A/N: Hello, hello! Welcome back, beloved nerds. That was a lot of action, wasn't it? Time for a little chitchat.

I love Allison dearly - hope you all like her as much as I do. There's little better in fiction than an actual, real girlboss (and not the artificially strong type, the actual powerhouse woman characters). Also, back to Audrey POV. Have fun!

Chapter Five: THERE'S ALWAYS HOPE

AUDREY

Audrey stirred. Her eyes slid open and focused on golden stars, dancing on the ceiling. Home, Audrey thought, and blinked. The stars disappeared.

She frowned and pushed herself up, aching. Her eyes landed on wood, slats- dripping ink?

Audrey shot to her feet and stumbled, throwing out a hand to catch herself on the wall. She slowly turned, looking around at the tiny room. Her knife, her jacket and her backpack all sat neatly tucked away in the corner.

Audrey snatched her knife up and burst through the doorway, scanning the area. Her gaze skipped over Tom and turned back, flickering over him and the bundle of fabric he sat next to. Memories flooded back, and Audrey blew a long breath, relieved.

The terrifying plunge down the elevator shaft had halted with Tom's momentum swinging sideways, into another hall. They crawled through another set of hallways.

By that point, all adrenaline had faded from Audrey's system, and she nearly collapsed on the floor twice. When they'd reached a room with boarded-up doors, and Tom opened a small trapdoor, Audrey had barely managed to crawl inside: Tom had set Allison down and carried Audrey to a small bed in a corner. She'd collapsed, backpack, boots and all.

Tom whined slightly, getting her attention. He raised his eyebrows and gave her a tiny wave, then beckoned her over. Audrey gave him a small smile and stepped toward the crumpled pile of fabric. Something moved within it, and she jumped, only to realize it was a hand waving to her.

Audrey dropped to her knees beside the older angel.

Allison had both eyes shut, and black liquid trickled out of one of them. A nasty cut crossed her throat, with crusted ink all around it, and the hand on the blanket she was wrapped in was missing its pinky finger - Audrey took a deep breath - but the wounds looked newly healed.

It's only been two cycles since she was caught, Audrey thought, and blinked at the memories easily pouring through her head now like the ink in her hand. Dark rooms, sharp claws, fury and scorn and alone in the dark.

Audrey shook her head violently to clear it. She looked at Tom. He shrugged at her, dark face pulled into his characteristic scowl.

When she looked back, Allison's eyes were fixed on her, open.

Or, rather, eye. One of her sockets was empty and welling with dark ink. Just like the new Alice.

Audrey gasped. "What- what happened to your eye?"

Allison laughed, weakly. "I don't think the new angel likes me much."

"She took your eye?"

"And everything else," Allison said, and reached out to touch Tom's knee when he growled. "I'm all right, Tom. I'm here."

Audrey shivered. "Did she try to kill you?"

"I think she was saving that for a later date," Allison replied. She struggled to sit up. Tom moved to help her, and she smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you. I don't think you saved my sword…?"

Tom shook his head, and Allison sighed. "All right. I suppose it was only to be expected."

"I brought my knife, you can have it," Audrey offered, her mind awash.

"That's kind of you, but no," Allison said firmly. "You'll probably need it." She leaned back against the wall and stared at Audrey. "I hear you're Henry's daughter?"

Audrey nodded, eagerly. "Yes ma'am. You know him, right?"

"Please call me Allison," the angel said, with a tired smile. "I also gather that Henry thought we were dead."

Audrey recounted what she'd told Tom. Allison smiled when she'd finished.

"I told you he didn't abandon us on purpose," she told her companion, who shrugged, as if to say, How was I to know? "Henry wouldn't have done that. He just wanted to go home."

Audrey felt a lump in her throat. "Um, ma'am – Allison- that's… why I'm here."

Allison stilled. Her one eye narrowed. "Henry." It wasn't a question.

Audrey nodded. Liquid pooled at the corner of her eyes, and she swiped at her eyes angrily, freezing when she felt ink smear across her face from her hand. A hand touched her back, and she looked up at Tom's sympathetic eyes. "And… and my mom. Linda."

The whole story spilled out of her. When the words stopped coming, Audrey's shoulders shook. She stared at her blackened hand in silence, feeling empty.

Allison's voice broke the silence. "Can I tell you a little of what happened? When your dad was here, and after."

Audrey nodded, not trusting her voice to work right.

Allison took a deep breath and blew it back out again, slowly. "When your dad disappeared into the Ink Machine, over the ink river- do you know about that?" At Audrey's confused look of half-remembrance, she nodded. "He was looking for something to defeat the monster that stalks these halls.

"You've only met the newest Twisted Alice, but trust me, she's nothing-" Allison shivered- "to the Ink Demon. Be glad he's sulking away at the moment. This is one of the only places he won't get into. I drew halos on all the walls, and he doesn't like that very much."

Audrey tucked her arms in tight, curling into a smaller ball. The other angel was bad. A demon?

The memories surged for a moment and Audrey flinched, shoving them away internally. For the first time, much to her surprise they responded, receding into the back corners of her mind.

Audrey shook herself slightly, bringing herself back to the conversation - which had halted for a moment, as Allison studied her intently.

"Hm," Allison mused, quietly. "Anyway. Henry was looking for something to defeat that creature. At the bottom of this near-endless 'studio' is an enormous machine- the Ink Machine. And it turns ink into… us." She waved a hand at herself, at Tom. "Sometimes. Or sometimes Lost Ones, just black figures, confused."

Audrey frowned in concentration, nodding. The memories danced in the back of her mind.

"Henry crossed the ink river below to get into the machine. He said the Seeing Tool, which reveals golden messages, told him to go into a vault in there. We couldn't cross. Too much ink and we just dissolve back into nothing," Allison said, with a grimace. "So we stood guard."

Tom shifted uneasily and growled. Allison patted his knee, a frown tightening her lips. "The Demon showed up. With no warning. Tossed me in the river and kicked Tom in after me." She shivered, and Tom rubbed her shoulder, his metal arm creaking. "Floating in the river, just thoughts tangled with all the others… it can take a long time before you come back. But it was so, so much worse this one time."

She dropped her voice. "The Demon came crashing in with us. His anger… it was awful. It just took control. All the ink in the river flowed up and into him, in a huge wave, and we were left in the dregs. A few puddles had to hold all of our souls. It was so long, in the dark…" Her voice trailed off.

"I'm sorry," Audrey said softly. "That sounds…" She looked down at her black hand. "Terrible."

Allison nodded. "It was. And when the Machine finally spat me back out- Tom first, then me- Henry was gone. Completely gone. He wasn't in the ink, we would have known, and we combed the studio top to bottom- he disappeared. So we knew he'd escaped. And after a while, we found the Exit door."

Allison looked at Tom. "How many times did we try to get out?"

Tom frowned in concentration. He flashed ten fingers, then one.

"Eleven," Audrey said. "It didn't let you through-"

"Not eleven," Allison corrected. "One hundred and one."

Audrey's jaw dropped. Tom nodded in confirmation.

"Every time we got close, the building rebelled," Allison told her. "Sometimes Searchers appeared. Sometimes the walls shook. A few times, the Prophet showed up, screaming. Every time, we came crashing back down one way or another." She shook her head. "We just kept trying."

"I'm thirteen," Audrey said quietly. "Dad's been 'sick' since a little bit before I was born. I didn't ever learn why. It must have been…"

Allison looked at her. Then she said, "We were on our one-hundred-and-tenth try when everything changed."

Audrey sat up a little bit straighter. "A day ago?"

Allison spread her hands. "We have no way of knowing. Sometimes the clocks in here turn backwards."

Audrey's shoulders slumped. "Oh. Okay."

Allison nodded. "We were somewhere on Level 2 when the whole studio began to shake. Every puddle began to bubble, and we ducked into a Little Miracle Station- special rooms Tom and I made to hide in from the Demon," she explained when she saw Audrey's look. "We were watching through the little hole in the door, and suddenly a puddle poured out a flood of ink."

Allison hesitated. "I saw the Demon in the middle. And I think- I think- he was holding something under one arm." Her lips tightened. "He was in his beast form. Huge arms, too many teeth. And he disappeared with the ink flow."

Allison looked at Tom, and he nodded. Allison frowned. "A little bit after that- I'm not sure exactly how long, we spent some time in the other safehouse asleep- anyway, when we left…"

She shuddered. "The other Alice, the new one appeared for the first time. And captured me." She gingerly touched her empty eye socket. "I don't know how long it's been since then. But if your father's here, and alive-" Allison looked at Audrey.

Audrey felt her breath catch. Her gut churned. "You think…"

Allison frowned. "It could be. It really could. But I don't know."

Audrey pushed herself to her feet and tucked her arms against her stomach, trying to keep the churning in her gut under control. "Where would that thing keep them?"

Allison sighed. "In the Machine, the Demon has a special room with a throne. We explored it a few of the times we were reborn- before he caught us and threw us back in, of course. He likes it there. If your father's anywhere, he's in that room."

Audrey began to pace, her thoughts spinning. "Is it all the way down?"

Tom nodded. Allison said, "All the way."

Audrey took a deep breath, picked her knife back up and turned toward the door. "Thank you."

"Audrey," Allison said, concern in her voice.

Audrey ignored her, turned, and ran straight into Tom's chest.

Tom grabbed her shoulders and stared down at her. Audrey dropped her gaze and looked down, scuffing her foot on the floor. She felt more than saw Tom shake his head, but was caught off balance when he suddenly scooped her up and dumped her next to Allison. "Hey!"

Allison laid a hand on her shoulder. "Wait. I told you that long history for a reason, didn't I?"

Audrey made to get up, but pressure from Tom on her shoulder kept her pinned. "Tom, let me go," she protested.

"Audrey." Allison's voice had dropped an octave. Reluctantly, Audrey turned and faced the angel.

Allison pushed off the wall. She looks better, Audrey thought, though the rest of her mind screamed about her parents.

"Why were you running?" Allison asked her.

Audrey bit her lip. A low growl from Tom and a soft shake of her shoulder made her sigh. "I'm not going to ask you to come with me," she admitted, staring at the wood floor. "It's my family. And I was going to try to rescue them –" she shot a glare in Tom's direction- "before I chickened out."

Allison chuckled, and Tom made a snuffling sound Audrey thought might be a laugh. "And you were going to take on the whole studio with a backpack and a little knife?"

Audrey felt her cheeks flush, and she was suddenly angry. "Yes!" she yelled, and ignored the startled look both companions gave her. "It's my family, and my problem, and I don't want you to stop me because I… because I-"

Her voice broke, and Audrey dropped her head into her hands, ignoring the new ink handprint she surely had stamped across her face. "I want them back," she whispered through her hands. "I miss my parents."

A big hand squeezed her arm gently, and a little hand rubbed the space between her shoulder blades. Audrey choked on a laugh that turned into a sob halfway through.

"I told you all of that," Allison said gently, "to let you know that we are getting out of here. And your father was a good man. We're going to help you, Audrey Stein, and we're going to go find your parents." A smile crept into her voice. "And the next time we get to that exit door, we're walking through it."

Audrey lifted her head from her hands and released a breath she hadn't realized she'd held, a smile of relief tugging at her mouth. Across the room, gold light drew her attention. The words SHE WILL LEAVE YOU FOR DEAD smeared themselves out. A new phrase traced itself.

FRIENDS LOYAL AND TRUE, sparkled the writing on the wall.

TO BE CONTINUED

/\/\/\

A/N: Aw, Allison, that's so incredibly sweet of you. Question, though: who is writing on the wall? (Would it unnerve anyone if I said I didn't even know? Just kidding! ...maybe.)

Happy early Thanksgiving! Technically, it's still Wednesday as I post this, but only for about 10 minutes. But hey, I was right about my upload schedule!

Phew, I needed this break so badly. My college gives us a week off for Thanksgiving, which is very generous! Except that there's no point in me flying cross-country for one week only, so I'm stuck in the area for one more Giving of Thanks, sans family. Ah well - I got to wander around in our very empty, very big library today, so that was fun. Anyone else love being in empty, normally communal spaces? I felt like a lil ghost and it was awesome.

I've been desperately trying to catch up on my creative backlog of four months, plus some from all of last year. Let's just say it would take me a full month to catch up on everything I want to do. Priorities.

Anyways. I love Tom and Allison. They are adorable. Shame Tom still can't talk (*cough cough not for long cough*).

As always, leave a review, if you feel so inclined! Grateful for those of you who made it here. Happy Thanksgiving - don't drugs, stay in milk, drink your school, and I'll see you next week! (Drive safe, travelers.)

Godspeed ;)

-Sam