Okay, so the concept is a little obvious, but I just have to write it. Ha ha. So yeah, I hope you enjoy it. There will probably be 4-7 chapters.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tin Man or the characters, though I do like to take them out and play with them on occasion.
She'd never been completely happy with her life, Glitch thought to himself as he watched the queen and her daughter argue back and forth. But she'd been happy enough, until they'd told her. Then, well, she'd become not so happy. And now, she wanted nothing but one thing.
Cain stepped up behind him, startling him when he spoke. "That girl still fired up?" He'd never seen her like this, well, not at least since the eclipse. But as she paced around the room, badgering her parents, he felt pity for them. They'd give in sooner or later. People almost always did. "I'm not looking forward to trying to keep tabs on her once we get there."
Glitch just looked at him, grimaced at the prospect. What she had in store for them was a terrifying concept, she'd gone out about it for over an hour and his uneasiness had only grown the more she spoke of it. He didn't know how she could be so excited. "You think they'll really let their youngest daughter, a princess of the O.Z., travel practically unprotected to the Other Side."
Cain just smirked, Glitch was probably the only person who worried about DG more than he did. And he also underestimated her at times, a fault Cain had overcome quickly. He underestimated her love for some of the things on the Other Side, things she'd had to leave behind to build her new life. He didn't mind pulling"Three platinums says we're jumping into a travel storm within three days." Glitch was about to take him on when Cain shook his head. "Too late." He gestured as a very enthusiastic princess started toward them. "They've come to a decision"
DG grinned as she hugged Glitch in her enthusiasm. She could have hugged Cain, would have if Glitch hadn't hung around. Because Cain was always there, as he'd personally requested to be assigned as her bodyguard. But if she was being honest with herself, she'd admit that she preferred Glitch's hugs, and the way she fit into his arms so naturally. Cain's hugs were great, he hugged her like Popsicle had hugged her, like a father. But Glitch's hugs were special.
"She said yes." DG was still grinning when she pulled away to speak. "It took some convincing but Father and I talked her into it."
"That's great." Glitch joined easily into her excitement, their hands clasped in each other's, and mirroring smiles on their faces. A frown appeared quickly on his face, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Talked her into what, again?".
She didn't laugh, just looped her arm in his and led him away, talking about basically random things, knowing that sooner or later he'd remember. Cain just watched them walk away, pride swelling up in his heart. Without knowing it, Glitch had taught her the art of patience.
And truth be told, she was more his daughter than Jeb was his son. Jeb, well, he still treated him as if he was some kind of distant relation. No matter how many times Cain'd reached out to him. And once the shock of it had worn off, he'd realized they'd never truly recapture the bond they once had. But DG, she'd been open and warm from the moment he'd met her. Since before she knew whether or not he'd stick with her. Even when the pressures of royalty came upon her, she'd always made time to spend with her friends.
Still, he wasn't looking forward to their trip to the Other Side, and the dangers that lurked there. Even worse, he could only imagine what threats a holiday called Halloween could possess for the young and danger-seeking princess.
Glitch leaned against the door, watched her manic attempt at packing. She'd end up repacking, he knew, the moment she realized that her bag was full and all she packed was shirts. "So, you spend the evening dressing up in costume and dancing to loud music while eating candy by the handful?"
"I don't eat the candy." She shook her head with a grimace. "Not to the extent you're talking about. More than a small amount and I get sick easily, very easily." With a laugh she pulled open another drawer, stopped when she saw the item laying on top of her neatly folded clothes. She picked up the locket, opened it. There were her parents and there was her. It was hard to believe that it's been so long since she'd last held the necklace. And she had no idea how it got in her drawer. Shaking it out of her head, she stuck it down in the bottom of her drawer, where she could forget about it for a little while. She threw her hair over her shoulder. "The loud music and costumes only add to the excitement. After all, it can be beautiful or hideous, scary or plain silly." But he still looked like he had doubts. "You'll understand when you experience it for yourself."
Her gaze finally dropped to her bag and she could only stare at it. Because she hadn't even gotten to the second drawer, and she knew she was out of room.
"DG." He simply shook his head, there was something he needed to know, he needed to get it out. "I want to ask you something, and I don't expect an answer, not yet at least." She wouldn't answer, he knew, because she wouldn't want to hurt him with the truth.
"Alright." She sat down next to the disarray piled on top of her suitcase, looked at him with all the seriousness of the world. "Shoot."
"You told me once that Cain was like a father and Raw your brother." He could change his mind, turn around and walk out, forget the whole thing. But he stayed, finished, even as his mind beat against it. "What does that make me?" She just stared at him. "What does that make me?" He repeated.
"Glitch..." She started slowly. But stopped when he just repeated himself again. She stood, closed the distance between them and gently laid a hand on him. "Glitch." She waited until she was sure he wouldn't repeat himself again. "Your tired, it's been a long day, and you need sleep."
"I'm not tired, DG." He had been wrong, he needed the answer. Now that the question was out there, just hanging between them. "I'm not."
"Yes, you are." She knew him better than that. "You've glitched five times in the last hour." She didn't want him to leave but he had to. How could he know what he was asking her? He was practically dead on his feet. She couldn't hold him to his words, or the implications they held.
"Alright." He straightened stiffly, yanked at his new uniform until it fit starchily against him. "I'll see you in the morning, I guess. Goodnight." he bowed dramatically and she got the meaning, he was pulling away from her. "Your highness." He turned to walk out.
"Glitch," He stopped, but didn't turn to look at her so she continued anyway. "Sometimes the truth, well, it hurts more than ignorance."
He looked at her now, annoyance in his eyes. "If the truth wasn't worth knowing, people wouldn't ask questions."
Struck silent, she only barely mumbled through her goodnight, turned away to stare out the window, her messily packed bag was far from her mind. What does that make me? His question echoed in her head as she curled up in the window seat, her cheek pressed against the cool glass. If being a princess meant being so confused, torn between duty and heart always, she wasn't sure she wanted it anymore. Image was everything she didn't care about, and everything everyone told her was important. A princess didn't fall in love with a head case, they didn't allow themselves to be seen that way. That didn't change her heart. What does that make me? She could hear his voice in her mind as she closed her eyes. " Everything." She whispered as she willed herself to sleep.
Cain stood in the doorway, just out of sight. He'd simply come to tell her that her mother would be asking Tutor to go with them, as a more official chaperon. As if he couldn't do a good enough job on his own, ha, that she'd even insinuate... But his own issues could wait as he'd stumbled into what he sensed as a tense moment. Glitch had walked out, rigid and angry. And DG had stayed silent, lost in her own thoughts. He hadn't wanted to disturb her, in the right mood, she'd lash out at anybody who dared look her direction, and he wasn't taking chances.
As she drifted off to sleep, the light from the sunset giving the room a warm and eerily magical image, the beams shining on her and causing her skin to practically glow, he stepped into the room. He'd never expected to hear her practically silent response to Zipper Head's previous question. And it didn't escape his attention that she hadn't been able to tell it to his face. Being her, she wouldn't want to make a tough situation worse.
It wasn't surprising, during one of Tutor's classes that he'd sat in on, Tutor had drilled into her head what kind of men where proper for a princess to be seen with and which she should avoid. She'd gotten oddly agitated when Tutor threw in that those who have had their brains removed, whether they were good or not, were absolutely forbidden. And if he wasn't mistaken, Tutor was still sporting his black eye. And she'd earned an hour lecture from her mother on punching the person who was in charge of making sure she didn't embarrass the entire family. In fact, Cain was sick of the whole royal circus already, and he could see the toll it took on DG. Which was why he didn't seriously object to the trip she was so excited about. She needed it.
He watched her for a second. She was asleep in the window seat again, his brow furrowed, she only slept there when she was truly troubled. She'd told him that she'd had a seat like that in Kansas and when she sat there it felt like safety. And for reasons unknown to her, she always woke up in her bed.
So, as had become habit whenever they found her there, he put the suitcase on the floor and turned the covers down. Carefully he picked her up and set her down on the bed. He slipped the shoes off her feet as he had when Jeb was a young boy, prone to falling asleep by the fire, and removed the leather jacket she wore constantly. He tucked the blanket in around her, was satisfied when she did not stir that she'd sleep through the night. And before he left, in a gesture of sentament he wouldn't express if she was awake, he pressed his lips to her forehead. Quickly he straightened, uncomfortable with his own actions. And walked out, leaving her to her dreams.