Disclaimer: None of them are mine. Never have been and never will be. The belong to Rysher and Hallmark and Fireworks and Warner Brothers and MGM and whoever else.

Crossover - F/X; The Series, Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with guest appearances from She Spies.

Rollie Tyler looked over at his wife from where he was setting up a liquid light projector he had modified to create one of their ghosts. "What is that? A bear?" Outside he could hear something that sounded rather large crashing through the woods surrounding the old house they were working in. There were a lot of bushes and deadwood under the trees and nothing bigger than a fox would be able to make it through silently.

Angie glanced out of the window she was working beside. "I don't think so." Her blue eyes widened suddenly. "Rol, come here!"

"What?" The lanky Australian unfolded from his position to join her, reacting automatically to the concern in the blonde's voice.

"It looks like somebody is being chased by some goons." She pointed and he spotted a person fighting their way through the underbrush and three hulking figures a hundred feet behind. One of them paused and raised his arm, apparently pointing a gun. Another one slapped at his hand and he lowered it.

Both special effects artists forgot about their current job as they took in the drama outside. "I wonder what they're doing way out here," Rollie whispered, suddenly not wanting to attract any attention. 'Here' was an old house being used for their latest movie project, "Old Ghoul's Home". The location scout had managed to find a huge clapboard house in upstate New York, miles from the nearest town. Actually, they were at least four or five miles from the nearest neighbor, so they didn't have to worry about disturbing someone or someone accidentally disturbing them when they were filming. The building was in surprisingly good shape and yet was weathered enough to make an excellent haunted house. With the attic and basement, they had five levels to film in and the director intended to make good use of every room. While setting up the special effects required by the script, Rollie and Angie had found a few additional surprises that nobody else knew about yet, including a root cellar next to the basement and a hidden room on the third floor. It seemed to have had an equally concealed passage leading to somewhere else, but it appeared to have been sealed off.

"I'm guessing something illegal, boss," Angie replied sarcastically.

"Probably," Rollie nodded his head with mocking solemnity. "Let's see if we can get our rabbit there inside without the hounds spotting us doing it."

Angie nodded in agreement. "We better get our gear out of sight first." She checked out the window. "There should be time."

The FX team quickly shoved their tools and gear boxes behind a dusty, sheet covered couch. Fortunately, someone had cleaned the floors so there wouldn't be any betraying tracks. When they had arrived today, they had parked their van in the old barn so it shouldn't be visible to their unexpected visitors. They had also set up their controls in the secret room and already planted small cameras in several strategic locations in anticipation of the scenes where they would need to manage the FX while filming. This was to give the crew that needed to be present more space to work in. Working inside a regular house always put space at a premium and the room was just too perfect for them to pass up. If they were lucky, the 'rabbit' would stay far enough ahead for them to pull whoever it was into the cellar. A little extra luck and they would all be safely hidden away in short order. If the pursuers dared to search the house, they'd find a few surprises instead of their prey. He just hoped this wasn't a mistake. If that's a crook being chased by cops, they'll never let me hear the end of it. Tyler FX had helped the police out more times than he cared to count and they were friends with most of those. The majority were with the New York City Police Department at Midtown South. Their best friends on the force were Mira Sanchez and Francis Gatti. He could just hear them ragging him about a 'rookie' mistake and it would be him, not Angie, getting the flack. After all, he was the one Angie said had to play Batman to their Commissioner Gordon. Still, something was telling him that this was not the case and he had long ago learned to listen to his gut feelings.

The beautiful blonde tried to see out of the small window in the root cellar, but soon gave up in disgust. "It's too dirty," she complained to her husband.

"Here!" He tossed her the mini-cam from his pocket.

Working quickly, she pushed it through a crack and activated her PDA. A smile curled her lips as the picture came through clearly on the small screen. "Almost here."

Rollie nodded and opened the door that led outside. Thanks to the overgrown shrubbery, no one should notice when he pushed it all the way up. He braced himself, getting ready to move fast. The timing would have to be just right. He already knew the ground was almost as hard as concrete as it hadn't rained in over two weeks. Unless one of the hunters was an expert tracker, it should appear as if their quarry had just vanished as long as they kept it quiet.

"Now!" Angie hissed urgently.

The Aussie sprang out like a jack in the box. Not slowing down, he clapped a hand over the man's mouth and wrapped his arm around him. The stranger made a funny little squeak before Rollie dragged him into their hidey hole. Angie abandoned her observation post and held her finger up to her lips, indicating to the new arrival the need to stay quiet. He nodded agreement, his eyes huge with shock. The FX man removed his hand from the man's mouth, shifting his grip to one of the man's arms as she turned to shove the peg in place that locked the cellar's outer door. The blonde led the way into the basement and up the steps. Rollie paused long enough to ensure the barely visible door between the cellar and basement was locked, before dragging the man after his wife. He pulled the basement door closed, and then they ran as quietly as they could up the stairs until they reached the third floor.

The stranger's mouth rounded into a silent O as Angie triggered the door to the secret room. They quickly entered and it closed behind them. Rollie released the man's arm and everybody stood still for the moment, trying to catch their breath.

"Arf!" The man jumped in surprise and his eyes rounded again as he spotted Rollie's little robot dog walking toward him. He backed away slowly as if reluctant to come near the small, spidery looking thing.

"That's Blue," Rollie explained. "He won't bite. Bluey, activate all screens, bring up all cameras."

The robot barked and wagged its tail as it obeyed its master and creator. Rollie looked closely at the man. He had felt the tremors running through his thin frame when he touched him. The man was very pale, and taller than Ange, but several inches shorter than himself despite the heels on his black boots. He wore a black double breasted vest without a collar over a multi colored paisley shirt and black pants. The shirt sleeves were held by black bands on his upper arms and the long cuffs were open. He had rich brown hair cut in a very strange bob that reached his chin and really short bangs. Odd duck, the Aussie thought to himself as he took in the purple latex gloves the man wore on his hands. He almost winced at the developing bruise that covered the man's left cheek and went up into his hair line. That eye was just starting to close from the swelling. "Keep a watch for our unwelcome guests, love," Rollie told his wife as he went over to the little refrigerator/freezer that they had installed in one corner. He pulled out one of the ice packs and offered it to the man. "Here, you might want to put this on that eye," he said. "I'm Rollie and that's my wife, Angie. You've already met Blue." He waved at the little robot. "Do you want some extra strength aspirin or Tylenol?"

The man hesitantly accepted the pack and pressed it to the side of his face with a grimace. He licked his rosy lips. "I'm… Willy," he answered in a light tenor voice. "May I have some regular aspirin, please?"

"Why are those berks chasing you?" Rollie asked as he rummaged in the first aid kit and found the requested tablets. He shook two out into Willy's purple hand and offered him a bottle of water.

The finely arched brow over his right eye rose slightly. "Are you Australian?" he asked the taller man curiously, taking in his long, shaggy brown hair cut and black clothing, as he took the mild painkiller. He relaxed slightly as the cool water soothed his throat. It felt like he had been running for hours. He blinked after the FX man nodded. "Are you?" he turned to ask the blonde woman.

"No, I'm American," Angie answered, not taking her eyes off the monitors.

"Ah." He paused then nodded to himself. "Those men tried to snatch Charlie. I stopped them!" He stood proudly for a moment and then frowned. "They took me instead," he finished with a glowering look.

"Why?" Rollie asked.

"I'm not sure," Willy answered in bewilderment. "They seemed to want me to put something in the Halloween candy, but that's just plain silly. It was all shipped out weeks and weeks and weeks ago." A shiver ran visibly through his frame.

"Are you cold?" Rollie looked around for the cardboard carton with their new jackets and caps. They'd had some made up, thinking they would use them for Christmas presents for several of their friends after one on their last shoot had tried to talk him out of his. He didn't think there was anything special about them. They were just black nylon with a little insulation in the quilted lining and their red F white X logo sewn on the breast. The caps had the same logo. He pulled out one of the jackets and offered it to the man.

"Thank -- thank you." Willy immediately pulled on the jacket. "I'm not used to being without my coat. Those men took it. It was my favorite." He reached up and touched his hair, then felt the top of his head as if searching for something. He sighed deeply in resignation.

"Cap?" The Aussie offered. Both he and Angie watched in amusement as the man turned the black baseball cap over in his hands. It looked as if he had never conceived wearing such a thing. He examined the strap that adjusted the fit and fidgeted with it, before gently placing it on his head. Rollie drifted over to join Angie at the monitors, taking the chair next to hers.

"He's kind of cute," Angie leaned over and whispered.

"Should you be telling that to your husband?" Rollie whispered back.

"Jealous?" Angie's blue-gray eyes sparkled as she looked deeply into his amused, deep brown gaze.

"Nope," Rollie focused his attention on to the camera feeds. "We have company, darling."

"How very rude, they didn't knock first," Angie quipped.

Willy came to look over their shoulders.

"'Will you walk into my parlor?' said the spider to the fly," the FX man quoted.

"What?" Willy looked at the couple and noted the twin smirks on their faces.

"Almost there, almost, just a little bit further." Angie coaxed as the three men walked down the main hallway. The first man was near the door to the parlor they had been working in earlier. "Bingo!" She exclaimed happily as Rollie pushed a button. Something grayish white flashed by, seeming to pass right through him. He started sputtering and swiping at his face desperately.

"What was that?!" the man right behind him shouted.

"I don't know," the man who had been dusted answered as he continued trying to rub something off his face. "It feels like spider webs."

Willy tapped Angie on the shoulder. "What was that?"

The woman flashed him a bright smile. "That was a ghost."

He looked over at the Aussie as if asking for clarification.

"We do special effects. We arrived here a couple of days ago to start setting things up for our newest project. That was one of the effects." Rollie explained.

"So the effect is a fake ghost that feels like spider webs?"

"Yep," Angie answered.

The threesome continued watching the men as they proceeded with their search. They had slowed down quite a bit and one of them looked really nervous.

"I wish our cell phones worked out here." Rollie sighed in frustration. The studio hadn't gotten around to putting in a land line yet.

"Yeah, it would be nice to call the cops to pick up these guys."

"I can call Charlie," Willy piped up suddenly.

"Your cell works?" Rollie looked at him in surprise.

"No. I don't have one of those silly things. I don't need one. I do have this though!" Willy pulled a small orange, purple, green, red, blue and yellow checkered ball from his pants pocket. It looked a lot like a giant jawbreaker.

"What does it do?"

"It sends a signal that shows where it is. I invented it so Charlie could signal me if he got lost in the factory," Willy explained. "He insisted that we all carry one, just in case. Not that I would get lost, of course. I built the factory and always know where I am." The FX duo watched in fascination as Willy nimbly, in spite of his gloved fingers, turned the colors around on the small orb until they lined up. "There. Now we just have to wait. Charlie should give his tracking unit to the police and they'll come find me."

"It'll reach?" Angie asked, wondering what factory Willy was talking about and where it was located. She didn't recall any nearby.

"Yeah," Willy grinned widely, showing perfect, white teeth "it should. I, uh, kind of overdid the signal strength."

"Cool!" Angie grinned wickedly as she returned her attention to the goons. "I hope they pass the door to the second bedroom and turn the corner." She punched another button and a disembodied hand skittered across the floor. The three men jumped in surprise and poked around under the table, trying to find where it had gone. Two of them looked really nervous now, the third one was scowling. He growled and swore at the others.

"What happens there?"

Rollie flashed an evil grin. "They fall through a trap door we installed and slide down into the coal room in the basement."

Angie snickered. "They'll have a tough time trying to climb out of it."

"That would be a good thing, right?" Willy looked between the two SPFX artists.

"Yeah, it would." Rollie looked thoughtful. "Maybe we can help them along."

"You have an idea, boss?"

"Yes, I do, sweetie. The holographic projector is in the second floor hallway. If they see Willy, they'll start chasing him and …"

"He leads them straight to the trap." Angie grinned. "I like it!"

"I don't like it. I do not want to be chased again." Willy stated firmly.

"You won't be, mate," Rollie hastened to assure the other man. He pointed at a camera sitting on a nearby tripod. "This is a holographic camera. The projector is setup in the hallway leading toward the second bedroom. All we have to do is send a projection of you running and turning the corner. They run after the hologram and hit the dead end around the corner. While they're wondering where you went we open the trap door and that should be that."

"If we manage to get all of them," Angie added.

"True."

"Look! Look! They're heading for the stairs! What do I do?" Willy was eager to help now that he knew those nasty men wouldn't actually see the real him.

Rollie grinned. "Stand here." He pointed to an open area of the floor. The wall behind them didn't have any equipment against it. He positioned a screen that turned out to be a very bright blue.

"You better take off the cap and jacket," Angie reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah." Willy promptly removed the items and tossed them to one side.

Rollie gave Willy a tiny headset to put on his ear. "When I say action, make a scared sound like you just spotted them, turn around and run toward the screen and when I say left immediately go in that direction. Okay?"

"'Kay, Rollie."

The Aussie positioned the camera and looked at his wife. She frowned in concentration as she focused on the men creeping up the stairs. She raised one hand and started counting down silently with her fingers. "Action!" Rollie whispered when she reached zero.

Willy gave a very realistically terrified yelp and jump as he whirled around and raced toward the wall. Just as he thought he would run into the blue screen, he heard Rollie's voice in his ear. He whipped left. He heard the FX man whisper stop and froze. Anxious eyes turned to look at the couple to see how he did. Rollie and Angie both had huge grins on their faces.

"Two out of three! Not bad, boss," Angie laughed.

"Good work, Willy!" Rollie gave the man two thumbs up.

"Oh great!" the blonde exclaimed. The men stared at her, concern on their faces. That didn't sound good. "I think he's calling for help." The man who hadn't fallen down the trap door was gaping in shock at the dead end. He knew their victim and his cohorts had run around the corner, but he didn't have a clue about what had happened to any of them. They seemed to have vanished without a trace. Unfortunately, he had stopped at the turn and was now speaking urgently into a small walkie-talkie radio.

"Bloody great," Rollie lamented. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to think. There was no telling how many more bad guys would show up and it was only a matter of time before they found their partners in crime in the basement. He mentally ran through the list of FX for the movie and tried to remember how much they had setup before this had started. "Any idea how long before the cops might arrive, Willy?"

"Nuh-huh," Willy shook his head as he put the jacket Rollie had given him back on. "I don't know where here is."

"We're about ten miles north of Grangeville."

"Grangeville? Is that with two E's or one E?"

"Two E's," Rollie and Angie said together.

"Grangeville… Grangeville…" Willy raised one hand and seemed to be tracing a route in the air. "That's at least five hours by car," he said, "if traffic is good."

"Great! That gives them plenty of time to get more help and tear this place apart," Angie lamented.

"Well, it would be an hour maybe an hour and a half by elevator, if they use the elevator." Willy stroked his chin thoughtfully and frowned. "But that would mean Charlie would have to come with them and I don't think that would be a good idea since it was Charlie they tried to grab first. I wouldn't approve at all and neither should Mr. or Mrs. Bucket. Charlie is much more important to the factory than me."

Husband and wife exchanged looks. Angie rolled her eyes and Rollie shrugged. He looked at the shorter man. "Elevator?"

"Uh, yeah, it flies." Willy replied absently, watching the monitors curiously.

"Riiight," Angie mouthed to Rollie, "flies" and returned her full attention to the monitors. She was not going to take part in this conversation any more.

The Aussie mulled over what they'd just heard. "Why is Charlie more important?"

"He's going to inherit the factory when he's of age. After all, I'm older than he is and he's younger so he will live longer and can take care of the factory and the Oom… uh, things, longer than I can since he's younger. Yeah," Willy nodded firmly, apparently immensely pleased about it.

"But it's your factory? I mean you built it right?"

"Yeah, it's mine so I can do what I want to with it and if I want to give it to Charlie I can."

Rollie could almost hear the unspoken "so there" at the end of that sentence. "Never said otherwise, mate. You can do anything you want to since it's your factory." He paused for a second. "Except maybe blow it up. The authorities get upset about things like that unless you get permission first."

"Why would I blow it up?" Willy looked up at Rollie with wide eyes. He knew he'd blown things up before, but that was always little things, machines and inventions, not the whole factory! He couldn't imagine blowing up his factory. It was BIG!

The FX man felt surprise bubbling up inside as he realized he was staring into purple eyes. He could have sworn they were dark brown or blue. His experience with SPFX makeup told him that they really were purple and not contacts. At this distance, he would spot contacts. Whoever heard of purple eyes?! Are they natural or did he do something that made them change? "Most people wouldn't, but it sort of comes with our territory."

Angie snickered, foregoing her decision to stay out of the conversation. "Rol is real good at blowing things up. You name it and he's probably blown it to smithereens."

"Ha ha." Rollie poked Angie between her shoulder blades.

"Chocolate factories?" Willy cringed as he felt a morbid curiosity at the thought.

"Uh, no," Rollie smiled, "no chocolate or candy factories. I did blow up an old fish plant once though."

"Ugh," Angie waved her hand in front of her nose as if she still smelled something bad.

"It's a pity you can't blow them up," Willy stated, pointing to the three new men who had just shown up at the front door.

"Let's leave that as an option of last resort," Rollie said.

"Rol, I hate to say it but we're sitting ducks in here. We're going to have to go past them to get out." Angie looked up at the lanky Aussie with worried eyes.

"Yeah, there is that."

"Can't we just hide in here until the police come?" Willy asked, frowning.

"We can unless they have," Rollie trailed off as one of the newcomers pulled something from a backpack, then sighed hard, "that."

"What is it?"

"Infrared heat sensor," Angie answered. "As soon as they get close enough, our goose is cooked."

"I wish we could open that other door."

"What door?" Willy's head tilted to one side, curiosity evident.

Rollie pointed at the wall behind the blue screen. "We know there's a secret panel there, but we haven't found a way to open it. Either it's been sealed…"

"Or the mechanism is broken…" Angie continued.

Rollie nodded and finished, "Or they took more care in hiding the trigger and we just can't find it."

"I'll look while you slow those dirty, low-down, no-goodniks down." The FX duo stared as Willy marched over to the indicated wall and began to examine it minutely inch by inch. His gloved fingers reached out and ghosted gently over it, barely touching the wood.

"Let's turn on all the effects we have ready, sweetie," Rollie instructed. "At least that will distract them for a bit." His brow furrowed as he tried to think of other ways to keep them from the third floor and their hiding spot.

Angie nodded agreement and activated them from her PC. "If we had long enough recordings of their voices we could synthesize them and have them chasing their own tails."

"We don't though so that's out."

"What do you want them to say?" Willy looked over at them.

"Huh? I don't know, things like 'Here he is' and 'This way', just enough to distract them from a methodical search," Rollie answered.

"Even if we could do it, they'd have to split up first," Angie pointed out regretfully.

"You've got the pair trapped in the basement, right?" Willy had a sly, fey look on his face, his eyes gleamed with mischief.

"Yeah," Rollie drawled slowly.

"Leave it to me, mate," Willy answered with a spot on impersonation of Rollie's voice.

"You're good," Rollie grinned. He knew how hard vocal impersonations were to do. He could do some, like Sean Connery and Elvis Presley, but it had taken a lot of practice first. Willy had just done it without any rehearsal.

"You don't know the half of it, boss!"

Both the FX people stared at him with huge eyes. His impersonation of Angie was perfect as well. "Okay," Rollie said, "you still have the headset, right?"

Willy nodded.

"Ange, can you program the computer to broadcast Willy randomly through the speakers we have planted? I don't want it to happen with any room they might be in though."

"You got it!" Angie turned her attention to her keyboard, fingers flying as she modified an old program to the new requirements.

"We'll let you know when we're ready, Willy. Once we start, you'll have to signal us silently if you want to talk to us, otherwise those goons will hear you too."

"'Kay, Rollie, just let me know when to start." Willy returned his attention to the wall. He seemed to take it as a personal challenge to find out how to open it.

The good thing about the man's focused determination was that it would distract him quite nicely from any nerves he might develop about his upcoming performance. Rollie smiled faintly and went to dig through the supplies they had in the room. Depending on what they had on hand, he might get the opportunity to blow something up yet.

Angie was hard pressed to keep from snickering loudly as she watched their unwelcome guests' unwitting comedy skit. Willy had been tossing out rounds of colorful imprecations, excuses, bellows and orders in two different voices. The men were quite literally chasing their tails as she had predicted. Unfortunately, far too soon, the fun came to an end as the head goon as Angie had come to think of him called a halt to the frantic action. "Rats," she muttered softly to herself as he was clearly ordering them to proceed with an orderly search instead of running around haphazardly based on their unseen colleagues' calls. She turned to where her husband was assembling some chemical concoction that would probably smell fouler than a skunk once he was done, judging from the ingredients. "Rol, we'll probably have company soon," she told him, careful to speak very softly so the men would not hear her as well. She saw his soft brown locks shift as he nodded in response to her statement. He glanced at Willy and pointed at him with his chin, his hands steady as he continued working. She interpreted that to mean she was to cut him off from the various speakers and shut down her program. She proceeded to do so before saying, "That's a wrap, Will."

"What?" Willy looked a bit dazed as he came out of his private world of the wall and voices.

"Our chumps have decided to stop playing with us," she clarified. "I don't suppose you've had any luck with that door?"

"Well," he started and waved one purple fingertip in the air, swinging it in a circle before pushing a spot on the wall. There was, as far as Angie could see from where she was sitting, nothing to distinguish it from any other spot. She certainly couldn't remember any anomalies in that area, no knots, trim or anything other than wall. Nonetheless, there was a faint groaning sound and a click. What had once appeared to be a solid wall, shifted and a long, dark crack appeared. "I think I have had a bit of luck in that direction."

"Great!" Rollie exclaimed as he carefully poured his mixture into some bladders he had found in their supplies. "As soon as I get these set, we'll find out where it goes."

"What is that?" Willy's nose wrinkled slightly. "It smells worse than green caterpillars taste!"

"A bit of this," Rollie started, deciding not to ask how he came to eat bugs.

"A bit of that," Angie added. "Believe me, it's enough to make a skunk run in the other direction!"

"'Kay." His right leg aching, Willy decided to sit down while he waited for Rollie and Angie to finish up. He watched, fascinated, as the couple worked without speaking, apparently instinctively knowing what the other wanted or needed. He sighed silently wondering if he could ever work with somebody else like that. He came close with his employees, but even they and he needed some communication. Perhaps with Charlie, yes, that would be very nice for Charlie to know what he needed or wanted, for him to know what his apprentice and heir wanted or needed. That would be very good if they could achieve that type of rapport. He was so poor at understanding people though, they probably wouldn't be able to reach that lofty goal. Perhaps Charlie could reach it, the boy seemed to understand and know things about people that he never could. He was too much of the hermit, the recluse, never going out unless he absolutely had to do so. Not that he didn't have his reasons for it, he did! He just never could understand people! Part of him didn't want to understand either. Like this latest misadventure, what did those people really want from him or Charlie? It couldn't have been what they had said. Everybody knew that Halloween candy was in the stores at least two or three months before the day. Now it was just two weeks away and they wanted him to taint his own chocolate for Halloween? Was he supposed to have a time machine? What would it take to build a time machine? Like he would do that anyway! Maybe if I use the Great Glass Elevator to start with. That could be the base. It was absolutely absurd, that's what it was! If I did have a time machine what would I do with it? For Charlie? Would he do it to protect Charlie? Stop those lowdown, good for nothing, thieving, conniving candy makers from stealing my secretmost recipes so I would never have shutdown my factory! That was a disturbing thought, to sabotage his candy for someone else, to protect someone else. But… If I did that, would I have met Charlie? Did he care about his heir that much? Isn't Charlie worth going through that rough patch? Well, he was his heir and he was very important to the factory, but more important that the candy? The chocolate?! He is a good boy, a good hair, heir, and he is going to take really, really good care of my factory and my workers and love them and… The thought was plain weird, but it did seem Charlie, his apprentice and heir, was more important than his factory or his candy, but not necessarily his workers. He had taken on a grave responsibility there and he had to hold to what he said and promised to them as true. If I never shut down the factory I probably wouldn't have found them! They were really why he'd had to find Charlie in the first place. 'Kay, maybe a time machine isn't a good idea… Thinking like this, caring about others so very much, was going to take getting used to. Even after knowing Charlie and his family for five years, it was still hard. Yes, a time machine is a bad idea. It's one more thing that somebody would try to force me to use to do something that I know is wrong. Or they'd steal from me and endanger the really important things in life - my workers, Charlie, Charlie's family, the factory, my candy… Note to self, I need to make sure Charlie understands our priorities…

"Willy?" Rollie called to the other man who obviously was mentally elsewhere. "Willy?" He started to raise his voice, mindful that he couldn't get too loud. Those men must not find them still here. "WILLY!"

Willy came out of his daze. "Pardon?"

"I said it's time to leave." He offered the man a small flashlight. "Come on, Blue, you're going with us." He scooped his pet off the floor and led the way to the secret entrance Willy had found. "Have we got everything?"

"Maybe we should shutdown and lockup?" Angie suggested.

Rollie nodded agreement. "All off and out, Bluey!" The little robot barked acknowledgment and their equipment started shutting down. Satisfied, Rollie turned on the headlamp he had placed on top of his cap. "Let's blow this pop stand!"

"He doesn't mean that," Willy hesitantly asked the woman as he followed them through the open panel, "literally, does he?" He pushed it closed and heard a snick, indicating something had locked. He hoped they didn't need to go back that way, suddenly wondering if he could find the trigger on this side.

"No," Angie grinned back at him.

"Then what did you set up back there?"

"A little welcome present," Rollie said. "When they get the door open… Well, if they get the door open, they'll get sprayed by the formula."

"Think of it as meeting Super Skunk, Willy," Angie explained, "except they'll have to use something besides tomato juice to get rid of the smell. They won't need bloodhounds to track them down."

"Cool!" Willy grinned, white flashing in the dank, dusty darkness. "Let's boogie!"

Rollie led the way down, cautiously testing each step to make sure that it would support his weight. Even here, things were in surprisingly good condition. He brushed aside spider webs at the first landing they reached and tried to peer below. "Not sure where this is going." It seemed to be getting progressively damper which meant a greater potential of structural damage.

"As long as it is out," Angie stated, "I'm not that particular."

Rollie looked back at Willy who just grinned and gave a little wave. "Okay, let's keep going. If we try getting out here, we'll just run into those goons."

"Goons with guns are not my favorite playmates," the blonde said.

"Mine either, sweetie." He stepped down slowly, on the third step disaster struck. "Whoa!" Rollie exclaimed as his foot went through the wood and he started to fall. Angie reached out, snagging his jacket with both hands. Her husband's weight started to pull her forward and off balance when she felt a strong grip on her own jacket, yanking back hard. She fell back on Willy with Rollie sprawled on top of both of them.

"That was too close," Rollie said, "thanks, Ange!"

"Thank Willy, I almost went with you," Angie told him.

"Thanks Willy!"

"'Kay! Not a problem," Willy said, his voice sounded strained. "Um, could you get off me now?"

The Aussie sat up and looked back. "Are you hurt? Ange?"

"I'm okay, if I can get my heart out of my throat," Angie declared as she took advantage of Rollie's movements to also sit up. "Willy?"

"'Kay! I'm… 'kay," he breathed, panting slightly. "Nothing new hurts."

"What, exactly, hurts, Willy?" Rollie inquired.

"Head, leg, side," the smaller man answered, "Like I said nothing new."

Rollie exchanged a look with his wife and they shifted so he was closer to Willy. "Okay, what's wrong with your leg and your side?"

"Oh, I hurt my leg a long time ago. That's why I usually carry a cane, but I lost it when those lowdown, dirty, sneaky men kidnapped me." He caught the flash of concern on Rollie's face and hurried to continue. "It's really just for balance unless I overdo, which I kind of did today, but that couldn't be helped and it's not too bad. It just aches a bit, like I said not too bad."

"And your side?"

"It hurts like I ran into something hard."

"Bruised?"

"Yeah, bruised," Willy nodded and tilted his head to one side. "I expect it's because one of them kicked me."

"Willy, you should have said something earlier," Angie exclaimed. "Rollie could have looked at it."

"It's just bruised," Willy shook his head and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"Willy," Rollie spoke softly, "you might have a broken or cracked rib or internal bleeding. We need to find out."

"Nuh-huh." He shook his head stubbornly.

"Willy," Angie started in exasperation, only to still at Rollie's touch.

"I won't hurt you, Willy."

Willy squinted at the light Rollie was wearing. "No, it's all right. You don't need to look. We need to get out of here."

Rollie ran his hands through his hair in frustration and stared at his wife. "Is this the way you feel when I…?"

"Oh yeah," Angie smirked faintly.

"Right, of course, it is. Sorry, sweetie."

"You can't help it. Men!"

"I'll try to do better next time."

"Yeah, right."

"Look, we need to get out of here. I really can wait. Besides what are you going to do? Go back and get your first aid kit?" Willy pointed out, trying to be reasonable.

"No, what we are going to do is get out of this secret passage and into the barn." Rollie stated as he stood up. "Then you are going to let me check you out and if we need to do anything about your injuries we'll use the first aid kit in our van." He held his hand out to Angie and pulled her to her feet, then held it out for Willy to take. "Deal?"

Willy stared at Rollie's hand for a minute, then up at Rollie, his eyes shadowed by the brim of the borrowed cap he was wearing. "Deal," he answered in resignation, putting his hand into Rollie's. "Uh, I dropped your flashlight," he continued as the FX man pulled him to his feet.

"I think we'll forgive you for that, Willy," Angie said as she hugged Rollie.

Rollie hugged his wife back. "Yeah, you had something more important on your hands at the time."

"Hee," Willy pointed down. "Onwards!"

"Forward ho!" Rollie turned around and they proceeded down the steps, even more cautiously than before. Angie now assumed the rear, using her light to illuminate her and Willy's feet so they could see where they were stepping.

Several minutes later, Rollie paused and looked around. They had run out of stairs and he was looking at a dirt floor. "We've hit bottom," he called back to the other two.

"Basement?" Angie asked.

The Aussie considered how far they had come. "I think we're under the basement."

"Sub-basement?"

Rollie shook his head. "Looks like a tunnel." He looked around, shining his light over things. There was a hard layer of dirt encrusted on the wood that braced the tunnel and the stairs. A slight fall of dust showered down on his cap. "That looks like the way out." He pointed to the right.

Angie frowned slightly. "South?"

"More southwest, I think," Rollie answered. "Let's see what we shall see."

"That's the way to the barn, isn't it, boss?"

"Yeah, that would be about right."

"Do you think?"

"Since when have we been that lucky?"

"So we're due!" Angie shrugged as they followed Rollie.

"Due for what?" Willy questioned.

"Some good luck," the blonde answered.

"I had some good luck today."

"Oh yeah, kidnapped and beat up!" Angie snorted.

"No. Well, yeah, that wasn't so good, but then I met you guys and that was really good luck for me."

"Aha! See, Ange! Good luck!"

"Yeah, for Willy, but… I'm glad we were here to help," Angie finally finished. She couldn't really argue about it.

"End of the line," Rollie announced.

"How do we get out?" Everybody turned around looking at the apparent dead end.

"Maybe there's another secret panel?" Willy suggested.

Rollie looked up. "Or maybe there's a trap door and the ladder rotted away or was removed." He stared up with his hands on his hips.

"Well, lift me up and I'll check it out." Angie patted Rollie on the back. He squatted down so she could climb up on him and sit on his shoulders, her legs wrapped loosely around his neck. He slowly stood up, Angie bracing herself against the wall, craning her head back to examine the sealed opening. She stretched to reach. "Damn! It's too far. I'm going to have to stand up."

"Then you'll be too tall," Willy pointed out.

"What if you kneel up?"

"Still too tall. Can you lift Willy?"

Rollie assessed the man's slender size. "I think so. I'm willing to give it a shot anyway if he is."

"'Kay," he agreed. "What do I do?"

"Just like I did, Will," Angie said as Rollie slowly knelt and allowed Angie to climb off.

Willy licked his lips nervously, then started to climb on the way Angie had, except he froze.

"Willy?"

"I'm… not sure how to do this." He looked down at his hands.

"Do you trust me, Willy?" Rollie bent down slightly, trying to catch the shorter man's eyes.

"Ye-yeah, I'm not really sure why, but yeah." Purple eyes blinked at warm chocolate eyes.

"We'll do it differently. Lean forward and place your hands against the wall."

"'Kay." Willy followed Rollie's order.

"Now spread your legs a little bit."

Willy moved his legs apart.

Rollie knelt down and stuck his head between them. "I'm going to put my hands on your legs and stand up. Okay?"

"'Kay," Willy answered softly. Nervous tension was running through him, but he was determined to trust his new friends. After all, they were in this because they had taken a risk and helped him.

"Willy, get my headlamp and put it on your cap." Rollie felt him fumble slightly and pull the light off. The illumination shifted up, but Angie compensated by aiming her flashlight so Rollie could still see. "Now, I'm going to stand up slowly, you just lean on the wall, all right?"

"Yeah." Willy felt the roughness of the wood slide under his fingers as Rollie stood up. He looked down, then up, watching the roof coming nearer. As the taller man finished standing, Willy tentatively removed his touch from the wall and reached up with one hand. He tilted his head down and coughed as some dust come down in his face. He rubbed the tears from his eyes and reached back up, running his hands over the trap door, careful to keep his eyes narrowed. Fingers touched the bolt that held it in place and began to work on pushing it out. It unlocked, and he pushed at it. The door opened with a screech, falling back to thud on the floor above. Willy stretched to peek over the edge. "It looks like a barn. There's a black van or truck in here."

"That's ours," Rollie told him. "Can you pull yourself up?"

"I think so." Willy reached up and grabbed the sides of the trap door, looking for a solid grip. He felt Rollie's hands come up under his knees, helping to steady him and pushing as he pulled himself up. Finally, he rolled on to the hard floor and sat up. "I don't see a ladder." He told the others, wondering how to get them out.

"There's a wench on the front of the van. Make sure the doors are locked and then start it up. Set the wench to the first notch and lower the hook down to us." There was no way Rollie was going to trust Angie's safety to an old bit of rope or wood that had been lying around for who knew how long. "Here are the keys." He pulled his key ring out of his black jeans' left front pocket and tossed them up.

"Got them," Willy reported as he caught the keys. They could hear him hurry to bolt the double doors.

"Those goons may hear the van when it's started, Rollie. You won't have time to check Willy out."

"We don't have a choice. Willy seems to be doing okay so far. We'll have to risk it, Ange," the Aussie answered. "Hopefully, by the time they get out here, we'll be ready for them." He craned his neck up. "Do you need me to tell you how to run the wench, Willy?"

"No, I got it." Willy answered as he hurried to find the right key to start the vehicle. Soon enough, he had the wench turned on. He pulled the slowly releasing hook over toward the trap door and lowered it down to the others.

"Hold it right there!" Rollie called when he decided it was at the right height. The hook stopped. "Shall we, milady?" Rollie offered Angie his hand.

"With pleasure, kind sir," Angie wrapped her arms around Rollie's neck and pulled herself up to wrap her legs around his waist.

Rollie grabbed the cable with one hand, his other arm wrapped around his wife. Blue was tucked safely in between their bodies, a small clamp holding on to his shirt. He stood on the hook. "Okay, reverse it, first notch, Willy!" Angie took advantage of the brief ride to give her husband a hickey on his neck. Once Willy saw their heads he hastily stopped the wench. Rollie helped Angie over the edge with a push on (in his studied consideration) her lovely tail and handed her Bluey. Once she was safely out of the way, he pushed himself the rest of the way out with his arms.

"You enjoyed that," Angie pouted in a whisper as they walked toward the FX van.

"Just as much as you enjoyed giving me that hickey, sweetie," Rollie responded, just as quietly, with a mock leer.

"So, let's see what we have to play with," Rollie opened the back doors to the van and they all peered inside.

"What's that crate?" Willy had been wondering since he saw it in the back of the van. If it hadn't been perfectly rectangular and too long, he might have thought it was a coffin. However, it did not have the shape of a coffin, it was much too boxlike.

"Ah, from our last movie, I almost forgot we hadn't taken time to unload him." Rollie grinned wickedly.

"Oh yes," Angie smirked. "I'll find the controls, you unpack him."

"How about setting that ramp up, Willy?" Rollie pointed to where there was one loaded in a slot under the back doors.

"Sure," Willy went to comply, wondering who or what they were unpacking.

Rollie unscrewed the long butterfly bolts that held the top on. "Now let's just see how much of a charge you have." He petted the object inside the crate and bent over it, looking at something.

Willy made sure the ramp was locked in position and went to stand at the doors again.

"Full charge, love."

"Sweet," Angie smiled as she fitted on the control harness and activated the controls. "How about turning our sweetheart on, Angel?"

The Aussie did something inside the crate. "He's on. Let me open the end up." He went and undid the remaining butterfly bolts, removing the end of the crate.

Willy froze as he stared at the thing revealed. He felt something primal stir as he looked at it and flashed back to the wilds of India and Loompaland. He shook his head, forcibly pushing the memories aside and looked closer. "A robot crocodile?"

"More precisely, meet Robodile!" Rollie spread his arms wide, then reached down and petted the machine. "He's the star of our last movie." The robot's eyes flashed red and it growled deeply, its mouth opening and showing razor sharp teeth. The robot slithered out of the crate with that distinctive motion common to crocodilians.

Willy made sure he was well to the side as Angie guided the large reptilian robot down the ramp to the floor of the barn. "Wow. He's a big boy."

"He certainly is. Are you going to break out the sweeney, Rollie?"

"Might as well. I don't know how much ammo we have though. This isn't exactly a shoot 'em up movie." The Australian went to search through some of the multiple drawers in the van, scrounging for anything he could use with it.

"What's a sweeney?" Willy asked.

"It's a special effects gun powered by gas, shoots all sorts of things like ball bearings, marbles, glass beads, plastic capsules." He came across their sound board and looked at it. "Maybe we should see if we can run them off with attacking cop sounds? I'm sure we have Pete and his boys and girls in full practice attack mode on here."

"Wait a minute, you recorded Pete Stone and E.S.U. on one of their practice assaults?"

"Yeah," Rollie answered with a small smile on his face, "I just took advantage of a golden opportunity is all."

"Do they know you recorded them?"

"Of course," Rollie started and then paused for a beat, "not. I'm crazy, love, I'm not that crazy."

Willy reached in his pockets, checking to see what he had available. He usually had so much stuff in his pockets that he wasn't ever sure what he had at any given moment. Unfortunately, most of it was still in his coat pockets, but… "Ah! Would these help?" He held up a bag of different colored balls the size of small marbles.

Rollie came over and looked at them. "Yeah, what are they?"

"Hard candy with a really sticky, gooey center. If you break one on a table or something, it's practically impossible to clean the gunk up. They're delicious! Try one."

"Lovely thought, but let's save them for ammunition," Rollie responded as he eyeballed them for size and adjusted the sweeney to shoot that size ball. He took the bag of candy from Willy and headed for the barn doors. "Remind me to look into the price of a sat phone, Ange."

"Sure thing, Rol, do you think it will do any good?"

"With our track record? Probably not!" He said cheerfully as he paused to kiss her passionately, before taking a peek outside. "Ah, here come the Stooges and they found their pals in the basement."

"Shall I let Sweetheart attack?"

"Not yet, let's see which way they go first." The Aussie watched the men mill around the yard. There appeared to be quite an argument going on. It appeared from the way arms were flying and heads shaking, at a couple of them were ready to cut their losses. The one who seemed to be the leader pulled a gun and made some obvious threats. That settled down the rebellious ones and half of them headed toward the barn.

"Willy, grab that handle. We want our baby to have plenty of room when he moves. Swing the door wide open when I say the word. You ready, Angie?"

"Ready to rock and roll, boss!" Angie made sure she had a proper grip on the controls and watched for his signal.

Rollie raised his hand and started to count down from three fingers. "Three. Two. One. Now Willy!" The two men pulled the barn doors wide.

Angie pressed the forward controls and Sweetheart (literally) roared into action. With a tremendous growl, he lunged outside, his feet moving rapidly, his tail swinging back and forth. If anybody came near him, they would be immediately knocked off their feet. The men scrambled back with shocked yells. The boss goon pointed his gun at the large robot and fired a shot which ricocheted off his hard head. The robot crocodile roared his annoyance and whipped around toward his attacker. His long tail caught one of the others at the ankle and that one fell with a cry of pain. With loud rumblings, Sweetheart stalked toward his attacker, his eyes flashing red. The robot began to pick up speed as the man backed away while firing more shots at it. He sprang forward, bowling the man over. His target dropped his gun and Sweetheart immediately scooped it up in his huge mouth. The leader had a good view of the robodile's sharp teeth as he shredded the gun to worthless scrap metal.

While the goons were distracted, Rollie aimed the sweeney at one of the others and pulled the trigger. His aim was good and his victim jumped as he caught him on the right hand. The candy ball hurt as it hit, then burst open with the gooey center oozing out and coating his fingers. The man's problems multiplied as he tried to pick up his gun, but got a messy coating of dirt, leaves and small twigs as well. Pleased by his success, Rollie shifted to another target and aimed for another gun hand. This time, he missed his intended target and got the gun itself. It went off as it hit the ground, the bullet (fortunately) firing harmlessly into the woods. Thanks to Willy's gunk, that gun was now out of commission. Their opponents scrambled back, looking for shelter wherever they could find it. Two of them took refuge behind a woodpile, another ended up behind a tree, the rest pulled back to the back porch where they took refuge from the raging Sweetheart. Unable to climb the steps, the robot went prowling for other prey, soon causing the men at the woodpile to scramble on top.

Rollie, Angie and Willy ducked as the three on the back porch fired at the barn. Whatever had been their original intentions, they obviously no longer cared if they got Willy in one piece any more.

"Now what?!" Angie sent Sweetheart charging toward the guy behind the tree.

"I think we've worn out our welcome. It's time to leave." Rollie lead the way to the FX van.

"What's to stop them from shooting at us?" She asked. "Or more to the point, shooting out the tires?"

"Not much. Willy, you'll have to drive. We'll have to try and put their aim off while we make our escape, love."

"Uh, Rollie, problem!" Willy raised his hand as he followed the pair. "I haven't driven anything in a really, really, really long time!"

"How long?"

"Probably, uh, about nineteen," Willy paused and swallowed, "years."

The FX duo stopped and turned to stare at the man. "How can you not drive for that long?" Angie asked, curious.

"Well, I don't get out much any more and when I do get out, I use alternate modes of transportation," he shrugged, "or I just walk."

"Like a flying elevator?"

Willy nodded.

"Great! Well, we have to do something, because they're not going to wait for us to discuss it." The Australian froze. "What's that sound?"

Willy and Angie stopped to listen as well.

"Sounds like someone else has shown up," Angie said as they heard somebody yelp. "Maybe it's the cops," she speculated as they rushed back to the doors.

"Or maybe it's Quen and his ladies," Rollie finished with a grin as he spotted a tall, beautiful blonde making short work out of a goon. She had a huge grin on her face as she ducked another one's swing and caught his wrist. A bend and turn and the guy went flying over her shoulder. A shorter blonde stood between two others and leapt into the air, swinging her legs wide in a split. The toes of her boots caught them on their chins and that pair was down and out. Another beautiful woman with brown hair and mocha skin blocked a thrown fist and returned with her own punch. Totally focused, the opponents went at it toe to toe, the woman getting in more punches than the man.

"Wow." Willy watched the three beautiful women, a stunned look on his face.

"Where's the boss, boss?" Angie looked around anxiously for the leader, not seeing him anywhere.

"I'm not sure." Rollie joined her in scanning their surroundings, but then froze. He raised his hands in a sign of surrender. He shifted slightly trying to put himself between Angie and the man with the gun.

"So you are the two who have been making our job miserable," the man sneered. "And you!" His eyes narrowed, a look of feral hatred filling the cold blue orbs. "You are more trouble than you were ever worth!" He raised his gun, pointing it at Willy who stood there, his eyes shadowed by his baseball cap.

"Ha, you need to do better research," Willy stated, standing straight, "like schedules. Boy, your schedule was way off!" A half smile touched his lips.

A hand with a gun appeared from the side and gently touched the goon's temple. "As the man said, your schedule was way off." A tall, slender figure with short dark hair, graying at the temples, slid forward to remove the gun from his prisoner's grasp. "But I'm sure you and your boys will have plenty of time to work on your timing."

"Hi Quen," Rollie smiled at his friend.

"Hi Rollie, hi Angie," the newcomer responded.

"Hey Quen," Angie went over to lean against her husband. "You've got pretty good timing."

"We were sort of expecting the police, or maybe the F.B.I.," Rollie continued. "What are you doing here?"

"We received a tip," Quentin Cross stated ambiguously as he grabbed a wrist and pushed the man against a nearby wall. "It was deemed of sufficient threat to be of interest to our office. I will admit, we weren't expecting you two. Do you mind, Rol?" He offered him a zip wrap to tie up his prisoner.

"No worries," Rollie was happy to oblige. Angie grabbed some more of the wraps and gladly went to help the women collect their prisoners.

Willy was looking at the two men with obvious curiosity. "You look alike."

"Yeah, we do," the Federal agent agreed.

"Kind of alike," Rollie nodded. "Not exactly, but close enough that we can fool other people if they don't pay attention."

"Speaking of which," Cross stared at the SPFX expert, "you have had that little discussion with… What was her name? Sanchez?"

"Yes, Quen, we have." Rollie nodded decisively. "We have discussed the full and possible future ramifications of following, threatening or interfering with a top secret American spy guy and the advisability of staying on said spy guy's good side, especially," he grinned at the three women as they walked over with his wife, "when he has three lady agents working for him who don't need or use guns in the pursuit of Truth, Justice and the American Way. Hello Shane, D.D., Cassie!"

"You're spies?" Willy's eyes rounded in surprise.

"Not exactly spies," Cassie started.

"Kind of," D.D. said at the same time.

"We work for a Federal enforcement agency that tries to be clandestine in its operations," Cross stated firmly. "Too much public knowledge would interfere with our effectiveness. Most of our cases deal with terrorism and its satellite activity such as illegal arms dealing, stolen weapons, chemical warfare, kidnapping and information theft." He examined Willy with shrewd eyes. "Are you all right, sir?"

"Yeah," Willy nodded, "Rollie and Angie took good care of me."

"Seems to me that you were doing all right before we came into the picture, Willy," Rollie smiled warmly at the shorter man. "He certainly helped us when we needed it and speaking of when we needed it, how did you and your lovely ladies find us, Quen?"

"Duncan has this tracking device that he got from…"

"Charlie! He came with you?!" Willy looked anxiously around, his concern spiking.

"Yes, he did, sir," Quentin Cross spoke with a firm, matter of fact tone. "It seemed particularly urgent that we find you and Mr. Bucket promised to obey orders and stay put with Duncan until and if we said otherwise." He pulled his prisoner away from the wall and pushed him toward the others. "If you will come this way, sir, I'll take you to them."

"'Kay," Willy nodded, his violet eyes full of worry, as he trailed after. Rollie walked with them.

Cross gave his prisoner to Shane. "Business first, catch up on the news, second, ladies," he warned them as he walked away.

"Yeah, and what is he going to be doing? Catching up with Rollie," Shane muttered.

"I heard that!" Cross looked smug as he saw his subordinates cringe out of the corner of his eyes.

"Willy!" A teenaged boy called as he ran forward to meet them. Rollie wondered about the top hat and cane he was holding.

"Charlie!" Willy broke into a run to meet the boy halfway. "You shouldn't be here! It could be dangerous. You should know better than to take that type of risk, dear boy."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wonka," Charlie said, his voice touched by a slight English accent, "but we were all very worried about you, sir."

"Did they hurt you? Are you all right?" The man was anxiously examining his apprentice as if he might be hiding some life threatening injury or couldn't speak up for himself. Rollie had to smile as Willy fussed over the teen that was a little taller than he was as if he was a small child.

"I'm fine, Mr. Wonka," Charlie soothed. He winced as he took in his mentor's bruised face. "It looks like you aren't though. That looks painful."

"Pish, it's nothing, just some bruises, nothing to be concerned about, little boy."

Charlie looked over Willy's shoulder at the two men and rolled his eyes. He was now taller than Willy Wonka and yet he continued to be called a little boy. He knew if he said something that Willy would stop doing it immediately and sometimes he felt like calling him on it. Still, his annoyed reaction had not reached the level where he could call his beloved teacher and friend on it and he supposed he never would, precisely because he knew Willy would stop if he just asked him to do so. "I, uh, like your new look," Charlie said with a grin as he took in Willy's F/X jacket and cap. "I brought your hat, but I guess…"

"No, give them to me, please Charlie." Willy asked and immediately reached for the hat and cane that the teenager was holding. "No offense, Rollie, but these really aren't what I'm used to wearing." He pulled off the cap and immediately settled the top hat on his head, one hand fussed with his hair until he felt it was satisfactory. He offered the cap back to the Aussie.

"You can keep it and the jacket, Willy. Consider them souvenirs of our little misadventure together."

"Thank you," Willy bowed slightly, resting both hands on his cane. "Charlie, this is Rollie. He and his wife, Angie, helped me get away from those nasty men."

"How do you do, Mis…, uh, Rollie," Charlie offered his hand politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for helping, Mr. Wonka."

The FX man shook the teen's hand and smiled. "I'm glad we were here to help, Charlie. Now, I have a question," Rollie started.

"Just one?" Cross raised an eyebrow.

"Ha ha!" Rollie smirked at the agent and then looked at Willy. "You're Willy Wonka, THE Wonka of Wonka Worldwide Candy, right?"

"Yeah," Willy nodded.

"So tell me, mate," Rollie smiled hopefully at him, "have you got any more Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Dark Delight bars left laying around somewhere?"

Cross and Charlie looked at him, surprised by the question.

"No," Willy shook his head. "We sold all those. That was a limited edition, you know, as in only available for a short time."

"Rats, I was afraid you were going to say that." Rollie sighed in resignation. "Oh well, back to eBaying."

"Why?" Willy asked, "Do you like it that much?"

"Not for me," Rollie pointed over his shoulder toward where the four women were standing. "Angie's been craving them. I think I've cleaned out every store that had some in the New York boroughs."

"Craving?" Quentin looked at Rollie with interest. "As in?"

"As in, Angie and I are currently working on our most important collaboration to date - a new Tyler." Rollie grinned happily as he shared the news.

"All right, it's about time!" Quentin's eyes sparkled as he beamed at his friend. They exchanged a high five.

"Why do people always say that when we tell them?" Rollie asked no one in particular.

"We can't afford to lose those Tyler-Ramirez genes, Rollie." Cross smirked. "We humans need all the help we can get."

"So when are you going to do something about adding Cross genes to the mix?" Rollie asked with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"Retired military types like me are a dime a dozen," the agent demurred.

"Yeah, right," Rollie prodded Quentin in the chest. "You need to get cracking. If the human race gets the Tyler troublemaking genes, then they're going to need the Cross rescuing genes to get them out of sticky situations."

Cross frowned in confusion. "Who rescued who?"

Rollie grinned and winked. Willy and Charlie laughed at the men's antics. Sudden squeals from behind them made the men turn around to make sure everything was still all right.

"I think Angie just gave your ladies the good news," Rollie stated as he watched the three beauties hugging his wife. D.D. especially couldn't seem to stop bouncing.

"I would say you're right. I guess that means I can forget about getting them back to California in a timely fashion. They're going to want to visit first."

"Good news, mate, we're working, so Ange won't have a lot of time to spend with them. You can probably drag them out of here in, oh, three or four days."

"Thanks, I think. Oh well, at least, I can get some work out of them today." Cross turned to Willy and Charlie. "I presume you will be heading back to the factory."

"Yes, if you don't mind." Willy nodded, he was anxious to get home.

"I'll have to call to get your statement, Mr. Wonka," the agent warned.

"Yes, of course."

"What about you and Angie, Rollie?"

"We'll be here for several weeks' worth of filming. I think you have my number."

"Right," Cross pulled out a pair of dark sunglasses and put them on. "How about giving us a lift to town with our prisoners?"

"Sure," Rollie looked at the other two. "You need a ride?"

"We'll take the elevator back," Charlie stated.

"Yeah. If you don't mind, we'll just go now. There's a lot of work to do. Thank you again, Rollie," Willy offered his hand and shook Rollie's up and down vigorously. "Thank Angie for me. Perhaps you can drop in for a visit sometime."

"Okay, Willy," Rollie reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple of cards. "I can't imagine why, but if you ever need us, just call." He handed one to Willy and one to Charlie.

Willy examined the business card, a faint smile on his face as he remembered the last time someone had given him one. It had been over five years ago and he had immediately tossed it away over his shoulder. He knew he wouldn't do that with this one though. "Thank you, Rollie." He carefully slipped it into his pocket. Friends were precious things to have and he had been without for too long. Master candy maker and apprentice turned to walk back to where Charlie had left the elevator, when Willy abruptly turned around and ran back. He stopped in front of Cross with one hand holding on his hat. "Oh! If you should find my coat, I would be most grateful if you could return it to me. It was my favorite one."

"Of course, Mr. Wonka, I'll see what we can do," Cross answered.

"Willy, please. Thank you." He shook the agent's hand for a minute and then turned to rejoin Charlie Bucket. The pair vanished into the trees as Cross and Tyler started walking toward the ladies and captured bad guys.

"So, did you really get here in a flying elevator?" Rollie asked, his voice dripping with curiosity, his eyes apparently intent on his wife.

Cross nodded. "A flying glass elevator," he avowed, "and I would prefer not repeating that experience without at least some warning next time."

Chocolate brown eyes turned to meet brown topaz eyes. The pair had to fight to smother their laughter. Who would have believed it? Rollie was just glad that he didn't have to write that report.

Halloween night found the Tyler's ensconced on the second floor of a cheap motel. Another long day filming was completed and they were relaxing together, watching a cheesy horror movie (Not one of Tyler FX's, darn it!) on the television, when they were interrupted by a knock on their door. Rollie looked at it. "Are you expecting someone?"

"No," Angie answered. "Are you?"

"No." They looked at each other as another knock sounded and Rollie sighed. "It better not be script changes," he fussed as he stood up to answer the door. He peered through the peekhole and grinned as he unlocked the door. "Hi Willy! Hi Charlie!"

"Hey Rollie, Angie," Willy grinned his perfect smile as he waved to the couple. He was dressed in jeans for a change with sneakers like Charlie's on his feet. He was wearing the F/X jacket and cap that Rollie had given him. His hair had been pushed under his cap. He didn't look like Willy Wonka at all, except for his pale skin. Charlie on the other hand was wearing a top hat similar to the one he had brought Willy that day with a wine red velvet frock coat and black dress pants and shirt. Except for his hair, he looked like Willy Wonka.

Rollie scratched his nose and leaned on the door jam. "Halloween costumes?"

"Yes," Charlie nodded. "I have a Halloween party to go to, but we wanted to drop by here first."

"Yeah." Willy nodded and held out a large carton to the tall Aussie. "These are for you, well, for Angie."

"Oh?" Angie came over to see what was in the box. Her eyes widened as Rollie opened the lid. "I love you, Willy! Marry me!"

"Oy!" Rollie glared at his wife who just grinned up at him as she unwrapped a Dark Delight.

Willy shook his head. "If you need more, just email me, 'kay?" He handed the Aussie a lavender card with maroon writing in the distinctive Wonka font.

"I thought you sold them all," Rollie said as he accepted the card.

"We had," Charlie answered. "Willy made another batch."

"How many?" Rollie stared at the candy maker in surprise, touched that he had gone to that much trouble.

"Oh, just test batch size. Do you like it?" Willy asked Angie.

"Hmmm," Angie purred happily, "these are better than I remembered!"

"Probably because those were handmade, instead of manufactured," Willy whispered to Rollie. "The test batches are usually better, but I can't make enough candy that way."

The Aussie looked at the box in his hands and started to pull out a bar.

"Hands off, get your own candy, bub!" Angie exclaimed as she took the box away from him.

Willy giggled. "Here, this is for you, Rollie. I hope you like it." He held out a slender green box.

Rollie opened it and grinned. "Robodile!" Angie craned to see. Sure enough, there was a chocolate replica of the robot crocodile. It even had red candy eyes. Her eyes widened as she could have sworn its tail had just twitched back and forth.