A/N: I'm really, really sorry about the delay. I have no excuse, except that college eats up all our time and spits it out into grades at the end of the semester, and it was just a crazy couple of months. This chapter is particularly long, though, so I hope you forgive us. Also, we hope that at least someone is still reading.
Disclaimer: We don't own Wicked.
Glinda felt jittery.
When she went home at the end of the day, she was used to quiet and solitude, and she certainly was not accustomed to having a man standing inches from her door, listening for any and all suspicious noises. She tiptoed around her apartment, setting down her teakettle with inordinate care and even donning slippers to muffle her footsteps. She didn't like being monitored, and she didn't like being protected. She could take care of herself.
She couldn't deny her thudding heart, though, nor could she deny the way she was monitoring him. She found herself stopping to listen for his movements, standing still for minutes at a time before she realized that, while standing at attention, he wasn't going to be moving much. She noticed when he coughed, though, and when the floorboards creaked under his shifting weight. She remembered the green of his eyes, a familiar shade that stirred up lost memories of home, and she imagined what he would look like if he smiled, envisioning a Van with dimples and a relaxed, playful grin. Her breath caught in her throat, and she quickly concocted an excuse to invite him in. She wanted to enjoy his company, to know him, to see those eyes and that smile reflect with affection and understanding as she talked to him. She suddenly felt unbearably and indescribably lonely, like her entire torso was merely a huge black void.
Glinda patted her hair down and switched back into her expensive leather flats before opening the door. She smiled to see him standing so vigilantly outside of her apartment, watching out for her and protecting her from all harm. Her stomach fluttered nervously. "Um, Van?" she asked timidly, wringing her hands together at her stomach to keep herself from nervously adjusting her clothes or tucking imaginary hair behind her ears. "I, um, just made some tea, and I was wondering if you wanted any." Glinda succumbed to the urge and raised her hand to tuck her hair back. "It's strawberry," she added dumbly.
Van slowly broke attention and turned to face her. He smiled, but instead of the gratification that she expected, Glinda's heart dropped. He had no dimples, none at all, and his eyes were too dark, almost brown. His face was friendly and polite, but completely empty of any sort of warmth. "No, thank you," he said courteously. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm not permitted to accept gifts while on the job. I really do appreciate it, though." He smiled once again before easing back into attention.
Glinda nodded awkwardly, unable to think of anything appropriate to say, before retreating back into her room, appalled at her actions. What had she been thinking, trying to start something with her bodyguard? Romantic, platonic, or otherwise, Oz would have a field day and Morrible would have her throat. She even tried to play down her friendships with the girls at the palace out of fear of rebuke. Trying to fraternize with her body guard was just asking for trouble—how desperate for companionship had she really gotten? Pathetic.
Glinda furiously poured herself some tea, her hand shaking badly enough to make her spill it all over the counter. She cursed under her breath and opted to ignore it, lifting her half-empty cup to her mouth and forcing herself to endure the bitterness of the scalding, un-sugared tea. She quickly finished it and prepared for bed, impatiently wiping at the tears that had started rolling down her cheeks.
***
Glinda got up early the next morning and resolutely disguised her puffy eyes with generous amounts of makeup. It was a skill she had perfected back in her teenage years, when she had cried herself to sleep over typical adolescent drama practically once a week, and one that she was repeatedly grateful to possess. She took particular care when she dressed and fixed her hair, determined to cover up any external signs of unease. She had a breakfast to enjoy, after all, and she didn't want to mar it with any worried inquiries.
Glinda loved Wednesday mornings. She and the girls had started meeting for breakfast once a week after the disastrous Lurlinemas ball, using the valuable time to catch up on news from around the palace and, admittedly, to laugh and make inappropriate jokes. They all worked in a high-pressure place, under important and powerful people, and they found that they needed the stress relief. Glinda relied on those mornings. That time with her friends, in the café across town that no one they worked with knew about, offered her the opportunity to act like the young woman that she really was and to forget the seriousness of her everyday life. The world just seemed much less threatening when she could perform humorous impersonations of the Dreadful Duo, as Elinor had dubbed them, instead of singing their praises. That hour in the middle of her week gave her the encouragement and the hope she needed to get through the week without having a total meltdown.
Glinda needed this morning more than she could express, but it was suddenly much less appealing to her when she stepped outside her door and remembered that Van, with all of his stiff formality, would be accompanying her to her lighthearted breakfast. She wondered if it was really a good idea to go with a member of the Royal Guard in attendance.
"Good morning," she said uncertainly, standing in her doorway. It was like he hadn't moved all night. "Do you, um, need to freshen up before we go?"
He looked surprised. "I just came up from my apartment," he said. "Do I not look well-groomed?"
"No, no," Glinda said quickly, feeling a tad ridiculous. "Sorry. Um. Shall we go?"
"It's awfully early, Miss Glinda. You aren't due at the office for almost two hours. Are you sure we need to go now?"
Glinda silently debated with herself for a moment, but ultimately decided that she needed breakfast today, and that it really was an innocent tradition, anyway. "I'm going out for breakfast," she said carefully. "I meet some friends once a week."
"Oh," he said. "All right."
The trip to the restaurant was a quiet, awkward one. He walked a consistent seven steps behind her the entire way, which made Glinda inordinately self-conscious about her speed and movements. She was used to being watched, but not quite like this. She was at least accustomed to being able to walk to breakfast without being followed.
She arrived at the familiar café right on time, but was hesitant to go in. "You don't have to come in, do you?" she asked, her voice almost pleading, aware but uncaring of her rudeness. "I mean, you can see me through the window, right?"
Van nodded slowly. "If you would prefer that I stay outside, I suppose it would be safe. Enjoy your breakfast."
"Thank you," Glinda said, genuinely grateful, before quickly darting into the welcoming warmth of the café.
She was met with three craning necks and searching eyes.
"Where is he?" Elinor asked, straining in her seat to see around Glinda.
"Isn't he supposed to be with you?" Ada said, looking accusingly at Glinda.
"Because of the Vinkus secession," Jane added. "Is there anything more going on that we don't know about?"
"Ada said he was cute!" Elinor insisted.
Glinda sighed huffily, disgruntled that she couldn't just leave her pesky new shadow out of her morning. "He's outside," she said. "He is with me, just not next to me, and no, I'm pretty sure you know just as much about the Vinkus as I do. It's not like I have any inside connections," she added bitterly.
Glinda sat down. "So, have you ordered yet?"
"We already asked for your coffee," Elinor said, waving her hand as if to dismiss the question. "What's he like?"
Elinor looked at her eagerly, impatient for details about Glinda's attractive new protector, and even Jane and Ada turned to gaze at her with begrudging interest.
"He was really cute," Ada admitted, her cheeks turning pink.
"Yes," Glinda said carefully, "He is."
"So?" Elinor pressed.
"So, what? He's my bodyguard. He's here to protect me from the people that apparently want to kill me."
"I saw the way you looked at him yesterday," Ada said. "I hadn't seen you so flustered since Lurlinemas."
Glinda blanched at the mention of Fiyero. "Look," she said quickly, "it's not like that. He's very attractive, and I'm sure he's very nice, but he's my bodyguard. He has a job to do, and so do I. Plus, it's just bad politics. The last thing I need is to end up in The Emerald Exposé."
"You're full of excuses," Elinor said. "Don't you think you could use some fun? You obviously like him. Can't you just think of yourself for once and go for it?"
Jane looked doubtful, but even Ada looked mildly concurrent.
"It's not that simple. I'm practically the Wizard's face, which means that I'm constantly being watched. I am thinking of myself, and I personally don't want my reputation ruined because of something stupid like that. Plus, I don't like him that much. Really. I'm fine."
"But, Glinda—"
"Elinor," Ada said sharply.
"Okay, okay, not a romance book. I get it."
"Neither is this," Jane said, seizing the opportunity to slap the newspaper that she had been clutching in her lap onto the table. "Fighting has broken out in the Vinkus. And look—the Guard took the first shot."
Glinda dragged the newspaper to her side of the table and swiftly read the article, her eyes taking in lines at a time.
"The article claims that the tribal leaders were threatening them," Elinor, who was reading over Glinda's shoulder, said. "'The Guard tried to maintain peace but were ultimately forced to protect themselves when Vinkan militias tried to intimidate them with threats and weaponry.'"
Jane threw her arms up in frustration. "Of course the article says that; it's government sponsored! But do you think that's what really happened?"
"The Wizard isn't taking kindly to the Vinkus's secession," Glinda stated flatly. "The Guard wasn't sent there to protect anyone—they were sent to bully the Vinkus into submission. They were always going to start the violence, because the Vinkus never wanted to fight. If you want my opinion, I bet that the supposedly threatening leaders were really just approaching them to state their sovereignty and possibly to negotiate the Guard's departure. The weapons they describe were probably just for self-defense."
"Especially since the Vinkan casualties outnumber the Guard's almost eight to one." Ada added grimly.
"That's not all," Jane said darkly. "Did you hear about Munchkinland?"
Glinda tensed and clutched the paper more tightly. Had she really been out of contact with Nessa for that long? Oh, Lurline, let her be okay…."Munchkinland?" she asked, her voice stiff.
"The Munchkinlanders are protesting against the new governor, Nessarose Thropp. She declared last week that the Wizard's anti-Animal laws are null and void in Munchkinland, and the people are calling her treasonous and unfit to govern."
"Of course they are," Elinor said, "She's the Wicked Witch's sister, if you recall, and Animal rights was always the issue that the Witch claimed as an excuse for her crimes. The Munchkins are probably panicking at the resemblance. Also, they rely on the Wizard and his government—it's what continues to keep us safe from the Witch, after all."
Glinda kept her eyes carefully trained on the table, breathing in and out at a slow, controlled rate. She was surprised at the intensity of her sudden rage after all this time of carefully avoiding those thoughts. She couldn't blame them, she reminded herself, for being indoctrinated like they were, and she certainly couldn't reveal to them that she was any different. She firmly blinked her eyes.
"Witch or not, you do realize that the Munchkins are protesting Animal rights, don't you?" Jane whispered angrily. "I mean, Governor Thropp perhaps did it a little stupidly in a political sense, seeing as she doesn't actually have the power to void any of the Wizard's laws, but that doesn't make it wrong."
Ada nodded silently. Elinor looked down at her knees, uncomfortable, but didn't object.
"The thing is, though, that the rest of Oz doesn't bother to think that much," Glinda said dully, not looking up from the table. "They just see their trusted leader making laws and policies that are supposed to protect them, and they go crazy when someone tries to defy him."
"So that's how rights vanish," Jane said quietly. "With people fighting to kill them."
Their coffee arrived then, and the waiter took their order. Jane slid the newspaper into her bag and the four of them dropped the subject, suddenly more aware of the ears all around them. Their conversation was much more subdued than usual after that, though, and Glinda left for work feeling bitter and agitated.
Van smiled at her as he greeted her at the door. "How was your breakfast?" he asked congenially.
Glinda barely stopped to nod at him. "Not quite as enjoyable as I had hoped," she said curtly.
A/N: Please review! We'll try to get another chapter out soon.
