The following twelve hours were nerve-wracking, to say the least. Their plan hinged on so many variables that Lilly found her stomach turning at the mere thought of Penny being the one who'd suffer the most if this all went topsy-turvy. First, there were the bees. Eliot had a friend in New Jersey who raised them. She didn't want to ask how they knew each other, nor did he share the details. So, that morning Elliot and Margo had gone to pick up a truck full of highly bothered bees and when the time came, released them upon a bank of unsuspecting civilians.

It was then that Lilly, Kady, Quentin, and Eliot suited up as beekeepers and arrived just in time to manage the bizarre infestation. While the entirety of the bank's employees and security waited outside, they rounded up the insects with a spell and got to work. The moment Kady and Lilly pressed their borrowed fingerprints to the scanner, the ten-minute countdown began. Penny would have precisely that before the wards and alarms activated again.

Lilly bit her lip as she glanced at her watch for the thousandth time since the countdown commenced. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kady pace feverishly back and forth while Eliot leaned against the open van doors and Quentin chewed at his stubbed nails nervously. A bundle of nerves reared up inside her chest as she glanced around the narrow alleyway. One minute left, and still no sign of him.

"Penny's only got one minute. Where the hell is he?" Quentin's tone strained, and this only made Lilly's anxiety worse.

"Cutting it a little close, don't you think?" Eliot sighed in relief, and Lilly whirled to face him. She'd expected to find Penny with a bag full of gold, but still, they were the only ones in the alley. "So, where's the booty?" Eliot looked up and down as if assessing a particularly risque outfit.

"Eliot, who are you talking to?" Quentin looked between Eliot and the others, who shared his look of bewilderment.

"That is overly complicated." Eliot shook his head at something only he could hear. "Oh, that is not good." His eyes widened, and Lilly's heart leaped in her chest.

"El, what's happening?" Kady came to stand beside Lilly.

"Is Penny okay?" Lilly searched his expression for any indication of what he'd heard.

"How do I put this?" Eliot cringed, "Penny fucked up."

"What do you mean? Is he alright?" She and Kady shared frantic glances, and Kady ran a restless hand down her face.

"Penny's incepting my-- never mind. Just trust me, we need to get him out of that vault now." a shrill chorus of beeping filled the alleyway. Lilly gulped as she saw the row of zero's flashing ominously at her wrist. "Or, say some time in the previous ten minutes."

"Fuck."

"Shit." Lilly and Kady hissed in unison. "Let's go!" Kady gestured, the fear in her eyes overwhelming. Lilly's breathing hitched as a lump began to form in her throat.

"Well, way to mix the message." Elliot groaned in response to something Penny had said and went to tap on the driver's side door. He leaned in to speak with Margo, who sat restlessly waiting. "Margo, keep the engine running. I'll inform the bank manager that the bees are resisting extermination and everyone needs to stay clear a little longer." She nodded dutifully, and Eliot faced the other three. "Let's go, kids, we're going back in." They rushed to suit up in their beekeeping uniforms, painstakingly aware that every moment that passed, Penny was losing air. Lilly shifted back into the body of the executive and she and Kady pressed their thumbs to the pad together. Breaking into a jog, they made their way down the corridors towards the vault. Quentin was in the lead and, had he not shot out an arm to stop her, Lilly might've sprinted right around the corner without a thought.

"Oh, shit." Quentin peered around the wall to get a better look at the office area.

"What?" Lilly fidgeted. If he held her up much longer, she might plow past him and deal with whatever awaited her through brute force alone.

"Guards," Quentin hissed. Two people leaned casually against an empty desk, speaking in hushed voices. He could tell by their body language that they were more than friends. Guns and tasers were holstered at their sides. They were distracted enough that if he shot off a spell, he might be able to take them out.

"I thought they evacuated."

"Here, maybe I can talk our way in." Lilly went to shift again, but Eliot put a hand on her arm.

"How do you think that will end when his partner isn't with him? I got this. I brought the perfect weapon." He smirked, and the familiar glint of mischief appeared in his eyes. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. It took two thumbprints to get past the security. If White Privilege showed up alone, it would raise major questions that she didn't have the answers to. Eliot reached into his jacket pocket, and something shimmered in the low light of the hallway.

"You did not bring that thing with you." Lilly gawked at the miniature disco ball in his hand. The device was created by Eliot in an attempt to get people to dance at his little cottage soirees. Unfortunately for everyone in attendance, he hadn't thoroughly tested it, and the night ended with them quite literally dancing until they dropped. Lilly would never let him live that one down.

"The Wrecking Ball is a weapon of peace." He clutched it to his chest like she'd just kicked his puppy. "Trust me. I'm a genius." He reached into his pocket again and handed them each a set of earplugs. While they put them in, Eliot stepped up to the corner and knelt. The ball roll across the floor with a low rumble. They pressed their backs against the wall and waited. A blast of light and sound erupted around them, and the office turned into a nightclub. The beat reverberated through every surface, and Lilly felt the vibration to her core. Eliot looked around the corner to see his handy work. Both guards were in full party mode, dancing wildly together. Lifting his hands, Eliot guided the disco ball out of the room, and suddenly they were in silence again. Lilly pulled out her earplugs and hurried towards the vault as fast as she could.

"A thank you would be nice." Eliot scoffed, and Quentin placed a hand on his shoulder as if to comfort him. Lilly was singularly focused on saving Penny. Her hope for success was severely dampened as they arrived before the massive bank vault door. One look and they knew they were in trouble. It was covered in the most complex set of wards any of them had ever seen.

"Shit. There's no way we can pick this lock." Lilly ran a hand down her face as her heart began to race and her breath quickened.

"Penny! We're going to get you out!" Lilly yelled, the lack of response made her more anxious than before.

"Maybe we can brute-force it." Kady dropped into a fighting stance, readying to blast the door with her strongest battle magic.

"Hold on. I think this door is too thick, even for you." Eliot placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. Lilly made a window with her fingers and studied the wards with a keen eye.

"Okay, just so we're all on the same page, we've got less than four minutes." Quentin's words were rushed as he glanced at his watch and then the wards.

"I don't even think Alice could do this in under four minutes."

"This would take at least half an hour if we're lucky." Lilly's brows knit together, and she felt the sting of tears behind her eyes. "I don't know what to do. Oh, God." She ran a hand through her hair and began to pace as she pondered every possible way to crack it. None of her training could help her with this. Shifter magic could do a lot of things, but there was no way to work around this. The only solution she could see was to solve it head-on. She couldn't cheat her way through these wards.

"Okay, okay. Maybe we break this up. We split up the work."

"I don't even know where to start."

"Well, we can't just stand here! He's dying!" Lilly's vision blurred, and her breathing was coming in sharp gasps. She felt an intense weight settling on her chest as the panic truly set in. It seeped through her skin and poisoned her mind. Eliot hurried to her side and cupped her cheeks with his hands, so she was forced to look at him.

"Thumper, look at me. Just breathe. We'll save him, but you need to calm down. Breathe with me." He counted down from ten, making sure she took deep, even breaths, all the while tears spilled down her cheeks, wetting his hands still pressed against her skin.

"Are you talking to yourself?" Kady looked to where Quentin had stepped away from them. He'd begun to mumble with his back facing them.

"No. Yes. Uh... Yes. I'm just... I'm doing long division in my head." He whirled and strode past Lilly and Eliot to stand before the vault and its keypad. "Move. Move." He shooed Kady to the side and set his shoulders. His hands moved without hesitation, folding and sliding as he solved the impossible puzzle of the wards. Lilly took a shaky breath and broke eye contact with Eliot to stare slack-jawed at Quentin.

"How are you doing that?" She sniffed. Those wards were far more complicated than she thought possible, and here he was, solving it in less than a minute. It shouldn't have been possible. The keypad lit up as each number was entered until a buzzing sounded, and the lock flashed green. Quentin turned to find everyone staring.

"I've always been good at math." He shrugged, avoiding direct eye contact with any of them. Lilly pushed past him to haul open the door with Kady's help. With a great hiss, the air seal broke. Penny knelt on the ground, slumped and pale. Lilly sprinted toward him, throwing herself to her knees and wrapping her arms around his neck. He gasped as air returned to his lungs.

"Are you alright? I thought-"

"I'm okay. I'm okay." He pulled back far enough to wipe the shimmering tears from her cheeks and place a tender kiss on her lips. With Lilly and Kady lifting each of his arms, Penny shakily stood.

"All right. Princess rescued. Let's collect our reward and go." Eliot Grabbed a bar of gold from the stack in the center of the vault and gestured for them to hurry out the door. Quentin hefted up Penny's satchel full of gold bars and slung it over his shoulder just as a shrill beeping began. All eyes turned to his watch. They were out of time. Quentin whirled in a panic and ran to the door.

"Q, stop!" Kady shouted, but it was too late. Red light filled the vault, and an alarm sounded in a bone-chilling rhythm.

"Oh! Shit! Oh, no." Quentin walked backward, shaking his head frantically. Everyone froze. This was not good. Suddenly, the alarm halted, and the light returned to its usual white fluorescence.

"Let's go!" Penny shouted, and it seemed to shock everyone into action. In a flurry of movement, they sprinted out of the vault and into the hallway. But just as they reached the main room where the two guards had stood post, they were confronted by a menacing battle Magician standing between them and their exit. In her hand was an electrical nightstick that could surely kill someone with one blow.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Quentin shouted and began shoving everyone back the way they came. The battle magician lifted her weapon to strike. "Go back! Go back! Go back!" They narrowly avoided the rope of electrical energy that shot out like a whip. Quentin and Eliot pulled the vault shut behind them with a cry of effort.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Lilly cried, staring at the vault door where a battle Magician patiently waited for them to either run or suffocate within the vault.

"Kady, I think you should take the lead on this," Eliot suggested, eyeing her cautiously.

"Well, why should I go out there first?" She crossed her arms defiantly.

"You're the battle Magician." He countered in a tone that was nearly an impotent whine.

"What about another Wrecking Ball?" Quentin pointed to Eliot's pockets hopefully.

"It was a one-off." He sighed. A familiar beeping sounded from outside the door, and soon the buzz on a vault unlocking filled the chamber.

"Oh, shit." Quentin and Eliot stepped back as the door swung open and there she stood.

"You're the... the battle Magician." Lilly shook her head and blinked rapidly at the spot where their enemy had stood. The vault door was once again tightly shut. Quentin and Eliot stood on either side as if nothing had happened.

"Wait, did we just..." Quentin looked as bewildered as everyone else. Kady's eyes lit up as she connected the dots. She gripped a tiny golden necklace between her thumb and forefinger with a grin.

"Go back in time? Yeah." She lifted the necklace to her mouth like a secret service agent might with their coms. "Julia?" She called. Lilly hadn't paid much attention to the matching jewelry set she and Julia wore. Each necklace was half of a heart, the words, Best Bitches, engraved into the face. It seems they'd created a communication channel linking them together.

"Julia's outside. She's watching with a machine that can rewind time." Kady explained, proceeding to have a conversation with Julia.

"Never thought I'd say this but thank god for Julia." Lilly shook her head in disbelief. If Julia had changed, this was a good step towards proving it. The world shifted, and the room was again reset.

"We only have four rewinds. Let's go!" Kady shouted, and Quentin ripped open the vault for them to dash out. A blast of blue electricity flew through the air. Then they were back where they started, with Eliot halfway through a sentence. Three rewinds left.

"She can only go back fifteen seconds. Let's go!"

Two rewinds left.

"Penny!"

One rewind left.

"Okay, we need a plan," Quentin said, just as they reappeared within the vault.

"Okay, I'll blast the bitch. You all run left. She's always on the right." Kady instructed, looking to all of them to confirm. Lilly nodded in agreement and took a few steps towards the door.

"Is she? Cause last time, I thought she was more in the middle." Quentin sputtered, his nerves beginning to overtake him.

"Fifteen seconds!" Penny shouted.

"Kady and I will take her out. You guys need to run. Wherever she is, just run around her. She'll be too focused on us to catch you."

"Wait, hold on--" Penny tried to argue, but then the keypad was beeping, and the buzz of the door brought them back to the task at hand. Kady and Lilly shared a look of understanding, and as the vault swung open for the last time, they rushed out to face their opponent. But where the Magician had been the previous four loops was empty air. A familiar electric buzzing sounded.

"Quentin!" Eliot shouted, and Lilly turned just in time to see him shove Q out of the way and take the electric whip across his chest. Blood sprayed from a sickeningly deep slice and splattered across the stark white walls. Lilly shot forward, bringing her arm up to stop the Battle Magician's next swing. With a harsh twist, the woman's arm cracked, and Lilly was able to grab her weapon, just as Kady threw a magnificent punch across the Magician's jaw. The woman crumpled to the ground in a heap, arm bent at a sickening angle.

"Nice one." Lilly gave Kady a look of approval.

"Right back at you."

"Eliot!" Quentin collapsed beside him and tried to press down on his gushing wound. Lilly hurried towards them, but she could tell by the growing pool of blood that it was already too late for Eliot's Gollum.

"Q, it's alright, it's just a Gollum. Eliot is safe in Fillory." Quentin couldn't tear his gaze from Eliot's lifeless face.

"But-" He stuttered, shivers overtaking him, "but-"

"Q," Penny hauled him up by his arm and began to drag him after Kady, who'd already disappeared down the hall. "We need to go, right now. Eliot's fine. It's clay."

"Hey! Stop!" All three of them whirled to face the new voice close behind them. Lilly threw up a shield, just as a ball of purple energy launched towards them. It crashed against her magic and spider-webbed out until Lilly could see her opponent. "Lilly?" Her heart sputtered inside her chest as their attacker lowered his hands in shock.

"Thomas?" She breathed, staring slack-jawed at Alex's older brother. His eyes were wide as he took in the scene before him. Penny and Quentin standing behind her warily, eyes darting between him and Lilly. Her gaze pleaded with him as their silence stretched on. Thomas looked to his right, to the security alarm he could reach out and pull so easily. Then he brought his attention to her and the overwhelming dread painted across her face.

"Go," he whispered, torn between his duty and his loyalty to her. Penny and Quentin didn't hesitate, but Lilly gave him one eternally grateful look and ran after them. Quentin numbly allowed himself to be dragged back through the bank and out the door before he finally regained some autonomy and followed of his own accord. Lilly half expected him to sprint back inside for Eliot's Gollum.

"Julia!" They broke into a race as they heard Kady scream from the alleyway. They found her bent over Julia's body, shaking her gently as her head lolled to the side. "Jules. Julia? Talk to me."

"What happened?" Quentin rushed to her other side. His shock dissolved at the sight of his friend in trouble. Lilly spotted Margo passed out against the dumpster, her head dripping blood from where she'd been thrown.

"That invisible goblin came back for her. I fought it off, but she needs help." Lilly knelt beside Margo and cast a healing charm over her wound. Margo came back to consciousness and clutched her head with a horrible groan.

"We need to get them back to Brakebills." Lilly helped Margo to her feet. She swayed and leaned heavily on Lilly's shoulder.

"It's gonna be fine. We're gonna get help. It's gonna be okay." Quentin whispered as he scooped Julia into his arms.

"Take Margo," Kady hurried to open a portal, "Julia needs to get her abortion as soon as possible. I'll meet up with you guys after." Lilly nodded and handed Margo over to Penny while she opened a portal to Brakebills. As expected, Quentin went with Julia and Kady, though Lilly was sure he'd be in Fillory within the hour to check on Eliot.

Professor Lipson took Margo into the infirmary immediately, barely waiting for an explanation before she began casting over the dripping wound on her forehead. A few nurses came to shoo them out and into the waiting room. Lilly's shoulders slumped with exhaustion as she looked up at Penny through heavy lashes.

"We should go get cleaned up. Margo will be here for a while." She took his hand in hers and began leading him towards the door. The infirmary luckily wasn't far from the Illusionist's clubhouse. Soon Lilly was in her room and stripping off blood-splattered clothes. She had to keep reminding herself that Eliot was safe and unharmed in Fillory. The blood wasn't blood at all, just part of a spell to fill the Gollum. But as she stared at her red-stained palms, she couldn't help the tremors that ran through her like a tidal wave.

Her mind flashed to the blood that soaked the moss-covered clearing in Fillory. To the four bodies that littered the ground and the cries of pure anguish that would be forever seared into her memory. Ava's tears soaking her shirt and her own falling to mingle with them. She didn't realize she'd started to sob until Penny wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his warm embrace. Lilly clutched at his shirt as she shook with grief.

"I thought I was going to lose you. I thought- I thought you were going to die, too." He hushed her with the gentlest tone she'd ever heard from him.

"I'm fine. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, I promise." Penny stroked her hair and guided her towards the overstuffed armchair. He pulled her into his lap like one might a child, and Lilly felt completely safe and protected in his arms.

"I love you." She whispered to him, burrowing her tear-streaked face into his neck. Penny froze, and Lilly thought she might've overstepped, said too much too soon. She'd felt it for so long, but she'd stayed silent. He'd been through so much with Kady. She didn't want to be the reason he got hurt again.

"I love you, too." He murmured against her hair, a contented smile curving his lips.