She had no idea what possessed her to do it. She'd never even thought about spitting on someone before. Come to think of it, she couldn't remember ever spitting at all. There were certain things proper young ladies didn't do and spitting pretty much topped the list. It was vile and vulgar and better left to those who didn't know better.

But there was something about Eadlyn. Something that made the proper young lady fly right out the window. Something that told her spitting in his face would show him just how much she despised him.

Of course she regretted it the minute his hand slammed into her face, knocking her off her feet. Pain erupted through her senses, making her ears ring to the point that his "You're going to pay for that!" barely registered.

"I don't think so."

She closed her eyes, telling herself now was hardly the time for one of the fantasies she'd been having about Elphaba. Her lover wasn't going to come to her rescue. She just needed to accept that and find some way to defend herself before Eadlyn laid a hand on her again.

"Agito!"

Her heart skipped a beat when Eadlyn fell on his backside. That had never happened before.

"What the..."

Eadlyn's grin made her skin crawl.

"Come to save the day huh? Well the more the merrier I always say."

And then it happened... Elphaba stepped in front of her. A very real, very alive Elphaba.

"You're not going to lay another finger on her."

"We'll see about that."

"Elphie?" Glinda finally found her voice as she started to get up.

Elphaba risked a glance at her lover, relieved to see her moving around, before returning her attention to Eadlyn. "I wouldn't come any closer if I were you."

"Why not? Are you going to knock me on my ass again?"

"Maybe."

"Oh." Eadlyn raised his hands in a 'don't hurt me' gesture. "Now I'm scared."

"Elphie!" Glinda latched onto her lover, ignoring the brute before them as she pulled her into a bone crushing hug. "Oh Elphie!" Tears of joy ran down her cheeks. "I thought..." She swallowed, trying to get her emotions under control. "I thought he..." She pressed herself against the other woman again, wanting to be as close as she possibly could. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"She should have been dead." Eadlyn growled. "But this makes it more interesting, doesn't it? Now we can fight to see who gets the fair maiden." He eyed Glinda appreciatively. "To the victor goes the spoils."

Elphaba put a protective arm around the blonde, wanting nothing more than to hold her close but knowing she needed to keep an eye on Eadlyn. "I already told you you're never going to touch her again."

"I'll do more than touch her." He smiled. "She's going to know what it's like to be with a real man when I get done with her. Maybe I'll let you watch once before I kill you. That way you can learn something."

"Shut up!" Glinda yelled at him.

"I can't blame you and that sister of yours for falling for her and Addy. Who knew Upland women were so fiery?"

Elphaba glared at him. "You were told not to call Addena that."

"Yes I was." There was that annoyingly cocky smile again. "By your sister."

Glinda furrowed her brow when she felt the green woman tense. "Elphie?"

"What's her name again? Oh yes..." He paused for dramatic effect. "Breena."

"Don't say her name." Elphaba spoke through clinched teeth.

"Poor little Breena." Eadlyn continued as if she hadn't spoken at all. "So heart broken over my engagement to Addy. I could have her brought up on charges for stealing one of my horses." He met Elphaba's gaze. "That is if she made it out of the camp alive."

Glinda's blood ran cold at the idea of anything happening to Bree. And from the way Elphaba was reacting to Eadlyn's taunting, something obviously had.

"You know, I have to say, I wasn't overly impressed with her. For being a witch and all she was pretty easy to handle."

"You bound her powers!" Elphaba spat.

Eadlyn chuckled. "That was her excuse. But what's yours?" He gestured with his hand. "I mean, you've been here for how long now and all you've managed to do is knock me down and talk my ear off. I guess you girls aren't as powerful as everyone seems to think."

Elphaba managed a dark, "I'll show you power," before saying, "Conicio!"

Under different circumstances the look of utter shock on Eadlyn's face as he flew across the cave and slammed into the far wall might have been funny. And it wasn't like he didn't deserve to feel a little pain after everything he'd done. But Glinda knew Elphie better than anyone and that spell wasn't meant to just hurt him.

"Elphie?" She tightened her grip on her lover as she started toward him again.

The sound of her voice seemed to bring Elphaba back to herself. She looked down at the blonde with concerned brown eyes. "Are you all right?" She did a quick inspection of the blonde. "Did he hurt you?"

"No." Glinda was quick to reassure her. She had never seen the woman quite so angry before.

Elphaba took in what she was wearing. "What happened to your clothes?" Her expression hardened again. "Did he..."

"No!" Glinda cut her off before she could finish, keeping the fact that he had tried to herself. "We got caught in the storms and my clothes were soaked. Mason gave me these to change into."

"Mason?" Elphaba looked around suspiciously.

"He's not a threat. He's been helping me." She was looked to where he'd been laying, shocked to see he wasn't there.

"What?" Elphaba reacted to her expression. "What's wrong?"

"He's gone." She pointed to where he had been just a minute ago. "But I don't see how. Eadlyn cracked him over the head with a bottle."

"Maybe he had a harder head than you gave him credit for and I probably scared him away when I made my appearance."

"It was pretty impressive." Glinda looked up at her. "Elphie! You're bleeding!"

Elphaba winced as her dainty hand made contact with a cut over her left eye. "I'm fine."

"You're bleeding." Glinda repeated, trying to get a closer look. "What happened?"

"I took a little spill." Elphaba gently caressed her bruised cheek. "Does it hurt?"

Glinda leaned into her hand. "Not now that you're here."

"You two are sickening." Eadlyn groused as he climbed to his feet.

"And you're a bastard. Vexo!" Elphaba gestured with her hand, knocking him into the wall again.

"Elphie..."

"Agito!" She barely gave him a chance to bounce off the wall before slamming him into it again. "I was a little out of it before. Let me show you how powerful I really am. Conicio!"

Glinda said, "Elphie stop!" at the same time, hitting the hand she was using to cast so the spell didn't hit Eadlyn full force.

Elphaba frowned. "What are you doing?"

"I know hurting him seems like the thing to do right now, but it's not." Glinda tried to reason with her.

"Yeah Elphaba." Eadlyn half groaned as he somehow managed to stand up.

Glinda glared at him. "You stay out of this."

"But I'm the one..."

"She told you to shut up!" Elphaba threw him back into the wall without saying anything.

"Elphie, please!"

"He deserves everything he gets for what he's done."

"I agree that he deserves to be punished but... Elphie." She put her hands on her lover's cheeks, dragging her gaze away from a groaning Eadlyn. "Killing him isn't going to solve anything." She moved one hand to run it through raven locks. "Please don't do something you'll regret later."

"I wouldn't regret it." Elphaba snarled.

"Yes you would, sweetie." Glinda contradicted her. "Don't you remember how riddled with guilt Breena was after she killed that lieutenant?"

"Breena killed a man?" Eadlyn half chuckled as he rolled onto his back. "I didn't think she had it in her."

"I told you not to talk about my sister!"

"Elphie!" Glinda put herself between the woman she loved and Eadlyn before she could do anything else to him.

"Move Glinda."

She shook her head. "No."

"Move!"

"I can't do that!" Glinda yelled back at her. "I won't stand here and watch you kill him! Elphie, please." Her blue eyes filled with tears. "Stop." She pleaded with her. "For me."

"Nobody move!"

They both jumped as a new voice rang through the cave. Elphaba instinctively pushed Glinda behind her as a group of men came running in from outside.

"I'm placing you all under arrest in the name of the Wizard!"

"Cade?" Glinda peeked around Elphaba.

"Elphaba. Glinda." The captain visibly relaxed when he saw the two of them. "Thank Oz you're both safe." He tensed again when he saw Glinda's appearance and the blood on Elphaba's brow. "You are safe?"

"I'm the one you should be worried about." Eadlyn spoke up from his place on the ground. "I want the Witch arrested for attacking me."

"I'll..." Elphaba started to say something but bit her tongue when Glinda gave her hand a squeeze. "Leave him to you now that you're here."

"Secure him." Cade gestured for a several of them to go to Eadlyn before returning his attention to the girls. "Are you two all right?"

"We're fine." Glinda assured him as she put her arms around Elphaba again, the tension draining from her body when she felt her lover returning the embrace.

"I'm sorry Glinda." Elphaba buried her cheek in blonde curls. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Glinda sighed contentedly. "You can make it up to me later."

Cade felt like he was intruding on a private moment as he watched them. "You're sure you're both all right?"

"Like I said, she's the one who attacked me." Eadlyn complained as he was dragged to his feet. He tried to pull free once he was on his feet but the guards wouldn't let go. "What are you doing?"

"Arresting you." Cade answered.

"For what?" Eadlyn frowned.

"You're kidding right?" Glinda looked at him in disbelief.

"What have I done?" He pushed the issue.

"I think the question should be what haven't you done?" Elphaba's voice didn't have its angry edge anymore.

"Doesn't anyone remember what I did the last time you tried to arrest me?" Eadlyn grinned at Glinda. "I know you do."

Glinda pulled Elphie closer. "Shut your mouth."

"I would take her advise." Cade warned him.

"And if I don't?" Eadlyn challenged.

"Let me make something perfectly clear." Cade spoke as he walked over to him. "I might not have been there when you massacred my men and shot Fiyero, but I'm here now." He put himself toe to toe with the man. "And it's not going to happen again."

Eadlyn looked down at the shorter man. "Are you supposed to be intimidating?"

"You want intimidating?" Cade doubled his right hand into a fist. "Try this on for size." With that he delivered a perfect upper cut to Eadlyn's jaw.

For his part Eadlyn didn't make a sound as his eyes rolled back in his head and he sagged into the grip of the guards holding him.

Another guard stepped up next to Cade. "What would you like for us to do with him sir?"

"Put him in the arm and leg irons we brought and throw him over one of the extra horses." Cade ordered. "And don't worry about making him comfortable."

The corner of the man's mouth turned up as he nodded. "You heard the captain." He spoke to the other guards. "Let's get moving."

Glinda grinned as Cade made his way over to them, moving so that she stood next to Elphaba with one arm around the woman's waist and one of Elphie's arms around her shoulders. "Very nice."

"I don't usually lose my temper like that but he really got under my skin."

"He had that effect on a lot of people." Elphaba commented.

"It is so good to see the two of you together again." Cade gave a half shake of his head. "You both had us pretty worried." He noticed the look Elphaba gave him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to speak out of turn."

"About what?" Glinda looked between the two of them. "What's he talking about Elphie?"

"Everyone at the house was understandably worried about you when you were kidnapped." Elphaba tried to make it sound like the most obvious thing in the world.

"But he said we both had them worried." Glinda wasn't about to give up. "Elphie?"

"I..." Elphaba tried to come up with a quick explanation but just didn't have the energy. "Let's just say that tree branch and I didn't get along very well and leave it at that."

"Let's not." Glinda disagreed. "How badly was she hurt Cade?"

"Oh, uh..." The captain wasn't expecting the question.

"I was unconscious for a little while, Glinda, that's all."

"That's all?" Glinda's voice dripped with disbelief.

Elphaba tightened her grip on the blonde. "I'm fine now."

"That's not the point." Glinda blinked back tears. "You needed me and I wasn't there. You were hurt and I wasn't there to take care of you." She buried her head against a green shoulder.

"You were scared and alone. You needed me too and I wasn't here."

"Because you were hurt." Her voice was muffled. "He kept saying you were dead."

"Well he was wrong." Elphaba rubbed her back. "And I'm here now."

"Speaking of which, how did you get here?" Cade asked, trying to change the subject. "We were on our way back to the house for dry clothes when one of the men noticed Eadlyn's horse milling around outside." He shrugged. "It made sense to check out the caves."

"Yackle must have known something was going on because she sent Maeve with the Grimmerie."

"She did?" Glinda pulled back to look at her.

"Yes." Elphaba nodded. "And I'm glad she did. Bree and I used a locator spell to find you."

Glinda breathed a sigh of relief. "So Bree is OK?" Her heart sank when Elphaba didn't answer right away. "Elphie?"

"I'm not sure." Elphaba's voice was barely audible. "She was hurt at the camp. The wound got infected and she had a really high fever."

Glinda gripped her arm. "But she can't heal sicknesses."

"I know." Elphaba swallowed hard. "She was doing a lot better when we found the locator spell."

"Thank Oz." Cade blanched when he realized he's spoken out loud. "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"If she's doing better why are you so upset?" Glinda asked her lover.

"Because I had a vision of Eadlyn hurting you." Elphaba hung her head. "Right after I cast the locator spell. He was... You were..." Tears filled her eyes. "I had to get to you."

"What happened?" Glinda moved her head until she met the brown eyes she adored. "Elphie, what happened?"

"Bree suggested we use the transportation spell we learned from Yackle just before we left Munchkinland. But she was still weak and feverish and Addena told her no magic so I told her no too. But she kept saying it was the only way and I really had to get to you so I..." Elphaba clinched her jaw. "I let her help me cast the spell to get here and I don't know what it did to her." A tear made it's way down her cheek. "What if it brought her fever back? What if..." Her breath caught in her throat. "What if I lose her?"

Glinda pulled her into a hug. "You're not going to lose her. She's probably at the house right now, wondering what's going on with us."

"I hope you're right." Elphaba sniffled.

"There's only one way to find out." Cade spoke up again. "The house isn't far from here. Even with the rain we could be there in under an hour."

"Really?" Glinda was amazed she had been so close to home all along.

Cade nodded. "So if you're willing to get a little wet we can be there soon."

"We're willing. Right Elphie?" Glinda rubbed her lover's back.

Elphaba answered by nodding.

"Oh, I almost forgot. There was someone else here with us." Glinda looked at Cade. "His name is Mason, but he was trying to help me get away from Eadlyn."

Cade nodded. "I'll leave some men to search the caves. If he's here, we'll find him." He raised a hand before she could say anything. "And I'll leave orders that he's not to be harmed in any way."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Just give me a second and we'll be on our way." Cade walked over to his men.

"Everything's going to be all right, Elphie." Glinda hugged her again. "Breena is going to be fine."

Elphaba held her close, glad to have her in her arms again. But she couldn't help but wonder what price her sister might have paid for her to get her lover back.