A/N: This is the shortest chapter. After this there will be two more chapters till the finish. I hope everyone is well and still reading!

The warehouse was empty. In fact, it seemed just as Elphaba had left it, and when she stopped to listen, she was met with silence.

The air was heavy and dank. She cast her eyes around the room, but nothing moved. Her shoulders dropped as she wondered how they had ever lived here. The straw they slept on was still spread like dung on the ground and used water jars lined the walls. The memories which had been blown away by the outdoor air hung everywhere like familiar cobwebs, and she marvelled at the dismal building. She wouldn't be surprised if there were rats in here. There were probably all kinds of vermin, and this was the source of the scuffling sound she'd heard. Expelling a breath, she turned to leave.

But just then, something caught her eye from a corner in the back of the warehouse. The shadows shifted, and there was a cough. Elphaba froze.

"I confess, I didn't expect to see you here. But perhaps I shouldn't be surprised."

Tingling overtook Elphaba's body. She recognised that voice. Only it frightened her more than she would have imagined to hear it again. Her eyes were drawn to the source, where her father emerged from the shadows. He strolled towards her until they were only a few feet apart and stopped. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat, making a fist inside his left pocket. His mouth was tight, as though trying to appear bored, but his voice shook, belying the silky confidence of his words.

Instinctively, Elphaba opened her mouth to answer — he hated it when she didn't respond to him — but her words failed her. Breaking into a cold sweat, she braced herself for the blow, but it didn't come. Instead, he hummed.

"I'm looking for some Animals, not you. Where are they?" His eyes pierced into her.

"There aren't any Animals here." She gulped. Her voice sounded like rusty nails.

"Hmm. Pity. I was given every reason to suspect they would be." For a moment, his eyes flickered, breaking his stare.

Keep him talking. Elphaba didn't know where the instruction came from, but it couldn't have been clearer. "Oh?" she obeyed.

Frexspar scoffed, as if in disbelief. "You weren't aware? Then why are you here?" His voice was hard but laced with curiosity.

Lie.

"I'm… looking for water." She could have slapped herself. Her eyes had wandered over to the water jars against the wall, and it was the first thing that entered her head.

Frex's curiosity seemed to deepen as he followed her gaze. "From those jars? They're empty, Elphaba. Did you put them there?"

"No." She shivered to hear her name in his mouth.

"I see. Well, it's an interesting coincidence that there's ever been water here, since you had no reason to believe there would be." Frex tipped his head, his eyes brightening. "Perhaps Animals stole your water."

"I told you, it isn't my water."

"I beg to differ." He pursed his lips. "Now why don't we both dispense with the lies?"

"You've lied about something?" She couldn't believe she'd been bald-faced enough to ask.

A strange look hurried through his eyes, but it disappeared as soon as it had come. "I lied when I said I wasn't looking for you. I have been looking for you. Admittedly, not today. But since I've found you, you can tell me what you're really doing here."

"I-" Elphaba had never been able to hide from him. But if she answered him truthfully, she would be giving in. And she wasn't certain she was ready to be afraid of him again. A voice laughed in her head. You're already quaking in your boots. Lifting her chin, she tried a different tactic. "Why I'm here is no business of yours. Why are you here, Governor Thropp?"

He erupted in a deep laugh. "Governor Thropp? Not 'Father'?"

"…You'll never be my father again."

His face darkened, and at long last the blow came. Elphaba saw stars as his sharp slap resounded in the empty space. She'd forgotten how much his hand hurt.

He stepped back, staring at her as though he wanted to take her apart. "You'll always be my daughter. Never speak to me in that manner."

Elphaba's breath shuddered. But she knew what to say. "You're right. In some sense, you're still my father, and I'm still your daughter. But I never really knew what it was to have a family before now. And there's another thing — I know the difference between right and wrong, unlike you."

"Is that your way of saying you'll choose Animals over me?"

"No. It's my way of saying I'll choose my friends over you. The people who love me."

"Filthy creatures," he muttered fitfully over and over again.

The words cut through her stinging cheek. Impulsively, she threw his words back at him. "Never speak to me in that manner."

Governor Thropp threw his head back. "I wasn't talking about you, in this instance. They're the filthy creatures. They've poisoned you against me."

Her voice lowered into a whisper. "When you speak about my friends that way, you're saying it to me. I am them."

"Wrong. You're Elphaba Thropp, and you've never been more disgusting than you are now."

"It's a good thing I don't need your approval."

"No?"

"No." She took a step forwards, and almost toppled over to realise he moved backwards when she did. Something occurred to her. "Are you… afraid of me?"

A laugh grated the back of his throat. "You're delusional. Why would I be afraid of you?"

But there was something — there was that look in his eyes again. Elphaba had seen it from the moment he started talking but hadn't known how to interpret it. Now, she thought she was beginning to. What she couldn't figure out was how she felt about it. "You are afraid of me. Why?"

He laughed again, but it sounded forced. "If anything, I've always been afraid of you. But not in the way you think. Any man would be afraid if his wife gave birth to a witch."

"But that's not why you're afraid of me now, is it?"

Like a viper, his arm snapped out and his hand coiled tightly around her neck, forcing her back against the wall. The wall was hard and cold against her back, but then he tightened his hand, and she was no longer aware of it.

"Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about." But his hand was shaking, and it loosened just enough for her to speak.

"I know exactly what I'm talking about," she rasped painfully. "You're afraid because you can't control me anymore. I've proven to you that you can't control me. You thought I'd never leave your house, but I did. And I've sworn to stop you from treating the Animals this way."

"Treating the Animals what way?"

"You've hurt them… you've segregated them."

"Please. That had very little to do with me."

"But you can't deny that you've exploited them for money?"

He removed his hand completely and she fell to the floor, winded. She rubbed her neck, staring up at him determinedly.

He looked thoughtful.

"Of course," he said after a moment of silence, "but it didn't take much effort. What, you think I could single-handedly be responsible for the enslavement of an entire race? No, Elphaba. That would be an interesting possibility, and it would certainly make things much easier for me. But no. I'm not that powerful."

Elphaba glared. "All you've ever wanted is—"

"No. Power isn't all I've ever wanted. Stability, mostly. And you threatened that."

"This has nothing to do with me."

"You know, my father never thought I could govern. Well, I confess I've done everything I can to prove him wrong."

Elphaba was stunned. She'd never heard the Governor speak this way before. "So, you thought you'd gain as much power as you could? To prove a point to him?"

His face turned purple. "For Oz's sake, Elphaba! I told you I don't want power. Well," he faltered, "at least not as much as all that. But a quiet life? Respect? I wouldn't have thought that was too much to ask. And yes, cheap labour was the easiest way to achieve that. Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same thing."

Elphaba opened her mouth, but he interrupted.

"You would have done the same thing. Don't try to say otherwise. But I'm trying to show you that it didn't take much effort. The people in this district already thought poorly of Animals. Perhaps even the entire Land of Oz thinks poorly of them. All I did was encourage them."

"But the explosion! You bombed the Munchkin City Tower! I know you did!"

"The Munchkin City Tower? Yes, I know it was bombed." He tilted his head. "I didn't know you knew about it though. Never mind, Elphaba. I didn't bomb it. It would have been a dreadful waste of resources, not to mention labour. I want the Animals to work. I don't want them dead."

Elphaba's mouth snapped shut as she pondered that. She wasn't sure she believed him yet. "You didn't bomb the Tower? Then who did?"

"How should I know? It had nothing to do with me."

"I don't believe that. You've admitted you're against the Animals."

"Yes, but I didn't bomb the Tower." His eyebrows skyrocketed into his hairline. "Sometimes you amaze me, Elphaba. And not in a good way."

"Then surely you must know who did it, if you're insistent that it wasn't you?"

"It was probably someone who wished harm on the Animals. It might even have been in my name." He twisted his fingers. "I do have my suspicions. One of my men has stubbornly misunderstood my intentions from the start. It was probably him. But I can't verify that."

Elphaba was struck by the casual tone of his voice. "Do you even care that one of your men may have committed murder?"

"Of course I care. I just don't let it keep me up at night. I'd rather get you back." His voice faltered again.

Elphaba narrowed her eyes. "Then you really are afraid of me. Whether you bombed the Tower or not, you don't like not knowing what I might do."

"You won't do anything. Because you're coming back home immediately."

"It's too late for that. I have a new home now."

Elphaba expected him to be enraged, but instead he watched her carefully. "If you say so." He reached into his left coat pocket and pulled out a small vial, but Elphaba hadn't time to work out what was in it before something rammed into the governor's side, and he fell to the floor, eyes bulging with surprise.

Elphaba was disoriented for several seconds, until she realised it was Khanija who had slammed into him. About time, she thought. They'd been talking for a while. She'd wondered how long it would be before someone came looking for her. A foul smell assaulted her nose — the vial her father had held was smashed against the ground. A brown cloud emanated from its mouth, rising from the floor.

Khanija snapped to action. "Get out the way, Miss Elphaba!" She shoved Elphaba with her nose, so that she rolled on the ground away from the strange gas, but Governor Thropp didn't move. His lids were shut like he'd fallen asleep.

Elphaba thrust out an arm and stared.

"Move!" Khanija cried, but Elphaba ignored her.

"What is that Khanija? That brown cloud coming from the vial?"

"I don't know." Her friend was breathless. "But I didn't rescue you so you could stay and ask questions."

Elphaba looked up. "Thank you, Khanija. Though I'm not sure what you were rescuing me from. I was doing fine."

Khanija nodded towards the vial. "I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have been fine after a whiff of that."

A huff. "You shouldn't have come in here on your own."

Elphaba raised her head, to see that it was Fiyero who had spoken. Her love stood behind Khanija, Cowper at his feet, watching her with crossed arms. He didn't seem angry, though. "You have an amazing propensity for getting into trouble. What do I have to do? Pin you to the ground?"

Elphaba wrinkled her nose. "Please don't."

He looked like he was about to sling back a rebuttal, but his mouth snapped shut and he observed her. "Are you alright?"

Elphaba laughed breathlessly, rubbing her sore throat. "Yes." Her voice croaked.

Fiyero frowned, kneeling beside her and pushing the hair out of her face. "Did he hurt you badly?"

"Physically? A little."

"And emotionally?"

She bit her lip. "I'll be okay."

Fiyero leaned in to kiss her but stopped when there was a cry. Khanija's ears pricked.

"What was that?" asked the Tigress.

Elphaba's eyes travelled around the warehouse, looking for the source of the sound. Khanija's emerald eyes fixed on a door in the corner — a door that Elphaba had never seen anyone go through but hadn't thought to ask about. "I think it came from in there," said Khanija. "We should—"

"What if someone's hurt?"

Khanija's gaze flickered sharply. "It's no concern of ours. Let's go, Miss Elphaba."

"No. We can't. Not until…"

"At least let us come with you," Fiyero looked resigned.

"No. You need to go back and look out for the others."

Fiyero scowled. "Fae—"

But Elphaba didn't let him finish. In a moment she had lifted herself from the floor and was running towards the door. It was cracked open. She pushed open the door, hearing the others following her from behind. With a sigh, she turned around to compel them to go, but whipped around upon hearing a gentle voice from within.

"Fabala."