A/N - I know - I'm sorry it's taken me this long to update. It's been crazy and I've finally gotten my next chapter done. To be honest, I had to split my next chapter into two chapters as it got so big. Thank you for your patience, my faithful readers.

So, without further ado...

Disclaimer: To quote the author/authoress "The Pixess": "This is a FANFICTION site! Why would I own anything here?"


The day after the "raid" on the warehouse, Glinda transported all of the materials for the Gilkin irrigation project to the project site. On Michael's urging, she decided to make it a grand affair, inviting reporters, workers, and townspeople to the site. Even Governor Dawson was there when she arrived. Fiona also decided to go with Glinda - if anything, she would keep watch.

The crowd cheered when the materials arrived and Glinda was inundated with questions from reporters:

"Your Goodness, what were the reasons for the delays?"

"Is it true that these materials were found in an illegal warehouse?"

"Do you suspect underhanded dealings going on in Oz?"

"How badly will this delay the project?"

She silenced the crowd and spoke: "My dear friends, the government of Oz and the people of the Gilkins have enjoyed a long had a favorable relationship. It is a relationship we are proud of and today we take a step forward in confirming that relationship. This project, designed to route waters from the Kabumpo River to the farmlands, shows the commitment of all Ozians that we can work together for the common good. However, there are those in Oz who seek to undermine our relationship and work for their own personal gain. There is a rumor going around that these materials for this project were stolen from the Emerald Palace and stored in a secret warehouse. I can confirm that these rumors are true."

The crowd murmured at Glinda's last statement. She continued: "Please be assured that the Emerald Palace and Gale Force will be conducting a thorough investigation into the affair. However, today, let us celebrate together as we can now complete this project for the good of all in the Gilkins."

The crowd cheered at the end of Glinda's speech. The Governor then got up and silenced the crowd. "Good people of the Gilkins, as you can imagine, I was as shocked to hear what Her Goodness has just told us as much as you were. The government of the Gilkins will work with the Emerald City to investigate these allegations. Your Goodness," he continued facing Glinda directly, "you have our full support in this matter. We are honored that you would visit us today and bring good news to our people. Thank you for your support of our endeavors as we finish our irrigation project."

Turning back to the crowd, he said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, let's hear it for Her Goodness Miss Glinda!"

The crowd erupted in cheers once again and even started chanting Glinda's name. Glinda shook hands with Governor Dawson and waived to the crowd as the photographers snapped pictures. She spent the next half-hour answering reporter's questions about the "warehouse affair".

After the questions were answered and the materials delivered to the work site, Glinda met up with Fiona who had just pulled out her phone to tell Michael what happened. Glinda asked Fiona, "What's going on?"

"Oh, I was about to call Michael and let him know how it went today."

Glinda pointed to the phone in Fiona's hand. "Using that thing?"

Fiona nodded. Glinda was curious on how the device worked. She asked Fiona, "How does it work?"

Fiona then had an idea. "Here...take my phone," she said as she handed the phone to Glinda. "What you do is push this button to get the menu…then go to 'phonebook'…move this down to 'Michael'…then press the green button to call."

Michael was in his guest suite looked at his phone as it rang. "Fi, how did it go?"

Glinda smiled as she answered, "It went very well, thank you very much."

Michael smiled as he realized it wasn't Fiona. "Miss Glinda, I take it by the tone of your voice that everybody was happy to see you."

Glinda nodded enthusiastically. Fiona smiled and said, "Uh, Michael can only hear your voice on the phone; he can't see you nod."

"Oh," Glinda said blushing a little. "Yes, Michael, the event was a huge success. There were lots of people there and a great amount of reporters asking questions. I have a feeling we may see the news reports of the warehouse show up on the front pages tomorrow."

Michael smiled. "Good."


Sure enough, Michael smiled as he looked at the headlines on the Ozian Times the next morning:

Gilkin Irrigation Project Finally Going Ahead
"Project Should Be Complete before Next Season" – Governor Dawson

Illegal Warehouse Found: Stolen Irrigation Materials Recovered
Emerald Palace to Launch Full Investigation

Sam walked over to Michael. "Well, Mike, it looks like Glinda made quite the splash at her event yesterday. It's made quite the headlines in the local paper."

Michael smiled. "This is very good. This should rattle a few cages," he acknowledged. He then looked up at Sam – he was surprised to see him dressed in a suit and tie. "Do you have a date, Sam? Who's the poor Ozian woman who will be subjected to the charms of the one and only Sam Axe?"

Sam chuckled. "Well I hate to disappoint you buddy but I actually have a meeting with The Wizard. I got this note handed to me this morning."

Sam handed Michael a note with a handwritten message on it: Need your help. Meet me at the café. Michael smiled. "Uh oh…sounds like he needs Chuck Finley's help."

Sam put on his sunglasses. "…and Chuck Finley will only be too happy to help…for a 'small fee' of course."

"Of course."


Sam arrived at the café and found the Wizard sitting at a table with Governor Shaz and Pavel. Each of them seemed to be in a heated but hushed discussion. Sam walked up to the three men, saying, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

The men stopped their conversation and the Wizard gestured Sam to sit. "Not at all, Mr. Finley. We were discussing yesterday's events."

Sam decided to play dumb. "What events would those be? Don't tell me you lost money on your sports team."

"I wish it was that simple," the Wizard responded. He started to look anxious. "Apparently, one of my warehouses was discovered and raided two days ago."

"So that was your warehouse, was it? I read about that in this morning's paper," Sam said pretending to be surprised.

The Wizard nodded. "Indeed it was. Amongst other things, we had a number of different weapons stored there in case we needed to deal with Miss Glinda a little more harshly than anticipated."

This confirmed Sam's suspicions that an armed coup was part of the plan. The Wizard continued, "Last time we met, Mr. Finley, you said that if we needed something to contact you. You also mentioned, in our last conversation, that you were looking for sanctuary because of some 'gun running' – is that correct?"

Sam scoffed. "I prefer to use the term, 'armament augmentation'."

"Well, Mr. Finley, whatever you call it, we were wondering if you'd be willing to help us 'augment' our 'armaments'?"

Sam was about to reply, but Pavel interrupted them. "Wizard, with all due respect, we can surely get those guns back. It shouldn't be too difficult to do. I am, after all, the Head of Security."

The Wizard smiled at him. "Pavel, I appreciate your effort and what you're trying to do for our cause. However, it appears that our 'secret' plans are not so secret anymore. In light of this, I believe the best approach is to get our help from somebody not associated with Oz at all." The Wizard turned his attention back to Sam. "That is…if you can be trusted Mr. Finley. You are a guest of Miss Glinda."

Sam smiled as he had already anticipated that point being expressed. "As I told you earlier, Wizard, I am looking to work with the real ruler of Oz. The way I see it, that would be you. As far as Miss Glinda is concerned, she's busy preparing for the trial and any negotiations we started have been stopped. So, I am free to discuss whatever you'd like, Wonderful Wizard of Oz."

"Please, Mr. Finley, you flatter me too much."

Shaz then spoke. "I hate to interrupt this 'love fest', but we'd need to discuss our plans. Mr. Finley, what types of weapons can you provide?"

Sam reached into his jacket causing Pavel to reach for a pistol. Sam put his other hand up defensively. "Easy, easy…It's only 'show and tell'."

Sam secretly pulled out a Smith and Wesson 4003 pistol and handed to Shaz. The Governor examined the gun like it was a fine piece of artwork. "Amazing…I've never seen this before," he commented on the weapon in his hands.

"This is a 40 caliber aluminum frame semi-automatic pistol," Sam replied as he took the gun from Shaz's hands and pulled out the magazine. "Capable of firing eleven shots before you need to replace the magazine."

"Semi-automatic?" Pavel asked nervously.

"Yep, once you pop off a round with this baby, the slide mechanism kicks out the shell and then loads a new bullet into the chamber."

The Wizard was impressed. "Impressive. Much more advanced than our weapons, eh Pavel?" he asked the Head Guard who just blanched.

The Wizard turned his attention back to Sam. "Can you get us a number of these?"

Sam nodded, adding, "That and the ammunition to boot. How many do you need?"

The Wizard smiled. "We'll need enough for about fifty guards, plus us at the table."

Thanks for the tipoff, Sam thought. He then asked, "How soon do you need them?"

The Wizard leaned forward to Sam and whispered, "As soon as you can."

"Why? What's the rush?"

"Let's just say it's an insurance policy."

Sam was intrigued. "Against what?"

"Mr. Finley, as much as this trial is focused on the Wicked Witch, my concern is that certain 'information' may end up coming out in trial. I am working very hard to make sure that doesn't happen; however, in case it does, we will need to be ready."

Sam placed the magazine back into the gun and put it away in his jacket. What the Wizard said made him feel uneasy.

The Wizard continued. "In return, we will pay you handsomely and provide you with the sanctuary you seek."

The Wizard extended his hand to Sam. "So, Mr. Finley, do we have a deal?"


While Sam was 'negotiating' with the Wizard, Fiyero and Chistery returned from Kiamo Ko. Fiyero had a satchel over his shoulder as he met up with Michael in his guest suite. "As you requested, here's everything I could get."

Michael took the satchel from Fiyero and took out the contents. Michael looked at each of the items: notebooks from university, old tests with very high scores, grade reports from Shiz ("She was a straight A student?" Michael asked, eliciting a nod from Fiyero), and letters from Shiz about Elphaba's "promising future" addressed to her father. Michael was puzzled. "These letters never got delivered to her family?"

Fiyero shook his head. "If you knew anything about Elphaba's relationship with her father, you'd know that he wouldn't care what that letter said."

Michael knew that feeling all too well – Fiyero's comment brought back memories of the indifference on his father's face whenever he'd bring home a glowing report card home.

It was ironic, really, when Michael thought about it: both he and Elphaba didn't have a father figure to speak of, they both tried growing up on their own as best they could, they were both "burned" for things they didn't do, and they're both using their skills to help those who need it. It was almost like Elphaba was an Ozian version of himself.

"Hey, Mr. Westen, are you ok?" Fiyero asked knocking Michael out of his thoughts.

"Uh, yeah…sorry."

Michael also found a train ticket from Shiz University to the Emerald City as well as the letter from the Wizard. "I assume these are from when she went to the Emerald City and all hell broke loose?"

Fiyero nodded sadly. "Worst day of her life…mine too as a matter of fact."

Michael put everything down on the table and turned his attention to the scarecrow. "Talk to me about it."

Fiyero sat down and started to recount his story: "I remember that day well. She left the train station with hope – perhaps finally she'd be accepted for who she was and wouldn't be judged by her skin color. The next day, however, all the newspapers broke the story about a new enemy of Oz – a green witch – the Wicked Witch. Since there's only one green woman in all of Oz, they had to be talking about Fae. I remember reading the paper and shaking my head – I couldn't believe it – it didn't make sense. I mean, Elphaba was more concerned about helping others, especially the Animals. I couldn't believe the stories that said she would be a threat to the country."

"Did you say anything to anybody?"

Fiyero shook his head. "How could I? Most of the students at Shiz were afraid of Elphaba when she first arrived at Shiz – they were terrified of her after the story broke. I didn't think they'd listen to me if I tried telling them that Fae was not wicked. I couldn't even talk to Nessa, her sister – she locked herself in her room that day and wouldn't talk to anybody."

"That must have been hard on Nessa."

"She quit school and left Shiz not too long after that and went back home. I think it was too much to stay around school and be known as the 'Sister of the Wicked Witch'." Fiyero shook his head at the memory of it all.

Michael then asked, "You said it was the worst day of your life too. Why is that?"

Fiyero sighed. "One day at school, before her trip to the City, a man brought small lion cub in a cage into class, telling us that keeping it caged was for the Animal's own good. Well, Fae felt strongly against keeping Animals in cages so we rescued it to release it back to the wild. It was that day when I was with her I felt something I hadn't felt before…I felt real. Elphaba was the first person to see past any false pretenses or facades I had. I felt like I could be myself in front of her instead of what everybody expected of me. The thing is, I didn't realize it until the day she left to meet the Wizard. After her meeting with the Wizard turned bad, I thought we'd never see each other again." He chuckled as he mused at the memories. "Here I was, somebody whose sole purpose was to 'dance through life', and because of her, I now have a real purpose."

"And what's that?"

Fiyero smiled. "When we first met, Fae was very cynical, confrontational, headstrong and kept her heart very guarded – there was no way she would let anybody get to know her. Since we've been together, we've talked about a lot of things, shared things in our past and opened our hearts to each other. It was pretty scary to start with, but it got a lot of old hurts out and helped us put down a lot of baggage. Most importantly, it's helped us heal. You ask me what my purpose is? It is to help that wonderful woman see how wonderful she really is…to see how beautiful she really is, even if the world cannot see it."


While Michael and Fiyero talked, Boq was in a carriage heading back to his home in Munchkinland. Last time he was on this road, he was leaving Munchkinland after Dorothy had left to go back to Kansas. While the carriage travelled down the Yellow Brick Road, he tried to sort out everything that was happening around him. He couldn't understand it: Glinda hired Michael and his friends to help them deal with the Wizard. Now, Michael was helping the most hated enemy of Oz: that Witch! It didn't make logical sense.

But that's not what bugged him the most: it was something else – something he couldn't put his finger on.

He pushed those thoughts aside as he neared Munchkinland, remaining focused on the task at hand. Still, he recalled the last time he was there…

Boq addressed the crowd of Witch Hunters: "And, this is more than just a service to the Wizard. I have a personal score to settle with Elph... with the witch! IT'S DUE TO HER I'M MADE OF TIN - HER SPELL MADE THIS OCCUR. SO FOR ONCE I'M GLAD I'M HEARTLESS - I'LL BE HEARTLESS KILLING HER!"

The crowd roared in their approval, chanting, "Kill the Witch! Kill the Witch!" When the Witch Hunters turned to leave, Boq noticed his Mother standing in the crowd staring at him. He walked over to her and she cupped his now tin face. "My son…what has happened to you?"

His expression turned cold. "Isn't it obvious? I'm tin for Oz sake!"

She shook her head with a tear falling from her face. "It's not just your skin that's changed… your heart that's gone cold."

Boq became angry. "That Witch stole my heart! I have no heart to become cold!" He pushed her hand away from his face and turned to join the Witch Hunters. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a score to settle…"

He hadn't ventured back since that day. The carriage pulled up in front of a house. Boq got out and said to the driver, "Pick me up in an hour."

The carriage driver nodded in acknowledgement and the rode off. Boq stood in front of the house: his family's house. He walked up to the front door and, after some hesitation, knocked. After a few seconds the door opened and an older woman stood in the doorway staring at the tinman. They stood in silence for a few seconds as they stared at one another not knowing what to do. Boq broke the silence: "Hi Mom."

They sat in the kitchen, his Mom making some tea. It was always a habit of hers to serve tea to her guests. Boq just smiled. "I don't think I'll be able to drink tea – it'll be bad for the complexion…you know, rusting and all."

She chuckled at his light hearted joke. Pouring a cup for herself, she sat down across from him. There was an awkward silence between them for a few seconds before she spoke. "How is the Emerald City?"

He nodded. "It's good. Things are good."

"I bet things are a little more interesting now, with the Witch and all."

Boq nodded.

More silence.

"Boq, why are you here?"

"I came for something – a picture. I wanted to remember what I looked like before…this," he said as he pointed towards his tin body.

His mother got up from the table and walked into the living room. Boq followed her as she grabbed a photo in a frame. She looked at the photo for a while – a look of remembering on her face. She then turned and handed it to Boq. He looked at the photo: a picture of him and his parents the day he graduated from Shiz. He stared at the picture: he was in the center, holding up his degree from Shiz University with a great big smile on his face - on either side of him stood his parents with smiles just as big. Boq shook his head as he remembered that day. "Happier times," he said with a slight chuckle in his voice.

His mother sighed and nodded. "It was...days full of hope, promise…what a long way we have come since then."

"Yeah," Boq breathed as he stared at the picture.

"You know, those Thropp girls have been nothing but bad luck! First it was when you lived with that poor excuse of a Governor…"

"Her name was Nessarose," Boq interrupted with a sharp bite.

"First it was when you lived with Nessarose," Mother restarted, emphasizing Nessa's name, "then it was when you went hunting for her sister. That night, when you left to get the Witch, you broke my heart. I realized then that my son had truly changed."

Boq nodded. He stared at the picture, reaching out to his image in the frame. He touched it as if he was searching for something. He then looked at his metal hand. Inside the pit of his hollow body he started to feel something he hadn't felt in a long time…

Anger.

He was taken out of his thoughts by the sound of horse steps – the carriage returned to pick him up. He pushed down his thoughts and turned to his mother. "I have to go."

She nodded and led him to the door. Before she opened it, she turned to him and faced him. "I want you to know something: no matter what you look like, or whatever your "skin" is made of, you are still my son and I will always love you."

She reached out and put her arms around Boq's tin body. It caught him off guard for a few seconds but he started to feel the warmth of his mother's embrace. He put his arms around her and held her for a few seconds. For the first time in a long time, he felt warm.

On the way back to the Emerald City, Boq stared at the picture. He knew what he had to do.


A/N - Elphaba's trial is coming up soon. I wonder what's going to happen when we get there? Hmm?

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