Title: Glass Slipper
Author: AudioAesthetic
Rating: T – maybe more in later chapters
Summary: Like all Tin Men, Cain is just looking for his heart.
Author's Notes: First Tin Man fic. Hopefully you'll like it. Let me know what doesn't work. Thanks for reading!
Audio

Chapter One

Right on the verge, just one more dose,
I'm travelling from coast to coast.
My theory isn't perfect, but it's close.

I'm almost there, why should I care?
My heart is hurting when I share
Someone open up and let it show.

My, what a good day for a walk outside...

When Cain rested, he didn't like his thoughts. They wandered to the past, to his wife. It wasn't the pleasant things, the ones that made him fall in love with her, that he thought of. Not her smile, or her strength, or her beautiful kindness, but the irritating things, like the way her fingernails were always dirty, no matter how many times she washed them, or how she'd stomp out of the room when she was angry and not say a word to him for hours. She never bloody told him what was wrong, either. He had to spend hours trying to figure it out.

He would give anything to have those hours back, to hear her slam the doors of their cottage again, to stare at those grimy fingers. He would give anything for the past.

And yet, when Cain looked to the future, it was a complete blank. What would he do? He couldn't go back to their cottage. He couldn't build a life with Jeb, who was old enough now to be getting married and having his own life. Would he stay in the palace? He hadn't been offered a place, but he couldn't see DG and her grateful parents denying him a home there. Would he go back to being a Tin Man, back to his regular, law-enforcing lifestyle, as if nothing had happened?

He didn't like to think about it, so he didn't. He never stood still. There was always something to be done in the O.Z. now. First, there was tending to the wounded in the Battle of the Eclipse, and then retrieving Zero from his prison. He travelled to the East with Jeb and a small company to round up any leftover Longcoats and spread the news of Azkadellia's redemption. He helped rebuild towns and villages. He spent months doing the work of ten men, because anyone else would have had to take a rest sometimes. But he couldn't rest. He wouldn't let himself.

Cain would return to the palace with his small company of men and find DG and Glitch waiting for him. Raw had returned with his people to help rebuild the raided Viewer colonies. DG would hug him profusely and Glitch – who wasn't any less annoyingly optimistic now that his brain was back in his head – would dole out a new mission. Cain only stayed in one place for as long as he had to.

"We missed you," DG would always say, like a child waiting for her father to come home from a long day in the fields. We missed you, never I missed you. Cain didn't know why it bothered him, but it did. Maybe, after all they'd been through, the four of them would always be a part of a whole, now.

He slept, when at the palace, in the noble's quarters, which was odd for him. Any luxury was odd, and the only one he wanted was the luxury of being close to his son. And to have his wife back. But he wouldn't think of that.

Life was hazy, but it was better than the pain being clear.

In Harvest Month, Cain had lead Jeb to the East, where the Massifs, a clan of mountain dwelling people had hidden themselves in caves for the war. They were one of the last clans to hear of witch's defeat, and being timid, it had taken a while to coax them from their caves and to their ruined villages, and then a while longer to get them to allow Cain's men to help rebuild. It was almost as if they'd rather live in squalor and be left alone than in their own homes and accept help.

But they had done it, and the largest village, Summit, was finally inhabitable. Cain stood on the roof he had just finished patching and surveyed the surroundings. The next day they would move out for the palace.

"Captain!" Cain peered over the edge to the street where Hillel, a young, former resistance fighter, stood calling for him. "A messenger from the palace is approaching!"

Good timing, Cain thought as he climbed down from the roof. They often sent him messages right as he was finishing up a project that told him of another. As much as he told himself he didn't like being kept away from DG and the royal family, he felt a distinct sense of relief when he didn't have to stand still for any amount of time.

"They come on horseback," Hillel explained, "and will be here within fifteen minutes."

"Well done, soldier," Cain said absently, walking towards his tent. He would clean up to meet the messengers. DG worried if she got a report of him looking less than his best. "Send them to me when they arrive."

In his tent he washed his face and hands, carefully not thinking about fingernails. He changed swiftly from his work clothes to his Captain's uniform, which was starched and uncomfortable and which he only wore when he had to. As he was pulling on his second boot he heard horses approaching and Scamp, another young fighter, ducked his head in. "The messengers request an audience with the Captain that they say is of utmost importance, sir."

Odd. "Send them in."

Scamp disappeared and was replaced by a familiar figure who grinned upon seeing Cain standing in his uniform.

"You certainly look different without your hat," Glitch joked and Cain grasped his hand in a firm shake.

"Good to see you, too, Glitch," he greeted, already feeling strangely at ease. It got that way with the four of them. Having been through what they had, no one else really provided as much relief as the others. Sometimes he forgot how uncomfortable other people made him until he was around someone who fit.

"What brings you? The Queen doesn't usually send her Advisor to deliver messages." Cain instantly stiffened. "There hasn't been an uprising, has there?"

"No, no, nothing like that," Glitch said. "I'm here for an important but hopefully pleasant reason." He cleared his throat and drew himself up importantly. "As High Advisor to Queen Lavender of the House of Gale, it is my duty and great pleasure to cordially invite Captain Wyatt Ca-"

"Glitch. If you don't stop that formal bullshit, I'll tear that zipper right off your head," Cain ordered. "It's bad enough I've got my troops referring to me in third person constantly and saluting all the time, I don't need it from you, too."

"Sorry..." Glitch fumbled around rather awkwardly. "I just get caught up sometimes. Turns out there are just as much glitches with having your brain reattached as not having it at all. It's hard to get everything... sorted out."

Nobody said the aftermath was going to be easy for any of them, but Cain hadn't bothered to noticed how confused his friend must have been, having to reacquaint two sides of his brain with each other all over again. "It's all right," Cain said, more gently. "Just... tell me what I'm invited to."

"DG's coming out ceremony." Cain raised an eyebrow in surprise. "She'll be twenty-one, which is much older than most girls when they're first presented to society, but she never really... had that chance before..."

"I guess not." Cain hadn't really thought about it. DG was less a princess than an overly exuberant child. It was strange that she was not only old enough to "be presented," but also much older than normal girls were at that time.

The thought of DG as a woman was a strange one indeed, and made him think of Adora, when he'd first met her at seventeen – not quite a woman, but certainly not the child that DG was. Adora had always been grown up.

Glitch was eying him with amusement. "The Queen wanted to make sure that I mention that your son is invited as well."

"Jeb?" Cain couldn't see his son in that sort of setting. He was a farmboy and a fighter, but certainly not a nobleman. "I'm not sure he'll want to go."

Glitch raised his eyebrows conspiratorially. "I think he'll enjoy himself. After all, he and the Princess are about the same age..."

Cain glanced at him sharply and turned to a table to pour a glass of wine. "You're thinking of matching them?"

The thought made him queasy. Both of them were too young to get married, and DG... DG wasn't right for Jeb... was she? She certainly did bring out the kindness in people, something Jeb had trouble with. And Jeb would protect her, which is what she needed... But still, it seemed so... off. Could Jeb really ever understand DG? Could she ever really understand Jeb?

"I believe the Queen wishes to reward your services in some way, by giving your family noble status," Glitch explained. "And you have to admit, it would be interesting to see how it played out. Why, I remember in my courting days. There was this schoolgirl lass named Leona, who – "

"I just don't think Jeb wants to settle down yet. And what if that's not what DG wants?"

"Well, I don't think anyone could force DG to do anything. Even the Queen. But we could certainly work the situation to... help them along." Cain downed the glass of wine like a shot. Glitch stepped closer, but Cain didn't look at him. He needed to think... "Cain, if this isn't something you want, you can just say so."

"It's... not something that I don't want," Cain said slowly. He closed his eyes and unbidden into his head came Adora. She would know if the time was right to even think about this... "It's just another change, that's all."

"I understand," said Glitch, and even though Glitch had no children, no wife, no family to think about, Cain believed him. He was one of three people Cain ever believed when they said they understood. Still, it was hard to imagine Glitch understanding when Cain himself didn't even really understand.

"We're almost done with this village," Cain replied. "We'll leave tomorrow at dawn for the palace."

"Excellent." Glitch beamed at him. "Now that's out of the way, why don't you share some of that wine? There's much to tell you about the rest of the kingdom, and I have a better memory when I'm..."

"Drunk?" Cain offered, handing him a glass.

"Slightly inebriated." Glitch sipped from the wine, sighed happily and settled into a chair. "But... well... maybe drunk."

Cain smiled grimly. It was good, he realized, to have a friend serve as a distraction instead of work. Work wouldn't get drunk with him, after all.