Elphaba was tapping her fingers again, and it was driving Fiyero crazy. Their tension had only grown as the train neared their destination, and it seemed that the progress slowed down to taunt them in their helplessness. Not to mention both their nerves were frazzled by the second night of sleeping sitting up, and all of it was making both of them snippy.
Touching her fingers lightly to cease their obnoxious droning taps, he said, "It'll all be alright," with more patience than he felt.
"Stop patronizing me," Elphaba snapped, jerking her hand away, and he sighed, realizing how hopeless his position was as she would inevitable find some fault with whatever he said.
"I'm sorry. I was just trying to help." In reality, he was annoyed, but he realized her reactions were totally normal for someone whose best friend was literally in mortal peril. Trying to remind himself of that, he took another deep breath, determined not to perpetuate their little spat.
However, she was unwilling to give up the fight so easily. "Well don't," she barked bitterly. He couldn't hide the flash of hurt that crossed his face, and her look of remorse completed the silent conversation. "Sorry."
He smiled forgivingly at her sincerity, offering his hand and smiling as she took it reluctantly. They watched the scenery, and after a moment, he said softly, "It will be though. Alright, I mean. Galinda's tougher than she looks." Elphaba grimaced, but he could see her relax subtly as she considered all the proof she had seen of his statement with her own eyes.
Feeling suddenly victorious, he laced their fingers together, squeezing her hand gently. Was that a faint smile, or was he imagining things? He dismissed it as his own eager optimism, though the glow it lent him didn't dissipate. Suddenly he realized exactly what a predicament he was in. He had allowed his attraction to totally overcome him, and now he was completely wrapped around her finger. Literally and figuratively. Squeezing her hand again, he realized there were worse things to be.
She pulled away, leaning her forehead on the window, watching town after town fleeting past. "Elphaba?" Reluctantly, she drew her gaze back to him. Knowing this was neither the time nor the place, he nevertheless asked, "When we get back to Shiz, will I still see you?" It had been bothering him since they had first arrived, before the ransom note had drawn them back, and he didn't want to go back to that feeling.
"Of course. I live with Galinda after all."
She was evading his question, so he asked it more bluntly, "I mean, are we friends?"
Taken aback, she just stared at him for a moment. "Yeah. We're friends. Why?"
"So if I came to visit you, you wouldn't mind?"
She tapped her fingers again, her own personal tell for anxiety. "Sure, I guess."
He knew better than to push for more, already ecstatic with the admission he'd just gotten as it was. He linked their fingers together again. "Good."
She started to say something but thought better of it. He tilted his head curiously, and she leaned up at the same time. Suddenly caught in each other's personal space, they held their positions, lips merely inches apart. It was the cell all over again, only he held completely still. Time frozen, if he hadn't been such a statue, he wouldn't have caught the infinitesimally microscopic lean forward she made. She blinked rapidly, obviously trying to process what to do. He countered her lean with an equally tiny one of his own, making them desperately close now.
This was crazy. No, this was genius. It was not a good idea. No, it was brilliant. What about Galinda, his girlfriend, remember, and her roommate? What about Galinda, who cared when Elphaba was right there? The war waged in him between his brain, and his heart. As always, his brain was the weaker partner.
He leaned forward to close the distance, and they very nearly kissed before Elphaba shoved him away, angry at what they'd almost done. "Watch it," she said as if it had been an accident to almost fall on her lips and kiss her passionately. She pulled back, refusing to acknowledge the passing moment of attraction, and Fiyero felt equal measures of disappointment and elation at their near miss.
Her voice was husky and a little shaky as she said, "We need to decide what we're going to do when we get there." Ah, that talent of hers for avoidance. "We need a plan."
Confused, he said, "Give them the money."
The look she gave him made him feel like an imbecile. "You can't just walk in there with the money. How are you expecting to get back out? They already kidnapped you once."
"Oh." He hadn't thought of that.
"You'll have to stay out of sight until I make the drop off."
"No! Are you crazy? I'm not letting you go in there alone."
"They don't want me."
"Everyone wants you. But that's beside the point." She sighed at him. "Look, your going isn't any better than mine. They'll just use you as collateral. Or bait." Or worse, he thought, but didn't say. She had to admit his point, so they argued various other options, rejecting choice after choice. Left with only one other plan, they decided it was no worse than any of the others at least. They would try to rescue Galinda, using the location of the money as security should they get caught.
"We'll just have to take the risk," she said finally. "There's no other way." With nothing left to discuss, she started tapping again. Oz, he wished the train would just get them there already, before they killed each other.
Finally they arrived at the closest stop according to Elphaba, the only one of them to have made the current trek toward the cabin conscious. With all the tension in the air between the two, it was no wonder that they were left to themselves. Between their frustrated bickering and repressed sexual energy, he was certain it was almost visible in the air. After another round of cynical comments, Elphaba finally managed to convince him not to wait until it was darker before they tried to break in. Galinda had been left there long enough.
They then argued over whether or not to take a carriage to get closer, until Fiyero just hired one and hopped in. "Look, either get in, or I'm going to go by myself."
Elphaba scowled at him. "That's all I need is for you to get yourself killed."
"You're the one who was saying that time was of the essence."
Her own argument turned against her, she sighed and climbed aboard. A relatively short trip later, they stood hidden in the brush around the cabin, formulating their plan of attack. "So, window or door?"
After a moment of deliberation, she said, "Window." Even with the boards, it was less risky. With a big breath, they bit the bullet and left their cover to sneak up to the house. Lying on the ground to maintain a low profile, Elphaba was trying to work on the boards, which luckily the morons had nailed on from the outside.
Fiyero crouched and set to work trying to pry open the top board, fighting the defeated feeling that came with the cramping of his fingers and the immobility of the board. Elphaba's fingertips were bleeding now from a snag on one of the nails, but it did seem she was making progress.
Just then the door opened, and the kidnappers garbled conversation floated to their precarious position on the ground just out of view. They huddled against the wall, trying to will themselves invisible, and Fiyero's hand found Elphaba's as he cradled her against him. Her doe-eyed look would have been all the ammunition he needed to try to kiss her again if their lives hadn't been in danger.
He closed his eyes, concentrating on the voices that carried on the wind. From the snatches of sentences he caught, it was impossible to tell if Galinda was ok, but it did seem she was not being cooperative. Smiling at that, he thought to himself how she was rarely being cooperative. One of the kidnappers left, footsteps moving toward the opposite side of the building, and the two breathed a temporary sigh of relief.
Resuming their work, Fiyero helped Elphaba pry off the lower board, and with it gone, they were able to see into the gloomy basement, just not enough to see Galinda. Using the loosened board to lever off the others proved easier, if louder, work. Luckily, they were still undisturbed. "Be careful of the glass." Fiyero reminded her as Elphaba slipped through the opening, following shortly after.
It felt surreal to look at the damn pillar this way, having always been the one tied to it. Galinda was on the other side, out of view, and after a quick check to make sure no one was there to bear witness, Elphaba rushed over to her. The atmosphere of the situation did little to absorb the perkiness from the blonde's voice as she called, "Elphie!" Elphaba shushed her immediately, reminding her of the captors above. "Oh, Elphie, I knew you'd come rescue me."
Fiyero trailed over, watching Elphaba cut the ropes quickly, and Galinda burst free of the pillar. Clearly she had withstood the trial better than he had expected, but then he could see why. From the dirt on her dress, she had obviously been tied sitting on the floor. Of course, knowing her, the ruined frock was a worse torture than anything else. She caught sight of him, squealing as she ran to throw herself into his arms. "Fiyero!"
He patted her back uncomfortably aware of how Elphaba would misinterpret this. "Oh Yoyo! I was so scared." He blanched at that ridiculous nickname, but he tried to focus on how at least she was safe. Her bottom lip trembled, "It was so horrendifying!"
Tears leaked from her eyes, and he consoled her gently. Poor girl. She had probably been scared to death, but annoying as she could be, she was also too adorable for anyone but a total monster to hurt. She snuggled into him, and he caught sight of Elphaba looking as if she felt very awkwardly out of place. Wishing suddenly his arms were empty, he gave her a helpless look, as if he could communicate that he wanted very much for her to reclaim her rightful position there while knowing she wouldn't.
The scuffling noise above startled them out of their little reunion. Elphaba took charge, "We better get moving." She scuttled through the window gracefully, and he thought what an excellent ninja she would make. She reached for Galinda's hand, and Fiyero gave the shorter girl a boost. However, even after much yanking, shoving and tugging, Galinda managed to stick in the window. "It's the skirt," Fiyero heard Elphaba's muffled voice say. "Fiyero, you're going to have to cut it." This cause much wriggling and opposition from the one stuck, but she was in the unfortunate position of having no real choice. "Look, it's the skirt, or stay here."
"Fine," called a more tear-stricken voice than when she was lamenting her capture.
Elphaba managed to slip the knife through to him carefully so as not to cut Galinda, and he got to work on the puffy fabric. There was something altogether perverse about the entire situation, and he wished very much that Elphaba were the one left on this side to do the actual cutting. That would have been at least good for a couple erotic fantasies.
Finally he managed to free enough tulle to allow her to be yanked through. Following quickly after, he caught Elphaba's hand, using her weight as leverage to pull himself up to the window. Unfortunately, he was a little too enthusiastic to escape this time, and their combined forces yanked him so strongly through the window that he landed on top of her in a heap. She shoved him off, guiltily glancing toward Galinda who was too busy examining her ruined dress to care.
They ran to cover, beginning the hike back to town. Fiyero was grateful nothing worse had happened, though convincing Galinda that they were very lucky wasn't easy with her dress their main casualty. It was quite lopsided now, puffy on the right and flat on the left, not to mention several holes where Fiyero's less than handy tailoring had ripped through.
With their blonde friend in tow, running was out of the question. She limped, one of her heels broken in their escape, and loudly bemoaned their circumstances dramatically. With her between him and Elphaba, he couldn't even entertain himself with the other girl's cynical looks. Sighing, he resigned himself to a long and difficult journey back.