Disclaimer-- I don't own the characters of Tin Man. Damn

DG knew perfectly well that she shouldn't go missing again; after all she tended to do it quite often, and tended to send her parents over the edge when she did. God forbid she snuck off when Cain was around because he would worry over her every second she was out of his sight. So yes, she knew all to well that she shouldn't sneak away to avoid her lessons. But she couldn't focus on Tutor's lessons when they were at Finaqua. It was always too beautiful and bright to spend her days inside, so she always managed to find a way to get away.

On this particular day the princess had gone out through the maids' quarters and was quickly making her way away from the palace and into the tall grass out by the water. It was gorgeous day, with the bright sun warming the air to the point where she didn't need a jacket; and as she enjoyed it, DG found herself drifting.

Turned out drifting wasn't such a brilliant idea. As she made her way slowly to the water, her foot caught on something and she went tumbling to the ground. At least she expected to hit the ground; but rather that meeting cold earth she fell against warm and protesting man.

"Lose your footing there princess?" Cain questioned.

She frowned at him from her position sprawled across his shins. "Ha, ha. What are you doing out here anyway?"

He sighed and adjusted his hat back over his face. "Working out a few things in my head, darlin'."

"Isn't going awol and hiding in the grass more my racket?" Deeg asked with a smile.

The slightest smile showed from under his hat. "Usually; and considering that you're out here too it doesn't seem like that's about to change anytime soon."

Feeling completely content she settled in against him, nuzzling into his chest. "So what's so important it took my Tin Man away from his fancy new job as Captain of the palace guard?"

"I left Jackson in charge of drills for the afternoon. Needed some time to think."

"About?" She pressed a kiss to his neck. "You're being pretty cryptic here Wyatt."

It sounded suspiciously like his jaw cracked as hard as his teeth clenched. "Plenty."

DG's happy was floating away as quickly as it came. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, really, don't worry about it."

He said it all from under his hat, and her eyes narrowed as she looked down at him. "Any particular reason you don't want me to see your face?"

"Not at all."

Yeah, like she believed that for a second. "Well good, then you won't mind taking that hat off." She reached out only a split second before he did. By the time his fingers wrapped gently around her wrist she had the hat off and was gasping. "What the hell happened?"

Her Tin Man was sporting what was shaping up to be a rather spectacularly colored black eye and a red and swollen split lip. "It's honestly nothing."

"This isn't nothing, Wyatt. Now what the hell is going on?"

Worry was evident in her voice and anger was flashing in her eyes. He knew she would figure out some other way if he didn't spill so he cut his losses. "Our good morning kiss this morning may not have been as private as we thought, as it turns out."

She remembered it all too well, and rather fondly. The last thing she would ever do was complain about getting a very long and thorough good morning kiss from Wyatt Cain before breakfast. They didn't want to share each other so they were usually careful not to be seen, but clearly that hadn't been the case that morning. "Who saw us?"

"Ahamo."

"You have got to be kidding me! What, does he think I'm a child?" She was already struggling to her feet. "I swear to God I'm going to find him and shove my foot so far…"

She was cut off with a rather undignified puff of breath as Cain tugged her back against his chest. "Darlin', think about this from his point of view. Here's his youngest daughter standing outside her bedroom in the wee hours of the morning wrapped in the arms of a man almost as old as him."

"You're close to fifteen years younger than my father," she huffed. "And I am more than grown up enough to make my own decisions on who I kiss in the corridors."

Cain muffled a laugh at her righteous indignation, reaching up to brush a hand against her cheek to mask it. "You're always going to be his little girl, and the two of us pressed up against the wall outside your bedroom wasn't exactly what he wanted to see. Seems he thought I spent the night in your bed."

"That's ridiculous." DG grinned down at him just a bit wickedly. "We always spend the night in your bed; fewer nosy staff members."

This time he laughed out loud. "I don't think the semantics really matter to him sweetheart. He tracked me down earlier and had a couple of very choice words with me."

She muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like crazy old pain in the ass then leaned up to brush her lips and fingers over the tender skin under his eye. "What did he say?"

"He said that if I thought I could just use you and walk away I was crazy. He didn't take too kindly to the suggestion that it could be a two way street and we were using each other."

"You egged him on?" she asked incredulously. "Do you not value your life?"

Cain caught the hand that was fluttering across his face and trapped it against his chest. "I was mad as hell."

The princess shook her head. "Please tell me you thought to mention that we've been talking about getting married."

"I managed to get that in somewhere after the fourth punch," he told her with a wince.

"And?"

"And your father then proceeded to stalk into the kitchen, find a frozen steak and bring it back. He made it perfectly clear that if he caught us in the halls again anytime in the near future he'd do a lot worse than this. Then he tossed the steak at my head and took off before, at least it seemed, he found himself grinding me into the kitchen floor. My triple vision had reduced to double by that point so I was thankfully able to catch the steak. I came out here after Jackson tried his best not to laugh while I told him I needed him to work out the guard for the day."

She was halfway to her feet again in a second. "I'm going to kill him! What right does he have to pull something like this?"

Wyatt caught her easily again and once again she went tumbling into him. "He's your father, darlin'. I know if I had a daughter I'd react the same way; maybe worse." He reached up to stroke a hand soothingly over her hair. "It's going to take a while for Ahamo to come to terms with the fact that you really aren't a little girl anymore."

"I know," she sighed. "But did he really have to beat you up?"

"This isn't beat up, sweetheart; at least not for me. I promise I've had much worse."

With a frustrated expulsion of breath she settled back against his chest. "Still. You look miserable."

He nodded soberly before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "It's horrible," he said, clearly humoring her. "Awful, really."

"Now you're making fun of me," DG pouted. "Sometimes I wish I had never found your sense of humor."

"You know you love it."

"Yeah; you just keep it up smart ass."

Cain reached down and tipped her chin up so he could see her face. "But what am I supposed to do about these bruises?"

She tried to keep the smile from her face, but she felt the corners of her lips quirk up of their own volition. "Deal with them tough guy."

"Sure you don't want to kiss them better?"

"Positive, but you can feel free to just kiss my…"

"Got it. Well fine…" He rolled so that she was under him but rose to his knees. "I guess I'll just do what your father would prefer and stay clear away from you."

It was his turn to land in an undignified heap as she pulled him back to her. "Don't even think about it."

He grinned down at her. "Does that mean you're going to give in?"

Deeg smiled as she threaded her fingers into his hair and gently tugged him down so their lips met gently. "Seems like it."

"I knew you wouldn't leave me to hurt by myself, darlin'."

"Well you know, they tell me princesses are supposed to be all about taking care of your people," she said soberly.

He nodded as she leaned up to kiss his bruised eye. "Long as I'm the only subject that gets such personal care."

Two pairs of blue eyes met as she smiled brightly. "You're it."