DISCLAIMER: I don't own TINMAN. I'm trying not to cry about it too much.
A/N: This is a giftfic for the fabulous Mekanikora, after a little discussion we had about DG and Cain and being pressed up against the wall. I didn't think it would end like it did, when I started typing, but I don't think y'all will mind. Enjoy!
"Local Tavern at the edge of the Realm. Meet there at the rising of the first moon, after midnight."
DG flashed the garishly dressed woman a fake smile. "We'll be there," she promised.
Airofday nodded and went back to the booth as the travelers made their way further down the "street."
"I dunno where you think you're gonna cough up twenty platinums from, Cain," Glitch told the other man "but it isn't from me…or any of us."
"You just saw my money," the Tin Man growled, pressing on.
Glitch stopped and replayed the experience through his head. He nearly smiled for a moment before turning sober and catching up with the group. "Well is it gonna be enough to hide us while we're down here? It was afternoon when we got here. Midnight's a while away."
"He's right," DG insisted, mostly ignoring the clear annoyance on the blond man. "I mean I know you said there's all sorts of weirdos down here," her eyes danced across the realm's street activities as if to prove her point, before returning her gaze to Cain. "But the four of us wandering around like this is going to make us look like a bunch of tourists; that'll stick out like a sore thumb."
Raw huddled beside her and growled in agreement.
Wyatt made a noise in the back of his throat that nearly sounded like his own kind of growl. "Well what do you suggest?"
The young woman let her blue eyes take in the sights and sounds of the Unwanted again, looking for inspiration. "What about gambling?" she said with a grin, pointing to the boxing ring they had passed at the far end of the street.
Cain followed her finger to the fighters in the ring, both slightly impressed and partly worried that she'd come up with that. DG might be proving that she wasn't just a wilting flower of a princess, but he was concerned what kind of activities she got up to on the Otherside, to even have the idea of betting on a fight. He raised a scarred brow at her in question. "What's your collateral?"
After a moment of silent appraisal of their small group, DG patted herself down and came up with thirteen cents and a soggy mint wrapper. Raw and Glitch leaned forward to inspect the Otherside coins as DG pulled at the lapel of her bomber. "I know it got wet, but my jacket's still in great condition," she offered.
"Kid, you need to keep as covered up as possible," Cain warned. "That thing's been at least offering a little protection against your picture." He nodded carefully at the wanted poster on the wall next to them.
She shrugged. "It's all we've got, unless you wanna give up your hat." She met his glare with a level look of her own, never faltering.
The Tin Man sighed and moved them closer to the wall before shucking off his trench coat and quickly divesting his vest, watching as DG shrugged out of her own coat. "Zipperhead, lend the kid your rag, there."
The former advisor glared at the slights, but took off his jacket.
"This is really long on me," the princess complained. "I'll get it dirty dragging on the ground."
"It's already dirty," Cain said absently, ignoring the ugly looks he got at that while he rolled back his sleeves to change his look as much as possible. His image on the poster showcased him with the Tin star pinned proudly on his vest, so it wouldn't be a total loss if he couldn't win it back. He was a little hesitant to bet his coat, though, but anything that could be used as extra collateral, just in case, was a good thing.
Glitch turned to smile at DG. "It's okay, Doll. It's for a good cause," he assured her as he pulled the shabby courtier's clothing around her shoulders, giving her a quick squeeze that she returned in thanks.
"Alright, you two stay here with the pooch," the blond man instructed to Glitch and Raw, handing Toto to the Viewer. "Keep an eye out for anyone who might be looking for us."
"You mean the Long—" Glitch began happily before he caught himself. He nodded once at the stern stare he got from ice blue eyes. "Got it."
Cain gathered up the discarded clothing in one arm and placed his other hand on the small of DG's back, ushering her towards the ring. "Come on, Kid. Let's hope our luck's better down below."
"If we're clearly not using names or titles, down here," she whispered as they walked, "what am I supposed to call you?"
He glanced down at her open face, surprised to see just a hint of mischief in her eyes. "You just stick close," he told her. "And I'll know if you're talkin' to me."
Two rounds later, the couple returned to their companions, bearing their own clothing, a pocketful of platinums, and amused expressions. At the questioning looks, Cain nodded to the other two. "We're good. Let's go find a place to hole up 'til the meet up."
"With food?" Glitch asked hopefully, accepting his jacket back while the other two redressed in their own apparel.
"Yeah, at least a snack," DG prodded. "The last time we ate was nearly this time yesterday." Dinner with Ralph and his family felt like a lifetime ago.
Cain rolled eyes and led them to a brothel that rented a room in the back for a suspiciously reasonable rate. Cain seemed satisfied with his find, though. "It's still part of the Resistance line," he explained in hushed tones as he lifted the room's tiny window to the rickety fire escape. "Stay here, I'll be back."
He wasn't gone even ten minutes more before returning with a strange looking bread under his arm and silver canteen.
"Oh! Probread! Where'd you find it?" Glitch cried with excitement. He halted. "Wait. Are you sure it's safe?"
The Tin Man nodded as he handed the canteen to the Advisor and unwrapped the bread, before pulling it apart in equal shares. It came apart like very moist sponge cake with a disturbing shade of pink on the inside. "Picked it out myself, so unless the cart man poisoned all them, we should be good." He handed a chunk to DG.
It squished a little in her hand and she could help but wrinkle her nose. "Do I even wanna know what this stuff is?" Raw was sniffing his portion before stuffing most of it in his mouth and Cain was chewing a piece of his easily, but she was a little grossed out.
"Protein bread has the protein baked right into the dough," Glitch explained. "It's great for food on the go. Keeps your energy up without a whole meal."
"Which is what we'll need for tonight," Cain informed them. "And some rest. You might want to catch some shut-eye when you're done eating," he addressed the young woman.
She cast a doubtful eye on the bed. "Here?" There was no telling what went on in this room before they rented it.
"This room was usually kept for the Line that came through here. The bed should be clean enough."
DG refrained from pointing out that the man's last experience with this room would have been nearly a decade ago if not more. Cain was sticking his neck out for all of them to secure this room with his face and money, and his apparent knowledge of the Realm of the Unwanted went further than anyone else's in the room. It would be insulting not to take his word. Sighing, she inspected the bread that reminded her, of all things, the protein cake she had seen on a Firefly episode, years ago, with Popsicle. "Shiny," she muttered before tucking in.
She woke hours later, clinging to the edge of the bed as a gentle shake roused her. She looked up to see Wyatt Cain's face hovering over her. "Come on, Princess," he whispered softly. "Wake up." His large hand slid from her shoulder and DG could feel the line of warmth he left as he gently gave her bicep a squeeze she would've sworn might be called affectionate coming from anyone else. She sat up and noticed that Glitch had taken the other half of the bed and Raw curled up in a corner on the floor.
"It's nearly time to leave," Cain told her quietly.
Realizing that he didn't mean to wake the other two yet, she kept her tone low as well. "Did you get any sleep?" she pressed.
"I rested," he replied as she stood from the bed.
DG threw him a flat glare. "That isn't what I asked. You need to stay sharp, too."
He gave her an indecipherable look, before pulling his coat back on. "You and I are going to split from the other two—the dog's coming with us."
"What?!" she hissed, nearly raising her voice. "No! I'm not leaving them!"
On the bed, Glitch stirred while Toto lifted his head from his place by the door.
Cain placed a comforting hand on her arm. "DG," he said seriously. "I promise the three of us already discussed it while you were asleep. Glitch even did recon. There's Longcoats down here looking for all of us, cause word apparently got around. At this point it's safer for us to go in pairs than a group, just until we all meet at the tavern. If we aren't there, waiting for Zipperhead and the Furball, they know to start looking for you."
Despite his promise, she wasn't pleased with this plan. "Why wasn't I apart of this discussion?"
"You needed your sleep, Kid."
Before she could protest, he raised his voice to call the others awake. "Time to go."
As the Advisor and Viewer woke up, DG glared at Cain. "I don't like this."
"You tell 'er the plan, Tin Man?" Glitch yawned. When the cop grunted in affirmation, the Headcase rose from the bed. "Don't worry, Doll, it's for the best." To Cain, he said. "See you at the edge."
They exited down the fire escape, Toto trotting behind. When they reached the ground, DG scooped up the dog.
They strolled for a few blocks before any Longcoats came into view. Cain pulled her back into a narrow alley as they watched the men in black leather conducting interviews on the citizens in the street.
"How're we supposed to get past those guys? They're everywhere."
"We've got about three more blocks between us and the Tavern," her companion informed her as he assessed the situation. "And we can't run it. We run and we're dead."
"Well if we stay here, we're sitting ducks," DG insisted. "And we'll miss our meeting."
"If we're quick but casual, we might be able to slip past."
"We need a distraction," the princess said.
They turned to the dog in her arms. Toto whined.
"Did you get all his 'breadcrumbs'?" she asked Cain. At his nod, she held the dog up to eyelevel "We need you to do this for us. For me," she stressed. "Cause enough of a distraction and meet us at the Local Tavern. We still need you to identify Ahamo. Can you do this?"
Toto yipped.
DG stared straight into his doggy eyes. "No tricks," she warned. "There and back." She released the dog. A moment later, the sound of frantic barking could be heard as the mutt nipped and tugged at the pant legs of the Longcoats.
It wasn't much, but they took their opportunity to speed walk down the block, Cain's hand at her back urging her on. Their luck didn't last long.
"Hey! You!"
"Keep going," Cain whispered, as he moved his arm over her shoulders. The sounds of several men rang behind them. He pulled them into the next alley, pushing DG against a dirty wall and covering her body with his own, keeping his coat spread over her.
The light was sparse, but enough to see her eyes dilate at the contact for just a moment before panic overtook her features. She reached up and cocked his hat to cover more of his face from view as they heard the enemy catch up. "Sorry," she whispered as her fingers scrambled at his waistcoat and shirt buttons.
And then, then her mouth was on his neck, sucking and scraping and Sweet Ozma, her tongue…
His wedding band burned on his finger, but he wasn't able to hold back the groan of the physical stimulation of her lips on his suddenly overheated skin. Which timed perfectly with the Longcoats appearing at the alley entrance. Wyatt removed his right hand from his gun to surreptitiously place it against her head as she moved down his chest, fingers dancing all over.
"You!" one of the men cried.
"Busy," DG hissed, scratching a nipple with one hand, while the other fluttered at his fly.
His hips bucked forward at the sensation. "Busy," he repeated in a strangled groan.
"Let us see the girl!"
He nearly lost it when she dropped to her knees; still mostly hidden by his trench coat, placed the back of her hand over her mouth and let out a loud but muffled and completely convincing moan.
"She's busy!" Cain snapped. 'Please don't let this have to go any further,' he mentally begged. This was already starting to get embarrassing. He was damn sure he wasn't about to get his wish as the Longcoats stood there for a painfully long lingering moment, as DG had to put some more effort into her act, but the men eventually left.
It killed him a little that he kept her on her knees for a minute more before hauling her up, to keep up the pretense.
She stood and turned from him immediately, scrubbing her face as he readjusted his clothing and tried to calm himself down. She flinched at his touch, but reluctantly turned, eyes firmly on her shoes and face still pink. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't know what else to do."
It took his whole hand to finally lift her chin to coax her to look at him. "We did what we had to," he assured her, even as his ears were still aflame. "You did good."
DG cut her gaze away, having trouble keeping eye contact. "This never happened, right?" she pleaded, shame coloured her voice.
His body wanted to deny it, and made its protest loud and clear. But Cain agreed, for her own reputation, not to mention what he owed her. They wouldn't speak on this again. They need to catch up with the other three.