Chapter Three: A Ball Interrupted

The night crawled on around them. DG shook hands and smiled and accepted words of praise and thanks for her bravery in the tower. Cain stood by her side, an ever-hovering influence of safety and warmth just at her elbow. She met foreign dignitaries from lands she'd never heard of, representatives of peoples who she had helped to save without knowing. She was asked to dance several times, and acquiesced only once.

"You're exactly like him, you know," DG said, trying her hardest not to stumble on her heels. She was doing just fine, Cain had told her, but she didn't believe an inch of it. Jeb smiled back, something that was different from the way his father smiled. Cain's was slow, almost troubled, but kind and full of meaning beyond what he chose to convey. Jeb was more forthright, baring his emotion right upon his face to let the girl know exactly what he felt.

"I didn't know he was alive for so many years," Jeb said, wary of his toes after seeing the display between DG and his father nearly an hour earlier. "But I still ended up just like him. At least, that's what everyone's been so enthusiastic to tell me."

He shot a look over his shoulder, to where his father, ever the gentleman, had refused to let Jeb's date stand alone against the wall. He was dancing in his careful way with redheaded Emma, and he gave a minute wave as DG and Jeb waltzed into view. They returned the gesture, and DG suppressed a very girlish giggle.

"You remembered him, though, didn't you?" She asked, looking back to Jeb. "Before you were taken away."

"Yeah," Jeb answered with a nod. "He was always the strong one, and never let anyone know when he was hurting. But he loved so spectacularly." He paused, an odd look surfacing on his face, and he laughed at once. "That sounded…weird."

"Just a little," DG admitted. "But your dad? Really?" She glanced his way again, and he appeared to be having quite the lovely conversation with Emma.

"You wouldn't believe it now, but he was the most loving father and husband on the force, maybe all of the central O.Z. He'd go out of his way just for the little things, and that made all the difference in the world."

DG's smile turned up slowly, and Jeb laughed again. "I see," he said cryptically.

"What?" DG asked, squeezing his hand and blinking her eyes rapidly in her proven form of interrogation. "What, Jeb?"

"Seems he's made a little difference somewhere else, is all." The song trilled to an end, and Jeb spun DG daintily, causing her to laugh and nearly trip over herself. He bowed and thanked her for the dance. She curtseyed in reply. Jeb returned to Emma's side, kissing her on her cheek much to her delight. They exchanged words with Cain, who only nodded, and made the sign of tipping his invisible hat to the two. Before they walked away into the crowd, Cain clapped his son on the shoulder and flashed him a 'thumbs-up' that made DG giggle unexpectedly.

Cain looked up, hearing her laughter, and decided to saunter over to where Jeb had left her. "What's so funny?"

She shook her head, smiling, and held out her hand. "Nothing, O Royal Guardian. Now come on." He raised his eyebrows in question, and she tilted her head back out at the dance floor. "I think I'm getting the hang of it."

Halfway through the ball, Azkadellia found her second wind. She smiled politely as Ambrose pulled her to her feet and escorted her carefully to the dance floor. Heads turned and whispers started, but they paid them absolutely no heed.

"Don't listen to them, Highness," Ambrose said as he bowed deeply before pulling her in to begin their dance. "They're just jealous I've finally got the prettiest girl here to dance."

"You're too kind, Ambrose," she said, curtseying and allowing him to lead her. "Literally."

"Nonsense!" He countered enthusiastically. "They'll have to get used to you sooner or later, won't they? Why not make sooner now?"

"I don't think one little dance is going to change their minds," Az said, following his steps with far more ease than the untrained DG. "But thank you." Her lips turned up, and Ambrose nodded at his feet.

"I do what I can, Highness," he said.

"Az," she corrected. "Just Az is fine."

He twitched slightly as one of his synapses misfired, and a jovial grin broke over his formerly stoic face. "All right, Az it is. Az-ka-dee, a Princess she." His eyebrows turned down, and he looked confusedly at her for a moment. "Did I just rhyme?"

"You did," she said, nodding. She held a hand to her chest. "Could we slow down a bit, Ambrose? I don't think…I'm not quite ready for the farandole."

"Right," he said, quickly adjusting to a slower tempo for his feet. He looked up and out over the dance floor, and he smiled again at the sight he caught out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, take a look at that."

"What?" She turned to look in the direction he nodded his head, and the smile that took her lips was honest and kind and warm.

They nearly ceased dancing as they turned to watch two of the other dancers left on the floor. DG's eyes were closed, tired from the long day and the exhausting introductions. Her head lay placidly on Cain's shoulder, and her feet moved slowly amongst his, almost dragging. He held both arms around her, to be sure she didn't fall to the floor in her languidness. What Ambrose noticed most of all, however, were Cain's eyes. They were sharp, alert, and always watching. The girl in his arms was his to protect, and he seemed to be taking his new appointment very seriously.

"She told me so much about her adventure with the three of you," Az said, still looking to DG and her watchdog. "We sat together one night when I couldn't sleep, and she told me stories until the suns came up. I saw her laugh and cry within two minutes, but I never saw anything like the way her eyes lit up when she told me about the time she found Mr. Cain was alive."

"You should've seen her then," Ambrose suggested, rolling his eyes in an affectionate Glitch-y way. "She leapt into his arms. Leapt. If I'm lying, I'm dying."

Az watched Cain shift DG in his arms slightly, and she made not a move. As carefully as he could, Cain began inching over to the edge of the room, to where his eyes had settled on a settee he planned to use. "That looks like a good idea," Az admitted. Her cheeks had lost their rosy color, although she tried to write it off.

"Come on, Princess Az," Ambrose said, guiding her away to the wall as well. "That's enough excitement for one night."

"You always were a bit stuffy, Ambrose," she chided in return.

DG's eyes fluttered open as she felt soft cushions under her bottom and back, and the warm body disappeared from in front of her.

"Cain?" she asked blearily. Her hands patted around her to discover her surroundings, and she found herself sitting on one of the small sofas placed strategically on the far wall, just below the paintings of dancers. Cain was leaning slightly forward toward her, his hands on his knees as he inspected her.

"You all right?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding and reminding herself not to rub her eyes for fear of smearing her makeup. "I almost fell asleep, didn't I?"

"That you did, Princess. You need anything?"

She offered a laugh, which was slightly laconic itself. "Just because my mother wants you to look out for us doesn't make you my butler, Mr. Cain."

He opened his mouth to say something but quickly thought better of it. He sat beside her on the settee and preoccupied himself with watching those with the energy left to dance. "I, ah…" He leaned forward to cross his arms and rest them on his knees. "You look nice in a dress."

She sat up slightly straighter. "Where'd that come from?" she asked.

"You said I looked nice earlier. In the suit." He made a vague motion with his right hand and let it rest again on his knees.

She smiled sweetly. "It's true."

He turned to catch her eyes. "Yeah. So's mine."

Before the moment could even coalesce, the quiet, dim air of the ball was suddenly rent by the loud sound of three gunshots. Screams suddenly filled the ballroom and the dance floor was a flurry of dresses and chaos. Cain shot to his feet, and DG tried to follow him. He caught her by her upper arm, turned sharply and simply shook his head "no." With one swift kick, he overturned the sofa they'd been sitting on and guided DG behind it. There she crouched, and he squeezed her arm once as he joined her. He reached under his pant leg to pull out a smaller gun than he was used to handling, strapped to his leg.

Cain peered over the edge of their shield to get a look at what had happened to interrupt the ball. The dancers had all fled in panic, and headed for the stairs in the back like a herd of stampeding cattle. A group of darkly clothed men stood in the center of the room, gleaming gunmetal in their hands. Their leader stood at the front, his own rather large gun pointed straight at the ceiling. Cain would know that ugly mug anywhere.

"Zero," he growled somewhere deep in his throat. DG's mouth dropped open, and she attempted to peek over the cushions as well. Cain planted a hand atop her head and squashed her back down into a crouching position.

"What's he doing here?" she whispered harshly.

"I don't have a clue. We had him holed up in Central City Prison, twenty to life. Him and his little posse." Cain checked to make sure his gun was fully loaded. "Where's your sister?" His eyes never left Zero.

DG looked around past Cain's crouching form beside her. "With Glitch. Close to the stairs."

"How far away?" He asked quickly. After she allowed a frantic pause, he added: "Come on, DG, how far?"

"Attention ball-goers!" Zero called, his voice full and boisterous. Cain looked over to the crowd at the stairs. A second group of Zero's men appeared to have taken hold of the back room, to cut off escape from either end. "The festivities are over!"

Someone screamed, and a loud murmur of fear began burbling up from the partygoers. Cain was just glad that Zero hadn't decided to kill anyone yet.

"About thirty feet, I guess," DH whispered back.

"All right, get yourself ready. And take off those damn shoes. No way you can run in those."

"As you can see," Zero announced, taking his steps with a healthy swagger to them, "we've got the ballroom secured from every possible exit. As much as I'd like to kill a few of the people in this room, we're only asking for four. Four little, insignificant people, and you all can go free."

"Let me take a stab at who those are," DG grumbled, freeing herself of the heeled shoes in a flash.

Someone in the crowd jostled slightly, as if preparing to run. Zero's hand was quick, and he shot the floor at the woman's feet. She screamed piercingly, as did several people near her. There was another loud surge of fearful talk.

DG felt Cain take her hand tightly in his, which grabbed her attention away from the gun-wielding ex-Longcoat. He stared straight into her eyes, straight down into the root of her.

"We're gonna run," he said as plainly as possible. "Az is close. Don't let go of my hand. I want you behind me, you got that?"

"Cain—"

"If Zero's gonna shoot, it'd better be at me. He's shot me before, and I haven't died yet."

"I want Azkadellia!" Zero demanded at the top of his lungs. "And that ridiculous excuse for her younger sister!" He clicked back the hammer on his gun and waved it generally at the crowd of dancers. "And while you're at it, I want Wyatt and Jeb Cain. Right here, right now!"

"Go!" Cain said at last. She didn't waste any time. The both shot up at once, and Cain popped off a quick shot at Zero. It imbedded itself in the armor strapped to his arm, knocking the man down to his knees.

They ran. Their hands remained cemented together. Cain held himself between DG and Zero, tossing shots backward over his shoulder. The screaming started anew, and the crowd flew into a flurry of fabric and limbs. More shots erupted at the top of the stairs. A brawl had broken out. DG ran for all she was worth in her feet bare, and her hand held tightly to her Guardian's. Azkadellia saw them coming.

"That's Cain!" Zero cried. "Shoot him! Shoot all of them! Shoot up the whole damn place!" Gunfire erupted from the front lines, and Zero whipped out his pistol again and fired from his position on the ground. Cain threw a hand over his brow to guard from the shrapnel caused by gunshots on the wall to his left. Wood and stone rained down around them as bullets whizzed by. DG screamed. It was all she could do.

They skidded down together into Ambrose and Azkadellia's hiding place. Cain wasted no time and poked Ambrose in the chest with the barrel of his gun. "You. Glitch, Ambrose, it doesn't matter who you are right now. Get a hold of the Princess and go on ahead of me. I'll cover you."

"What?!" Ambrose cried, all of the bravery fleeing from his eyes. "Where are we going? They've got all the exits blocked off."

"Not all of them," Cain growled, lowering his gaze on the floor to ceiling windows across the room.

"Oh, no," Ambrose whimpered as he pale. "There's no way we can make it. With the length of the ballroom floor and the velocity of those bullets—"

As if on cue, gunshots flew all around them again, eating up the stuffing of the sofa the four were now hiding behind. Cain grabbed Ambrose by his collar and shook him. "Listen to me, you cowardly excuse for a bodyguard. Forget Ambrose. Get Glitch in here, pronto!"

"I don't—"

His hands flew up around his ears as the bullets came again. Az grabbed one of Ambrose's hands and squeezed.

"Let's go," she said firmly to Cain. He pulled DG's hand close, to make sure that she was still with him. She nodded, looking pale and fearful but ready. Az kicked off her expensive high heels to match her sister. "If I fall, leave me," she told the Tin Man.

"Az, what are you—" DG was cut off as Azkadellia shot a very serious look levelly at Cain.

"You're called on to protect both of us. If stopping to save me means putting DG in danger, just keep running."

"I got you, Highness," Cain said with a grave nod. "Okay, on three."

As Ambrose's hands fell from protecting his head, and the gleam in his eye spoke of the brainless scarecrow DG had met so long ago in a wicker cage. He nodded minutely.

"One—" Cain began.

Glitch grabbed tightly back at Az's hand in his. "THREE!"

He and Az were up at once. Cain popped up behind them, and fired right at the dark-cloaked man who had taken Az in his sights. The man fell dead with a bullet to the chest. Cain pulled DG up after him, clutching her hand close to his chest. She followed without hesitation. Zero was shouting something, but Cain wasn't listening. The crowd diffused in the chaos of whizzing bullets and screaming women. He watched the two running in front of him as they cut through the crowd for the window. Cain fired again at the men with the guns, and there was another accompanying thud.

More gunfire erupted behind him, and Cain looked over his shoulder to gauge where his enemies lied. A smile took his face as he saw Jeb and his girl Emma had knocked out two of the black-clothed guards and had taken their weapons. They were thinning the bad guys down. Jeb caught his father's eye, and he only managed to catch a snatch of his son's words.

"—be all right! Get them out!"

He turned back to the front and punched out an approaching baddie with all the strength in his gun arm. Glitch and Az were rapidly approaching the window. Cain fired twice above his head to clear his way for the shot. People split before him like the gap in the O.Z., and the way was clear. With two precise shots, Cain shattered the pane of glass just as Glitch and Az reached it. Without even pausing to worry, the two jumped out into the black night.

Cain and DG followed right after them. Unfortunately, not before Zero could get in one last shot. He aimed at Cain's heart. What he hit was the flesh of Cain's calf. The Royal Guardian nearly tripped as the fire spread up his leg, but DG's strong grip kept him up and focused. He limped the remaining steps to the window and, still clutched together at the hands, they jumped as one.

The night rushed up around them, and the absence of sound caught in their ears. They plunged into the magical waters of Finaqua with a dark splash. Water was everywhere, and he was lucky to have DG clutching to him to keep him afloat. He kicked with his one good leg and never let go of the Princess.

She tugged him up onto shore, just as Glitch fitted his hands under Az's arms and pulled her out of the water. Cain shushed them quickly and limped up the shore until they were pressed up against the wall of the castle looming above them.

"Ambrose," he whispered, glancing over. "This place has got to have some secret passageways."

"Uhh…" Glitch stared at Cain in uncertainty for a long moment, squeezed his eyes shut in concentration, and reemerged as Ambrose. "Yes," he said stably. "About ten yards to your right, there's a hatch to the underground passageways snaking underneath the castle. But go quietly, I think they might be after us."

Shadows appeared at the window overhead, peering into the inky night, and one popped a few shots into the equally dark lake. "No kidding," Cain muttered. He squeezed DG's hand, and she clutched back.

They edged along the wall, nearly slipping back into the water several times, and reached Ambrose's passage. Cain lifted the hatch slowly, and while it was metal and slightly rusted, it thankfully never betrayed their position. Cain ushered Ambrose and Azkadellia in first, the latter looking weary and pale even in the dim light offered from the half moon. He then lowered DG carefully down the steps, and for the first time since he took it, he let go of her hand.

He swung his aim around to check for any followers, sideways, up and around again. Satisfied that none of the shadows around him belonged to Zero and his lackeys, he disappeared into the hatch and down the first few steps. He turned and pulled it closed behind them, sliding both bars across until the locking mechanisms clicked into place. He rattled it twice to make sure it wouldn't jostle loose, and limped down the stairs to follow the Princesses and the Royal Advisor to the Queen.

"Cain!" DG breathed in relief once he appeared down the stairs. She threw her arms around him, and he hissed at the pain her added weight caused his leg. She backed away quickly, and Cain fell to sit on the steps his feet had just previously left. "You're shot."

"Good thing Zero's a miserable aim," Cain muttered. He rolled up his pant leg and gritted his teeth. "Went right through, didn't hit the bone. I should be all right." He slipped the black jacket off of his shoulders and tore off the left arm without second thought. One strip from the jacket was enough, and he tied it tightly around the bleeding bullet wound. He looked up, pain in his eyes. "Everyone else all right?"

"I'm fine," DG said, leaning concernedly over Cain as he sat on the steps.

"I'm good," Ambrose replied. "But Princess Azkadellia looks like she could faint at any time."

"I'm quite all right," she muttered. Cain looked up to see her sitting on the ground of the dusty underground room. Only two torches in braziers illuminated the small, square room, and the corridor near where Az sat led into darkness. "I'll be fine."

"Now what?" DG asked, looking up to the low ceiling as if she could see through it into the ballroom. "All those people… Mom, Dad, Raw; Jeb," she said lastly, fixing her eyebrows together in worry.

"Jeb's fine," Cain assured her. "Last I saw, he was taking out a few troublemakers of his own. If he's up there, he's gonna make sure nothing happens to your parents. You gotta trust me on that, Princess."

She didn't look ready to trust anything after the peace-shattering moments that felt like hours up in the ballroom. She crossed her arms and sat on the steps beside Cain, looking back up the long, dark stairwell. The hatch was lost far above them.

"What are we gonna do?" she asked in a small voice that was so very unlike her.

Cain's eye washed over her, his face unreadable, especially in the low light. He reached over and scooped her hand into his.

"We're gonna recuperate, and then make our way back up when things settle. We're gonna find out how Zero got out, what he plans on doing next, and how we can stop him. But right now, we're gonna sit right here, and I'm gonna make sure nothing happens to you." She caught his eyes, and the torchlight reflected hauntingly off of them. "It's all we can do, DG."

"Okay," she said sadly. She slid her fingers in between his and didn't let go. He made no attempts to reclaim his hand.

"Ambrose?" Cain asked.

"Glitch," the man replied back. He seemed to concentrate very hard on the fact. "I think."

"Glitch, you keep an eye on Az. Keep her warm, and make sure she's comfortable."

"Got it," Glitch replied. He took off his fancy new coat and draped it around Azkadellia. She smiled her thanks and took slow, deep breaths.

"Now we wait," Cain breathed.

AN: Sorry for the wait on this one! I am also sorry for the cliffie, but it had to be done. That's the problem with chapter fics, I suppose. Damn you, cliffies! Anyway, here you go! Zero! He's back! BUT HOW?? WHAT DOES HE WANT?! (dun dun dunnn) I have it planned out, so no worries. Tell me what you think of the developments and how I've captured (or ruined) certain things/characters/whathaveyous. If nothing more, leave me some love/encouragement, because I may need it. You guys have all been so great to me, and the words really spur me on to continue this as fast as I can. Thanks you all so much, love to y'all, and keep on keepin' on. I mean STAY AWESOME!