Tears ran down her face as she felt the blood drain away, the pistol still pointed at him. He held a hand to his groin and he looked up at her pathetically.

"I would never hurt you." His words came out sweetly, "I panicked."

"Boq?" She breathed, trying to recognize the boy who had pined over her back in Shiz. The man in front of her looked nothing like the stocky short boy she had gone to school with.

The man smiled with happiness, "Yes! Me, Boq."

Glinda shook her head. "You are not Boq." It couldn't be. He was gone.

"Not anymore, but I was him. I'm not the same anymore but I still in some way am him."

She shook her head again, not understanding one word he was saying, "I don't believe you."

"It was because of you that I was forced to be with Nessarose, I don't blame you and I should hate you for it, but I don't—I love you." He said with a shake of his voice as he slowly struggled to stand.

"Impossible." She gasped. He was now standing and he took a step forward with an outreached hand.

"Please." He begged, his eyebrows furrowed together. Glinda took a step back, the pistol shaking in her hands.

"It's not possible, you were with Nessa—you died, you—"

"I didn't die," He said, cutting her off. "I left when I heard you got engaged but then—"

"Stay where you are." She warned him and he nodded, stopping in his tracks.

"I will, Glinda, I will do whatever you ask of me." He almost breathed it out, taking a step back with his hands in the air. Something moved in the corner of her eye and she yelped, and in a flurry Nick—Boq, was on the floor. Glinda was surprised at the familiar appearance of the Captain, his hand raised repeatedly to punch Boq in the face. Boq tried to fight back but was unable to shake the Captain off. He stopped and his entire body slumped while the Captain threw his strength into the punches.

She didn't want him to die.

Glinda briskly rushed forward, "Stop this! You'll kill him!" The Captain didn't stop and Glinda put her hand on his shoulder to calm him, he violently shook it off and it made Glinda move back in fear that he would attack her as well. Without thinking, she pointed her gun at him and the Captain began to cough harshly, doubling over and falling off of Boq as he held onto his chest. Glinda did not question his sudden appearance, instead she moved quickly to see if Boq was alive, dropping her pistol to her side. His nose was pooling with blood and he was not opening his eyes.

Her hand found her way to his chest and she felt the steady beating; she could almost swear she could hear it. She sighed in relief and turned his head to the side so he would not choke on his own blood. Her head snapping right back up when she noticed the Captain beginning to move. The Captain reached for Boq again and Glinda rose quickly, picking her pistol up as she did. The Captain froze, his hand at Boq's shirt and he looked at her with an ashen face, taking glances at her and the pistol. Glinda knew he really shouldn't even be there. He was dying, but it would not stop her. If he tried to kill the man who claimed he was Boq before she found out what he had wanted—she would stop him.

"Move." He growled hoarsely. Glinda stayed unmoving, holding the pistol firmly in her hands. "Pointing that at me wont help him up from here."

She frowned in confusion, her hand lowering and he jerked his hand forward to grab at the pistol, twisting it out of her hand. Glinda yelped at the pain and cradled her hand to her chest as the Captain fiddled with the pistol and placed it in the back of his pants.

"I'll be keeping that before you kill someone." He muttered, not giving her another look. "Now can you help me?" He asked again pointing at Boq.

She was frozen in shock, "You don't want to kill him?"

The Captain sent his icy glare at Boq, "No, I do," he said gruffly, "but that wont help me get him to talk."

She frowned, "Well neither does breaking his teeth?"

The Captain lifted a burned eyebrow, "Might be so, but he was on top of you."

"I was able to handle myself."

"I saw…" He said stopping and pressing his eyes shut together in a grimace. His lips were bleeding, his face looking terrifyingly pale for someone that was sunburnt. A trickle of blood crawled down his lip and without thinking she reached forward to wipe it off, her hand stopped when she realized what she was doing but it was too late, her fingers were at his lips. The Captain's eyes opened up wide. It was as if she was frozen in place because she could not get her hand to move. His eyes rolled down to where her hand was and his own hand rose, his warm fingers lightly touched hers and his eyes bore into hers. It had been no more than a moment and the Captain pushed her hand away rather painfully. He looked back down and grabbed at Boq's collar, pulling him to his feet harshly. Glinda held a hand on Boq's back to keep him from falling, but the Captain threw him over his shoulder. She stood and watched as the Captain threw him on top of her luggage. He stumbled back and ran a hand through his greasy hair, coughing again until he had to hold himself up from the carriage. He stopped and stared at something in the carriage giving Glinda enough time to sneak behind him and grab at her pistol. He felt her touch and turned around trapping her hands in his.

"This belongs to me." She squeaked, biting her lip at the pain in her hands.

"You will end up accidentally killing someone if you don't hand it to me." He claimed, trying to make her let it go. He was weak otherwise she knew he would not have struggled to take it away from her.

"In comparison to purposely killing someone if I leave it with you?" Her hands might have been trapped in his but she would not let the pistol go so easily, though he tried.

"Hand it over." He requested and Glinda's hands grew warm with her magic.

"I order you to let it go." She demanded, "It doesn't belong to you, it belongs to me." She whimpered slightly, her hands being crushed in his. The Captain released her hands and scowled.

"Keep it pointed away from me," He grumbled, pushing her hands to the side as he turned back around. Glinda took a look at the pistol and stuffed it safely into her bag. In front of her the Captain was removing Boq's belt and before she asked him what he was doing, he tied the hands of the unconscious man together.

Glinda took her time to fix her rumpled dress while the Captain tied the horse he somehow had now with the other horse, his head hanging low, breathing hard as he tried to push himself into the carriage. Meanwhile Glinda watched him carefully, he was weak, he was in pain, and still dying.

And for some reason he returned to her than going back home. He was leaning over the front of the carriage catching his breath.

"Why did you come back?" She spoke up. The Captain looked at her from the corner of his eye but didn't fully turn back to Glinda.

"It's my job." The answer rushed out of his mouth. His face was damp in perspiration and he clawed at the grimy collar of his shirt to gulp.

"And you knew I was in danger?" She questioned taking a small step towards him.

He stretched his head, rubbing at a spot on his neck, "I assumed when your driver was strangling my neck in the hospital bed."

Glinda froze feeling faint all of the sudden, "What?"

The Captain struggled to swallow, "I woke up with his hands around my neck…I killed him."

Glinda staggered back.

"It was him or me." He added with a growl.

Glinda gaped at him. "This doesn't make any sense? Why…?"

"Makes perfect sense to me." He said flatly, giving her a look.

She stared back, startled, "If you are inferring that I sent him—"

"No." He interrupted quickly, "I wasn't."

She blinked, confused. "Then what? "

He closed his eyes, looking as if he was pushing back his pain. "I have no doubt this was Morrible's doing."

Her eyes widened at the realization. "She sent him to kill me…but, how? How did she get in contact with him? Why did he go back for you instead of…" She didn't finish that sentence. Her heart beating madly at the idea that both her driver and the man who said he was Boq were there to end her life.

Something the Captain must have thought as well as he chuckled dryly, "I guess he came for me while this one got rid of you."

Glinda paled and held a hand up to her forehead. "I could have died."

The Captain nodded solemnly, his fingers coming to his lips. "Yes, you could have." He pushed himself up then, "So let's go back to Oz and—"

"No. We are not going back."

Captain Ori looked upset. "We have to get him—"

"The only reason that you want to return is to have this man and Morrible hanged."

"We have to return for a trial." He said through gritted teeth. "We need to know what they were planning after killing you."

"So you can have them hanged, or tortured?"

His eyes narrowed, "They wanted you dead and you want to keep going on your little trip instead of returning and getting to the bottom of this?"

Glinda glanced at Boq—Nick, "This man claims to have wanted to help me, he claims he is an old acquaintance of mine and if that is true I will not have him harmed."

"He would have harmed you." He growled, matter-of-factly.

"If he is who he claims he is, he would never have."

The Captain glared at her as if she had lost her mind, "You are actually going to defend someone who was probably trying to kill you?"

She shrugged lightly, "I will think the best of him until I am proven otherwise. I don't know if he was trying to kill me or if it was just a coincidence that I found him. I will not have him harmed any further because of you."

"So I'm the bad one here? Because I want to—"

"Kill him?" She finished for him. "Because that's all you do, kill people."

The Captain stared at her. "I'm the Captain of the Gale Force."

"So was Fiyero. And you killed him."

"We're back to that? I had a job to do, orders to complete. We needed information on the Witches whereabouts and—"

"Torture and murder gave you no information at all. Did it?" She snapped, feeling her anger at him return.

His nose flared. "I had a job. The same as you. It was a part of my job to get information any means necessary."

"He was your friend!" She cried out in anger.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "He was engaged to you too, that didn't stop him from committing treason. I had a reason."

"Yes," She nodded furiously, "and you killed him."

"If it helps in anyway my dear lady, I left him there, I did not finish the job."

Glinda's eyes started to water. "You let him die alone?"

"The exact same thing you tried to do to me." He retorted.

She shook her head, "That's different."

"Yes it is," He agreed wholeheartedly. "because mine was an order and yours was just revenge."

She crossed her arms, "I never asked you to tag along, I didn't want you to come at all."

"But I had to, it's my job and…" He paused and looked at her with a strange expression. "I couldn't stand the way you looked at me—look at me—with hate, like I am the worst thing to ever live. I hate it."

She giggled without humor, "It might be because I reacted to you with hate instead of being inconsolable and miserable from the way you murdered the love of my life. I'm sure you would have relished my tears."

His eyes grew into furious slits, slightly frightening Glinda, "What—the—hell are you talking about? Do you hear yourself talk? You don't know anything about me, you don't even know my damn first name!"

She shrugged."And it doesn't matter to me at all."

She watched him open his mouth and shut it firmly, nodding and crossing his arms. "You want me gone, that's fine. We will return to Oz and then you can decide what you want with this man. If you want to let Morrible go free as well you are free to do so. I will return my uniform because when we touch Ozian land, I quit. We are even now."

She stared at him, wondering what he meant by that. "Even?"

"You couldn't forgive me for what I did….and I will never forgive you for you leaving me behind."

"I will not apologize for doing what's best for you." She bristled, looking away from him.

He laughed darkly, "What's best for me? Leaving me in an infirmary room, far away from my country, is what's best for me?"

"And what would you have had me do?" Again her eyes were on him. "Take an injured man in my carriage—a man who is slowly dying may I add—and have you die on the road when you were in better hands?"

She did not fail to see the way his face lost its color.

"Dying?" He muttered with confusion.

He didn't know. He just thought she left him behind when he was injured. He didn't know he was really dying.

"The Doctor said you were dying slowly, but he didn't know why." She confessed and the Captain looked to her with frightened eyes. She had never seen him that way before. He looked like a terrified little puppy and it worried Glinda.

The Captain seemed to scramble to find words to say, "We have to turn back now. We have to return to Oz if that is true."

"I'm not turning back now." She was too far into the land to go back. She had found nothing that pointed to her friend being alive or dead; she was not leaving yet—no matter what.

The Captain looked at her again, "What are you even doing here? I see no point in being all the way over here. If it was because Morrible threatened you, it's clear that it's far safer at home if she—"

"I said we are not returning." Glinda said firmly.

"If we don't return you cannot get medical help for that man in your carriage."

Her forehead creased, "He wouldn't need medical help if you hadn't nearly killed him."

He looked at her with wide eyes, "Did you expect me to let him do what he wanted with you?"

"He would not have hurt me if he is who he says."

"And what if he isn't?"

"It will not change my mind about returning. I'll find someway to heal him and I'll keep him cuffed. I am going to continue north." She told him with a forced smile.

"And my life matters so little to you?"

She kept the same smile on her face as she replied, "You could have died for all I cared."

That made him quiet. The Captain was glaring at the floor before he fumbled with a pin on his shirt. Dropping it to the ground in front of her and turning away. "I quit." He spat harshly, marching off to untie his horse.

She wanted to roll her eyes but didn't, "You are dying— you aren't going to make it back halfway in the impassable desert let alone into Oz."

"I have to try."

"You'll just kill yourself faster."

"I'll find a way back, I'll find a guide and hire him. I will not die here away from my daughter!"

That made Glinda snap her attention back to him in surprise. "You have a daughter?"

He didn't reply, he merely continued to untie his horse from the carriage. Glinda could not let him leave now, especially if he had a daughter.

"You wont make it Captain."

"I am not a Captain anymore." He replied, twisting the rope in his hand to tie it to the horse's saddle.

"You wont survive the trip back, just continue on with me. I can find a way to heal you." She tried to convince him, but her ex-Captain did not dignify her with a response. Instead he grabbed onto his horse and took deep breaths.

Glinda knew something was wrong instantly. The way he leaned onto the horse for support and the way his breaths became quicker.

"Ori?" She asked in worry. He lifted his head an inch to acknowledge her before he slumped forward, sliding off the horse who got scared and fled.

Glinda sighed, all she ever wanted was to find Elphaba.

Well, now you know what happened to her driver!

Thank you all for still reading and for reviewing!