Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked or anything else that doesn't sound like a work of fanfiction.
Author's Note: This story is a sequel to "Daddy's Little Angel," which is both musicalverse and set long before Elphaba and Nessarose set foot in Shiz. I highly recommend checking it out.
Chapter 1: Frex's Brilliant Plan
A year had passed since the incident with the Emerald City Department of Child Welfare. In Governor Frexspar Thropp's absence, Munchkinland soon found its government in the most rapid decline it had seen in decades. However, before any reversible damage had been done to the region's structure, a kind representative from Shiz University noticed the plight and paid Frex's bail in full. Frex quickly found himself back in the Governor's Mansion again, thanking his lucky stars that the munchkins were, for the most part, incapable of governing themselves.
Most of that notion came from the fact that, unbeknownst to the general population, Frex deliberately kept all of the region's most important documents under lock and key in a safe on the top shelf of his bookcase. Arguably, the fact that he was one of only a select few officials who were tall enough to reach it ensured his almost unanimous election year after year.
After his release, Frex learned that the Shiz representative must have offered some sort of bribe to the Department of Child Welfare as well. Upon re-entering his old mansion, he'd also somehow regained custody over both of his daughters: Nessarose, age nine, and Elphaba, age I-Don't-Remember. Unfortunately, his benefactor neglected to pay off his Oz Express Platinum debt, but for what it was worth he wasn't complaining. Frex vowed that this would be the year he would cement his place in Munchkinland's history with a revolutionary bureaucratic reorganization that would, above all other things, earn the region its own Quoxball team. He would never have to worry about credit card debt or losing his reputation again.
It had been five months since his return to power, and the next day was going to be absolutely crucial in re-establishing himself and winning over his citizens' trust.
"Come on, Frex, pull yourself together. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day," Frex said to himself, forcing a grin as he pored over his to-do list for the upcoming morning. Tomorrow would be the 50th day of the fiscal year: Bring Your Spawn to Work Day. It was the grandest excuse Frex could think of to have little Nessa follow him to work, look tragically adorable, and make a show of stamping paperwork for him. That giant publicity stunt would make up for everything he lost the previous year. Government-endorsed free labor, self-promotion, and a chance to spend the day with his undisputed favorite daughter, all in one event! The only thing Frex didn't like about Bring Your Spawn to Work Day was that he didn't think of the idea himself.
He made sure Elphaba tucked her younger sister in early to ensure she'd be wide awake and in good spirits the next day, where it really counted. Frex made sure he had a nice pile of documents in need of stamps for the next day. Maybe if Nessa had managed to get any better at it than she was last Bring Your Spawn to Work Day, he'd teach her how to use the wax seal early! If she were to succeed her father and become governor herself, as Frex hoped she would, she would absolutely need to familiarize herself with the demands the position required as early on as possible.
In any case, as far as Frex was concerned, having Nessa succeed him as governor was infinitely preferable to getting that other kid to do the job. Goodness knows she would probably incite a riot. All of those ridiculous ideas she always had stuck up in her noggin would never please the public, and on top of that, she was inexplicably green. He hated the fact that he could never explain that in a way that sounded the least bit normal. If it wouldn't have looked bad for his public image, he would have had her shipped off to a facility in the Emerald City long, long ago…and that didn't even take into consideration the weird things that happened whenever Elphaba found herself under extreme emotional distress. Nobody (save for an emotionally-scarred, but otherwise frighteningly dull former employee of the defunct SuperSharp Pencil Factory) even knew about those incidents, and Frex wholeheartedly intended for things to stay that way.
Fortunately, Elphaba would be spending Bring Your Spawn to Work Day far, far away from City Hall, polishing all of her father's Emerald City Wizards memorabilia like a good kid and staying out of trouble. Tomorrow was going to be a splendid day.
Why, then, was he unable to shake the sinking feeling in his gut that somewhere along the line something was going to go horribly wrong?
