Title: Saying Goodbye
Characters: DG/Cain
Timeline: Post eclipse -in-consequential
Rated M for later
Genre: Angst/Smut.
Summary: He didn't know why she couldn't say goodbye.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tin Man.

A/N: This is unbeta'd, so just go with it.

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She tried to continue with daily tasks.

She tried to move on, business as usual.

But she couldn't forever ignore the vice like grip that had been slowly tightening around her heart.

He was leaving in a week.

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He was finally settled into his new life.

He was comfortable with the new people and leadership.

He was glad to finally be done with the fighting.

He was starting over at last.

He was leaving in 5 days.

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She had been avoiding him over the last few weeks.

She didn't start it deliberately.

But pretty soon she found that it helped the pain in her chest to not see him as often. See him happy, see him relaxed.

He was leaving in 3 days.

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He noticed that she was acting differently. Distant.

He didn't like it.

He wanted to see the light in her eyes again. Share amused looks with him over Glitch's attempts at brilliance.

He was going to miss her.

He was leaving in two days.

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She was going to have to say goodbye.

She didn't want to say goodbye. She couldn't even bear to see him.

She couldn't watch him ride away from her while she stood among her family and friends.

She could maybe avoid him for just a-

"Whoa there, Princess."

A familiar pair of hands steadied her as she bounced off of his chest. She glanced up to his face and the air wooshed out of her and her heart seemed to stop.

"You alright there, DG?" His kind blue eyes studied her face and a hand brushed up her arm in a comforting gesture. The pain lessoned and her heart started again with a dull throb.

"I'm – I'm fine." She looked away but kept glancing back in an effort to make her lie less apparent. "Sorry, I uh…"

"Was too busy avoiding me?" he supplied. She could hear his attempt at humor, along with the accusation hiding behind it.

Her smile came out like a wince. "I was looking for you actually," she blurted before her mind could catch up with her mouth. She chanced another glance up but immediately looked away again as she found his gaze comforting. Amused. Oblivious to her pain.

"That so?"

"That's so," she nodded, still avoiding his face.

"Mmmhmmm…" he gestured to their surroundings. "In the abandoned wing of the palace." He observed.

She stopped nodding.

"Around lunch time." He was unimpressed.

So was she, to be honest. She just knew he was thin lipped and had his head tilted so that if he were wearing a hat, his eyes would be barely visible and his glare would be oh-so-effective. The look that made her want to admit anything. The pain in her chest throbbed again. No, she certainly couldn't share that.

Better just say goodbye and get it over with then.

She blinked a few times to gather herself after his remark. She took a deep breath to steel herself and let her eyes flicker back to his and hold there for longer than a split second.

"I wanted to say, Goodbye, Mr. Cain." She looked away again. It was too much. The vice around her heart feels like a hand now, and it was pulling her towards him. "And good luck." Her voice almost caught, and she hugged his middle briefly to hide as she blinked away the tears that were starting to form. "Have a safe trip."

She was pulling away before he could barely hug her back. She was about to break into a run when she hears him.

"Wait!"

She stops.

One painful heartbeat.

Two.

A third.

"Why won't you look at me?" he asks quietly. Barely above a whisper. The vice-hand tugs her back slightly. He sounds hurt.

She brings a hand up to brush a tear from her face. A war is waging inside of her now. Tell him or no? Risk their friendship? Risk one of the best relationships she's had in her whole life?

No. She starts to move away but he catches her wrist.

"Why not, DG?" his voice is almost desperate. Her heart is yanked backward again.

"I can't," she sounds distraught, as she tries to pull her wrist free.

"Yes you can!" he urges her as his grip tightens.

"No!" Her heart is breaking.

"Tell me!" his voice is no longer gentle. It's angry. "Tell me, DG!"

"Because I wouldn't let you leave!"

He stills and so does she, as her voice seemed to echo in the deserted corridor. More painful heartbeats. Each worse than the last. Heavy with uncertainty.

His grip on her wrist lessons and she feels him move around in front of her. She looks down at his boots.

"What?" he barely breathes. His hands are at her elbows, he ducks down to catch her eye.

"I wouldn't let you leave," she whispers.

"What are you-" She finally glances up at him and he can see the pain in her eyes for the first time.

He is confused and searching her face for what is wrong. He still has no clue. She doesn't know how to explain it to him. Has no idea how to convey what is happening to her heart because he is leaving. The invisible force pulling her towards him is finally becoming too much.

She steps closer to him. She rests her hands on his chest lightly, and leans up on her tip-toes towards him. She hesitates, but he doesn't jerk back so she just dives in. She presses her lips to his and something electric happens inside of her. The vice around her heart melts away and she feels ten times lighter. She tries to press her long-harbored feelings for him into the kiss but at the same time, knows deep down, that she has just upturned her Tin Man's world again.

No. She couldn't do that to him again. She can't ask him to stop his plans, and forward progress in starting over, for her. Her heart aches again, this time with the absence of its oppressive weight of the past few months. She had to let him go.

She pulls back and lets out a shaky breath as she settles back on her heels, eyes still closed. She bites her lip and slowly opens her eyes to look at his chest where her right hand hovers over his heart. He remains frozen in place, his grip on her arms slackened in the shock of her kiss. She pats his heart, saying goodbye silently, and steps away from him.

He doesn't stop her as she moves past him and disappears down the hall.

He was leaving in the morning.

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A/N: Funny how these things work, yes? I set out for a smutty oneshot and out comes this. Apparently my muse is quite upset. Fortunately, this has snowballed into something more like a smutty two-shot.

So sit tight, and review if you might… ;)