Title: Comeback - the alternative universe ending
Chapter: 2
Author: squeezynz@free.net.nz
Universe: Land of the Giants
Rating: PG, Adventure
Archive: let me know where, please
Feedback: adored and worshipped
Spoilers: kinda helps if you've seen Comeback recently
Why: because its fun
Disclaimer: all IA's never mine, all hail the actors
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Manfred came back to the trailer eventually, but not until it had been dark for hours and the moon risen. Everyone in the box cage was sleeping, having been worn out by the events of the day. Fitzhugh was tucked into a corner snuffling to himself, in the throws of a dream, Steve lay sprawled opposite him, his face washed clear of worry while he slept. Mark was on his side, laying protectively near where Valerie curled in a ball under her cover, only her hair and a slim arm peeking out from the blanket. They had decided not to post a watch as they were all too exhausted to keep their eye's open, plus, until Dan could free Egor there was nothing they could do about their situation. Manfred's stumbling entry to the trailer caused the whole room to sway as if an earthquake was shaking it, the box cage shuddering as Manfred bounced off the doorway and stumbled into the interior. Valerie woke with a start, gasping as Manfred flipped on the light, bathing the trailer with a harsh yellow light. Shielding her eye's she twisted to see Mark and Steve both awake and alert, eyeing Manfred cautiously. Fitzhugh slumbered on regardless, only pulling his blanket more firmly over his head. Steve came over to where Mark was crouched by the mesh, watching as Manfred lurched around the trailer, bumping into the furniture, swearing volubly when he barked his knee on a drawer left open. The unstable man rummaged in a cupboard and brought out a bottle of some liquor, banging it down heavily on the benchtop by the sink, then clattered around in another cupboard for a glass, finally slopping a generous amount of the amber liquid into it. It was obvious this wasn't the first drink of the day and they could only watch as the befuddled man lurched towards the table where the box cage sat and plopped himself down, a wide grin painted on his face.

" Aaah you're awake...good, good....mind you, you should be getting your beauty sleep, can't have you falling asleep on the set tomorrow, now can we ?" Manfred waved his glass about, chuckling at his own joke as Mark and Steve exchanged glances. Manfred, after taking a long swig of the alcohol, brought his face down close to the box, a long draft of whisky laden breath washing over the unfortunate captives as he put a finger to his lips and shushed them.

" Phew Manfred, how many had you had already ?" gasped Steve, waving his hand in a futile attempt to dispel the fumes.

" Just enough to settle a deal with a distributor and seal your fate for the next hundred years," hissed the drunken man, pulling back and laughing at his weak joke.

" What does that mean ?" whispered Valerie, looking at Steve and Mark worriedly. Both men shook their heads, no more knowledgeable than her.

Manfred leaned down again, resting his chin on his folded arm, bringing his face on a level with the cage. He peered blearily at the three people watching him.

" Now don't you look so worried, my Little Actors, I'll take good care of you, plenty of food, lots of nice clothes, anything you want," he breathed, blinking slowly.

" We only want our freedom," Steve shouted, angrily shaking the wire mesh. Manfred's only reply was to let his eyes shut completely, his head slumping onto the table top, a loud snore issuing from his lips.

"Oh great, now we have it in stereo," said Valerie, throwing her hands up in frustration. Fitzhugh obliging by letting go a sizeable snort as if in sympathy.

" Let's try and wake him, atleast get him to his own bed and away from ours," suggested Mark. Steve agreed, looking around for something use. Finding nothing except the thimble to bash against the wire, they resorted to shouting and banging on the box. It was a limited success, getting Manfred to wake up and move to the dim recess of the trailer, switching off the overhead light as he went, and collapsing on whatever he used for a bed. It didn't phase Fitzhugh one whit, the redoubtable man not stirring during all the racket. Mark eventually went over and shook Fitzhughs shoulder, making him wake with a sudden snort and a complaint.

" What...what is it...?"

" We need to get some sleep, you're stopping us doing that," Mark explained, returning to his own bedroll.

" Don't be absurd, how could I possibly be stopping you from sleeping ?"

" Between you and Manfred, it's a wonder the rest of the planet can sleep," said Steve, a smile in his voice.

" Manfred's back ?" asked Fitzhugh, suddenly very much awake and sitting up to look around.

" Relax, he's gone to bed, which is what we need to do," Steve replied, tucking his arm behind his head for a pillow.

" Oh, well in that case..." said Fitzhugh, quickly settling back down and rolling over. Valerie and Mark exchanged a smile before resuming their interrupted rest, the faint light of the moon shining through the grimy nets.
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Dan and Barry had found the food in the dressing room and made decent inroads into it. After discussing their plan of action with Steve over the radio, they made their way down the power cord and back to the office. Finding the box of gun shells, Dan twisted the top off one and emptied the black powder into a screw of paper. Barry held the parcel while Dan made another 'bomb', in case it took more than one to blow the lock on Egor's closet prison. Lowering the parcels to the floor they made their way out of the office and over to the wooden door. Dan signalled for Barry to wait outside, then wiggled his way under the door and came up inside the room where Egor sat, the single light bulb bright above his grey head. It was quite a spacious storage cupboard with shelves loaded with bric-a-brac and props, boxes strewn on the floor and a grimy sink in one corner. Egor sat on a nail box, a dour expression on his long face, his hands holding a tatty looking script. Egor's long fingers turned the pages as his lips moved, reciting the lines of a long forgotten character. Dan, clutching the parcels, ran over to a shelf and pushed the parcels out of sight. Then he walked boldly across the floor and stood in a cleared space, cupping his hands he shouted up to Egor.

" Hey, down here....,"

Egor jumped slightly, his head coming up and his eyes squinting as he searched for the source of the voice. Dan waved both arms over his head to catch his attention. Egor's eyebrows climbed skyward in surprise, but he put down the script and leaned over to get a better look at his visitor.

" Well hello....are you a friend of the other Little People ?"

" Yes, my names Dan, my friends need your help Egor, Manfred has them locked in a box cage, in his trailer...we have a plan, but we need you to help us carry it out,"

" I'm not much use to any of you, locked in this cupboard,"

" We can get you out, but we need to know if you'll help us ?"

" I'm sorry I ever thought of using your friends for my own ends, its all such a muddle now. I never expected Manfred to be so ruthless, just goes to show how old I'm getting. He always was a dreadful bully, I just forgot," said Egor, mournfully. Dan tried to curb his impatience.

" Egor, will you help us, we need you to turn Manfred up sweet, get yourself back into his good books, then you might get a chance to help us all escape, before he has my friends all killed in his outrageous stunts,"

" I could do that, I've not lost entirely my ability to act, and there's nothing Manfred likes better than someone who flatters him,"

" Good, I have the means for you to get out here, its a small packet of explosive, you push it into the lock and light the end, then stand back and it should blow out the mechanism, got that ?"

" Okay, but what about you ?" asked Egor.

" I'll hide around the set, in case I get the opportunity to help, and Egor ?"

" Yes Dan ?"

" Try and keep that Gorilla away from my friends, if you can,"

" I'll do my best, now where's that package you mentioned ?"

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The morning dawned all to early for the Little People. Hoping that possibly the excesses of the night before would make Manfred cancel the shoot that day, they were horribly surprised when the man rose early and set about his breakfast as if nothing had occurred out of the ordinary.

" You'd think he would have had a head the size of a watermelon after hitting the sauce so hard," said Mark, rubbing his stubbly cheek, as Manfred continued to bumble about the trailer. The smell of coffee and toast soon filled the small room, making them all hungry. Fitzhugh's nose woke him, the smell of food making him smack his lips before his eyes were open.

" Hmmmm I do believe breakfast is served," Fitzhugh crooned, rubbing his hands together and watching as Manfred loaded up a plate and approached the table.

" Good morning, my friends, sleep well ?"

" I've slept better, but if that's breakfast, the days not a total loss," Fitzhugh greeted him, eyeing the buttered bread with wide eyes.

" It is breakfast Mr. Fitzhugh. Now stand back and I'll pass a piece to you. Stand back please Mark and Steve, don't make me force you," said Manfred, quite alert for a man with a hangover. The two men backed away to the rear of the box, Valerie already there, a blanket wrapped around her to ward off the morning chill. Manfred turned the box, to reach the lock and quickly turned the tumblers, shielding it from the Little Peoples view.

" Damn, I was hoping to see what he was doing," whispered Steve, in an aside to Mark. Manfred pushed a half slice of warm toast into the box and shut the door, re-locking it before Steve had moved from the back wall. Fitzhugh hurriedly pulled chunks of bread from the slice, stuffing the food into his mouth, butter running down his chin. Steve pulled off hunks for Mark and Valerie, then for himself. Manfred watched as they ate, sipping his own mug of steaming coffee.

" I've decided not to use Baby for our first scene today," he said, picking up another slice of toast and cramming it in his mouth.

Valerie exchanged a relieved look with Steve and Mark, glad to hear that Baby was retired for the immediate future.

" No, I don't think Baby would do, she's not in the best of temper in the mornings. Always has to be exercised, fed, cleaned up....no I don't thing she'll do...but I'm sure I'll come up with another scene to get the blood pumping," said Manfred, a gleam in his eye, his expression far away as he contemplated his toast.

Valerie tried to push her hair away from her face, feeling as unkempt as Fitzhugh had accused her off being, the previous day. Manfred saw the movement and looked more closely at the Little People in the box. Noting the rather dishevelled appearance of the men, as well as Valerie, he clucked his tongue and shook his head.

" This won't do, you all look a fright, almost as bad as Egor," said Manfred, laughing loudly at his own joke," I'll have to set up some facilities for you, a proper dressing room, some dolls clothes, stuff like that...." he tailed off, one finger tapping his chin as he pondered the possibilities. " I'll have to get Quigg on to it, right away."

Manfred suddenly got to his feet, carrying the now empty mug and plate and dumped them into the already full sink. The Little People watched him worriedly, not sure what the man had planned for them. Before they had time to brace themselves Manfred quickly snatched the box from the table, throwing its inhabitants to the floor, their cries of pain ignored as he threw open the trailer door and stepped out into the pale morning sun. Striding back to the warehouse, he found his crew of men loitering near the huge sliding door, smoking and chatting.

" Come on, no time to lose, we have a film to make...Quigg ?"

" Yes Boss ?"

" Time to get things organised properly for our prize actors, lets get some thing's for them, water, clothes, stuff like that....any ideas ?"

" Well yes....but I thought you didn't want to spend any money ?"

" That was before I found a backer for this little project....there must be something we can use from the prop department, doll clothes, some of those miniature sets you got yesterday...see what you can find, but be quick, times wasting."

Quigg quickly ran off, dragging two of the men with him. Manfred entered his office and placed the box on the cluttered desk. Going to a drawer he pulled out a battered box and snagged a fat cigar, rolling it in his fingers as he waited for Quigg to return.

Steve helped Fitzhugh to his feet, the man covered in butter from head to toe, having fallen on the remainder of the slice. Mark and Valerie were not much better off, the jolting ride taking its toll. Valerie had a rip in her blouse and her hair was now thoroughly mussed. Mark's jacket had been trampled under foot, together with Steve's, now all liberally covered in dust and crumbs. After the previous days exertions they all longed for the means to freshen up, let alone take care of some pressing personal business.

Quigg entered the office, his face beaming.

" It's all ready, Mr. Manfred,"

" Great Quigg, knew you'd get the job done...let's take a look."

Manfred, again carrying the box cage, followed Quigg as he led the way over the warehouse floor, into a corner where another miniature set was placed. This one, like the previous day, was surrounded by a high wall, but inside was dressed out as a bedroom and bathroom, just as ornate as the living room from the other set. There were three rooms in all, a large bedroom, dressing room and a big bathroom.

" Terrific Quigg, what was this used for ?"

" That movie about the haunted house, you remember, they needed to flood the room with fog and stuff to make the special effects, it even has a working water system, for authenticity...I've hooked it up to the tap, so they can use the facilities," Quigg explained, pointing out the features.

" Brilliant, lets get our actors out and they can use this as their dressing room, while we set up the first shot,"

" What is out first shot, you said it was going to involve Baby ?"

" Oh no, I've changed my mind, I'll tell you all about it in a minute."

Setting the box down on the edge of the set, Manfred unlocked the door and swung it wide.

" Come on out, these are your new quarters...feel free to use the amenities, Quigg will supply you with whatever you need. Remember, you're all going to be movie stars, so lets look like movie stars,"

Steve and Mark stepped out of the box, Valerie and Fitzhugh not far behind. They looked around at the new set, then up at the Giants looming over the high wall.

" What if we don't want to be movie stars ?" shouted Steve,

" Then I'll just have to persuade you, but at this rate, Valerie's not going to last the day," sighed Manfred, in mock dismay, evoking a snicker out of Quigg, quickly stifled.

Silence greeted Manfred's threat, even Fitzhugh at a loss for something to say.

" Well then, I'll take that as a yes, so take your time, Quigg will take care of you, I have things to prepare,"

Manfred moved away, quickly disappearing from view, leaving Quigg looking down at the dispirited Little People, with an expression that bordered on pity.

" I found some things that should fit you all, plus some other stuff you'll find a use for....," said Quigg, softly.

" Can't you help us ?" pleaded Valerie,

" No...sorry," said Quigg, emphatically. Valerie's shoulders slumped, hope vanishing as Quigg quickly dumped a pile of clothes and other items onto the big bed, making a small cloud of dust rise up from the coverlet. " I'll leave you now, don't try to find a way out, there isn't one." he said, then turned and left the small group of people, standing in the insanely normal looking room, at a loss to get themselves out of their situation. Their one and only hope was that Dan had secured Egor's release, and was himself free, with Barry, to render what help they could if the opportunity arose.

In the meantime, they needed to get cleaned up. Fitzhugh had disappeared into the bathroom, his excited shout drawing the others to explore their prison. They found him in a well appointed room, complete with a shower, bath and sink. He was going from one to the other, turning on the taps, finding that water actually did come out of the pipes. A bubble of hysterical laughter erupted from Valerie.

" All we need now is bubble bath and shampoo...anyone think to bring their toothbrush ?"

" Let's see what in that pile on the bed," suggested Mark, steering Valerie back to the bedroom.

Quigg had indeed found enough clothes to give them all a fresh outfit, although Valerie was sceptical about the origins of her costume.

" I don't know how he expects me to do anything in this !" she exclaimed, holding up the bell skirted, full length dress against her body. It had long sleeves and a low neckline, trimmed with lace. The colour was a deep, peacock blue, the shade an exact match for her eyes.

" I think you'll look lovely," said Fitzhugh, fingering the soft fabric. Valerie only gave him an arch look and turned away.

" I don't think we have much of a choice, our own clothes need washing badly. Lets make the most of the opportunity, Val, you use the bathroom first, we'll warn you if anyone comes snooping, okay ?"

" Sure Steve, I shouldn't be too long, I might need a hand trimming this skirt to a manageable length though. Any towels in that heap ?"

" Several...and some chips of soap. Shame Quigg can't bring himself to help us, lets hope Egor is successful in getting back on the film crew," said Mark, handing Valerie some soap and a couple of large, white towelling squares.

" I'll try not to use all the hot water," said Valerie, turning and making for the bathroom. She shut the door firmly behind her and stood there, surveying the room, before dumping the dress on the chair in the corner and going to the mirror to assess her reflection.

Twenty minutes later she emerged, the blue dress half off one shoulder, her wet hair hanging down her back. She held her freshly rinsed clothes wrapped in one of the towels, holding up her trailing skirt with the other hand. She had only gone a few steps when she realised that the room was silent, looking up she was surprised to see every eye in the room on her.

" What ?" asked Valerie.

As if unfrozen from a spell all three men suddenly moved, bustling about, gathering up clothes and towels, embarrassed to have been caught staring.

Valerie shook her head, dumping the parcel of clothes on the floor, then tried to reach behind her to fasten the dress properly. Mark quickly came over, while Steve and Fitzhugh hurried away into the bathroom, and offered to help her.

" Why were you all staring ?" queried Valerie, as Mark pulled the cords to tighten the back of the dress.

" No reason, that colour just really suits you," Mark mumbled, concentrating on his task. Mark had been struck dumb at the sight of Valerie in the old fashioned dress, the colour making her eyes seem even bluer than normal, the style suiting her trim waist and full figure. Even with her hair unbrushed and damp, she took his breath away. With a final tug he finished tying the back up. Valerie turned quickly, the skirt fluffing out and making a swishing noise as it brushed the carpet.

" I can't move in this skirt, do you have your penknife handy ?"

" Uh sure, how short do you want it ?" Mark asked,

" About to my knees should be short enough,"

Mark knelt down, grasping the material in one hand, the knife in the other, and proceeded to hack a rough hem off the bottom of the dress.

After he finished, Valerie borrowed the knife and cut out the petticoat as well, making the skirt less full, but more draped. After another session to shorten the skirt and neaten it up, Valerie was satisfied with the length and twirled for Marks approval. By now her hair had dried and was settling into is usual waves, a few curls escaping to frame her face. Mark gazed at her, a smile curving his lips.

" You look beautiful," he breathed, their circumstances forgotten for an instance.

" Why thank you Mark," said Valerie, her own mouth curving into a wide smile. " I think you'd better get to the bathroom before Fitzhugh uses all the soap,"

" What ? oh....sure,"

Valerie watched as Mark picked up his own change of clothes and a towel and quickly left her, unable to resist a last look at the women in the blue dress before shutting the bathroom door. Valerie smiled to herself, thinking that the day hadn't started off all that bad afterall.

All to soon, if she only knew, circumstances beyond her control would change her mind about that particular viewpoint.

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