Disclaimer: Still waiting for the trap to work… I guess that means Tin Man isn't mine yet.
As soon as he opened the door the queen floated into the room, her violet eyes sweeping over him before resting on her daughter. Deeg had gone rigid. Her spine was straight as a board and her shoulders were stiff. If he hadn't seen the occasional flash of dizziness in her eyes he wouldn't have know the emerald was practically smashing its magic into her. Her blue eyes flickered to the relic in question before she faced her mother.
"Dorothy." The queen's voice was smooth as she stood in the middle of the room and watched her daughter. He had never experienced such a sense of dismissal in his life. Apparently he wasn't worth the queen's time. He felt a surge of anger but tamped it back afraid he would prolong this more than necessary. They needed to get the woman out of here as soon as possible or Deeg might collapse.
"Yes, Mother?" Her voice was polite and emotionless. He noticed her body weight shift and was almost afraid to know why she was easing into a fighting position. He wasn't sure what Deeg was picking up on but she wasn't even trying to act harmless as she usually did when her mother was present. Maybe it was the fact that she knew she couldn't blend into the wall or disappear behind someone that had her reacting the way she was.
"I'll be giving the emerald to Azkadilla before the mage comes."
"Ok." Deeg didn't sound surprised or bothered by this fact. In fact she seemed relieved by the information. "It'll help keep her safe."
Her mother nodded and walked to the window before turning her head slightly. "It will boost her magic levels." Unease swept through him. Her body language wasn't matching up with her words and he was reacting to it. He fought the urge to put his hand on his gun at the threat toward his girl. He knew how dangerous a mage could be, and while he seriously doubted the queen would harm Deeg with her magic his instincts were cracking at the thought.
Meanwhile the Kid's eyes never left the queens as she nodded hesitantly. "Yes, I know."
The queen was still as a statue as she spoke. "Your sister was quite upset before the mage attacked us in Central City. I have to say she hasn't calmed down since then."
He shut the door silently and waited as Deeg kept herself calm. He wanted to tell her she was being slowly backed into a corner, he'd interrogated enough people to know that much, but she seemed to be aware of the fact already. "She does seem to be in a temper."
The queen pressed her lips together. "At first I'll admit I was annoyed. After all I told you very specifically what was expected of you when I allowed you to come home." He frowned as the girl's eyes flickered. He had seen, even if the queen hadn't, the sadness in them. "Until I started listening to her."
"I'm sorry?" Deeg was trying to gain a grasp on where the conversation was heading.
"What did you tell your sister?" The queen pivoted slowly and took a step closer to her daughter. "Whatever it was wasn't what you told us." Purple eyes were trying to suck an answer out of her.
"I only told her I asked not to be sent away." She wasn't lying but she was holding something back. "I didn't tell her anything you didn't know." His jaw tightened as he pictured her 'asking' not to leave.
The queen moved closer as her eyes narrowed slightly. "Then I suppose the question is what didn't you tell her? Or us for that matter."
"What?" She had thrown a note of confusion into her voice but he could practically feel her trying to snap back into full focus. She knew she was in serious trouble and could barely keep herself standing, let alone weave her way out of this talk. It had more traps and pitfalls then she could deal with at the moment.
"Why can you sense the mage, Dorothy?" The queen's voice was suddenly as hard as ice as she advanced.
Deeg shook her head as she lied. "I don't know. I just can."
He knew the queen hadn't bought that for a second. Her voice whipped over her daughter. "You are lying to me again!" The Kid's mask cracked for a moment and he saw anger rising in her.
Suddenly her innocent demeanor vanished. Her eyes hardened and she gathered herself for a flat out assault. "And if I am?" He felt his eyes widen slightly. He hadn't expected her to start fighting. He had figured she would simply keep denying anything was wrong until her mother got frustrated and left. This woman had pushed her once too often. "What are you going to do?"
"You think I will tolerate this kind of behavior? Not only have you blatantly ignore my orders to keep yourself in line you've taken up with a man that is well below your social standing. Do not think I won't stand by my promise to you." Her mother had drawn herself up as anger flashed across her. He saw white magic start to spark around the queen of the Outer Zone.
Deeg lit up like a beacon as her temper snapped. Her shouting echoed around the room. "You can go to hell! All you've ever done is tolerate me! I was an afterthought! I will not allow you to threaten me or tell me what I can or cannot do with my life!"
"Dorothy Gale! You will show me the respect I deserve."
The Kid's magic began to fan off of her. It took all his self-control not to flee the room when every hair on his body began to stand on end from the amount of power she was letting out. "I refuse to pretend I have anything but contempt for you! If it hadn't been for me you would be dead! You have no idea what I have done to keep our family safe! You have showed no interest in my life unless it could help you! You want me gone? Fine! Once the mage is dead you wont see me again!"
Violet eyes went cold. "Clearly that would be best for everyone. If you wish to give your life up for no reason-" Her odd eyes flickered over him and he glared defiantly at her. "- then I see no reason to stop you." She turned to leave and Deeg threw a parting shot at her.
"Strong words for a woman that married a no account slipper, Mother." The Kid's face was radiating disdain.
The queen whirled around. "Your father has more than proven his worth."
He wrenched the door open for the monarch. "He's certainly done that well enough." He knew his eyes were ice cold as amethyst orbs really looked at him for the first time. She must have decided he wasn't worth speaking to and left, snapping the door closed behind her with her magic. He shook his wrist as he tried to get the slight pain of the handle being wrenched out of his hand to go away. "I see where you get that temper from."
Her magic vanished and she looked over at him, her eyes lost. It occurred to him that she had never expected to be allowed to stay no matter how hard she tried. That must have been why she had planned to slip over. After all, what would the point in staying really be? The only thing staying in the O.Z. would have accomplished was to remind her of what she wasn't allowed to have, of the family that didn't accept her, and every way she had never belonged.
"I'm sorry, Wyatt." Her voice was soft, a stark contrast to the levels he had just heard it at.
He flexed his fingers as he watched her. "What for?"
"You're not 'no reason'." There was shame in her eyes. "My mother has very poor concept of what worth is."
"I can tell that well enough by the way she talks to you." His protectiveness was out again and he could feel it growling.
Her lips twisted up in a grimace. "That's hardly an excuse to treat you that way. You deserve better than this."
He didn't like the way she had worded that at all. "It doesn't matter. In a few days we'll be able to leave."
Her eyes closed off and he felt fear seep into him as she cut herself off from her emotions again. "And what will you do? You have a son to take care of, Wyatt. My uncle is dead, or will be in two days." Sorrow was practically radiating off her. "You wont have a position with a dead man, and my parents are more than capable of keeping you out of work, especially in Central City. They know who you are."
"Don't start talkin' like that." He was desperate to stop her before she made it much further. "There are plenty of places outside the city that need Tin Men." He shrugged, unconcerned with the prospect of moving. "I wouldn't mind living in the country for a while and you have a pretty unique skill set yourself. It won't be hard to find work."
"And what? You'll pack up and leave all your friends just like that? Leave your home?" Her eyes wandered the room and he edged closer to her. "I never should have gotten you involved in this."
"In what? Your life?"
He was nearly close enough to touch her and her eyes came back to his. She gave him a strained smile. "I'm afraid my life is a bit too complicated. It might be time to simplify it."
In a flash he knew what she was about to do and grabbed her around the waist, yanking her against him. "Don't you dare!" She was going to teleport herself to the mage. He saw it in her eyes.
"Let go!" She twisted in his grasp.
"Not a chance, Deeg." He growled at her as he shoved them toward a wall. She was struggling a lot harder than she had yesterday and he needed to get control of the situation. "If you think I'm going to let you do something that suicidal you're out of your mind." She snarled at him and he barked at her as his temper got the best of him. "Stop it!"
Her eyes were flashing blue fire. "I'm not going to let you ruin your life for me!"
"I'm in love with you! How could you possibly ruin it?" She stopped struggling and stared at him in shock, breathing hard. Damn it. That hadn't come out the way he wanted at all. They stood there with her pressed between him and the wall staring at one another. He was afraid to move or let go of her. He was equally afraid of breaking the quiet. He didn't want to drive her away even more efficiently than he seemed to be. The silence stretched between them and he came to the conclusion that she wasn't going to say anything before he did.
Leaning down he rested his forehead on hers so she couldn't look away from him. "Let me be home for you, Darlin'." Her eyes shimmer slightly and he pressed on hoping to drive his point across. "I can give you that. We can be happy. But you can't go thinkin' that it's goin' to be easy all the time. Life is complicated. I don't mind that the complicated I chose happens to involve the queen and consort if I get you along with it."
"How do you manage to say the right thing all the time?" There was an edge of desperation in her voice. "Wyatt, I don't want to be the reason you might be unhappy later. I can't control my parents, I can't help that I'm a princess, I'm not even sure I can stop this mage. I know that life isn't easy but with me in the mix it's down right crazy. You could find someone else that wouldn't be half as much trouble as me." Her eyes dimmed at that statement.
"I'm not in love with 'someone that's half as much trouble as you'." He pointed out. "'Someone half as much trouble' didn't save my life from a demon or the mage's men. 'Someone half as much trouble' never interested me before, or got my son to accept them. If I'm goin' to have trouble I want the whole mess. That way I know I have to be on my toes all the time. Nothin' can catch me off guard."
Her lips twitched up into a small but genuine smile. "Lucky you then."
He smiled softly back at her and kissed her briefly. "So no doin' anything crazy?"
She sighed in defeat. "Not until he shows up here."
Internally he heaved a sigh of relief. Kissing her again he rumbled deep in his chest and felt her respond to him. Kissing his way across her jaw he found her lips once more before leaning back. "Are you still realin' from that gem?"
She brushed her fingers over his face. "Yeah. I should be ok in a little while."
He hummed and released her from the death grip he'd had on her. "Ok." He didn't want to try anything with her if there was a definite possibility of her falling over on him. "Why don't you call the Furball with that special pack link you share so we can play ruko? Do you have enough focus to do that?"
She smiled happily at the suggestion. "Yes. I'm going to beat you this time."
He chuckled and after nuzzling her neck for a moment he drew back and led her to the couch. He'd never been so pleased to see her smile before. He saw her close her eyes and figured she was calling her friend. When she opened her eyes he put his arm around her shoulder and glanced at the table in front of them. "Deeg?"
"Huh?"
"It's awfully hard to play without any cards."
Her laughter filled the room and she waved her hand. A small ball of light appeared over the table and after a brief moment a deck of cards appeared. "Better?"
He reached over and picked the cards up. Fanning them out he examined them critically. "I don't know. Did you tamper with 'em?"
She sent him a pathetically false look of hurt. "It pains me that you would think I would cheat so obviously."
He huffed at her. "So I should only worry about you cheating in non-obvious ways?"
"That's pretty much right." He rolled his eyes and tickled his fingers down her ribs. She squealed and smacked his hand away. He tossed the cards down and grinned. He was going to have fun teasing her until the Furball showed up.
Author Note: School = AHHHHHHH! Yup, that pretty much sums it up.
