A/N: And now we return to our regularly scheduled broadcast…

I do not own a thing, save for one lousy copy of the DVD… *sniff*

"DIG!" She yelled to the three men who watched her anxiously as if she had gone absolutely bonkers.

Wyatt Cain was so surprised by her request that he did not realize she had the axe out of his hands until she had already wrested it away. DG was almost positive that he would not have ever let her near the weapon otherwise.

The words that flowed from her tongue smooth as honey and just as sweet, were familiar a familiar rhythm from her childhood stories with Popsicle. She did not know why, but everything about this icy wasteland called to her in a cacophony of voices that refused to be silent.

"Daughter of Light came upon a glistening white mountain. Frozen in time, in a sea of ice. Above all else she knew that this mountain was more than it appeared. It was Home!" Each word was punctuated by the axe as she broke away the ice that covered a set of elegant double doors.

Moving on instinct, she turned her tattooed palm to the door and was surprised to see it open when the sigil glowed like fire. She felt the warmth flow through her body as the now familiar light infused her in a protective shield. The looks on the faces of her companions was priceless. Even the not easily surprised Tin Man was noticeably in awe.

As they walked through the empty grand hallway, little flashes of memories flitted through her mind. There was nothing concrete for her to hold onto; just blips on a screen that moved to quickly for her to truly understand. She stopped in front of a portrait and froze.

"My mother was the Queen," It felt like a statement of fact, but DG did not know how she knew it was true.

The picture obviously indicated the truth along with shocking evidence that her first Ozian friend was not lying when he had told her he was the Government Advisor Numero One. She nearly laughed when Raw bowed to her and Glitch glared spitefully in Cain's direction. Not a convict indeed. She knew this man in some long concealed memories just as she knew the mother who had brought her into the world. It was more than just memories, but she still could not see.

"The Queen sat gazing hopefully out upon her frozen realm," The words kept flowing and DG was drawn away by impressions of where she should go. "Longing for her daughter to return."

She took off up the stairs searching for what, she did not know. But there was a definite sense of pervading grief in the final room she came to that Raw gently confirmed as DG fingered a familiar ermine robe. As the others wandered around the room, examining the furniture and decorations, DG sat down heavily on a cloth-covered stool in disappointment. Her mother had waited for her, but something had taken her away before DG could get there. Her heart felt like lead as her search proved to be fruitless.

Or not.

Despite Raw's protests that they leave the place of 'bad things' DG had to know. When he turned to Cain for support, she saw the resigned expression in Cain's eyes. Somehow, her Tin Man knew whatever it was and had kept it from her only to agree now that she needed the information. She hated seeing Raw in pain as he read her memories in the mirror, but she could not take her eyes away from the macabre scene.

"Azkadellia's my sister. She tried to kill me."

"No," Cain's voice cut through the fog of her disbelief. "She did kill you."

"But that can't be," As if expected to see herself suddenly wink out of existence, she examined her body for signs of death. Cain's heavy assurance gave her pause to consider what else he knew. What was she supposed to do with this new information?

She watched in horror as her mother cried over her body, apologizing for not protecting her. In the following silence, the flow of magic she saw escaping from her mother into her younger body made her wonder what exactly the Queen had given up to bring her back to life. She saw the whispered words, but could not hear them. The Emerald of the Eclipse? Why could she not remember?

"You're my sister!" It was an accusation, not a question. She still felt the haze of memories teasing just out of reach, and she was not going to mess around with her murder.

"DG, the little sister I thought I no longer had. I have always wondered what you would look like," Azkadellia mocked her as she pushed for information she insisted DG had. How many times could one person say they did not know something before they were finally believed?

DG had a feeling that Azkadellia – the Sorceress of Darkness, Village Raider, Brain Thief, and now apparently Sister Murderer – was not all that inclined to ever give up the notion. She could comfort herself knowing that she probably would not be killed a second time by her crazy older sister. At least not right away. Information she supposedly had was too priceless a commodity for a double homicide.

Even after the group's failed attempt to escape, DG remained stubbornly determined not to crack. Although, she was getting the feeling that Glitch's brain removal process might be in her own future if the witch could not get what she wanted using less invasive means.

Knowing the witch even as little as she did, invasive methods were her favorite.

"Welcome back, little sister. There is no place like the OZ."

If this was the welcoming committee, it was no wonder her mother sent her away.

Cain wanted to wipe that mocking smile right off Zero's face. Having no weapons obviously made that impossible at the moment, but he was working on a plan. He did not do spur of the moment attacks like DG was so fond of, but he could think on his feet. And while there was a breath in his body, his princess was not going to be taken captive by Azkadellia or any other bastard who decided to try.

He had not been shocked by what he saw in Raw's reading – not really. Even though the Royal family had concealed the exact cause of DG's death, he had at least known that she had died. It seemed that tragedy had struck the Royal family very close to home and the grief he felt on DG's behalf at her sister's betrayal was overwhelming. She had lost just as much if not more than he ever had. At least his family had been spared any more pain and suffering. DG still had to live with the fact that her sister was alive and the cause of her family's suffering. Her mother was in a place she could not reach, and she did not know if her father even survived Azkadellia's purge.

At least for Cain, he had a degree of closure and a chance to make peace with his ghosts. Eight annuals in a tin suit can do that even if it also hardens you. The only thing left for him was to kill Zero.

A goal that did not look like it was going to happen anymore.

The chase, the distraction, a hurried battle, an inevitable capture. Even a talented Tin Man was no match for three against one and Zero was enjoying his victory a little too much. Even getting in a low shot Zero's ego was not really helping him, but it did temporarily make him feel better.

Just as he was preparing to say his goodbyes and hoping that DG had gotten away, Zero dropped the dynamite.

"No iron suit this time. No wife and child crying for years to free you from it."

What? "My family is alive?"

"Hardly matters now."

Cain could not feel anything beyond the shock of knowing that he was getting the tables turned on him. This time, it was his family who would mourn his passing – if they ever found out he had survived the tin suit only to die at Zero's hands in a frozen wasteland. That was probably a big if.

There was nothing but cold, darkness, and pain before he lost consciousness and sank into the oblivion of the obscure, icy depths.

A/N: Okay, this is disjointed, because I am assuming in a crisis situation, there is not a lot of time to really flesh out whole thoughts. Everything is going to be flashing in quick succession and no one is going to have paragraphs running through their heads in any sort of logical order...it is called autopilot for a reason...everything in your body resorts to base instincts...

Now that the explanation is done, let me know what you think?