Title: And Guest
Author:
Characters: Cain, DG, Lavender Eyes, the Robo 'Rents
Pairing: Cain/DG
Rating: G, for now
Summary: When DG returns to Reality for her friend's wedding, the new Head of the Royal Family's guard is the perfect choice to accompany her. Multichap fic.

Warning: Not really
Disclaimer: It's routine by now, right? La la, was L. Frank Baum's, da di da, Sci Fi's adaptation. Do be doo don't own, just play with. New characters are mine.
Word Count: 2,207

"She's one of my best friends, Mother, from the other side, and I have to go. It's all part of tradition over there. The wearing of a hideous bride's dress, the stressful rehearsal where they nearly call it off, the bathroom quick clean up of tears after the bride has the panic attack and starts to rethink everything, and of course, the reception afterwards. Alright, so it's not as pretty and grand as we do things here at home but I have to go."

The eclipse had been reversed two months ago, and OZ was still trying to find its feet in the aftermath. The royal family had settled into such a routine one would think they had always been this close. A walk through the gardens was a daily occurrence for the queen and DG. Today, Cain had arrived just as they were about to set off, and both women insisted he join them.

Of course the Queen and her husband had appointed him the head of the Royal Tin Man Section, and he was, of course, good at what he did. Most of the unit was made up of former Resistance Fighters who had been recommended by Jeb. They were eager to prove their worth to the Queen, who DG and Azkadellia insisted should rule for now, as neither were prepared to do so.

Glitch-for never again would he be Ambrose, even after he had his brain given back to him, since some things just shouldn't be removed in the first place-had devised a way for DG to get something called the 'intern net', though no one had seen it but saw her magic book with its keypad and screen. Raw, however, could always tell when she was using it, something about the air, he would say. DG tried her best to not use it when he was around, since it bothered him so much.

Which brought them up to now. DG had received the thick, expensive envelope from her Robo-Dad, as she referred to him, with a questioning look. Her eyes had widened in surprise when she saw who it was from: Sarah Dawes.

Pretty Sarah with her Mid-Western blonde hair and cornflower blue eyes had been dating Mike Henderson since the beginning of high school. Everyone knew that Mike was going to propose, and very soon; he had been waiting until he was financially secure enough to provide for Sarah, and of course, buy the ring. God fearing people, DG knew it would be a short engagement. She just hadn't expected this short.

And she was perfectly happy with it, even more delighted when she saw that Sarah-who had heard about how DG had discovered her biological parents after the twister-had asked her to be a bridesmaid. DG just didn't like that imposing question on the card to return, the one asking if she was going to bring a guest or not.

She would worry about that later. For now, she had to be sure that her mother would let her go. Who knew if there was a royal blah blah blah that day or ceremonious ceremony of ceremony-like proportions she could not miss. Az could step in for her, right? She and her sister had started down that long road to recovery together, and had been all but inseparable for the first few days. But they had grown up, and they were separate people, so when Azkedellia would go to one of her many doctors' appointments, DG would take those hours and spend them alone, or with her parents. In general, she just needed a bit of personal space.

So here she stood, envelope, in all it's pearly light blueness, in her pocket, as she waited for an answer.

Her mother was watching her, and DG hadn't broken a bone in a very long time but the x-ray machine felt something like this. She blinked and waited, chin still up, and watching her mother.

"I suppose, if it means that much to you. I am glad to see that you value all of your friendships equally."

"Oh thanks, Mom!" she exclaimed, hugging her mother. DG wasn't sure if she should call her 'Mom' or hug her in public, but really it was Cain standing in the shadows-how he had managed to find a shadow in the sunny garden, she wasn't sure- and he was one of her greatest friends.

"But I cannot have you going alone. Dorothy forbid I allow you to be that vulnerable at this wedding."

DG saw Cain's shoulders drop, relief washing over his face. He was always nervous these days, anxious about something...

And then her mother turned to face him. "And our dear Wyatt Cain is just the man to accompany you."

Both looked at her, alarmed. There was a rush to refute this, and DG really didn't have anything to say, but Cain, being a gentleman, allowed her to go first.

"I am sure Cain has a lot of official-type stuff to do about here, and I don't think he'd really enjoy it."

"I probably wouldn't. I assume their ceremonies are very different than the ones here."

The Queen's eyes sparkled. "Excellent! It will be a learning experience for both of you, then. I cannot wait to hear of your excursion's outcome when you return. DG, make sure that the tailors make him appropriate clothing to accompany you." And with that, she breezed past them.

Guilt washed over her.

"Oh Cain, I am so sorry," she started. He gave her a look she couldn't discern. "I am, really!"

The Tin Man started towards the castle, slow enough for the princess to catch up. "So what should I expect?" he asked, reluctantly.

DG hurried to join him. "Well, the ceremony is just a lot of sitting for you. And I will be standing up front, and my feet will be killing me the entire time. Oh, I'll probably look stupid, since all bridesmaids dresses are ridiculously ugly. At the reception there's food and dancing-"

"Dancing? Maybe you should take Glitch."

DG pictured it for the briefest of instance before snorting. An outburst at the wrong point in church, one of his strange dances afterwards, and of course…"People don't have zippers in their heads in Kansas, Cain. And a hat isn't going to cover the misfiring synapses."

"So what day is this?"

DG bit her lip, trying to figure out the way to say this best. Her stomach squirmed with the knowledge that she was being a nuisance. "It's a few days, actually."

"What?"

"What?" DG cried, from behind the dressing room curtain. She had one leg out of a dress, hopping about on it, while trying to get her other foot into it, her skin stuck to the tulle. One of the other bridesmaids, Carly, laughed.

"Well, what happened? One day I'm seeing you in our Chemistry class at the college, and the next, I hear you've struck out to find your biological parents. We all missed you!"

"Gee guys, I missed you too-ow!" she had fallen over, but then that really wasn't what she was worried about, because Cain had burst in to the dressing room area. When she poked a head out, his panicked eyes were searching for the princess. He started to open his mouth as he put away his gun, but DG put a finger up to her lips and gestured for him to leave. She could see the muscles in his jaw working before he exited, and prepared for the heated discussion afterwards.

By shear luck alone, none of the girls were out of their changing rooms in that moment, and Cain moved so silently no one had heard him enter. DG hopped her way back over to a chair in the corner to get the dress on.

When she finally exited her little area, DG stepped next to Carly, whose curves weren't being restrained all that properly by the dress. She, on the other hand, realized that 'tube socking it' may be a phrase in her future if she wanted to fill out the dress.

"It matches your eyes, DG," Carly said quietly as Mona, the other bridesmaid came over. Mona's mouth was a firm, thin line as she tugged at the dress. Mona was going to get married in half a year to a man she had never met. Her parents may have emigrated from India, but their traditions remained. Mona and her three friends had spent many high school nights trying to figure out a way to get her out of it.

"So, dates everyone?" asked Carly. Carly was going with-scandalously-a teacher of their's from high school. Mona would be accompanied by her brother. Who was eleven.

"Mine is quite the looker," Mona said, rolling her eyes. She brushed a handful of bobbed hair behind her ear. Another sign of rebellion on her part. The Pattels had been heartbroken to see their daughter's hair cut off like that.

DG fiddled with a randomly placed rosette, then rubbed her hand after it was swatted away by the seamstress that had swooped down upon her. That sort of thing would never happen again, so she sort of enjoyed it.

The other two girls leaned forward as much as they could in their satin confections. "Deej?" they drawled.

"Um, yeah, I have a date," their friend responded, quickly. This of course meant that eight sets of eyes (there was a three way mirror) were widened and watching.

"Do we know him?"

"Nope."

Luckily, the seamstress patted her leg at the point and told her she was finished. DG waved goodbye to her friends as she left, relieved it was over. Her stomach, churned, however, at the thought of rehearsal, and the reception, and introducing Cain-Wyatt, she reminded herself, as what? Her date? Her boyfriend? Her royally appointed bodyguard?

"Scared me back there, Princess," he said as they left. Her father-the robot one-was waiting in the pick up truck in the parking lot. DG still wasn't sure how she was going to approach the subject of the motorcycle with Cain.

"I just…had a problem with gravity for a second there. No big problem."

He raised an eyebrow.

"I'm just klutzy sometimes. We all have our weaknesses: Superman has kryptonite, for me, occasionally, it's gravity."

He helped her into the truck and its back seat before hoisting himself up with a grace she envied. "I'll pretend I understood your analogy."

She sighed.

RoboMom dropped a crinkling bag into DG's lap as she wrapped the small box on her bed. Below thin plastic was her bridesmaid dress.

"Picked it up on the way home. They said they just had to hem the bottom."

While the dress had been ordered a size larger than it needed to be on purpose, to allow for excess fabric for tucking, they hadn't needed to make any alterations. She had always been skinny, and she still was certainly slim, but some of the hardness had been softened by two months of royal chefs delivering delicious food to the princess.

"Mr. Cain is out trying to help your dad, and not having too much luck, sweetheart. If it's alright…" This was new for everyone in this house, since now DG was well, royalty, and did royalty help their father with their turbines? DG did.

DG pushed off of her bed with a crooked grin. "I'll go see what I can do for Popsicle."

She made her way through the grain field on the same, well-worn path she had always taken as long as she could remember. Now, she realized that it was the same steps that she took in the maze at Fin-Aqua. Strange.

Cain had taken off his trench coat; he had insisted on bringing it along, but compromised and wouldn't wear it to the wedding. His shirt sleeves were rolled up and the two men were speaking in animated tones. There was a lightness to this Cain, in the amber sunset and approaching stillness of Kansas night, that she wanted to see more of.

"So how bad is it?" she asked. And Cain and her father were off the ground and facing her, only stopping from bowing when her face took on an exasperated expression. "Come on, if Wyatt Cain and my own Dad treat me that way I'm going to develop a complex. What's going on?"

"I have never seen a more destroyed turbine in my life. These parts," Cain held up a chunk of metal for her inspection, up to just below his shoulders, "simply do not fit together."

DG smirked, stepping closer and taking it out of his hand. "Well, that's because I haven't touched it yet."

Fifteen minutes later all three were covered in dirt and proudly admiring the machinery, now perfectly functional. Her RoboDad had an arm around her. "Good job, sweetheart," he said, happily. "You always did have a way of fixing things that were metal."

Cain suddenly cleared his throat, and when DG looked over her father's arm, the guard was walking back towards the house, hands in his pockets and head downward. She frowned.

"He's a strange man," said her father, quietly. "But a good one."

DG could only agree, silently.