Authors Note: I wasn't going to put more up until later, but due to a flurry of responses, I'll give you chapter two. And, for ShannonRose, I have a completely different story on if Fiyero had lived and I'll start posting that, too. Remember, my story takes place BEFORE she runs into Fiyero. I don't like my next few chapters in this, but they are important to establish stuff. If someone dislikes it, it will get better. So, without further ado…

CHAPTER TWO: "This might take a while…"

When she finally exited the building, it was no longer raining. The sun was beating down on the city and the roads had already dried. Elphaba squinted in the harsh sunlight and looked around. She felt a hand touch her shoulder and she flinched.

"Whoa." Madikien looked at her, eyebrows raised. "A little jumpy?"

"I'm not used to being touched," she said, shying away from him.

"That's something I haven't heard before. People don't touch you."

"Well, look at me!" She glared at him.

"So…?"

"So who would want to touch me?"

He shrugged. "You never know. Anyway, come on." He began to walk. "Follow closely. We don't want either one of us being followed and if we walk together instead of yards behind each other, it'll probably seem less suspicious."

"Right," Elphaba said, walking briskly behind him. "Exactly where are we going?"

"It's not far. But for Lurline's sake would you walk next to me instead of right behind me? It's making me nervous."

"Oh, sorry." She quickened her pace.

He was looking at her again, and then glancing back to the streets around them, he made a sharp turn into an alleyway, grabbing her hand to make sure she followed. It led to a wall that practically screamed the words "dead end". There was a window about half of a story up. He let go of her hand and grabbed two wooden crates off of the ground, turning them into makeshift steps to reach the window. "You go first, just in case you fall. It's not as easy as it looks, the second step is a little shaky."

She shook her head violently, too conscious of the fact that she was wearing a dress. "Why don't you go first?" She paused. "That way, if I have trouble getting in, you can help me from up there."

"As you wish." He moved up the stairs and to the window with an almost uncanny grace. He pushed in the window and almost somersaulted in. When he reappeared again, he looked unhurt.

Elphaba looked at him, "If you just somersaulted in, wouldn't you have hit the floor? Even if it were carpet, I would think that would be painful."

"It is painful. That would be why I moved the bed under the window instead of the broken chair that sat there originally." He reached out a hand. "Would you stop being so paranoid and come in?"

She took to the crates and found that he was right, the second step was unstable. As the crate began to shiver and shake under her, she grudgingly reached a hand for his hand, her other hand grasping the windowsill for dear life.

He took her hand, "It's okay. I'm going to pull you in. All you need to do is push yourself up with the most strength you can. Keep holding onto the windowsill."

She looked at him distrustfully, but did as she was told. One hand still clutching his, the other holding tight to the windowsill, she tried to pull herself up, attempting to prove she could do it herself – and failing.

"Not ready yet." He laughed softly. Madikien wrapped his other arm around her waist. "Okay, now!"

Her sweaty palms almost slipped out of his grip and she panicked, kicking outwards, knocking the crates over. He laughed again. "Don't worry. We'll just have to get out some other way."

"Couldn't we have come in some other way?" She asked, still hanging.

"Oh, but that would have been too easy." He smiled at Elphaba, who had let a laugh escape her throat. "And I have yet to find another way in, anyway. Okay, now, let's try this again. 1… 2… 3!"

This time they were successful. However, he pulled her with almost too much strength, and the both of them almost rolled off the edge of the bed.

The walls of the room were beige and, at that time of day, looked bright in the sunlight. On the bed was a brown cotton blanket and plain white sheets with another blanket folded at the edge. In the corner, a cardboard box was placed carelessly, though she couldn't see what was in it. There was a countertop and some shelves. To the right of the bed there was a door, wooden and, she decided, most likely jammed. Across from the bed there was a fireplace. It looked clean and, she observed disappointedly, not very suspicious.

"That was close." He said, sprawled out on the bed.

Elphaba couldn't help but grin. "So close that I almost really did hit the floor." She was still half curled into a ball; Madikien's arm was not completely off of her waist. It made her uncomfortable, and the more she thought about it, the more jumpy she became. She couldn't help but shiver.

"Are you all right?" Madikien sat up instantly, pulling his arm from around her waist in the process. He reached and tucked a stray piece of her behind her ear and let his fingers trace her cheek, looking at her eyes.

"Fine." She said, unable to stop herself from jumping again and pushing his hand away.

"You panic whenever someone touches you, don't you?" He observed, cocking his head at her curiously. "What is it really?"

"Nothing!" She snapped, and slapped away the hand that was reaching for hers. She curled herself into a protective ball and peered out at him angrily.

"Elphaba… did I say that right?"

"Yes," she said crossly.

"Elphaba, I don't have some contagious disease and I don't think I look very threatening, you're welcome to tell me if you feel otherwise. But is there something about me that immediately makes you uncomfortable?"

She was surprised that he wouldn't leave it alone, how confrontational he was. "It's not just you." She lifted her head and looked at him apologetically. "It's everyone." Why did she feel sorry?

"Could you at least try and act a little less on edge?" He held out his hand for her to shake, not touching her, but waiting for her to move first.

Hesitantly, she touched his hand for the briefest moment. She retracted automatically and pulled her hand back. It wasn't in her nature to touch anyone and she shuddered.

He pushed himself – carefully, so as not to alarm her again – closer and put an arm around Elphaba (who had shrunk back into a ball) and tried to keep her from shaking so much. "Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you and I don't plan on hurting you, okay?"

She nodded; her head brushed against his chest. Feeling weak and vulnerable and not liking those feelings in the least, she inched away.

"Are you sure it's everyone you don't trust, or is it just me? I can tell you don't trust me at all." He paused, "Would you look at me?"

She lifted her head and looked into his eyes.

"There. Is there something there that you see that threatens you?" He clasped her hand as she struggled with herself as to whether or not to lash out at him, pull away completely or just stay calm. She refused to continue looking straight at him, so he lifted her chin with his hand.

She couldn't stand it. Elphaba pushed herself away from him and off of the bed. She looked at him as if she were sizing him up.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with you." She said simply, hearing her usual sardonic tone come back. "Maybe it's a mental problem. I don't see any visible deformities…"

He laughed, which she resented. "What makes you think there's something wrong with me?"

"You shouldn't have asked because this might take a while." She muttered cruelly, and instantly felt a little guilty for being so rude, but she ignored it and continued on. "Why are you treating me so kindly?" She asked in an accusatory tone, wanting to say more, but she had to stop herself from asking, do you have the same assignment I have?

"I'm not going to be malicious. Do you expect a person to reject you immediately? I don't know about the rest of Oz, but I don't see reason to act spiteful towards people I don't even know."

"Are you expecting me to believe that you aren't judging me?"

"I'm not judging you. But it'd be nice if you were a little more comfortable."

"Why does it even matter?" Elphaba asked, critical. "What do you want from me that you feel you have to pretend to be pleasant towards me to get?"

"We have to work with each other, don't we? Not to mention you might need some help settling in around here at first."

"We aren't the only two in the organization, why do I matter?"

"I'd like to be a good neighbor? Actually, Haladean mentioned that the more complicated parts of whatever plan our 'organization' is carrying out might need more than one person to do the job. He and Yackle discussed it, and Haladean wanted Jansied and I to do it, but Yackle wanted you. So, apparently, its you and I who are handling it."

"Wait," Elphaba paused, aggravated. "In charge of what?"

"I don't know. He said something about the directions not being complete yet and we won't find out until the time comes nearer." He shrugged simply.

Curse Yackle! Elphaba thought. She noted the possibility that the directions "weren't complete" because there would never be any. This was a way to trap Elphaba in her own assignment even more than she already was. She sighed. "What in Oz made you think that touching me, no matter how gently, would make me feel more comfortable? Most people would've taken the hint after I pushed away the first time."

"And for some reason, that made me want to more." Madikien stood up, refusing to allow her to accuse him of any falsehood in the previous sentence. "Maybe you're right; maybe I shouldn't have acted that way. But someone has to get through to you."

"You trust too easily. And you want too easily, too." She turned away from him, folding her arms across her chest.

"I wouldn't know."

She glanced at him over her shoulder. "I doubt that."

"I used to be like you."

"What, green? I'm positive that's not true."

"No, and you know that's not what I meant. I used to close myself off to people all the time, too."

She turned around, angrily. "Ha! I don't close myself off, people close me off."

"I didn't. But I'm not talking about people closing you off, Elphaba. You can't push everyone you meet away too much; it does come back to haunt you. And it hurts."

"You are way too bold. Maybe I don't want people to care about me."

"Maybe you do."

"And who are you to think you know what I want and don't want? Maybe I like being alone. I always have."

"But you don't know if you might like something else more if you never try it. After all, how could you know until you experience it?"

"And why should I?" She argued, "I'm sure I like being alone. Why should I try anything else if I might just hate it?"

"Because you might just love it."

She paused before retorting coldly, "I don't love. And I'm impossible to love, and therefore you shouldn't bother with being nice to me or trying to be friendly with me. I don't know what gave you that ridiculous idea, and I don't really care to know."

"I don't know. When you pushed me away - "

"You said to yourself, 'I should make her open up,'" she said, sarcastically. "That's a great way to convince me you don't just feel sorry for me or want to fix me. What are you going to say next, 'I want you to trust me and let me befriend you because I want to change you'?" Her words were sour and she had hoped the comment would sting; yet she felt a little bad when she saw that in a miniscule way, it did.

"I can see why no one would touch you. Your words are bitter and cruel enough, why find out what else you can do?" He muttered.

She moved to slap him, but he caught the wrist of her right hand with his own hand. He twisted her right arm behind her back and pulled her backwards, towards him, taking her left arm and twisting it behind her as well. She tried to kick backwards at him viciously. "Not so nice now, are we?" For a moment they were stuck like that: Elphaba trying in vain to free herself, kicking angrily at him and Madikien only tightening his grip around her wrist.

"Let go of me now!"

"Why, so you can hit me?"

"I can hit you without having to use my hands."

"I know you can. But you won't."

"You're giving me reason to prove you otherwise," she said, struggling so much that she was starting to sweat.

"Fine." He let go of her and she stumbled a little before striding to the window. Amused, he said, "I'd like to see you try to get out of here that way."

She laughed and almost smiled at him for a moment before realizing she was still angry and looking at the floor. "What do you want from me?"

"A chance."

"Why? You don't even know me."

"Exactly. I'd like to know you."

"You're not afraid?"

"No, actually. I find you intriguing. I'm curious and interested."

"Interested in what?"

"In finding out what in Oz kindles that fierce, fire behind your eyes. In you."

Once again, she found she had to look away from him; she stared out the window into the alleyway and, beyond that, the street. There was nothing interesting going on out there. "What if I don't want to even talk to you?"

"I'd tell you that you should talk to me, give me a chance, starting now." Neither of them spoke for a moment, and then he said, abruptly. "You haven't eaten anything for hours, at least, so sit down and have dinner with me. If you're thirsty, I have water," he motioned to a small pipe in the corner of the room near a cardboard box. "Sorry I don't have anything better to drink."

That would be an issue, Elphaba thought. "This is going to sound awfully odd, but I can't drink or touch water."

"You what?"

"I can't have water. No more questions, please."

"Well, I need to know what you can drink."

"Milk. Anything that isn't too watery."

"I'll get a hold of some milk tomorrow."

"No, I can - "

"Look, I don't know for sure, but from the way you've acted, I think people are looking for you and you don't particularly want to be found. Let me handle it."

"If you insist. I have nothing to give you in return…"

"Don't worry about it." He dragged two chairs over to the bedside table, wooden and a little lopsided. "I know it's not much, but it's clean enough to eat off of."

She didn't sit down right away, she looked at him curiously.

"What is it now?"

"I just don't understand," she hugged herself self-consciously, "you're giving me too much of a chance. Why are you being so friendly?"

"Why not? Now come sit down."

"What are we eating?"

"Good question. Whatever I have…" Madikien went and opened the cardboard box that was against the wall. "How does bread sound?" He asked sheepishly.

"Fine with me."

"I'm sorry I don't have plates or anything."

"It's fine. You're the one giving me something to eat. I'm the one who should be sorry, because I was so rude before," she said, partly remembering Yackle's directions and partly because she felt that she had been ungrateful.

"Well, I should be a little sorry, too. It was ignorant of me not to realize that some people don't react well to being touched."

"It's not that I don't trust people or think anyone's going to hurt me," Elphaba attempted to explain, not quite sure why she was telling him these things. "I'm just unaccustomed to it. You weren't ignorant; it's not the way people normally react and you thought…" She trailed off.

"I think we've established that we're both sorry?"

Elphaba laughed. "I talk a bit much, don't I?"

He only smiled and said, "So, can we put this behind us?"

"Yes, please." She said, ashamed of the way she'd acted

"Maybe eventually, we'll stop trying to kill each other so much."

"Maybe." She smiled jokingly.

"I want you to understand that I don't mean to be pushy or anything."

"I wouldn't let you get away with being pushy if you were trying to. It would only get me even more irritated with you."

"I can believe that." He examined her. "You run away from anyone who approaches you."

She looked down at the table.

"However, if anyone were to sit and wait it out, you would come to them. You'd approach slowly, but you'd come," he observed.

She fought the immediate urge to slap him and thought about his observations for a minute. She thought about her childhood and the few memories from Shiz. They were hazy, but she realized that it was true; she did tend to not take well to a person who approached her. "How is it that you can explain me better than I can?" She asked honestly, admitting through this that she didn't truly know herself and that even she knew she had her weaknesses.

"I told you. I used to he the same way."

"What changed?"

"My parents were killed in Quadling Country. After that, no one would constantly deal with me if I pushed them away."

"I grew up roaming about Quadling Country." She said. "My father is a unionist minister. He wanted to convert all the Quadlings. Are you half Quadling or…?"

"One quarter. But my family stayed in Quadling Country. My mother was half Quadling and my father had no Quadling blood in him whatsoever."

"I thought you had to have some Quadling in you. Your skin - " she cut herself off. "I mean, I don't want to point it out and offend you…" she stopped talking, realizing how much she resent people pointing out her own skin color.

"My skin doesn't bother me. It feels normal," he told her. "I like it a little different. Plain, simple fair skin is boring. Skin with color is more… exotic." He threw her a glance.

"I'm not descended from any sort of interesting creature and I'm not from anywhere exciting, so don't expect a logical explanation for my color. I was born in Munchkinland. I guess I was just a mistake, some sort of fluke." She paused, "And that's what most other people thought, too…"

He didn't comment, for which she was thankful. His first reaction would have been to touch her, but he held back, knowing better than to try.

Elphaba swallowed her last bite of bread and stood up. "So, where is this empty place you mentioned?"

He moved across the room towards a swinging door, beckoning her to follow. "There's a room connected to mine through this closet."

She pushed through the dark closet; opening a door she almost walked right into, and looked around. There were several wooden crates stacked high in one corner and two rickety chairs were stacked on one another in the middle of the room, and a table turned on its side. The walls had no particular color; they were just a dark wood. Shelves were nailed crookedly to the walls and there was a miniscule cabinet hanging from the ceiling. A bed, taken apart completely and what looked like a mattress sat near some stairs. A rat scurried across the room.

"Are you all right with rats?" Madikien came up behind her, but didn't touch her.

"As long as they don't bother me, I don't care. I'll deal with them if I have to." She continued taking everything in.

"Do you need help settling in?"

She shook her head. "No, I know what I'm doing."

"All right." He turned to go back through the closet, "I have an extra blanket and I'm willing to sacrifice a pillow, do you need anything?"

"A pillow and blanket would be nice. Thank you." As he left, she worked to put the bed together, hoping (but doubting) that it would be sturdy.

When he returned he stood in the doorway for a moment and watched her. "Maybe you do know what you're doing."

She continued piecing things together. "I told you." When it looked about finished, she took the blanket and pillow from him and tossed them onto the bed, which promptly collapsed. "But I didn't think it'd stay up very long without more nails and maybe wood, too." She looked at it sadly. "I'll just have to sleep on the mattress."

"Tomorrow I'll help you look around some more. If there's nothing here, it won't be that difficult to get what you need."

"How?"

"I have my ways." He grinned. "I'll show you in time."

Elphaba bit her lip. "Can you get a hold of oils, too?"

"Whatever you need."

Surprising him and herself, she put her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Thank you so much." It was only a moment before she let go, a little afraid of herself. "I think I'll sleep now. I'll see you tomorrow, I assume?"

"Of course. If you need anything, I'm right through the closet." Madikien exited.

Yackle's directions echoed in her head once again. Maybe, just maybe, she could handle this assignment…