I love it when you guys all start yelling at me in Caps Lock. I've missed that. Maybe I should start writing more cliffies again.

10. Confession

Fiyero awoke with a faint pain in his abdomen and a splitting headache. He groaned, bringing one hand up to his head, and slowly opened his eyes. He was assaulted by bright light and he quickly squeezed his eyes shut again, moaning pathetically. Being hung-over always sucked, he thought wryly, but being hung-over and recovering from a stab wound was much, much worse.

"Fiyero?" someone asked.

He groaned again.

"Is he awake?"

"I don't know. Hey... Fiyero? Are you awake?"

"Yeah," he muttered. "Can someone turn off the light?"

There were some giggles. "That's not the light, silly. It's the sun. I'll close the curtains." There was the sound of light footsteps and he heard the curtains being drawn shut. He carefully tried to open his eyes again and found that it was easier this time. Xalo was standing at the foot of his bed, watching him closely. Fawn just came padding back from the window and grinned at him with a hint of relief in her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "It's past noon already, but Mum said we should let you sleep because you needed to rest a lot to heal. Is it true that you were stabbed?"

"Yes," Fiyero grunted and Xalo sucked in his breath, eyes wide.

"That is so cool!"

The bodyguard grimaced. "Not if you're the one being stabbed, it's not."

Fawn poked her brother in the side. "Of course it's not cool," she scolded him. "Stabbing hurts, you know. It's not like in the movies, where the hero just gets up again with blood pouring from his stab wounds and then takes down the bad guy before walking away with some pretty lady like nothing even happened."

"Oh," said Xalo, sounding disappointed.

Fiyero squinted at them both. "What kind of movies does your mother let you watch?" he demanded.

"Oh, Mum would never let us watch action movies," Xalo assured him. "Grandpa does, though, when Mum is working. Don't tell her."

"Your secret is safe with me." Fiyero sighed. It was weird, though – he'd felt the knife twist in his guts, but the pain he was feeling now didn't seem to accurately reflect the pain he should be feeling after getting such an injury. How strong was the pain medication they'd given him? "Is there a doctor around, or something? Could one of you please get him? Or else your mother?"

"Mum is sleeping," Fawn informed him. "She always gets tired after using magic, especially to this extent. She was exhausted. She'll probably sleep for another while yet – Auntie Galinda cancelled all Mum's appointments for the day. There's no doctor, either. You didn't need one after Mum was finished with you."

Only now did Fiyero realise that he was in his own room in the Palace, not in any kind of hospital, and he frowned. "What did she do to me, then?"

"She healed you, silly," said Xalo. "Grandpa says you would have been dead if she hadn't done that. The knife hit your... your..." He scrunched up his nose. "I don't know. Some important vein or something."

"Artery," Fawn told her brother before turning to Fiyero. "It cut an artery. Mum caught you when you fell and she healed you right away, otherwise you'd have bled to death. I heard Grandpa say that." She crossed her arms with a scowl. "I thought youwere supposed to be saving her, not the other way around," she said accusingly.

"Maybe he caught the knife for Mum," Xalo suggested, looking excited at the thought. "You know, someone tried to attack Mum and Fiyero jumped in front of her, risking his life to save hers. That'd be awesome."

"And romantic," Fawn added, her eyes lighting up.

Fiyero closed his eyes for a moment. "It wasn't like that," he muttered. "I did try to protect your mum, but I was so focused on her that I didn't even see this guy coming."

"That's still romantic," Fawn observed. Xalo made gagging noises and his sister added, "But that also still means you were protecting her, right? You said you were watching her. So if this guy had come after her, you'd have seen him, right?"

Fiyero had to admit that that was probably true and Fawn and Xalo nodded in satisfaction.

"We'll leave you to rest now," said Xalo, tugging Fawn along. "You have to be better for our birthday party on Saturday, after all. Are you hungry? We could get you some lunch. And we'll tell Grandpa and Auntie Galinda you're awake."

"Yes, please," Fiyero croaked and the twins disappeared with a little wave, leaving him lying alone in his bed, dumbfounded. An artery. He would have been dead if Elphaba hadn't saved him with those creepy magical powers of hers. It was hard to believe, but he knew it had to be true – he'd felt the knife and he'd known even as he fell that it had done more damage than could probably be repaired in surgery. There had been so much blood... and yet now all that remained was a faint stab of pain every now and then. He lifted the blankets and peered down, realising he was only wearing his boxers. He could see a jagged wound on his abdomen, but it looked to be in an advanced stage of healing already.

He dropped the blanket again and closed his eyes, his head spinning. Unbelievable.

Fawn and Xalo's story was confirmed by Galinda when she came to bring him his lunch. She giggled upon realising how little he was wearing, but sobered when he asked her about what had happened and told him the same thing the twins had told him not long before. He ate something and Galinda urged him to rest, promising him that she and Oscar would occasionally check up on him, and then she left again. He fell asleep and didn't wake up until it was dark outside.

Testing his own body, he tried to sit up and then slowly inched out of bed, which proved to be not nearly as difficult as he'd thought it would be. He quickly pulled on a pair of jogging trousers and a sweater and ran a comb through his hair and a toothbrush over his teeth before making his way out of the room in search of the dining room. He was starving again.

When he arrived there, it was to find Oscar and Elphaba talking in hushed voices over cups of coffee and he greeted them with a sleepy, "Hi. What did I miss?"

Elphaba's head shot up and she studied him closely for a moment before apparently determining he was all right. "How are you feeling?" she asked as he sat down next to her and Oscar got up to find the bodyguard some food.

"Not nearly as bad as I should be feeling," Fiyero replied, boring his eyes into Elphaba's. She blushed a little and looked away, biting her lip, but he pressed on. "Did you really save my life?"

She sighed irritably. "Fiyero, if someone was stabbed right next to you and you knew he would die if you didn't save him with your magical healing powers, wouldn't you have done the same thing?" she asked rhetorically.

"I guess." He gave her a lopsided grin. "Thanks, though."

She rolled her eyes. "You're welcome."

"Where does that come from, anyway?" he asked curiously. "The magic, I mean."

She shrugged. "I've always had it," she replied. "Ever since I can remember. I used to cause these little outbursts when I was little, every time I got emotional, but I learned how to control it when I took lessons at Shiz University. I have a minor in Sorcery," she reminded him.

He nodded, his interest piqued. "Are there any limits to what you can do?"

She laughed. "It's not like I could bring world peace or make disease disappear, Fiyero," she said in amusement. "I have to use spells to channel the magic – unless the magic is caused by an emotional outburst, in which case it just flies out of control. Generally, I can do all kinds of relatively little things – heal wounds, manipulate water to some extent, enchant objects to levitate, defend myself with magical blasts – but nothing awfully big."

"I'd say saving a man's life after his artery has been cut with a knife is a pretty big thing," Fiyero pointed out and she shifted uncomfortably.

"Healing is healing, though," she said dismissively. "It doesn't really matter if it's a scrape or a stab wound. I can't cure illnesses, but I can heal injuries if I tend to them fast enough. If I hadn't been there and you'd been brought to me a few minutes later, I wouldn't have been able to help you."

"But you did," he argued again. "That's still pretty damned special."

She just shrugged. He could tell she was a little awkward around him now – probably partly because of the fact that she'd saved his life and partly because of all the personal things she'd shared with him the night before in her tipsy state. He wondered if she regretted it. He certainly didn't; he was glad to know all those things about her. It explained a lot about her behaviour now and the way she could react sometimes.

Her soft voice broke through his thoughts. "What's going on, Fiyero?" She looked apprehensive, almost scared, and Fiyero was suddenly struck by the similarities between her and Fawn. "Why would anyone stab you?"

He took a deep breath, but just then, Oscar came back into the room and smiled at Fiyero. "Dinner is on the way," he promised as he sat back down. "What were we talking about?"

"Who did this to Fiyero and why," said Elphaba, her eyes still on Fiyero.

Fiyero, in turn, looked at Oscar, who furrowed his brow in thought and then sighed, relenting. He, like Fiyero, probably realised there wasn't another choice now. They could lie, but she'd find out eventually, anyway.

"Elphaba," the mayor said, causing the green woman's head to whip around to face him. "There's something we need to tell you."

He told her about the letters – not their exact content; just that this person seemed to be obsessed and in love with her, not wanting to see her with other men – and that this was probably also the man who had been following her around lately. He confessed that that was also why he and Galinda had hired Fiyero in the first place.

Elphaba just sat there for a while, staring off into the distance, clearly lost in thought as she processed this new information. Then she asked flatly, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We didn't want to worry you," said Oscar. "We weren't even sure there was a real reason for worrying – not until much later, anyway. And we were afraid... well..."

Elphaba sighed, rubbing her forehead. "You were afraid it would remind me of Avaric."

Oscar glanced to Fiyero in alarm and his daughter said tiredly, "Don't bother. He knows. I told him last night after a glass of wine too many – or four, probably." She heaved another sigh. "For Oz's sake, Dad, you should have told me."

"Probably," Oscar agreed. He looked much older than he normally did, Fiyero noted. His hair seemed greyer and his eyes more tired than usual behind his glasses. "I'm sorry, Elphaba."

"It's okay," she muttered. She, too, looked weary. "I understand why you did it. Both you and Galinda." She looked at Fiyero. "But now I want you to tell me everything."

He nodded and told her his theory about her stalker beating up Duran out of jealousy. "I asked you on that date to try and lure him out," he explained. "I was hoping he'd come after meonce he'd see us together and I'd get a chance to find out his identity and maybe overpower him. I wasn't expecting this or I wouldn't have done it."

"I certainly hope not," said Elphaba, giving him a stern look, and he grinned at her before sobering again.

"You didn't see who it was, either, then?" he asked hopefully and she scowled.

"All I know is that one moment, I'm walking towards the gate and the next, I hear you cry out and I turn around to find you bleeding all over the place. I saw someone in dark clothes run off, but that's all. I was a little too busy saving your life to pay much attention to anything else. Didn't you see him?"

"I would have, but I was a little too busy bleeding all over the place," he said and she rolled her eyes at him, but he saw the grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"That wasn't the only reason I asked you on that date, by the way," Fiyero told her after he'd eaten and she walked him back to his room. Oscar had returned to his own office to get some more work done and Elphaba intended to go back to work as well, but she didn't want him to return to his room by himself. "I did mean all those things about wanting to get to know you and stuff."

She smiled. "I know."

"Good." He playfully nudged her hip with his. "Fae."

That made her chortle and he said cheerfully, "You do realise I'm going to call you that from now on, right?"

"I'm looking forward to it," she said with just a hint of sarcasm.

She made to walk past the lifts and the staircase to the wing where his room was, but he stopped her. "I want to drop by Galinda's office first."

Elphaba looked at him and he clarified, "I think she might have gotten another letter for you by now."

Understanding dawned in her eyes and she nodded, heading for the staircase. He called anxiously, "Um, Fae?"

She glanced over her shoulder and he waved at himself. "I got stabbed yesterday? I know you did a great job healing me, and everything, but I think the lift would be a better idea than the stairs right now."

"Then take the lift," she said, starting to walk down the stairs. "I'll see you in about ten seconds."

He scowled at her back. "What if I keel over and die in those ten seconds?"

"You're fine, Yero. Take the lift. I won't stand around waiting for you all day."

He pressed the button, watching her retreating back with suspicions forming in his mind, but he didn't mention any of them to her. Together, they walked to Galinda's office and Elphaba knocked on the closed door. "Glin?"

"Come in!" the blonde called and her friend pushed the door open – leaving it open, Fiyero noticed, as they both went inside.

Fiyero cut straight to the chase. "Have you received another letter?"

Galinda's eyes widened, but Elphaba said, "I know about the letters. Oscar and Fiyero just told me."

Galinda bit her lip, but then seemed to deflate. "I'm sorry for keeping that from you, Elphie," she apologised. "We didn't want to worry you, but I suppose after what happened yesterday, we couldn't continue to hide it from you."

"No, you couldn't," Elphaba agreed. "So is there another letter?"

The blonde woman nodded reluctantly. "Yes." She pulled it from her desk drawer. Elphaba held out her hand, but Galinda handed the letter to Fiyero instead, ignoring her employer's scowl.

Fiyero quickly skimmed over the note. It was short, to the point, and sent chills down his spine.

You disobeyed me. Now your boyfriend paid the price.

Don't make me angry, Elphaba.

"That's it," Fiyero declared, even as Elphaba snatched the letter from his hand to read it for herself. "We need to do something. This time it was me, but next time, it could be anyone. We can't take that risk."

"But what could we do?" Galinda demanded. "If we knew who it was, we would have done something already, Fiyero!"

"I don't know." He started pacing. "But something has to happen. It's my job to protect Elphaba and right now, she's anything but safe. Maybe we should get her out of here for a while, to some different place... at the very least she'll need more security. She's important – not just to the City or to Oz, but also to you and Oscar and the twins. We can't let anything happen to her." He turned to look at the dark-haired witch in question, who was looking a paler shade of green than usual, the blood drained from her face. She was still holding the letter and he could see her hand trembling. "Fae?" he asked gently. "You okay?"

"No," she said, handing the letter back to Galinda and leaning against the wall heavily. "Fiyero... they already don't have a father," she said softly, almost pleadingly. "This can't go on. I don't care what happens, but I can't leave the twins without a mother, too."

"Whoa," he said, taken aback by the fear in her eyes. "No-one is going to die here, Fae. Yeesh. I won't let that happen and besides, this guy doesn't seem to want to kill you." Yet, but he didn't say that aloud. "We'll figure this out."

"How?" she said miserably. "We don't know who this is. It could be anyone, really – I'm a public figure in all of Oz, partly thanks to my job and parentage and partly because of my skin, so anyone could have seen me speech somewhere and fancied himself in love with me. It's like you and Glin just said – what can we really do?"

If he were honest with himself, Fiyero had to admit he didn't really know that, either. He wasn't going to tell her that, though. He was determined to keep her safe somehow and so he would, one way or another.