Title: Faith Hope
Author: Erin
Characters, Pairing: Cain, Jeb and Adora (mention of Az, DG, the Queen, the witch and a few OCs)
Rating: G
Summary: Sometimes, all you need is a little hope in faith.
Warning: post-series. For moony
Disclaimer: The original characters belong to L. Frank Baum and their respective actors. The current characters belong to Sci-Fi, the movie folks and their respective actors. The OCs are mine.

"There was this one man," Jeb started, looking off into the trees as he leaned against the fender of the large transport truck. His gaze turned down to his father, who was half-under the truck, trying to determine the severity of the mechanical problem currently holding them up from returning to Central City.

The two of them had volunteered to take provisions to the villages of the Western Guilds as a favor to the royal family. Of course, they also has their own selfish reasons for volunteering: Jeb and Cain wanted to spend time together. They had quite a bit to catch up on and this task was a perfect setting. Even in their current situation, the trip had been extremely successful on all accounts.

The people were glad to hear that the Sorceress was gone, but they weren't so sure about the story that Azkadellia had been possessed. Jeb had to remind Cain that, while the former-Tin Man had personal knowledge of the events preceding the eclipse, the people still had only one face to blame.

What had bothered Cain the most was the man who claimed that DG's return to the Zone was a lie. Jeb ended up having to pull Cain back toward the truck in the last village they visited before a fight broke out with the 'village idiot', as Cain put it.

"Father, these people have been forgotten. They don't trust anyone. I mean..." he waved to the surrounding village. "We're a step away from the Realm of the Unwanted here." Cain huffed and glared at the crowd milling around the other man.

"The Princess will bring the Zone back. People will know the truth, but you have to give them time to take in the news." Cain sighed again and rested his hands on his hips. Glancing at the ground, he looked back up to Jeb sideways and smiled. Jeb did have a knack for making Cain feel like he was the child at times. Shaking his head, Cain placed a hand on Jeb's shoulder and pulled him along to the front of the truck.

"We should get going," Cain said with a glance upward. The suns were low and it would be dark before they reached the Resistance camp they were staying in for the night. They'd driven for a good hour when the truck jerked and halted with a bang. After taking twenty minutes to find the problem, Cain pulled a set of tools from the back of the truck and asked Jeb to tell him more stories of the Resistance.

If they were going to help DG restore the Zone to its former glory, he needed to know what kind of resistance he was up against. It took him a whole five minutes to realize the humor in the thought, and another five for him to explain to Jeb why he had suddenly started laughing.

Jeb began telling Cain about the fighters in his squad – the ones Cain had met – and shifted the topic to various instances when they had to break up fights or, in one case, start one in order to put the people into action.

She had heard a truck was coming from Central City, along with whispers that it was finally over. Maybe they would be welcomed back into society; maybe they wouldn't have to live in the limbo between the Zone and the Realm.

She could have gone to the Realm at any time. Of course, she wasn't exactly 'unwanted.' She was simply unneeded. She was just another victim of circumstance – wiped of a name, a place... an existence.

It could have been worse, she concluded as she trudged through the woods, heading for the village. If she hadn't managed to slip away during the commotion, she'd have probably shared the same fate as those she'd been kept with. It hurt her to think about those poor men – to have their brains ripped out simply for fighting the Sorceress... it wasn't fair.

Fair – that was a concept as foreign to her as happiness.

She couldn't even remember happy. Not anymore.

Her family had been taken from her again and again. She was forced to live a life she never wanted, let alone imagined. And, now, to have a glimmer that there was a light; a way out. What could she offer the Zone? After everything she'd seen... there was no place for someone like her.

But there was something that told her to go to the truck. Real food, maybe a warm blanket...

Faith.

Not an hour before, she was helping a young girl deliver her first child. A girl she named Faith Hope.

Faith that the Zone could be restored. Hope that the girl's life could be better than her mother's – even if it was just for a moment.

She didn't have the heart to tell the girl that there wasn't much chance for her or the baby if they stayed in the small cabin. She didn't have the heart for much of anything anymore. She wasn't bothered when she heard the other women in her small village whisper that she was heartless and cold inside.

It was the truth.

But she had been a mother once, and it wasn't fair to Faith to blame her for the troubles of the past. So she made sure the girl understood the proper way to hold the baby and what to do when she began to cry.

As she left the two of them, she hoped that the rumors were true and her family could finally be at peace. She arrived at the village to find the truck had come and gone. Her chin dropped to her chest two-fold: anger, for not getting there fast enough; and relief that the rumors were true. She asked one of the village elders to see that Faith and her mother were watched over and that they got some of the food before she continued down the road.

She stopped at the crossroads and looked in the direction of her village. Turning to look down the opposite path, she decided to trust faith and hope and headed east. She had no reason to go back to that village anyway.

"Give me the wrench," Cain ordered, reaching his hand up blindly. Jeb laughed as he reached down and caught Cain's hand, stilling it so that he could place the wrench in Cain's palm. "So, what did they do to him?" Cain asked with a grunt as he leaned back under the truck.

Jeb laughed at the memory and looked up to the sky with a smile as he finished the tale. "They tied him to a tree without his pants and let him stay there overnight to think about his actions." Cain pulled himself back out from under the chassis before glancing up to Jeb. Using the wheel well to pull himself up, Cain stood and wiped his hands on a rag as Jeb pushed off the fender and turned to look at the truck.

"You fixed it?" Cain gave Jeb a look of disappointment and shook his head before moving to the door. Cain hauled himself into the truck and started it up with a rumble. Jeb nodded and smiled as Cain climbed back down and began gathering up the tools.

For the first time in nearly ten annuals, she allowed herself to enjoy the sunlight shining down on her. As she walked, the words of the villages replayed in her ears:

The Sorceress was possessed, they said. The dead Princess is alive. The Queen is on the throne. The Zone is saved.

At least one family was reunited, after everything.

A rumble in her stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten in almost a day, but she didn't feel like stopping. At least, not for food.

She glanced down the dirt road and saw the truck, as well as the man loading something into the back. He turned slightly and called out to another person, but she didn't register at first.

She stopped dead in the center of the road and stared.

"Where is the pin?" Cain called to Jeb as he looked around the back of the truck bed. He couldn't find the metal peg that locked the back panel closed. Jeb made a face and moved toward the back of the truck.

"It's right here on the ch-" Jeb stopped short as he noticed the woman standing in the middle of the road. Cain glanced up to Jeb and frowned before realizing the look on Jeb's face was not meant for him. Blinking, Cain looked over his shoulder and was sure that he'd inhaled fumes while under the truck.

But Jeb could see her, too.

And she could see them.

It was too much. All the talk from the village had gotten to her; the baby... this was impossible. Her legs gave out but she still had the capacity to plant her hands as she dropped rather ungracefully into a sitting position.

"Mother!"

"Adora!" Both Cain men tore down the road to her side, Cain practically plowing into her as he slid across the dirt. His arms went around her and Jeb reached for her closest hand as Adora tried to calm her breathing. Jeb's hands patted her arm from hand to elbow – he'd seen the loop so many times, he was sure it had happened.

She was dead.

Adora squeezed Jeb's hand while her eyes locked on Cain's. He looked exactly the same as the last time she saw him. 'He's so young,' her brain supplied.

But he was dead.

And Jeb... Adora finally forced herself to look at her son, who had tears streaming down his face.

"You were..." she whispered and turned back to Cain. "I... don't..." Cain pulled Adora to him and held her tighter than he ever had before. He could feel her breath on his shirt, the rise and fall of her frame against his as she breathed. Cain reached for Jeb and the three of them sat in a heap on the ground for quite a while.

Maybe she could put a little hope in Faith, after all.