AN:
Ok, guys. Please don't kill me for this chap (not even sure which aspect of it – pick one! :p )…
Also: There is a bit of a gap between the last scene in chapter 11 and the first scene here. There are some hints in this chap, but very little is actually said clearly. I hope that's not too confusing. If you have read chapter 11 of the Fiyero version at least the young Gale Force guy will make a tiny bit more sense (if you haven't: no, it's NOT Fiyero)
The companion chapter in the Fifi-version is: "Bullet to the Heart"
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kendall: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!
I've got good and bad news for you...
The bad one first: Each update is going to take exactly 1 week - since I update both versions of this story at the same time, this will be roughly about 7,000 words per update, so I write (on average) 1,000 words a day. Since I have a small child to look after and plenty of other things going on, I unfortunately don't have the time to do more at the moment. :(
The good news: Unless something really important comes up, or I get really sick, or I'm really, really stuck somewhere (which is highly unlikely since 98% of the story is all planned out and only has to be written properly) I really will update every week on Monday. No laziness, no lame excuses ;)
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Happy reading!
xoxo MLE
Chapter Thirteen: Of Kisses and Bleeding Hearts
Juggling several bags of groceries and medical supplies, Crom struggled to open the door. When he finally succeeded in fitting the key in the lock and kicked open the door, he made it exactly three steps into the room before the whole lot, along with his jaw, dropped right to the floor. His eyes were wide in shock and fixated on the bloodied bed.
"Elphaba?" he whispered, as he covered the short distance between the door and the bed.
Examining the sheets, he found that most of the stains were still fresh, but his green roommate was nowhere to be seen.
"Fae?" he asked a bit louder, frantically searching the small chamber for the evidently missing girl.
Everything looked just as he had left it, save for the bed and its former occupant, so he was almost convinced that she had not been forcefully taken by some kind of intruder. Almost.
Behind him the door swung open with a squeak and, grabbing the first thing his hands could find (which happened to be Elphaba's broom), he whirled around.
Elphaba paused and blinked at him for a brief moment before raising her hand and flicking her wrist. Her broom twisted and jiggled in Crom's tightly clenched fist until it could free itself and float towards its mistress.
"What were you doing with that?" she asked him, one eyebrow raised.
Ignoring her question, he stormed towards her and roughly grabbed her by the shoulders, making her cringe.
"Do you think that's funny? I was so scared and worried I almost wet my breeches!"
"You're hurting me," she replied coolly and after a brief moment of confusion, he let go of her and took a step back.
"I went to the bathroom," she explained, putting her trusted flying device aside and rubbing her now sore shoulders. "To clean up. The wounds opened up and I was bleeding like a pig."
She gave a brief nod towards the red stained bed and he finally understood.
"Oh. I thought that maybe the Gale Force found you or something," he mumbled, looking anywhere but her face.
"Yeah, right; because they would have left this place so quietly and without even touching anything in this room," she said half annoyed and half amused.
Shrugging his shoulders half-heartedly, he agreed with a somewhat sheepish expression on his face.
"That's what I thought, too, but you know…"
"You're worried about Ta?"
A growling sound came from the depth of his throat, followed by an unintelligible string of colourful curses.
"That stinking Rat. If he ever crosses my path again I'll flay him! I would not be surprised if the Wizard already knows where to find every single one of us. So yes, of course I'm worried about him."
While Crom gave vent to his anger over the alleged turncoat Rat, Elphaba made her way to the bag with medical supplies, carefully avoiding stepping on any of the groceries Crom had spilled all over the floor. After finding what she needed, she sat down on the bed.
"Turn around," she ordered before letting her (actually it was one of Crom's) bathrobe slip off her shoulders.
"So he really just left you there?"
Fiddling with a gauzed pad and some bandages between her teeth, she affirmed with a muffled 'uh-huh'.
"He told me that he'd get help, but neither he nor anyone else ever came back for me," she explained for the umpteenth time once she had finished fixing the bandage around her upper thigh.
"And then the little bastard disappeared form the face of the earth," Crom huffed. "Traitor scum."
"You don't know that," she reminded him. "We cannot be sure that he indeed sold out any of our secrets to the Wizard's men."
"No, but he is a defector either way. And you could have died because of him."
"But I didn't," she pointed out.
"Yeah.
"And I don't trust that Gale Force boy either."
"The one who got me out of there? His isn't really one of them. He's on our side."
Crom laughed at that.
"So it would seem," he conceded. "For now. But he practically is still a child and surely easily intimidated. If they ever find out that he is spying for the Resistance…
"Are you done, already?"
The young man whirled around impatiently, receiving death glares from Elphaba since she was, quite obviously, not done yet.
She quickly covered herself with the robe and, tapping her foot in exasperation, waited for him to turn away again. Only he did not.
"That old crone should have used a spell that lasts longer than just four days. At least you weren't moving while the magick kept you sleeping. Now that you're awake you won't hold still for longer than a minute – no wonder the wounds keep opening up again."
"No; what she should have done is use one of her magick cure-all salves and fix me up in a day or two," Elphaba declared.
Crom hopelessly shook his head at her.
"So you can jump right back on that broom of yours and be off again? Goodness knows your body needed the rest."
"And you, my friend, need to mind your own business," she snapped. "Now would you please turn back around, or better even, take a walk outside!"
Instead of walking away, he traversed the room, coming even closer.
"Well, I've got a better idea. How about I help you? You can't do that support dressing around your back all by yourself anyway, can you?"
"I'll be alright, thank you," she hissed.
"You let the craggy old bat help you, why not me?"
She glared at him, but did not want to say it out loud, feeling stupid for being so prude. Her only somewhat legit reason was her peculiar skin tone, which she knew Crom could barely care any less about.
"Is it because I'm a man? Well, you said that you're not a lady. We are companions, partners in crime. So what's the issue?"
Grudgingly, she slowly re-positioned herself so that she sat on the other side of the bed, her back facing him. Then, with a frustrated snort, she removed the fabric covering it.
Crom sat down behind her and began to cover the smaller wounds and scratches with plasters. Once he was done with that, he grabbed a particularly thick and elastic bandage and began to carefully, but firmly wrap it around her torso.
While he worked his way up from the bottom, she kept her stare fixed on the lamp on the small side table next to the bed. When he was almost finished, his cold hand more or less accidentally grazed her breasts as he looped the dressing around her and she drew a sharp breath, wiling herself not to jump up.
"You really could have died," he finally said when he grew tired of the uncomfortable silence between them.
"So could you," she replied.
"Exactly."
For the first time, Elphaba tilted and turned her head to look over her shoulder.
"So? What's your point?" she frowned.
"My point is that we should enjoy life more as long as we still can."
He began fixing her bandage with small, elastic clips as he spoke and the green woman replied with a deep harrumph.
"You were talking about him in your sleep, you know?" Crom said softly and leaned back.
For a second she was absolutely horrified at the idea and spun around to face her roommate. A few moments and a couple of anxious, shaky breaths later, she relaxed.
"You're lying."
"Yeah, maybe I am," he admitted nonchalantly. "Maybe I just wanted to get your attention."
She stared at him, her eyes narrow, but his eyes still twinkling mischievously.
"How was your relationship with him anyway? He's quite a handsome fella, isn't he?"
Her glare turned into a rather puzzled expression.
"I mean, have you ever-"
Elphaba's eyes widened.
"No!"
That made Crom almost fall off the bed laughing. Once he calmed down a little, he looked at her still appalled facial expression and fell into another fit of laughter.
"You're so sweet and innocent, Fae," he chuckled and she growled.
"My inexperience makes me neither sweet, nor innocent."
"Huh. So you really never...?"
"No, we haven't", she maintained, a little more calmly now. "I mean, we weren't even… He has always been Glinda's. He…" she swallowed a lump in her throat, "once told me he loved me. But as it happens, Glinda is my best and quite possibly only real friend and… Well, I'm not very good with all this friendship business, but I do know she means a lot to me. I love her. So, of course, I just couldn't, you know? And I'm not right for him anyway. I'm right for nobody," she added quietly.
Crom rolled his eyes as he shook his head.
"There, there. You see, now that's ridiculous."
"No, it's tr-" She heaved a deep, annoyed sigh and slid off the bed, slipping the bathrobe back on. "Why am I even talking to you about these things?"
"I'm just very persuasive and cunning," he smirked.
"No, you're like a male Glinda. Minus the fashion sense," she amended, casting him another glare.
Opening the closet, she selected one of her black frocks and got dressed, using the door to block the intrusive man's view.
Due to her stubbornness the healing process took a great deal longer than necessary, but thanks to Crom's relentless efforts not quite as long as it would have otherwise. After almost two months she was, as Yackle had put it at her last visit, 'as good as new'- except for the back, which was still sore and hurt whenever she tried lifting anything heavier than a sack of potatoes.
Crom woke in the middle of the night, the not so subtle light of the bedside lamp almost blinding his tired eyes. He blinked a couple of times, his gaze slowly focusing on the green girl sitting in his bed, reading a book. How typical.
"If you're not planning on sleeping anyway, you could at least have the decency to leave the bed to me while you get comfortable somewhere in front of the fireplace or at the damn table over there," he growled. "I've got an assignment tomorrow and I could swear my back hurts more than yours by now after spending the past two months sleeping on the floor so that you, missy, can nurse your injuries."
Elphaba did not even lift her gaze from the book and undeterredly continued reading until Crom huffed quietly and turned around, trying to sleep a few more hours.
Still reading, she finally raised her voice, only little above a whisper.
"There is enough space," she offered reluctantly. "In the bed, I mean. We're both rather on the lean side, so one bed would do for both of us."
He rolled over and studied her for a short while. With her face still hidden behind the book, it was impossible to guess her expression, but he knew that she would not propose anything that would make her uncomfortable. Well, somewhat maybe, but not overly so.
Even without taking her eyes off the book, she could tell when he slipped under the blanket beside her. She waited a little while longer until he seemed to have found a comfortable position and his movements seized, then turned off the light and stored away her novel under the pillow.
She had been right – they did both fit quite comfortably in the small single bed, however, not without their backs touching ever so slightly. She tried to inch away a little more, but when she threatened to roll out of the bed, she scooched back to her previous position. Lying like this, she could feel his steady breathing as his back pushed sometimes more and sometimes less into hers. It unnerved her.
"I had a dream," she confessed to the quiet room, not sure if she even cared whether he could still hear her or not. "That's why I was reading: to distract my mind."
"Did it work?" came his voice from the other side of the bed.
She stiffened for a moment, but then relaxed again.
"No."
"Was it a nightmare?"
"Not exactly. I dreamt of him kissing me."
Crom turned around, propped himself on his elbows and regarded her in the faint moonlight.
"Mourning opportunities wasted?" he asked gently.
"No. He actually did kiss me once. Or well, several times at one occasion, to be precise. I now wish he hadn't."
"Because it hurts even more?"
For a brief moment Elphaba contemplated snapping at him and rushing out of the door, but instead she nodded slightly.
"I can still taste him," she admitted candidly. "And I resent him for making me feel and act like a silly, little girl."
The man next to her chuckled quietly.
"You know, I might just have the cure for that."
It was meant as a joke, but when the expected protest and insults did not come, he considered kissing her in earnest.
He leaned closer, hovering over her while she, her breathing slightly shaky, continued staring straight ahead. When he lowered his head and his rough lips brushed her hot, flushed cheek, she bit her lower lip and closed her eyes.
He drew back a little and watched her reaction – or lack thereof. She still lay on her side, quite rigid, except for her chest, which was raising and falling more rapidly than usually. He decided to not push his luck any further.
"Good night," he murmured before rolling back onto his back.
Elphaba let out a long breath.
Of course, he had meant well, but if anything, his 'cure' had left her even more anxious and feeling terribly out of control. She felt a little as if both, Fiyero and Crom had, surely unintentionally, taken advantage of her and she wondered whether she could regain this control by taking matters into her own hands and doing this on her own terms for once.
She waited for his breathing to even out before turning around, pushing herself up and leaning over him, capturing his lips in a soft kiss.
His eyes fluttered open and she shrunk back. He did not say anything, however, and only turned around to continue his slumber.
Not certain whether her little experiment had had the desired effect, she fell back on her pillow and spent the rest of the night contemplating and trying to fall asleep.
The following morning both of them felt rather awkward around each other. Crom had had a decent amount of sleep, but the same could not be said for Elphaba. While he used the morning to pamper himself with a plentiful breakfast and to prepare for his assignment in the afternoon, she tried to catch up on some sleep. When all her attempts turned out to remain fruitless, she wordlessly changed into her day clothes and left the room.
She dawdled about in the city, wandering around aimlessly, yet always mindful of the time. It had been a while that she had last seen her blonde friend – not least due to the confinement and bed rest Yackle had imposed on her. But today she would not miss Her Goodness' public speech for anything.
Only she had to be extra careful, for according to some informants, the Wizard seemed to believe that the Wicked Witch might have died in the ruins of some sabotaged factory and perhaps, at least for the time being, it could prove useful to stay 'dead'.
Today's speech was to take place in the plaza that was situated right in front of the Emerald Palace. She was aware of the fact that this made it not all that easy to remain unseen, but that was not reason enough for her to pass up such an opportunity.
Already a crowd began accumulating and Elphaba worriedly scanned her surroundings for spots from where she would be able to see well enough, preferably without being seen herself. Unfortunately, the entire palace was girded by a wide strip that completely lacked any buildings of any sort.
In the end, she decided on plan B. She found herself a quiet alley where she shed her heavy, black coat and exchanged it for a lighter, long sleeved, beige tunic. Her hands she covered with matching gloves, her head and face with a scarf and a veil. Foreign folks visited the city all the time and given that the guards were on special alert to look out for a green witch in black robes, this attire would make her look far less conspicuous than her usual garb. To make assurance double sure, she resolved to remain in the shadows of the nearby trees where she would attract less attention.
The plaza was well-attended by now and Elphaba, who generally disliked crowds, for once was glad for it. Being able to blend in so easily, she felt safer amongst all those faces that would make hers stand out a little less.
Dead on time, music began to play and Glinda made her grand entrance, smiling kindly while hanging on Fiyero's arm, headed and followed by several Gale Forcers. Her dress was very sparkly and very emerald green. No surprises there.
From another direction, a carriage arrived and Madame Morrible's ugly face emerged from within. Some unimportant council member offered her his hand as she disembarked and lead her to the stage where the blonde was already waiting.
"Dear citizens of Oz," the fishwoman began. "Come fall, his Ozness; the Great, the Powerful, the Terrible and Wonderful Wizard of Oz will celebrate his twentieth year of reign. And of course all of you are invited to festivate with him!"
Naturally, the people broke into a hurricane of applause – after all, who did not like a good party?
Morrible smiled condescendingly and motioned for the crowd to quiet down again so she could continue.
"Throughout the entire season, there will be plenty of events and festivitations to commemorate the outstanding triumphs that have been achieved under his leadership."
More cheering followed, accompanied by a few scattered voices shouting slogans like "In every Animal there is a beast!", "Clean the city!" or "Animals should be seen, not heard."
"Please, dear people," Morrible spoke again, "Let us now welcome our sweet and beloved Glinda, the Good."
She clapped her hands graciously as she stepped back to make room for Glinda.
Elphaba let out a relieved sigh, glad that she no longer had to endure the sickly sweet and factitious voice of the Wizard's Press Secretary. For a moment her eyes shifted towards Fiyero, who stood in the background, somehow wearing what to her appeared to be a sullen look. She would have contemplated his discontent further, however, as soon as Glinda's light giggle echoed across the plaza, the blonde had her full attention.
"Thank you, Madame," she said and cleared her throat. "Fellow Ozians…"
Out of nowhere, a chill made Elphaba's body shiver. Heeding the strange, eerie feeling that took hold of her, she searched the area for anything that would be considered out of the ordinary. At first she could not find anything and considered the possibility that it was nothing but one of her bouts of paranoia, but then she spotted the dark figure with the feathered hat on one of the palace's balconies, aiming a rifle right at the blonde on the stage.
She cursed herself for not having her broom with her, but realistically there was no chance that she would have been able to fly all the way up to the balcony on time in any case.
"Watch out, behind you!" she yelled before she could even think twice about what she was doing.
Then everything went so fast: Glinda and everyone else onstage turned around, a loud bang echoed off the walls of the nearby buildings and a body dropped off the stage with a sickening thud.
For a clock-tick Elphaba's heart stopped completely. When it finally started up again, it beat so fast, she thought it might burst through her chest and she began cutting her way through the crowd and towards the stage, throwing all caution into the wind. Soon she realized, however, that the blonde woman still remained on the raised platform, sitting on the floor now, but seemingly unharmed. Her face was frozen in shock and her bewildered stare fixed to the lifeless body on the ground.
Elphaba followed her friend's gaze and bit her lower lip. There was blood, a lot of it. It was seeping through the Gale Force soldier's uniform, right where the heart was.
She looked up once more, yet it appeared like the shadowy figure had already fled.
AN:
OMO, I'm too nice to you guys! Not even a proper cliffy here :P ... Or maybe you would have preferred one? Let me know and you'll get one next time I have the chance ;)