our trio is a quartet once more, but will hurt feelings cause a rift? oooooo... intriguing, no?

PS: the babies are safe... for tonight...

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It took almost an hour to reach Sin District Square. They spent most of the journey skulking in alleys and ducking into doorways, keeping to the shadows to stay out of the sight of the Long Coats patrolling the city. Demilo's wagon was parked in the middle of the square, in full view of anyone passing by. Cain lead them down the closest alley and gestured behind a dumpster.

"Sit tight," he ordered.

"I'm so glad he showed up," Glitch whispered once he was gone. Raw nodded his agreement. DeeDee decided to keep her current feelings on one Wyatt Cain private for the time being. Glitch squeezed her hand. "Now, we know where to go. The Northern Island. We'll find your mother there, I'm sure of it."

He sounded so sure and optimistic it was hard for DeeDee not to feel a bit of it herself. She was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude that he was with her, that he counted himself as her friend. She dropped his hand and wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her back, pressing his face into her hair. She could feel Raw's approval, even though she could not see him. From the square, they heard the wagon door slam and footsteps approach their hiding place. Cain appeared from around the dumpster and paused, taking in the sight of the two with their arms around each other. He then silently motioned for them to follow and headed back towards the van.

Demilo was standing outside, wearing only a robe and his boots, and his girls were sitting together on a bench not far off, wearing less than that. Cain directed everyone inside the wagon, before climbing into the driver's seat.

"Thanks for the ride," he called to Demilo, who began to plead with him rather loudly and futilely.

"How can you do this to me?" he cried shrilly. "I have a wife and children." DeeDee snorted. Glitch and Raw settled down on the pillows in the back.

"This is my wagon!" Demilo continued. Cain ignored him, but he was looking over the dashboard with complete bewilderment. DeeDee leaned forward to help.

"How do you start this thing?" he asked. Demilo immediately stopped his hysterics.

"Oh, you gotta pull the knob out and then twist the red thing," he instructed calmly. DeeDee did as he said and the wagon's engine coughed to life. Cain looked at her, as if surprised, and then back to Demilo.

"Thank you," he said, with none of his usual reluctance. Demilo gave him a short nod.

Then he turned back into the shrieking idiot. "This is my wagon!"

Cain put the van in gear and pulled away, Demilo running along side. "Cain! Cain, I'm talkin' to you!"

The little man fell behind, still shouting. "That's my wag-oooooon!"

She knelt between the driver and passenger seats for a moment, just looking at Cain. When Demilo had stopped screaming to tell him how to start the van, she had an epiphany. It was all an act. The threats, the insults, the apparent lack of cooperation - they were all for show. In another life, Cain and Demilo would have been good friends. This empty bravado was just to keep up appearances. It was the closest thing there could be to a friendship between tin man and crook. She decided then and there that she actually quite liked the funny little man. She would make it a point to get his, or Daisy's, shoes back to him.

If she could.

She went back into the back of the wagon, partially to get her head together and partially to change out of the ridiculous outfit. Behind the curtain she gave a sigh of pleasure at being back in her comfy jeans and her own t-shirt. She slid it open again and found that Raw had curled up in a ball on a pile of pillows and seemed to be asleep. Glitch smiled up at her and patted the empty cushion beside him. It wasn't until that moment that she realized how truly bone-tired she was. She plopped down beside the pale man and he spread a blanket over them, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, encouraging her to leaned back into his chest. She didn't think she could have resisted if she had wanted to, which she did not, because it felt so good. The instant her head hit his shoulder, she was out like a light, as Cain drove on out of the city.

The wagon hit a bump and jogged DeeDee awake. She opened her eyes and found she was looking across the wagon at Raw, who was kicking in his sleep, like a dog having the chasing dream. She was laying down now, Glitch's heart beating in steady rhythm against her back. His arm was draped over her side, hand resting on her hip. She could feel his breath warm against her neck, making the skin tingle. She did not want to move, but the call of nature is hard to ignore.

She carefully disentangled herself from the sleeping man, pausing a moment to gaze at the peaceful expression on his face, then crawled towards the cab. Cain had removed his coat and hat. He glanced back at her.

"You should try to sleep," he advised, his voice soft so as not to wake the others.

"Hard to do with a full bladder," she said. He got the hint and slowed the wagon, pulling off to the side of the road. Once she had relieved herself (and it was a relief, she thought) she climbed back into the cab. Sitting on the passenger seat, knees drawn up, feet resting on the cushion. Cain took a breath, probably to tell her again that she should get some sleep, but she spoke before he could.

"Why did you come back?" she asked, getting right to the point. "It was because Zero was at the Twister, wasn't it?"

She wanted to believe her voice did not sound as petulant out loud as it did in her head. A muscle twitched along Cain's jaw. He did not look at her.

"Partly," he admitted. She knew she should respect his honesty, but what she really wanted to do was kick him out of the van.

"And you're only here now because of the Mystic Man, isn't that right?" she pressed. She didn't know why she asked it. She knew what his answer would be. She knew that hearing it would only make her angry, even though she knew already. He growled softly.

"Why are you asking me this, kid?"

"I just want to know where I stand with you," she told him. Which was only partly true. She wasn't sure what she wanted from him, in reality.

"Well, I'm with you 'till the end of this thing," he said. "Isn't that enough?"

She cocked her head to the side, eyebrows furrowed. "Not really."

He sighed. After a moment, he spoke, softly. "Yes, I made a promise to the Mystic Man that I would watch out for you."

She started to leave the cab, but he barred the entrance with his arm. "But that's not the only reason."

She just stared at him. After a moment of mutual silence, he smirked. "You don't make things easy on a guy, do you?"

"It's easy enough for Glitch to tell me the truth," she reminded him pointedly. He pursed his lips in a very "ah ha" way, putting his hand back on the wheel.

"You helped me out of a tight spot and I owe you, but more than that, I just want to help you," he finally admitted. "I don't want anything to happen to you. Okay?"

The ache and tightness in her chest, present since he had gone off on his own to find Zero, evaporated.

"I can live with that," she said, a small smile playing at her lips.

It was a great relief to be able to trust Cain again. With Glitch and Cain and even Raw by her side, she felt rock solid, like she could take on anything. So long as they were with her, she didn't have to worry about the bottom dropping out, because they would not let her fall. She leaned over and slipped her arms around his shoulders, hugging him from the side. He reached up and patted her hand, the corners of his eyes crinkled in amusement.

Then, she took his advice and went back to get some sleep. She returned to her place and Glitch muttered in his sleep, slipping his arm around her waist and pulling her close, burying his face in her hair. For once in her life, things seemed to fit and she drifted off to sleep with a small, contented smile.