Hours later, Dorothy had entered a feverish state, still asleep. Soon, she became more lucid, blinking her eyes open once in a while.

Bo's cold, metal fingers brushed across her arms. She could have sworn that she had been moved from the field of poppies, but she couldn't wake up enough to figure out if she had been or not. At times, it felt like she was on fire, and her mouth was parched and dry, while others she was freezing, and she wrapped her arms around herself as she tossed and turned.
Finally, her fever broke and she awoke in a cold sweat.

Bo sat beside her, his face only slightly illuminated in the dim light.

"Gale," he whispered. "Gale."

Dorothy sat up and reached up to wipe her forehead with her hand, but Bo thrust a cold glass of water into it before she could touch it to her damp skin.

"Drink this," he told her quietly. "We don't want you to be dehydrated."

She blinked a bit and took a sip of the cool, tasteless water, then she gulped the rest of it down, finding that she was completely parched.

Once Dorothy was finished, he took the glass from her and sat it down on a table that was beside the bed she was on.

"Where are we?" Dorothy rasped quietly.

"Headquarters," Bo replied. "Remember how I mentioned I was part of that resistance against Malideena?"

She nodded, her whole body shivering. Bo put a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her down, and he pulled the blanket over her, past her stomach.

"Well, they had changed their headquarters here sometime before you killed her. They're called M.I.C.E."

There was a creak from somewhere in the room, and Bo quickly glanced back at it. He looked back at Dorothy quickly.

"Look, get your rest. I'll explain everything in a while, okay?" Bo said, brushing her damp, dark, curly hair back some with his hand.
Dorothy nodded.

"Good. I'll be back, Gale," he said as he stood up. He walked off without another word, quietly shutting the door behind him.

                    ***

A few hours later, or what Dorothy had assumed were only a few hours later, the light of the new day  began to shine through a window in the room, waking Dorothy up. She sat up in the bed and wondered just how long she had been there. She blinked at the faint memory of what Bo had told her about their location.

Mice?

What did mice have to do with any of this?

Were they the talking kind that Bo had told her about only a few days before? Why would mice have a house that was an ordinary size? Was it possible that these mice were the same size as her and Bo?

Where were Toto, Effigy, and Luav? What was Bo doing with his former friends of the resistance against the Wicked Witch of the East? Why wouldn't the group have disbanded by now, when she had been dead for a week?

There was a light knock on the door, and Dorothy craned her head quickly and looked towards the door, slightly disoriented.

"It's me," Bo called. "Can I come in?"

Dorothy rubbed her eyes and pushed her messy hair back, trying to smooth it. She failed miserably, as it wouldn't stick back down.

"Yeah," she called.

He cracked the door open and stuck his silvery face in. Dorothy could have sworn that there was at least some sort of glimmer of worry in his usually apathetic gaze, but maybe she was just imagining things because she was still getting over the fever. He opened the door wider and stepped in.

"You feeling better?" he asked her, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

She nodded. "Much, thanks."

"Good. Everyone's been worried for you, especially Effigy. She's been asking about you a lot since you went out cold in that poppy field."

Dorothy raised an eyebrow at him.

"You and Luav passed out at the poppy field. I didn't because I've got some sort of filter in my nose. Apparently, Effigy doesn't have a toxin sensor like caretaker androids should. Anyway, you two both passed out, just as Toto detected poison in the poppies," Bo explained. "Luckily, one of my old buddies from the resistance showed up, wearing a gas mask. He got some of the others to get Luav, and I carried you here."

Dorothy threw her legs off the edge of the bed and pushed the blanket aside.

"How were they poisoned?"

Bo shrugged. "They just are. Probably the doing of Malideena. A lot of people have died there, apparently, and it makes sense because she would've wanted something to deter outsiders and escapees."

Dorothy ran her fingers through her hair a bit.

"Wow."

"Yeah."

She looked back up at him, her brow furrowed slightly. "You... you saved my life," she stammered.

"Yeah, I did," he said with another shrug.

"How could I ever repa--"

"Save the sentiment," Bo said quickly, but quietly. "It was the right thing to do, okay? Besides, don't you want to know about our current location in terms of the yellow brick road, and who the M.I.C.E. are?"

Dorothy shut her mouth and nodded quickly.
Bo inhaled sharply through his nose. "Good, 'cause the leader wants to talk to you, and we have a few things to do before we can hit the road again. Anyway, M.I.C.E. is an acronym that means 'Munchkins Incognito Coup of the East.' I didn't come up with it, trust me. We're currently at their headquarters, and it's just a few miles into the woods that were by the poppy field."

Dorothy stood up and stretched her arms a bit.

"Wouldn't they have disbanded?" she asked as she pulled her silver boots on.

"They haven't told me why they haven't, but there's probably a hell of a good reason why," Bo mused quietly as he turned back to the door. He looked over his shoulder at her, his expression soft. "I'll see you in the sitting room just down the hall, okay?"

"Okay," Dorothy mumbled as he left the room and closed the door behind him.
               
                ***

Just a few minutes later, Dorothy found the sitting room that Bo had told her about. Inside were a group of about twelve or so Munchkins that she did recognize who were all sitting on the two couches along with Bo, Luav stretched out on the floor, and Effigy and Toto standing at the doorway.

Effigy immediately stepped towards Dorothy.

"It is me, your personal robotic caretaker, Effigy. How are you, Miss Dorothy? They would not let me see you these past two days," she said.

Her mouth fell open immediately, just as Bo stood up from the couch and pushed Effigy to the side.

"Here she is, the woman of the hour," Bo said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She couldn't help but glance down at his hand and wrinkle her nose a bit. "Miss Dorothy Gale."

One of the Munchkins stood up-- the one Dorothy had immediately presumed was the leader. She had light blonde hair that barely brushed the top of her shoulders and piercing blue eyes that would have made her appear more intimidating, if it weren't for her shortness. Or perhaps Dorothy was just underestimating her.

The Munchkin woman extended her hand to Dorothy.

"I'm Aras," she said as Dorothy took her hand and gave it a firm shake. "Headed to the Emerald City?"

Dorothy nodded, unable to help but glance over Aras's shoulder to see Bo, who had his arms crossed as he leaned against the door frame.

"What are you going there for?" Aras asked, crossing her own arms as she peered up at Dorothy with narrowed eyes.

"I'm going to see if the Wizard can get me back home on Earthy," Dorothy answered, as loneliness and homesickness lumped up in her throat. She had been so busy trying to get to the Emerald City that home had been on the last thing on her mind, even though she really missed it.

"The Wizard?" Aras questioned.

"Yes, the Wizard," Bo said bitterly before Dorothy could answer Aras. "Who else would she go to?"

Aras glanced back at him with a shrug. "What's wrong with making sure I heard her correctly?"

Bo raised an eyebrow at her and stepped over beside Dorothy, his fingers hooked around his belt loops of his pants.

"I'm helping her get to the Emerald City and you can't do or say anything that will convince me not to, Aras," he said quietly, a dark look in his expression. "I made my promise. Don't even think about dragging her into this. All she wants to do is get home."

Dorothy blinked. "Drag me into what?"

"I told you that she'd be interested," Aras said with a smirk.

"Just because I'm asking about what you're talking about doesn't mean that I'm interested in your..."

"Cause?" Aras put in. "Oh, it's a very good cause. I'm sure you, the witch-killer, would love to be a part of it."

"I just want to get home. Thanks, but no thanks," Dorothy replied. She glanced over at Bo from the corner of her eyes.

"See? She doesn't care. Let's get going, Gale," Bo spat, turning to head for the door.

Both of their bags were beside the door, and he grabbed his and slung it over one of his shoulders. Then, he grabbed Dorothy's and handed it to her after she stepped up beside him. Luav stretched out and stood up, stalking quietly behind them. Effigy and Toto were already on Dorothy's heels.

                    ***

They barely spoke the whole time they walked once they left the M.I.C.E headquarters. Dorothy knew that asking Bo what Aras had been talking about would be useless, and she didn't really want to ask at the moment, anyway. They already had a goal, and the M.I.C.E would probably get in the way of reaching that.

The sun was growing low in the sky, and Dorothy's legs were growing a bit sore.
Bot glanced over at her. "Hey, you feeling alright?"

She nodded, not looking at him as she stared at the back of Effigy's pale silver head. He let out a quiet sigh.

"Ready to stop for the night?" he asked.
She nodded again, but glanced over at him this time.

"Effigy had mentioned earlier that she had been trying to help me for two days...?"

Bo nodded a little. "Your fever was really bad... and your body had a rough time getting rid of the poisons from the poppies. We were all scared that you would die. Luav didn't have such a hard time getting rid of the toxins as you did."

"That's right," Luav agreed, "We're glad that you're alive."

"Thanks," Dorothy said with a small smile. She looked around a bit, scanning the area for a good place for them to camp for the night.

Apparently, Bo had already spotted an area, because he walked off the yellow brick road and started picked up sticks and small logs for a fire.

"There's a clearer area over there," he said, pointing in a direction without looking up. "You and the robots can go over there while Luav goes hunting for his own dinner."

"Thanks," Dorothy said as Toto already dashed towards that area.

She went over and sat down against a tree. She was exhausted, but she had tried her best to not look exhausted because she didn't want to slow everyone down.

She didn't want to slow down. She couldn't slow down. Every minute, every hour, every day could be worth years or even decades on Earth. Especially with the extreme distance between them.

Dorothy must have fallen asleep, because she had closed her eyes, and after what felt like only minutes, she opened them at the sound of a crackling fire.

Bo prodded at the fire with a stick, staring at the billowing flames and the flaring sparks. Luav was stretched out and already asleep, Effigy was deactivated beside a tree, and Toto had deactivated on Dorothy's lap.

Bo looked up and handed her a piece of bread.

"Eat, then get some sleep. I think it might storm tomorrow, so we'll figure out what we're going to do. If it's too bad, we might have to stay put, but if we can get ahead of it in the morning, we will."

Dorothy thanked him quietly and ate her bread.

He had mentioned when they first met that he had been an important member of M.I.C.E. What did he do, and why was he so hostile towards the group and their cause, now? Dorothy figured that he probably had some sort of shift in ideology or became completely apathetic towards it when he was attacked by the Wicked Witch of the East.

She finished off her piece of bread and drifted back off to sleep.