Author's Note: Dear readers, I am now faced with a dilemma. As of this chapter, there are approximately ten chapters to the end of this fic. So I am definitely going to finish it by the end of summer. Here's the thing. I'm not sure how much writing I'm going to be able to do once school starts. So either I can stretch out the updates of this fic until I can get another good one going (I think the next fics I'm going to work on really developing are Straw Into Gold and A Fine, Fine Line), or I can continue posting this as I write it and then just see how often I can update the new ones. Let me know what you think.

I'm gonna cry when this is over…

=P Michelle

Chapter 27

"You…" gasped Liir, breathing unevenly. "You came here to turn us in to them, didn't you!" His voice was hard, full of hatred.

Elphaba shook her head, tears burning her eyes. She knew she had to say something, to explain herself and this strange boy to the group somehow, but nothing came. She felt as though a vice was crushing her throat, stealing the air from her lungs.

Liir turned to the Tin Woodman, glaring.

"I trusted you," he growled. "I never thought you would betray us."

"She swore!" protested the Tin Woodman, pointing rudely at Glinda.

"I'm not here to turn you in," managed Elphaba finally. "I'm here…" She cleared her throat and forced herself to swallow, wincing at the pain. "I'm here to ask for your help."

For a moment, it looked as though Liir was going to pass out. He swayed unsteadily, grabbing onto the doorframe for support. Elphaba took the opportunity to glance back at the others standing behind her. Fiyero was watching her, his dark eyes filled with concern. She couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. This was her worst nightmare being played out in broad daylight.

Footsteps in the hallway behind Liir seemed to startle him; he tore his eyes away from the group long enough to turn around and look at the person approaching from behind him. A very tall, very thin girl appeared in the doorway, looking at the group uncertainly.

"I know you," said the girl softly, her voice tinged with awe.

"Nor?" asked Elphaba uncertainly after a moment.

The girl nodded, and Elphaba heard Fiyero gasp. She didn't have the strength to turn around and face him.

"Nor, please believe me when I say we're not here to harm you in any way," said Elphaba in a rush. "We're here because we want to help you…and we want your help too. Someone has to stop the tiktoks and—"

Nor held up a hand for silence.

"I believe you. Come in before someone out on the street hears you." She moved aside and beckoned them through the doorway. Liir remained where he was, staring at them as though in a stupor. "And don't mind him," added Nor, gently steering him away from the door.

Elphaba followed Nor into the hidden room; it felt as though she was walking in a dream. The dim light made the floor one dark mass, and she felt as though she was floating, or living in someone else's body. Everything was completely surreal.

The room was small; they had to press against the walls in order to fit the entire group into the room. The walls were covered in wood paneling, as was the floor. It was only in slightly better repair than the outer room. Nor swung the secret door shut and moved into the center of the room, kneeling. Elphaba watched as she felt around for a few moments, then pulled up a trapdoor in the middle of the floor. The trapdoor revealed a long spiral staircase twisting and turning down into a maze of tunnels and secret rooms below. Suddenly Elphaba recognized it as the building where she had met with her superiors to plot the Wizard's demise all those years ago.

The staircase led down into a system of tunnels that had once been the home of Oz's largest criminal organization. Before the Wizard had arrived and kicked the Gale Force into shape, forged emeralds had been a large part of the economy in the capital. Countless unsuspecting Emeraldites had lost their money for the best fakes the land of Oz had ever seen. After the Wizard's arrival, the Gale Force had arrested the criminals and sealed the entrance to the factory. Or so they thought. That was, until it was reopened in secret by the Resistance.

Directly at the base of the stairs was one large room with a dirt floor and stone walls. At the far end, the room pinched off into a long, narrow hallway with individual rooms branching off of it. The room was empty of any furniture except for a few crates and a chair with a broken back. Nor led them through the room and down the hall to the place where it ended in a wall of solid stone. She gestured to three open doorways that appeared to be bedrooms.

"I think it's best if we don't really talk until tonight. There will be a meeting later. Until then…you can have these three rooms. I trust you can arrange yourselves."

Liir, who had followed the group down, was staring at Elphaba with a mixture of hatred and sadness. She took a step toward him, opened her mouth to say something, but the words wouldn't come. Nor stepped between them.

"Later," she said, and her voice held a note of such finality that neither of them protested.

Nor laid a hand on Liir's shoulder for a moment, then steered him back down the hallway. The group split themselves up into the three rooms silently. Elphaba and Fiyero in one, Glinda and Boq in another, and Igitur by himself, because no one wanted to tolerate any more of his whining. Sometimes it pays to be irritating, thought Elphaba as she followed Fiyero into their room. He turned back and closed the door behind her, then crossed over to the bed, covering his face with his hands.

Elphaba stood across the room, uncertain as to what to do. She wasn't sure how much he knew or how he would react, but she wanted nothing at the moment but to be away from him. And that, of course, was impossible.

"Fiyero…" she started, but then trailed off when no further words would come. He looked up at her for a moment, dark eyes shining, and Elphaba realized that he was crying silently. A pang of guilt gnawed at her stomach. The last thing she had wanted was to hurt him more than she already had.

"Elphaba," said Fiyero at last, his voice strained with emotion. "Nor…is she.."

Elphaba nodded quickly.

"Your daughter. Yes."

Fiyero rubbed a hand over his eyes, as though trying to wake himself from a dream.

"And the boy, Liir?"

He knows, she thought silently. Elphaba swallowed hard and hoped that he could find the strength that she lacked. The forgiveness that she lacked. How could he possibly forgive her when she still could not forgive herself?

"Our child," she managed at last, the words barely more than a strangled puff of breath.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked softly, in a voice that she couldn't read.

"I thought…I thought he was dead. I thought they both were."

Fiyero stood and walked a few steps toward the wall, then stopped. His dark eyes were ablaze with a fire of emotion that made Elphaba's heart fly to her throat. She had never seen him truly angry and never wanted to.

"You still should have told me." His voice was filled with resentment. Elphaba's temper flared.

"Told you what? That you weren't there to protect your children and so they were taken? That I spent eight years of my life trying to rescue your family, only to find that I couldn't do it?" She advanced toward him slowly, dangerously. He faltered for a moment, sadness replacing his anger.

"Elphaba, this isn't about blame," said Fiyero softly.

She faltered, unsure of what to say. Her temper was still blazing, but he had given her nothing to fuel an argument.

"Oh no? Then what is it about?" she asked at last.

Fiyero studied her for a moment, then looked at the floor.

"Guilt," he said finally.

Elphaba cocked her head.

"Mine or yours?"

"Both." He retreated back to the bed and sat down on it, shaking. "I'm sorry, Elphaba. All the time you were so worried about hurting me, and I wouldn't listen. I never thought about what it would mean to others if I was captured…if I was killed. I was so blind…I'm sorry." Fiyero turned away from her, shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

Elphaba crossed to the bed and sat beside him, then roughly took him in her arms, ignoring the slight sting of his tears against her skin. She had always thought it strange that her own tears burned her more than those of others.

"When I was in the mines," said Fiyero, his voice muffled against Elphaba's neck, "all I could think was that I would never know if you could forgive me. For following you. For breaking my promise."

"Yero, you fool," she murmured, kissing his forehead. "You're the only one who's ever followed me. I run away from people and they let me go. But you won't. I think that scares me more than anything."

Fiyero kissed her long and hard, then stretched out on the bed, pulling her down on top of him. Elphaba moaned softly and snuggled closer to him. It had been entirely too long since they'd had any amount of privacy.

"I'm scared, Elphie," he said after a moment. "The world as we know it is coming to an end and sometimes…sometimes I wonder why we bother fighting."

"It distracts us," muttered Elphaba, running her fingers through his long hair. "We're afraid and so we fight. We know it's useless and yet it's still less frightening than sitting around waiting for the end to come."

Fiyero wrapped his arms around her and rolled over, pinning her beneath him. He kissed her again, leaving her breathless.

"I've had dreams," he continued, gasping as she slipped her hands under his shirt. "I'm afraid I don't have much time left." He shuddered.

"Then let's not waste any of it," Elphaba muttered grimly, then leaned up and kissed him.

Later, as they drifted off to sleep, Elphaba thought she could heard a heavy, rhythmic pounding on the roof, though she knew they were underground. It was like rain, or running feet, or waves crashing against a dam. She closed her eyes and for a moment she was staring into the fishwell at Kiamo Ko. A pair of huge golden eyes stared back.

"I'll be seeing you soon, dearie," rasped a familiar old voice.

Review please!