Disclaimer: I don't own anything in here. Some of the dialogue is taken directly from the movie itself and is REALLY REALLY not mine.

Author's Note: Please enjoy, and please review, and please also read the author's note at the end.

Charlie smiled. This place was amazing. Everything, Mr. Wonka had said, was "eatable." There was so much candy, so many sweets to pick from that it was all a bit overwhelming. He'd barely eaten anything, content to just roam the beautiful landscape, admiring.

The other children were a bit bothersome, of course. Violet had been very rude to him indeed and he hadn't heard Mike's screaming let up for more than a moment or two ever since they'd been set free to explore. But he didn't let that bother him. They couldn't be to blame - their parents hadn't brought them up right, that was all.

Veruca had spotted an Oompa Loompa. Mr. Wonka was telling them all about them when it happened: Augustus was leaning over a bank, dipping his hands into the chocolate, happily slurping away. Charlie could see it from here, even as his mother screamed for him to stop, could see he was going to fall in the water - er, chocolate.

Charlie didn't know he was moving until he realized he was getting closer and closer to Augustus' huge, hulking form. There was a branch made of particularly sturdy licorice in his hands and he was nearly there when Augustus tumbled into the chocolate.

"Augustus!" Charlie yelled. "Grab on!"

Augustus was flailing and gasping, but his beady eyes latched onto Charlie and the outstretched licorice branch easily enough. He grabbed at it and latched on with both hands. Charlie held on tight, but Augustus was heavy and he felt his feet slipping and giving way very, very quickly. He was just starting to panic when he felt familiar hands around his middle.

"I've got you, Charlie," his grandfather reassured him. He wasn't very strong, though.

So Charlie yelled, "Come on, everyone! Help me get him out!"

He couldn't take his eyes off Augustus and the branch for fear of losing his grip, but if he had Charlie might have noticed Mr. Wonka smiling very mysteriously from his perch. He might also have noticed Mrs. Gloop dashing for Charlie and his grandfather, moving faster than perhaps she ever had in her entire life. And, perhaps more interestingly, he might have noticed that Mike was right behind her.

But of course, he hadn't seen any of that. He saw a gasping, desperate Augustus and the licorice branch getting gradually slipperier in both of their grips. He felt the tugging behind him grow stronger as Mrs. Gloop and then Mike joined on, followed by Violet, Mike's dad, and Violet's mother, in that order. Veruca and Mr. Salt looked on, looking a bit unsure as to what to do, caught halfway between the line of tugging people and the smiling Mr. Wonka.

"One big push!" Charlie urged, hoping it would be enough.

It was. With a great yank, Augustus finally flew up out of the chocolate and landed on the bank just as everyone else in the line toppled over at the effort. Charlie immediately crawled over to the still-gasping Augustus.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Augustus nodded.

"I...cannot...swim," he said between heaving breaths. He was looking very seriously at Charlie and Charlie, for all his intelligence, didn't quite know what was coming next.

"Thank you," Augustus muttered very, very quietly, almost begrudgingly. Charlie beamed at him anyway.

"Well, then," Mr. Wonka announced, suddenly very close to the two sprawled boys. "That was certainly...unexpected."

He gave Charlie an odd look, one that, again, Charlie couldn't piece together. He smiled at him anyway and Mr. Wonka smiled back. Then he made an odd noise halfway between a gurgle and a yodel. One of the Oompa Loompas scampered over to him.

"Take Augustus here and his...Mrs. Gloop to the Washing Room, 'kay? He needs a nice shower," he directed. They each crossed arms in some sort of agreement and the Oompa Loompa led them away as a pink seahorse boat appeared on the chocolate.

"Well done, Charlie," his grandfather whispered to him. Charlie smiled.

-------------------

The machine was all very interesting and, Charlie thought, a bit frightening, but when it popped out the little stick of gum, he wanted to laugh out loud. That was brilliant!

Violet had the gum and she was chewing it, even though Mr. Wonka had warned her not to.

"It's amazing! Tomato soup, I can feel it running down my throat!" she was saying. That seemed alright, and Mr. Wonka didn't seem too concerned yet, not really. It was like he was waiting for something.

"It's changing! Roast beef with baked potato, with crispy skin and butter!" Violet continued. Mr. Wonka was more worried now, Charlie could hear it in his voice. Maybe he was waiting for the...

"Blueberry pie and ice cream!" Violet exclaimed.

That! Something had to be wrong with that.

"What's happening to her nose?" asked Mr. Salt.

As soon as Charlie saw the blue, he realized he was moving again because Violet was getting awful close. Her eyes were wide and got even wider when he felt himself swoop in and wrap his lips around hers. She half-screamed in shock and Charlie used the opportunity to push his tongue in and sweep the gum out of her mouth, into his own. As soon as he had it, he broke the kiss and spat the gum into his hand.

Charlie looked down at the gum, safe in his hand. When he looked back up to see how Violet was doing, he saw a blur of peach.

SMACK!

Well, that hurt. Charlie's left hand - the one without the gum - slid up to his now-aching cheek. Violet retracted her hand from where she'd left it paused in mid-air after the slap.

"What does your grandson think he's DOING?" screeched Violet's mother to Charlie's grandfather. Charlie scrambled for a response but Mr. Wonka was faster.

"Saving your daughter, miss," he said quietly. "You see, that gum isn't quite perfect yet. Every one of my Oompa Loompas who tests it ends up turning into a blueberry."

Everyone stared at Charlie, everyone except Violet who was very determinedly not looking at Charlie nor anywhere near him; and Mike, who was looking at Violet like she was one of those alien bosses in one of his weird video games. Charlie didn't like that murderous look, not one bit.

"It looks like your little girl isn't going to be turning into a blueberry today," Mr. Wonka said to Violet's mother. Indeed, she looked quite alright; from what Charlie could see, tearing his gaze from Mike, only Violet's nose and her fingertips were blue, and a bit in her ears too. That wasn't so bad.

An Oompa Loompa appeared and Mr. Wonka said, "Please take this little girl and her...um, the one in the blue, there, down to the Juicing Room. It won't take long, really, but just...make sure."

They did that thing again with their arms and off they went.

-------------------

"Don't touch that squirrel's nuts! It'll make him crazy," Mr. Wonka advised.

But Veruca just kept going, closer and closer. Charlie was worried - the last two people who hadn't listened to Mr. Wonka ended up in trouble. Maybe Veruca would be better off without her squirrel after all.

"I'll have you," she proclaimed, reaching her hands out for one of the squirrels.

And then, it happened: it pounced and so did the rest, running and flying off their seats to come after her. Charlie looked around at everyone near him, desperate for guidance. His grandpa was nervous and worried, but he obviously couldn't do anything, not with his age and all. Mr. Salt was nervous, too, but he was waiting for Mr. Wonka to open the door and Mr. Wonka had so many keys...that wasn't going to happen soon, not unless he got lucky and remembered which one it was.

Veruca was screaming, fighting the squirrels off as best as she could. Charlie saw Mr. Teavee looking a little shocked and Mike...

Mike was looking straight at Charlie.

And then Charlie was moving again, pushing Mr. Wonka gently out of the way and slipping through the hole between the bars on the door just like Veruca had. He took the stairs two, three at a time, leaping and bounding down to the blue-and-white floor. Veruca was still on her feet but not for long; Charlie could tell she was getting overwhelmed, that the squirrels were going to bowl her over soon.

He got there just in time, hugging her from behind and dragging her screaming form backwards, over to the stairs. The squirrels were clamoring over them both now but Charlie couldn't think about that. All he wanted to do was get Veruca out of there, now.

He got her to the stairs and she took to them immediately, scrambling onto them with amazing speed. Charlie wasn't so lucky. The squirrels got him and he tumbled onto the floor, laughing as their paws tickled him. It was fun, actually, being pinned to the floor by all of them. They were furry and warm and very cute. Charlie didn't mind at all and didn't resist, not a bit.

One of the squirrels bounded onto his chest and he leaned his head up to look it straight in the eyes. The squirrel danced this way and that, presumably thinking. Then he knocked very lightly on Charlie's forehead.

"Well. It looks like he's a good nut," Mr. Wonka announced.

The squirrels scampered off and away. Charlie got to his feet, a little dazed but mostly very pleased. He dashed over to Veruca.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes...yes, I'm fine," she admitted. She seemed a bit flustered: her hair was every which way and she was shaking, but she seemed very "fine" indeed.

Then she shook her head as if to compose herself, gave a tiny smile, and extended her hand to Charlie so that he could step up onto the stairs. He smiled and took it, pushing lightly to get himself up to her level. She backed up on the step she was on, gesturing. Charlie furrowed his brow in confusion.

"You first. You saved me, after all," she said.

Charlie shook his head.

"Ladies first," he insisted.

Veruca smiled a little wider but it wasn't as nefarious as it had been before. It was somehow, some way, a little sweeter. She curtsied and zoomed up the stairs, up the suddenly open door and into the waiting arms of her father.

"I'm fine, Daddy, really," Veruca insisted as she pulled out of the hug. "But I still want a trained squirrel. Can we go find another one?"

"What about the tour?" Charlie asked, coming up the stairs slowly.

"I don't care about that anymore," Veruca scoffed at him before turning back to her father. "Please, Daddy?"

Mr. Salt didn't stand a chance. He shared a look with Mr. Wonka, who nodded.

"He'll show you to the exit," was all Mr. Wonka said, revealing the Oompa Loompa who had appeared. It tugged on Mr. Salt's leg and he and Veruca followed it out the door and away.

-------------------

"Go on. Just reach out and grab it," Mr. Wonka told Charlie after Mike's adamant refusal to do just that. Charlie wasn't sure.

"Go on," Mr. Wonka urged.

Well, nobody listened to Mr. Wonka before and Charlie knew what had happened to them. So he reached out tentatively and removed the bar from the television.

"Holy buckets..." Grandpa Joe murmured.

"Eat it. Go on. It'll be delicious. It's the same bar, it just got a little smaller on the journey, that's all," Mr. Wonka instructed.

Charlie did so, unwrapping it smoothly and quickly. He took a bite.

"It's great," Charlie said, and meant it. He couldn't believe it. What had Mr. Wonka done? It was amazing, sure, but it was also kinda dangerous. Charlie wondered what would happen if the government knew about this kind of thing, for example.

"Don't you realize what you've invented? It's a teleporter. It's the most important invention in the history of the world! And all you think about is chocolate," Mike accused.

Charlie balked just a little bit. He and Mike were on the same wavelength, although Charlie thought Mr. Wonka's idea about selling chocolate to skeptical people at home was interesting and smart and kinda fun.

"No he doesn't! He has no idea!" Mike yelled and Charlie tuned back in to the conversation he'd been half-paying attention to. "You think he's a genius but he's an idiot! But I'm not," Mike promised.

And then he was off like a shot, smacking the button and heading for the teleportation area. He wasn't moving too fast, though.

Oh. That was because Charlie was following him, chasing him, jumping onto the platform with him.

"Get off!" Mike yelled, pushing, but Charlie wasn't going down that easily. It was kind of funny, actually; Mike hadn't pushed that hard at all. It was almost like he was afraid to hurt Charlie, especially because the platform was moving and getting higher.

Charlie knew there wasn't much time before they were teleported and he didn't know what was going to happen when they were. He did know that Mr. Wonka didn't want that to happen and bad things happened when you did something Mr. Wonka didn't want you to do. So Charlie, fighting off Mike's flailing and surprisingly weak arms, bullrushed him, tackled him to send him flying off the platform.

For a moment, they were suspended in midair and Charlie wondered why this moment couldn't last forever. It felt kinda cool, to be almost flying, to be levitating. But that was over all too fast and the impact came, Charlie landing squarely on Mike. Charlie grunted at the surprise.

Mike screamed.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked, frantic. He rolled off Mike immediately as Mike's dad came rushing over.

Mike just kept screaming. They hadn't fallen very far, had they? Charlie turned around to look and indeed, it didn't seem like too much of a fall, barely even a few feet. But Mike wouldn't quit and Charlie got more and more worried until Mike's screams slowly trickled down to just hiccupping cries and tears. But even those tears weren't going to stop - not ever, it seemed.

But they did, slowly. The Oompa Loompas were there, in scrubs and lab coats, checking Mike out. One of them was over with Mr. Wonka.

"Our patient will be just fine," Mr. Wonka announced. "A few bruises here and there, according to Dr. Gene, but nothing serious. They'll get some x-rays, just to be sure."

He said this last bit to the Oompa Loompa, but most of it had been straight to Charlie. Just like the screams.

"Come on," Mr. Wonka directed, heading for the elevator, lifting Charlie and Grandpa Joe, who had bent down to comfort his grandson, to their feet. Charlie didn't want to leave Mike there, but the Oompa Loompas said he was going to be okay.

So he turned, dumped his glasses into the bucket, and followed Mr. Wonka, determined not to look back at Mike, no matter what.

Author's Note: I have an idea for a follow-up, a sequel if you will, where the kids come back to visit Charlie. It'd be another one-shot, or I could turn this into a twoshot, and you can see what becomes of them now. Is that interesting? Let me know, and I'll write it. Thanks!