his appearance. His raggedy shirt and pants did not matter even though the sharks had almost gotten him and he had barely managed to escape with his life.

He knelt beside Smee. "Thank the Gods, Samuel, you live!" He tried to gather his beloved in his arms, but Smee's arms kept him from getting too close to him. He felt his boys kneel to either side of Smee and embrace him from the back side. He heard their words of happiness that their father lived, but he also heard the broken-hearted words of Smee.

He had been rather surprised when, before he had reached him, Smee had yelled back at their captors. Didn't Smee know where this was? Didn't he remember what had happened to James when he had yelled once upon a time? It had taken forever to find a healer to regrow his tongue! "Sh!" he whispered even as he kissed Smee on the only part of Smee's face that he could reach which was the side of his head, just above his ear. "Do not talk back to them! Remember what they did to me?" He continued to try to squirm closer to Smee.

As Vang stood guard over the happy family reunion and looked out for his own family and his boys nearly strangled him with their hugs, Smee looked up at James through tear-filled eyes. He remembered all too well what the Council had done both to James and himself, but he'd thought it no longer mattered what the Council would do to him. It wouldn't have even now if not for his boys.

The Council was full of heartless assholes, and Smee knew that they would be far too likely to hurt his children in order to hurt him. He also realized that the presence of their kids was the only reason why James was acting as though he still loved him. Smee could not bare to look upon his beloved and see him act like he loved him when he knew it was just that -- an act put on for the sake of their boys -- and so he turned his head instead to bury his face into Connor's shaggy, brown hair. He squeezed his children to him as best he could, taking what comfort he could from the fact that at least they still loved him . . . though they did deserve a better father than he . . .

James felt Smee turn away from him, and once again, he kicked his own ass. Why had the spell been thrown upon him like it had! Why had he gone for that damn woman when he had never loved any one like he loved Smee! How was he ever going to prove it to him! His mustache quivered as he fought to keep the tears back. Was it all to be heartless and hopeless! Was he to lose Smee! He could never go on without him for he found that Smee was his heart and soul and that the kids were only icing on the cake!

He would not want to ever lose any of his family but would gladly sacrifice himself to keep them safe. He remembered the first time he had stood here, full of defiance and anger, much like he felt now except that now he also felt fear but fear for his family, not himself. He knew the Council was not above hurting the boys to get at him or Smee. He vowed he would put himself between them and his family even if it meant sacrificing himself. The thought occurred to him that he never would have done that for any one before his Smee.

Frederic glanced at both of his fathers. He didn't know what he could do to help. He needed some one smarter in the ways of the heart than he was, but he didn't know any one to talk to. He glanced at his brother, Connor, who wasn't any wiser than he was, and their eyes met above Smee's balding head. They had to do something to get their parents back together, but what? And just where the Hell were they? He had reached for his sword already and it was gone, so he knew they were prisoners. He would fight with his bare hands if it came to it to protect his parents and his brother, but Gods, how he wished for a sword!

Connor shook his head as he looked into his brother's eyes. What were they going to do to get their parents back together? He hadn't a clue, and he knew that Frederic was even less experienced than he was. At least, he now had a girlfriend. Maybe he should talk to her and Vang? Hopefully they would have ideas to help.

When the room became lit up by torches suddenly springing to life all around the walls, Mouse's first action was to draw her sword. Her second was to look around for Ray, Bob, Enzo, and AndrAla while standing at the ready for battle. The latter three were nowhere to be seen, and it took her a full minute to find Ray. When she did finally spy him, all her fear and concern about their reunion disappeared in her fear and worry for him.

He lay on the floor as though he was being slowly deleted, his hand on his chest and his whole body pale and flickering. Fear caught at Mouse's throat, and she screamed his name as she broke out into a run, heading directly for him. Reaching him, she dropped her sword to the floor and gathered him into her arms. "Ray! Ray, dahlin', what's wrong! Speak ta me, Ray!" She trembled with fear.

"M-M-M-Mouse?" Ray managed to get out. "Processor malfunction! Thank the . . . User you're processing!" His hand reached up and touched his beloved's cheek.

"Ah don't want ta process wit'out ya!" The words slipped out without Mouse even realizing them. She looked around the room through her tears, but still she could find Bob nowhere. User, where was he when she needed him the most! The damned Guardian was never there when it mattered the most!

And Phong . . . Phong was already deleted! Enzo and AndrAla would no more know what to do to mend a malfunctioning processor than she did, but she had to save Ray. That left only one option.

In the midst of the chaos that was erupting all around them, Mouse spied Spike, desperately clinging to Kyna's body and head, which he had finally managed to grab a hold of. "SPIKE!" she yelled at him, hoping that he would hear her and trusting his Vampire ears to catch her words. Never once did she realize that, with all the stress and fear boring down upon her, her own fangs were clearly visible. "SPIKE, IF BOB, ENZO, OR ANDRALA STILL PROCESS," she was too lost in her fear for Ray to even take note of her language, "TELL THEM WE WENT HOME!"

Without a further word to Spike, Mouse's gaze returned to Ray. "Don't worry, honey," she told him. "We're gonna go home now. Dot'll know how to fix ya." Leaning down to him, she kissed his lips and double clicked both their icons.

Spike watched as both Mouse and Ray disappeared from his sight. He didn't know where she was taking Ray but hoped that she would be in time to save him. Why was Ray flickering? Spike wasn't sure exactly what Ray and Mouse were, and the fact that she was a Vampiress had completely taken him by surprise. Why did she say process instead of live? What did she mean by it?

He scratched his head. Kyna knew more about them than he did. He glanced back down at Kyna's head. "Oh, baby, come back to me please!" he begged her. He continued to sit on the floor where he was holding and rocking her, oblivious to his surroundings and not even with it enough to say a prayer for the couple even though he liked them well.

Gabrielle awoke to Xena's hands checking every inch of her body and her voice calling to her. Though her lover was not screaming her name, unlike some of the other voices the bard could hear, she was just as much afraid for her as the others were for their lovers. Gabrielle could hear Xena's fear in her voice, though no one else would have recognized the emotion in the Pirate Princess' words.

Gabrielle's green eyes opened, and she found herself gazing up into her lover's baby blues. She wondered why Xena's hair was wet though it was not raining. Then she realized that she was wet, as well, and that their soaked status must have come from falling into the ocean. Where were they now? Had the others made it? Was Joxer all right? Autolycus?

The bard decided that those questions could wait as she gazed up into her beloved Xena's eyes and saw the smile therein and the tiny grin that flashed over her face before quickly disappearing, a sign that immediately told Gabrielle that they were still far from safe. They'd face whatever it was together and make it through, Gabrielle knew, but that, too, could wait for just a moment. Her hand reached up, her fingers threading into Xena's long, ebony hair. She gently pulled Xena's lips down and leaned up to meet her the rest of the way.

Xena melted into the kiss, wishing that she and Gabrielle were nowhere near this Gods-awful place and that they were alone so that she could pledge her undying love once again to her beloved, but the warrioress side of her would not let her be. She knew they were in danger, and so she broke off their kiss, helping Gabrielle to get to a sitting position. "There are Demons about according to Donkey. One of them tried to get him. Haven't seen it come through yet, but I'm waiting for it."

Her hand reached out for her chakram and came away empty. "Oh my Goddess! I've lost it!" she exclaimed in fear. What would she use for a weapon? Her other hand reached out for her sword, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Why had some one taken her chakram and not her sword? Were they idiots and thought that she couldn't use her sword as well as her chakram? She'd show them! She grinned at Gabrielle. "I've got my sword, though," she told her reassuringly.

Gabrielle looked questioningly at Xena, her head cocked slightly to one side. "That doesn't make sense. Who would take your chakram but not your sword? And don't tell me you lost it," she told her with a shake of her head. "You don't just lose weapons. I might, but you don't."

"No. Some one took it. I will get it back." Xena looked upward. "There's some one up there waiting for all of us. Be on your toes." Then she gave Gabrielle one of her eager-for-battle smiles.

Gabrielle couldn't help grinning at the look on her lover's face. "Still, though," she wondered aloud, "why would they take your chakram but not your sword?"

"Maybe they collect unusual weapons," Xena told her, "but they're going to give it back, or I'm going to make them eat my sword and then they're going to give it back. One way or the other, I'm getting it back."

Gabrielle nodded. She still wondered why some one would go to all the trouble of capturing them yet not strip them of their weapons. It wasn't as though they'd been conscious . . . or had Xena been conscious? She knew her sais were gone as she'd lost them quite some time ago, and she had no other weapons on her person. Still, however, she moved on to a different question. "Have you seen Joxer? Autolycus?"

A voice broke in to answer Gabrielle's question. "I'm right over here! I was just about to tell you two to get a room!" He chuckled.

Joxer looked at Autolycus in confusion. "Why would they need a room?" It was only after he'd spoken the question that realization dawned upon his face. "Oh!" He grinned.

Xena looked over at the two of them with a quirked brow, Gabrielle following her gaze. "What chariot ran over you?" she asked. The pair looked as though they had been drug behind one.

Autolycus grinned back at the couple. "I believe it was a chariot called Eddie. He stepped all over me and Joxer in his haste to flee from the Demon. 'Course I haven't seen the Demon come through yet. I was hoping Elizabeth would rescue me."

Gabrielle laughed and rolled her eyes, already deducting from Autolycus' words that Donkey had finally gotten a name and he was the Eddie the mustached Pirate referred to. "That figures," she said, getting to her feet.

Autolycus looked up at Xena. "Give a guy a hand?" he asked pleadingly. Xena lowered her hand and pulled Autolycus to his feet as Gabrielle assisted Joxer.

"Looks to me like you need a healer. Maybe you and Joxer should go in search of one?" she offered. "Gabby and I will look for Elizabeth."

Joxer looked pleadingly at Xena. "And Phoebe, too?"

"Yeah, and Phoebe, too," Xena assured him as Gabby patted his shoulder. "We'll find your women. Doesn't look like the Demon's coming any way."

The words had barely left Xena's mouth when a gray tabby cat stalked by them, his tail straight up in the air and his fur fluffed out. The four exchanged a look but then shook their heads. "Nah."

Elvira groaned in ecsatsy as Wolf continued nibbling her neck. The pale fingers of one of her hands was busily stroking his bushy tail, constantly moving with the fur, while her other hand roamed his muscular body freely. Her own mouth was suckling his neck while his sword pressed against her bush. Another second, another stroke, and he would be fully in her home.

The storm had not deterred her nor had Donkey when he'd almost ran over them. He would have trampled them indeed if she had not rolled with Wolf when she had. In fact, nothing had stopped their love-making nor awakened him, she realized as he let rip with another snore, but then her black eyes spied just who exactly was speaking . . . and she froze.

"Damn it!" she snapped, her eyes flashing angrily. "As much as I hate to break this up, my hot, little Wolfie, you're gonna have to wake up!" Where were Delvira and Jareth? Were they awake? If they were, she knew they were afraid for Jareth's life, and she had to be there for them. "Wolf, darling, wake up!"

Wolf stirred and finally opened his eyes. "I was dreaming," he told her wistfully. "We were playing in the hay." He looked around. "There's not any hay here," he commented as he sat up.

"No hay," Elvira agreed as she gently nipped his cheek, "but still not too far from it."

"Where is here?" He grabbed her and rolled to the side just as a lightning bolt hit where he had been sitting.

She sighed, knowing that they had to get serious. "Here," she told him with foreboding, "is the holding pit of the Council."

He mouthed the words: "Holding pit of the Council?" Aloud, he screeched, "You mean Hell!" His tail went stiff. How could he go from such a pleasing dream to the nightmarish holds of Hell! Was he still asleep? He rubbed his eyes anxiously and then looked again, but they were still in the same place.

Elvira couldn't help the grin that flashed over her face at the sight of both his tail and sword jerking straight at the knowledge. With a raised eyebrow and a suggestive look and tone, she told him with a nod at his fully-aroused member, "You might wanna try to keep that down, hon," she told him coyly, but then she continued in all seriousness. "This isn't Hell exactly, but for my sister and her husband, it's not far from it."

Wolf looked downward, and for the first time, realized he was naked. His hands went immediately to cover his front. "I need something to put on," he told her, "and so do you. I don't want every one looking at you!" He could see nothing laying around, and so he looked upward. "Hey, how about some clothes down here?" he called hopefully up.

At the feminine giggling that answered Wolf's plea, Elvira growled. "Keep your damn eyes in your sockets!" she shot back upwards. Then she heard a male voice chuckling that was joined by another and then another.

Wolf remained rooted to the spot. He was being looked at, and he had nothing to cover himself with! This was worst than the time he had found himself naked in the meadow at the break of dawn and was surrounded by sherpadesses trying to herd his sheep! He had barely managed to escape that time. Would not some one please help him now! He kept gazing upward in anticipation until he heard a rustling noise. He reached out and grabbed the objects as they fell toward him. Shaking the robes out, he handed one to Elvira and put the other one on quickly, thankful to be covered at last.

Elvira took the robe but did not make any move to actually put it on. She didn't want to look like one of the Council, and she didn't mind being naked. After all, she'd practically been naked in the final scene of her show. She sighed at the memory.

Wolf looked over at her. "I know you don't like it, darling, but please put it on. I don't want those others looking at you. That should be for my eyes only!" He smiled at her, his pointed teeth showing.

Elvira sighed but relented at the pleading look on her lover's face. As she donned the robe, though, she couldn't help telling him, "All right, but you know nude is the way Mother Nature intended us." She laughed at Wolf's look.

Donkey wondered if the man was still alive as he knew he had hit him pretty hard. He tried desperately to turn sideways so that his side would take the wall, and as a booming voice ripped out from above, he did just that. The ramming of the wall made him feel as though his ribs had broken, but at least he had kept the man from being crushed in between his body and the wall.

He lay where he had fallen, his sides heaving as he desperately gasped for air. What had the man above been saying? Something about his people attacking the people sent down to help? He cocked one brown eye open slowly and looked at the blonde man he'd carried with him. Not recognizing him, he asked, "Which one are you?"

Cole was dreaming that he had, at long last, managed to get Piper in the bed again. Her soft voice caressed over his skin and made him move insistently downward toward her. His lips sought hers even as he heard the words "wake up". Damn, it figures! he thought to himself. It's only a dream, but what a dream!

He rolled off of Piper, realizing that his weight had been crushing her. "I'm sorry, darling. Don't know how I ended up on top of you. Are you okay?" He reached out and touched her face gently. Seeing the fear there, he immediately turned to look upward.

He could not believe that 'Ro was in the air and that hard rain was pelting every one, lightning bolts blasting. "I swear, I think that woman spends more time in the air than she does on earth!" he told Piper. His eyes then took in the sight of Paige and Wolverine, who was still leaping upward. "That might be a good idea. I'll be right back, sweetie. I'm going to give Wolverine a lift."

"Hold on a second, love," Piper told Cole, finally finding her breath again. She had been breathing shallowly ever since he'd moved against her and she had felt his mighty sword begging for entrance through the flag's fabric. Her brown eyes again stole to his body, but she hurriedly looked away and back to her godmother with a blush. "I might have a quicker solution . . . " Her words trailed off as she flung her hands out at Ororo. She frowned as nothing happened. She tried twice more with still no result.

Cole looked on as Piper attempted to use her powers. "Where are we?" he asked her. "Do they still have our powers controlled?"

"I don't know," Piper replied with a frown. "When I first woke, we were on a shore somewhere, and it was snowing. I found you almost frozen in a snowbank and was just beginning to get you to come around when something happened. It was like we just started falling, although it had been solid ground under our feet. You tried to shimmer," she told him, glancing around, "but from the looks of things, I don't think it worked."

"I'm going to try it again. If it works, I'm going to Wolverine. I'm going to throw him up to 'Ro. It's worked in the past when we were fighting. Hopefully, it will work now." He smiled at her as he shimmered.

Piper nodded. "Be safe, dear." She barely had time to get the words out before Cole disappeared. She prayed he'd make it to Wolverine in one piece and that Ororo would not fry Wolverine.

Smee had taken comfort in his boys' hugs for as long as he dared, but even their love could not mend his shattered heart and broken spirit. At last, he kissed Connor's temple, pulled away from him, and turned to Frederic. He kissed Frederic's cheek, as well, before speaking, and still he did not look at James. "C-Ch-Children," he finally managed to find his voice, "I-I know you do not know where we are, b-but J-J-J-J-J-James . . . " It even hurt to say his name. " . . . an-and I do."

"Where are we?" Frederic asked in a soft whisper. He was afraid to be overheard, and his eyes kept roving around trying to see what he could see that might be holding them.

Connor looked intently at his father. He had heard tales of this place late at night when he had overheard James and Smee talking. "Are we at the Judgment?" he asked.

Smee nodded.

"But why? What have you done this time? Were you two sneaking around behind us, doing something?"

"N-No," Smee's voice quivered as he spoke, and he would no more meet his boys' eyes than he would James' questing gaze. "I-I s-su-sus-suspect that . . . that they have come to finish what they started."

James shook his head, his eyes still glued on Smee. "No. While you were taken, we were visited by the Wizards. We are being retried. They're after us because we left Neverland, but under the extenuating circumstances, one could hardly blame us."

"T-True," Smee managed, though still not facing James, "b-but th-they will not see it that way."

"All we can do is state our case and pray that some one up there will believe us. If they don't, at least you boys are not involved. They should not be calling upon you for judgment. Albus wouldn't let them. He failed us once before, but I don't think he will this time."

Smee snorted through the tears that still threatened to roll down his chubby face yet again. None of those Wizards could be trusted! What had Albus done to make James think he could trust him? Dance a beautiful, naked woman across his lap?

If James had known what Smee was thinking, he would have realized how awful Smee was thinking of him now and just how big the pit was he had to climb out of. It was a good thing he did not know. "Albus came to the house to help us to go after you and the others who were taken. He saved our lives." He thought for a moment back to what he had been doing when the house had been burning, and his face blushed. "You also have Delvira to thank. If it had not been for that woman's mouth, I would have probably kept sitting, playing the piano while the house was burning down around my ears!"

"Dad!" both boys exclaimed, but even as his children protested, Smee remained quiet. So Delvira was in on it too? Why not? Even with her pale skin and ghoulish appearance, she was a far cry lovelier than he would ever be again.

Vang had already glanced once at Smee, sensing the old man's thoughts, and shaken his head. Now he looked again at James and Smee and once more shook his head. As he looked back around, however, he finally spied Zora, and without a word to the others, took off running for his daughter.

Kurt had gotten to his feet and moved to stand beside Kitty. He had not known what Kitty had leapt over his head for until after she had already kicked the Wizard. He had been surprised that Charles had been coming up behind him so quietly that he had not even heard him. No wonder Kitty had kicked him for his beloved had thought he was in danger!

He now turned to face the forbidding voice. "I am sorry, but mein Katzchen zought she vas protecting me. Ve had no idea he vas coming to help. Zank you for sending healers, and please forgive us for our attack." He did not acknowledge Charles even though he knew the Wizard. In fact, Charles had been one of the two who had saved him from the poison, and he considered him to be a friend. He waited with his bowed head to hear what the voice would now say. Hercules, please stay close to me, he prayed to his new-found God.

Kitty's brown eyes darted sideways to look at Kurt, and she couldn't help a sly grin at the way the pointed tip of his blue tail was sticking out from underneath his Priest's robe and jerking wildly. He might appear calm, but she knew his rile was up as much as hers. Looking back to Charles, she offered, "Hum . . . Sorry?" Her gut told her an apology would do them no good, however, and she thought back to who she had already been communicating telepathically with.

Stay on your toes, Ray. I know you're pretty well down right now --

I'm not --

You don't have to lie to me, Rachel. I know you well enough to know the strain that your telepathy's putting on you right now. Focus on blocking it out, but stay ready for a fight.

Aye aye, Capt'n, Rachel mockingly shot back.

"YOU DARE THINK THAT A MERE APOLOGY CAN WIN OUR FAVOR, DEMON!" The word made Kitty's teeth clench and her hands ball into fists. She'd show them what a Demon she could be if she could only reach them! She was a mere second away from walking up the air when Charles whispered to her.

Be calm, Katheryn, Xavier murmured within her and Kurt's minds, and I apologize. Then he spoke to where the whole room could hear him as he got to his feet. "It is indeed our fault, Drell. I tried to tell you that they would react in a defensive manner."

Drell looked down his nose at Xavier. "HURRY UP, AND BE ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS OF HEALING! THE TRIAL SHOULD HAVE STARTED ALREADY! IF YOU HAVE NEED OF HEALING, LET IT BE DONE AT ONCE! DO A GROUP HEALING! GET IT OVER WITH ALREADY!" he growled out.

"That would take quite a bit of . .. "

"DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE!" Drell demanded haughtily before retaking his seat in the center of the booth. "YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES! WHOEVER IS NOT HEALED WITHIN THAT TIME CAN DIE FOR ALL I CARE!" Snickering met his ears, and a smooth, masculine voice spoke his approval.

"Well said, my friend."

Lex Luthor's eyes snapped open at those words. "Oh shit!"

To Be Continued . . .