"You're joking," said Olivia, staring at the teenager.

"No, I'm not."

"But- I- We- They-"

"He, she, it, you. Look, we've listed all the subject pronouns!" Elphaba said sarcastically.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Nerd."

"Idiot." Elphaba smirked.

"Well, how're we going to find them now?" complained Olivia. "We could've caught them!"

"Don't beat yourself up, Liv," said a voice from behind them. Olivia jumped about a yard into the air.

"'Lo, Elliot," said Elphaba calmly.

"You knew he was coming, didn't you?" Olivia asked suspiciously.

Elphaba's cheeks turned forest green (Olivia guessed that she was blushing), and she changed the subject. "Elliot, I figured out who raped my sister."

Elliot was taken aback. "So soon?"

"Yeah, well, they paid us a little visit," Olivia mumbled.

Elliot's surprise was contorted to rage. "They didn't do anything to you, did they, Liv?"

Elphaba opened her mouth to say something, but Elliot didn't notice. He was too busy staring at his partner. Elphaba glared at him.

"We came close," Olivia replied.

Elphaba continued to glare at him, one hand on her hip, the other sticking straight up in the air. She cleared her throat.

"How're we- what Elphaba?" he said, finally acknowledging her presence.

"I was going to say that Kriss wanted things from me, but-"

"Kriss?" interrupted Elliot. "Who's Kriss?"

"But I smacked him and he backed off." Elphaba finished proudly.

"Would someone please tell me who the hell Kriss is?"

"He's the leader of a gang of border guards," Olivia explained quickly.

"What-"

"Border guards are sexist bitches who consider it their duty to destroy the lives of all women in the Vinkus who venture outside without a man present," Elphaba spat.

Elliot looked at Olivia, then Elphaba, then back to Olivia. "She's lying, isn't she, Liv?"

Olivia shook her head.

Elliot rolled his eyes. "So we have to search this wasteland to find some guys you didn't get a good look at?"

"Now, that's not fair," Olivia said. "We got a good look at them. And anyway, if we see five twenty-year-old Winkies run away from Peridot here," she jerked her thumb at Elphaba, who grinned, "then we know it's them, don't we?"

"Yeah," piped Elphaba, "and I never forget a face that I smack."

Elliot didn't seem to hear her. "How can you be sure it's them, though?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. "I just said-"

"I wasn't asking you," Elliot snapped, "you little weed."

Elphaba turned away, determined not to let him see how much he had hurt her. She wasn't weak. She couldn't be weak. 'Don't cry,' she thought, 'you can't, remember?' She threw back her shoulders and held her head high. If there was one thing her verdigris had taught her, it was to ignore people's nasty comments. She learned to be rubber that insults bounced off of.

But this stung. She hadn't thought that Elliot hated her that much. She felt Olivia's hand on her shoulder, calming her down.

"Elphaba," asked the detective, "are you ok?"

Elphaba didn't say a word. She simply walked away from the camp. If they didn't want-or need- her, she would go.

Olivia stood, teary eyed, her hand still outstretched to where Elphaba's shoulder was as she watched the girl go. She had tried so hard to befriend this lost, aloof girl, and she failed. She watched until Elphaba became a green speck against the Western sky.