A little one shot I wrote a looong while ago that I recently revised, and thought I might as well put it up. Enjoy!


Fiyero never really thought about dying. Honestly, he hadn't thought about much at all until recent years, and then it hadn't been about anything but unanswered questions that wouldn't let him rest, and her.

Elphaba.

Had they expected him to tell? Had Glinda? Was Elphaba alright? Would he see her again?

"You can see houses flying through the sky, why can't you see that?"

Even if he had thought about dying, Fiyero doubted he would've imagined it like this. He could never imagine his own men- men he'd searched for Elphaba with, served the Wizard with, stood by as long as he'd been graduated from Shiz with- would be the ones to do it. Even through the hardened masks, knowing it was their duty, he could see the looks in their eyes. Pity. Confusion. Anger. Betrayal. Their captain had let the Wicked Witch go.

For a moment it was quiet. Only the infrequent, distant squawking of crows broke the tense silence. It was as if they expected him to break, to finally tell them the grand secret of where Elphaba had fled. That finally the charade would be over and their captain would return to them, the captain who they thought was eager to capture the witch, not to follow her. The captain that wasn't in love with such a wicked creature. Surely he would talk.

Fiyero didn't say a word.

It hurt, quite a lot, but no more than he expected it to. The beating, the gashes covering his body, ripping at the Gale Force jacket that now seemed to mock him. Blood everywhere, seeping through the dark green fabric, tainting what he used to think was something pure, something that brought him to Elphaba.

His blood, tainting what was already impure.

But he didn't crack. Didn't make a sound, save to gasp in pain, and even then through clenched teeth. His eyes were squeezed shut, his breathing ragged, but more so out of concentration than pain. He had to struggle through. He had to make sure Elphaba was okay.

Elphaba, Elphaba, Elphaba.

One final blow to his head was delivered. Suddenly he was losing consciousness, and fast.

"Leave him," one of them finally said. Perhaps he was, or would be, the new captain. "If we didn't finish him off, the crows will."

One man lingered, still watching Fiyero, eyes wide with confusion, with hurt. Their captain was dying, and it was because of them. But he too left, too overwhelmed to stay, leaving Fiyero alone.

The world was spinning, spinning, then fading. His breathing was labored and desperate. He couldn't make it back to Elphaba, not even Glinda, not like this.

"Elphaba…"

And suddenly… there was nothing. He thought nothing. He blinked- he could see. He shifted his weight a little- no pain.

No anything.

There was nothing left but a man of straw and fabric, covered in blood that was once his own.