*********************
The magic box had been restocking it's inventory the entire week. With the arrival of new items, still neatly placed in boxes all over the store came the task of placing them in the proper area.

Buffy had happily gave up slaying that night to help any way possible to get out of her duties, but now after unpacking and categorizing the first ten boxes, she was ready to take Spike up on his offer and patrol.

She opened the next box, and was surprisingly disappointed when she found a pile of chicken feet.

Anya quickly rushed over to her. "We can give these away, one free with every purchase!" She said happily picking up the box.

"Who wants chicken feet anyway, its not like any one uses them in spells any more, and there are so many other parts of a chicken to eat."

"This way we can get rid of them to, useless things!"She whispered, after quickly checking to see if Giles was listening.

Buffy nodded as Anya walked away carrying the box.

She slowly grabbed the next box on the floor and began to open it.

"So what do you have now?" Xander asked, as he also began to open a box.

Buffy looked inside. "Feathers", she said to Xander who was sitting at the table across from her.

He opened his box, and then quickly closed it. "Mummy hand, think I should send this downstairs with Giles?"

"Uhh I wouldn't bother him right now, he is trying to catalog everything, he is kinda frustrated," Buffy replied.

"Right" Xander said, getting up to place the box far, far away from his chair.

Buffy sighed as she began to open the next box. This had been the extent of her job. She and Xander were to open boxes and categorize them between books, ingredients, rare objects, Giles's private collection orders, and whatever else was left. It was a very boring job.

Anya didn't trust either of them to put things on the shelves properly, fearing they would mix everything up. Only after Giles had insisted did she allow Willow to help her, leaving Giles to do the book work and Andrew to move the boxes.

"Iv 'e got books.....yay" Buffy said sarcastically.

"Well I don't know what I have," Xander said after opening a box of small, odd shaped, glass objects.

Buffy leaned over to look inside the tilted box. "Huh... guess that goes in the everything else pile."

Buffy sighed, "I hate to say this, but I would so rather be with Spike, getting my ass kicked by some demon right now."

"I would almost rather have my ass kicked BY SPIKE, then be here right now," he said letting his head fall to the table with a knock. "Oww", he moaned.

Buffy laughed. "Really?" She questioned.

Without moving his forehead from the table he raised his hand, "Note the word almost." He said emphasizing the word "almost".

Buffy glanced at the clock, it was almost seven O' clock now.

Xander picked his head up off the table, and instantly something caught his eye. "Well speak of the devil"

Buffy turned, and wasn't the least bit shocked when she saw the blonde vampire coming in through the front door. The bells above the door jingled as it opened.

"What are you doing here Spike?" Buffy asked trying to sound annoyed, but she was too relieved at the thought of getting out of the dreadful shop to show it.

"Thought I'd come see what you were up to pet, seeing as how you canceled on me." He said with a cocky grin.

"Well I'm busy." She said while turning around in her seat, she wasn't about to give up that easy.

He dropped his shoulders and made his way down the stairs and through the maze of boxes.

"So, wanna re-take me up on that offer, or are you going to set in here and waste those super powers on opening boxes the rest of the night?"

Buffy tried to look torn, only for Xanders sake. She knew what she wanted to do, and she knew Spike didn't have a doubt of what it was she wanted.

"I guess" She said.

"You have it covered right Xander?" Buffy asked her friend.

"Yeah, I can get Andrew to help me, he is probably tired of carrying boxes up and down the stairs." Xander lied, he would have preferred her to stay, but he knew that would have been selfish.

"Alright it's settled, come on pet." Spike said, grabbing her arm and almost pulling her out of the chair.

"Ok, ok." She said pushing him away from her.

"I have to get my coat, it's down stairs, and I should probably tell Giles I'm leaving."

"I'll go with, so you don't doddle" Spike said, following her down the steps.

"I don't... doddle, is that even a word?"

"Just go pet." Spike said while laughing, pushing her down the stairs as she tried to stop to ponder the meaning of the word.

"There." She said grabbing her jacket from a table and putting it on.

"Are we ready?" Spike said.

He had found a mirror and was now smoothing his hair down.

Buffy shook her head at the site. "You are so vein Spike."

"What, it takes a lot of work to look this damn good."

Buffy paused.... "Wait you can't even see your self!"

Spike laughed, "I was wondering when you'd catch on slayer." He said turning from the mirror and facing her.

Buffy laughed as she pushed past him to check out her own reflection. He was standing directly behind her but yet her's was the only reflection there.

She ran her fingers threw her short golden hair, as Spike mimicked her fingers only inches from her hand. She couldn't see him, so where is the harm he thought.

He wanted her so badly, but he knew he didn't have a chance in this world.

He moved his face closer to her hair, she had used some kind of vanilla flavored shampoo today, and he didn't even need vampire senses to tell him that.

She finished, and turned around. Spike quickly jumped back, not wanting her to catch him in the awkward situation of him smelling her hair.

"Ready?" she asked.

"...Giles?" He said.

"Ohh, yeah that's right, where is he?"

"I don't think he's down here." Spike said after taking a quick look around the room.

Buffy nodded and agreed.

Her attention quickly went back to the mirror.

"I wonder why this is down here, I guess he hasn't figured out what it is, or why it's even here. I don't remember him ordering any mirrors, especially not any full length ones." Buffy said.

The mirror was at least six feet tall, and three feet wide, it was one of the largest she had ever seen. It had a solid gold trim, with delicate carvings on the edges. She knew the fancy mirror was expensive, and would probably sell for a bundle. Still she had no idea what it was doing in a magic shop.

Spike was still looking for Giles, who seemed to have disappeared. He had left Buffy and explored the rest of the hidden areas, quickly dismissing the idea of Giles using the tunnels which he used to get around during the day.

Buffy noticed a small golden circle on the right corner of the mirror and curiously began to finger it, running her hand over the smooth edges.

Spike returned to her. "Are you sure he was down here pet?"

"He was fifteen minutes ago." Buffy replied.

"Ohh well, lets just go, the boy will tell him where you went." Spike said urging her to leave.

"Wait." Buffy said. She felt the circle begin to turn.

Spike grabbed her other hand. "Lets go luv"

The knob twisted, and fell to the right of the mirror.

Suddenly there was no reflection, only a dark purple, and silver turning whirlpool. Buffy's jaw dropped.

"Spike, what is that?" She asked nervously.

But before he could even begin to try and process the question himself they were sucked into it.

The whirlpool closed, and the golden knob clicked back into place, and camouflaged itself within the mirror just like before. As if they had never been there.

**********
They found themselves on the other side of the mirror, and it felt like they had simply stepped through it.

They were both standing in the middle of a green field. There was grass mostly and a few scattered trees.

Neither of them recognized the strange location.

Spike looked up at the sun shining brightly overhead, then down at his body. He noticed the lack of flames,and smoke which he had suspected to see.

"Buffy, where are we?" He asked.

She turned and looked into his eyes. "I was about to ask you the same question."

She turned around. Behind them, where she half expected there to be another portal opening, or something out of the ordinary, instead she found nothing. It was plain, and there was no evidence of anything that could give them a clue of how to get back home.

Buffy took in a deep breath as she looked at what appeared to be miles of nothing.

They were lost, and far away from home.

"Well this is fun" Buffy said sarcastically.

"Well this is fun." Buffy said sarcastically.

"Any idea how we got here pet?" Spike asked.

"The mirror!" Buffy replied. Realization hit her, as the memory of the mirror and the last few seconds before they appeared in the strange land came back to her.

"Bloody magic mirrors!" Spike said.

"Magic mirror?" Buffy asked.

"What else would it have been pet, ever had a mirror pull you into a field before?"

"No," Buffy replied. "Guess that explains why it was in the shop."

"As I said, magic mirror pet," Spike finished, content he had figured out the cause of there change in surroundings.

"So now what?" Buffy asked, "Ever been sucked into a hell dimension before, cuz believe me, its not fun."

"What makes you think it's a hell dimension, I can't say I've ever heard of one with the sound of music for a view" Spike said.

"Well, you know the hills were alive." Buffy laughed. "Scary hell dimension, I liked the other one where they were going to work me to death better."

"Alright, let's get serious pet, we can't just stand here all day. Pick a direction," Spike said, realizing if they ever wanted to get home, they were going to have to get moving soon.

"Umm" Buffy said, as she surveyed their surroundings. To the right of them it was plain, and the field seemed to go on forever. As was the same to the back and to the left of them. In the far distance ahead of her she could see a small stretch of dirt, in what appeared to be a road.

"That way," Buffy pointed straight.

"All right, your the slayer," Spike said as he willingly followed her.

Spike (even) had to stretch his advanced vision to see the road Buffy could barely see herself.

"Think they will notice your gone?" Spike asked.

"There bound to notice sooner or later." She replied. Confident in her words, she knew her friends would come to realize the disappearance of their friend.

Maybe not right away, but definitely by tomorrow, after all they would think she was out with Spike on patrol right now.

She knew that time worked differently when it came to alternate universes, so she had no real idea how long she and Spike had been gone.

Still, she knew her friends would come to the rescue just as they always did.

*****
After several minutes of walking they had finally reached the road.

"I guess we just follow it?" Buffy asked.

"That's the plan," Spike answered.

They continued their hike and began walking down the road.

"So, what if we run into someone pet?"

"Then we try and talk to them, if they want to help, we let them, if not well... we can figure that out if it comes to it."

A few more moments of silence passed, they were both still in a bit of a shock from their predicament to try and carry on a conversation.

"SPIKE!" Buffy screamed! Alarming the vampire.

"What?" Spike asked in a panicked voice.

"Your....your not on fire, not even a bit of smoke."

"Yeah, the sun must be different in this world pet, I've heard stories from other vamps, in other worlds the sun is more vampire friendly."

Buffy smiled, "Well that makes things a bit easier, I don't half to wait on you to drag a blanket around every where."

Spike rolled his eyes, and started off again leaving her.

"I was playing!" Buffy said, realizing it was a touchy subject. She began to run after him.

"Look we might be stuck here a while, can we at least try and get along?" Buffy asked.

Spike tilted his head and gave her a wicked grin. "I'm sure we could get along nicely pet.... if you wanna .."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Don't even finish that sentence!" She said, now walking faster then him.

"Ohh, come on Buffy, were going to be stuck together, remember, we should try and get along," Spike said throwing her words back in her face.

"Your a pig Spike," She yelled.

"Yeah.... well..." Spike began, But his sentence was interrupted.

A small red and gold carriage being pulled by two horses was coming around the corner. The flags on each side was a dead giveaway that it was one of some importance.

"What do we do?" Buffy asked.

"Well... umm we could at least see where the hell we are at?" Spike suggested.

The carriage came closer, as it began to slow down.

Buffy and Spike moved to the side of the road, making room for it to come to a stop.

They were surprised to see a tall, thin, elderly man step out of the carriage. It almost looked as if he had expected to see them. "Would you to mind telling me who you are, and what you are doing on his majesty's land?"

"His majesty?" Buffy asked in disbelief. "Are we in England?" Buffy said, asking Spike.

Spike shook his head. "Since when am I less flammable in Europe then when I am in America sweetheart?"

"Ohh, right..." Buffy said, feeling slightly stupid.
The man from the carriage quickly shook his head from confusion after listening to them talk about places he had never heard of. He pressed his glasses tighter against his face, in a true Giles fashion.

."Well then,shall we be off?" He asked.

"Off?" Spike questioned. "Off to where?"
"To the S.W.M.P. of course, it's forbidden to trespass on King Wendell's private land." He answered as if it was something everyone knew.
Buffy raised her eyebrow. "S.W.M.P.?"

He sighed. "Goodness girl, don't you know anything!" He sighed once more in annoyance. "Snow White Memorial Prison!" He turned and got in side the carriage. "Well are you coming, it will be a lot easier with out a fuss, I haven't got all day."

"So luv, doesn't look like much of a challenge, wanna just walk away, cuz I don't much fancy pudgy here putting me in some cell." Spike whispered in Buffy's ear, so he wouldn't alert the guard standing beside the carriage, along with the horseman and footman.

Buffy shook her head. "Spike, were stuck here, we might as well cooperate and maybe they can help us get home, besides if not..... well we will figure something out."

Spike took in a deep breath, He didn't like the idea one bit.

"Besides Spike, the prison is named after Snow White, how bad can it be?"

'This is not going to end well,' Spike thought.
"Alright" He agreed.

They climbed inside, followed closely by the guard. The door shut tight, and they heard the sound of the whip hitting the horses and they were off.

A few seconds into the ride the man began to speak again. "So, you are spies from what kingdom? I would say the second by the attire of the lady," He said, reaching over to take a sip from a glass of tea.

"Spies? Were not spies!" Buffy protested. "And what's wrong with how I dress?"

"Your not spies, well the mirror will be the judge of that," He scoffed.

"The mirror!" Spike said, almost jumping out of his seat. "That's how we got here."

The man sat back in his seat, almost in disbelief. "A mirror you say,it brought you here?"
"Yes," Buffy confirmed.

"Well, that is quite unusual, there hasn't been a traveler brought here since the time of Gretel the great." He said surprisingly.

"So there have been others?" Spike asked, now sitting on the edge of his seat.

"There has been rumors in the past of such things, I of course never believed them myself. My father used to say 'Winston me boy', he used to say 'just a fairy story for the fairy's don't go in believing such foolishness!'. So I didn't" Winston said.

"Do you remember how they got back home?" Buffy asked.

"No, I'm not sure if any of them ever did," He answered honestly.

Buffy and Spike slouched back in their seat, after suffering a quick and painful loss of hope.

"I will see what I can do, seeing how you are travelers,... obviously." He said in a rude tone after looking up and down at them studying there odd clothes. "See if I can put a word in with Wendell to help you," He said with a smile.

"Thank you" Buffy said.

"Now, if he doesn't, it's straight to the S.W.M.P for the both of you"

Spike gave Buffy a look, they both knew they couldn't take them if they tried, but they would go along with whatever Winston was going to do. For now.

The carriage ride went along the road for several short minutes, before the ride became less bumpy and the carriage left the dirt road. The entered a new road,one much smoother.

Buffy peaked out the window, moving the curtains aside.

She stared off in disbelief as she realized he wasn't kidding about King Wendell. They were now pulling in front of an enormous castle, one much like the ones she had seen in the medieval movies,the ones about about King Arthor and Camelot times.

Buffy was still in shock when the carriage came to a stop, allowing them to get out.

"Beautiful," Buffy whispered to herself.

Spike tilted his head all the way back to look up at the height of the castle. "Yep, were definitely not in Kansas anymore pet."

"This way," Winston said leading them inside. The grand doors were opened by two men, one on each side.

Buffy then realized Winston must be a man of great importance to have such a welcoming.
"How was you trip?" A lady asked, judging by her clothes she must have been a maid.

"It was lovely Miranda, wonderful view, best in all of the nine kingdoms"

She then blushed as she turned away to finish her work.

"This way," Winston reminded them, after they both paused to take in the sight from the inside. It was as magnificent as the outside.

"Right." Buffy said, still spaced out.

They walked through several corridors, walking through one door after another, each leading into a new hallway.

"Here," Winston said, opening a door and walking through. Buffy and Spike looked at each other for a moment before following him themselves.

"Stay in here, it's not good for appearance reasons to have you to walking about the castle, especially when his royal highness is as busy as he is now."

And with that he walked out, making sure to lock the door, keeping them inside. He knew if he didn't, curiosity might get the better of them.

The room was large, it looked to have been a library of some sort, one not often used. There were several windows that kept the room well lit.
"So now what?" Spike asked.

Buffy shrugged. "We wait."

*****************
Meanwhile back at the magic box....

"Willow, have you seen Giles?" Xander called out.
"No, isn't he down there with you?" Willow yelled downstairs.

Xander was standing in the lower part of the shop, the area where Giles had been working, but was now no where to be found.

"No." Xander replied, as he began walking up to meet Willow at the top of the stairs.

"What about Andrew? You think they went somewhere?" Willow suggested.

"Probably." He replied.

"What about Buffy?"

"She went on patrol with Spike, so she will probably go home and sleep, doubt we will see her till tomorrow afternoon." Xander answered.

"True, guess it's just me, you and Anya then"
Xander took in a deep breath, as he began to open another box.

'Looks like it's going to be a long night' Xander thought to himself.

*************
"So ...what?" Buffy asked.

"Where do you think we are?"

"No idea, castles, Snow white prison, kings, plus everything else, looks like were in a Grim fairy tale or something" Buffy said laughing, Spike joined her.

"Wait!" Spike said, his entire attitude changing drastically. "What if we are?"

Buffy kept laughing. "Yeah right Spike."

She then paused.... "You think?" She said, a slightly confused look on her face.

Spike shook his head. "No idea pet, would make sense though"

They continued there conversation, trying to figure out what strange land they had been pulled into.

***
"Wendell, I know Olaf's party is only two days away, but this should only take a small amount of your time." Winston said.

Wendell sighed. "Very well, tell me what is it"
"Well, it seems the two so called "spies" that the dwarfs saw in your private riding field today were actually travelers" Winston said excitedly.

"Are you sure there not lying?" Wendell asked in a concerned voice.

"Well, the truth mirror sir?"

"True, and if they are truly travelers as they say..."
Winston smiled, and shook his head.

They both began to laugh, as they made there way out of the kings chambers, and down the hall, to go and see "the travelers"

***
Buffy and Spike had found a few books, one of them seemed to be a history book for small children.

"Look it says here that we are in some place called The Fourth Kingdom" Buffy pointed out, "Isn't that what Winston said to the maid?"

"Yeah, I think so," Spike replied.

Buffy began reading a small paragraph from the book. "The fourth kingdom, is surrounded by the other eight,(with the exception of the sixth) making it of significant strategical importance. It is the birth place of the great queen Snow White. It is not ruled by her grandson King Wendell."
She took in a breath and continued.

"It is known for having the best and most fertile farm land in all of the nine kingdoms. Major land marks include: Snow White Falls, Kissing town, Snow White Memorial Prison, and of course Wendell's castle. "

"What about that one?" Spike asked pointing to a map.

Buffy immediately knew why he picked that one, a picture of a young girl dressed seductively was used as a marking for one of the major towns.
She sighed.

"The second kingdom is ruled by two separate blood lines. Red Ridding Hood III rules over the north where the land is over run by dreaded wolves. It is famous for pie makers and other cooks. The south is run by Gretel IV. There have been several wars, leaving a shortage of men. Major land marks include: Red Ridding Hood Forest, and the Little Lamb Village."

Buffy let out a breath after reading so much.

"So... guess that answers our question." Spike said.

"Yeah."

"We really got to get out of here!" Spike exclaimed.

Buffy shook her head agreeably.

There was a noise from the other side of the door, as it was being unlocked.

Winston opened the door along with two well built guards.

"Come on, we haven't got all day." He said rushing them out of the room.

They left the book on the table and went as they were asked.

"Come on miss" The guard said, as he began to grab her arm, in a somewhat inappropriate manner.

"Hey" Buffy said, as she began pulling it back.

"I got it!" Spike said stepping between the two, grabbing her hand once she had pulled it from the guards grip. "She's with me, don't suggest you do that again," He said with a smile, pissing off the guard.

"Play along kitten," Spike whispered into Buffy's ear. "Got to keep up appearances, don't want to cause a disturbance if we want them to help us get out of here, remember?" Spike said, some what throwing her words back in her face.

"Fine" Buffy said, She wasn't happy about it, but agreed, and allowed him to put his arm around her instead. Besides, she wasn't really in the mood to deal with an aggressive guard, and if he was going to keep that up, sooner or later she would hit him. There would be no good to come from it.
Spike held her possessively as the guard attracted to Buffy backed off.

"Hurry up children," Winston said once again rushing them.

They continued down the same hallways they had entered earlier, and made there way back through.
"Here," Winston said as he stopped at two red doors. "King Wendell is behind here, do not distress him, simply explain your story, and he will show you to the mirror. Any questions?"
Buffy shook her head, "no".

The two guards opened the door for them.

Spike held her more possessively as they walked past the guards. Buffy went along with it, only for the sake of increasing her chances to get home.

She didn't want to be seen as a threat.

As Winston had said, Wendell was sitting on his thrown behind the doors.

"Hello," He said. "Welcome to my home, please sit."

They walked inside, as the doors closed behind them.