A/N:

me: wow everyone's so concerned for Glinda wonder why
*looks at chapter*
oh yeah that's why.

Glinda leaned against her table and watched her classmates file out of the room. She could hear Morrible moving behind her, hear the soft clinking of dishes and the murmur of retreating footsteps, and then the room was still.

"Some tea, Miss Glinda?"

"No, thank you," she said stiffly.

Morrible set down the tray and waved her hand, pulling a chair toward her to sit across the table from Glinda. She took a cup as she sat down and sipped it gingerly. "If this is going to work at all, my dear, you're going to have to trust me."

"I'm not sure that's entirely true, Madame."

The headmistress looked a little intrigued by her response. "Well, we shall see, at least."

Glinda slid down into her chair, rubbing her palms against the skirt of her dress. No matter how many times she told the boys this was the right choice, it couldn't stop the nerves that jittered through her every time she was left alone with Morrible.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked, keeping her eyes down.

"For now, I believe, you and I will just talk."

"I'm doing this for lessons, not therapy," she snapped.

"Your temper suggests a need for the latter," said Morrible, eyes glittering. "But no matter. I will not force you to talk about anything you don't want to."

"Liar," Glinda said under her breath. If Morrible noticed, she didn't respond.

"We don't have much time, so let's get started. Perhaps you can tell me why, in your opinion, you are here. Why are these private sessions necessary?"

Glinda scowled. Her fingers moved to grip the arms of her chair. "You know why."

"I want your opinion, Miss Glinda. Not mine."

She clenched her jaw, but Morrible simply folded her hands across her lap and waited. "I'm here to learn control," Glinda muttered.

"You had control, last semester," said Morrible. "What changed?"

Everything. She swallowed. "I…"

"Sometimes, especially in our younger years, we go through great changes—experiences that alter us. Such alterations can often throw off our sense of self, disrupting our balance. Do you believe this is accurate?"

"I'm not going to talk to you about this," Glinda spat.

Morrible merely stared at her. "Very well," she said eventually. "Moving on. Perhaps we can discuss what happened at the Suicide Canal."

"What's there to discuss?" she asked. "I got angry, and I lost control. You know that."

"What caused it, though?"

Glinda stayed silent, her fingers whitening around the arms of the chair. Morrible leaned forward, her eyes gleaming.

"Come now, Miss Glinda. I can't help you if you refuse to meet me halfway."

"This—" Glinda sucked in a breath. "This is not helping."

"Why did you take my offer?" Morrible's voice was firm. "After so much reluctance, what was the final point in your decision?"

"I told you—"

"Other than control, Miss Glinda. Was it to increase your power, perhaps?"

"No—"

"To be stronger than the classmates who have been tormenting you?"

"How did you—"

"Perhaps it was because of Elphaba herself."

"Don't say her name," Glinda hissed.

"Perhaps it was resentment. She wouldn't have wanted you to do this, but since she's gone now—"

"Stop."

"Or maybe it was something else. Maybe it was the opposite."

"This has nothing to do with—"

"Miss Glinda, did you by chance take my offer so you could protect her?"

Glinda clamped her mouth shut, blinking furiously. She shook her head, but triumph was already shining in Morrible's eyes.

"Do you still think you'll see her again?" Morrible asked softly. "Do you still believe there is a future for the two of you?"

Glinda jumped from her seat and thrust her arm out, summoning flames, but nothing happened. Her legs shook beneath her and she stumbled forward into the table between them. Morrible set her tea cup down and stood.

"I am unimpressed, Miss Glinda. Do you not realize what is happening to you? Your emotions have become inseparable from your powers. When you are angry, or frustrated, they are out of control. But when there is no adrenaline—when you are weary or miserable or despairing, there is nothing. Go ahead. Just try to cast a spell against me."

Glinda's head hung low. Her knees hit hard against the stone floor as she slid down.

"That's what I thought," said Morrible. Her shoes clipped against the ground, echoing through the classroom as she walked away. "We are done for today. Good night, Miss Glinda."

Glinda wasn't sure how she found it. She never even knew where they were when Elphaba led her here months ago, and that was without the tears blurring her vision.

Her mind was torn apart. She hadn't stopped crying since Morrible's classroom, but she moved on autopilot through campus, letting her feet take her where her mind couldn't quite find.

She knew as soon as she reached the classroom that this was the right place. Follow me. The voice was more than a memory, but Glinda couldn't let herself dwell on it. She moved to the window and shoved the pane open. The first time she had climbed through, she had been terrified. Now she was too desperate to hesitate, and she all but leaped out onto the roof.

It was uneven beneath her feet, and, too late, Glinda remembered her fear of heights. She stumbled back, but no arms wrapped around her this time to hold her steady. She screwed her eyes shut and let out a whimper. "Elphie…"

I've got you, Glinda. Just look.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. Just like the first time she had been here, Shiz was spread out before her. But it seemed dimmer now. The skyline that had dazzled her all those months ago was nothing more than a lit up city.

Just for us, Elphaba had said.

"Just for us," she whispered. The tears had stopped—or maybe they were still rolling down her cheeks. She didn't know. She couldn't tell. Everything was empty. "Just for us. Elphie, you liar."

The skyline had no answer for her. Glinda forgot her fear and moved closer to the edge. She sat down and folded her arms across the retaining wall, resting her forehead and letting the tears fall onto her wrists.

"You lied," she choked. Morrible was right. There was nothing inside of her. "You lied to me."

The feeling of stiff straw poking through the coarse blanket was unfamiliar, and Elphaba tensed, her body completely alert before her mind was even fully awake.

She opened her eyes slowly as she remembered where she was. Peric was still perched in his corner, his head tucked in close to his body. Elphaba uncurled herself and rolled over to lay on her back. Peric's quarters were just as they had been hours before. The torch still flickered gently from its spot on the wall, casting the only light in the room. Elphaba pulled a strand of hair from her braid and twirled it mindlessly around her finger.

Eventually there was a quiet scraping from the corner, and Peric glided down next to her.

"Sleep okay?"

She gave a short hum in response. "What happens now?"

He stared at her for a long moment, his orange eyes bright. "…Food first. Then we'll get you set up. New gloves, for sure. Boots. Maybe another cloak if we can find it."

Elphaba looked down at her outfit, trying to decide if she should take offense. "Alright," she said finally. "Lead the way."

She paid close attention as they made their way through the underground. The tunnels they went through were dark and cool and often too wet for her to be comfortable, but she found that the place was a lot less complex than it seemed at first sight.

Most of the larger rooms were on the first floor, usually right off the main hall. Peric led her to a dining hall of sorts, rectangular and lined with tables of food—piles of bread and cheese, baskets of fruits and vegetables, and even a wall lined with meats, some cooked and others just, well, dead.

Peric hopped over and snatched up a rabbit carcass. Elphaba wrinkled her nose and grabbed an apple from a basket. It was small and slightly bruised, but it was the first meal in weeks that she hadn't had to pull from trash bins or swipe from a market stall when the seller wasn't looking, so she wasn't about to complain.

They went back to the main hall.

"It's so crowded," Elphaba said, staring around. The room was hushed, as if the cavern walls were absorbing sound, yet there were people everywhere, even more than last night.

"It's the afternoon," Peric answered. "Most people work at night and sleep through the morning. Now everyone's just killing time, so they come here."

"What do they do here?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"The person. Their job. What they did last night."

"That's…helpful."

Peric shook his head and flew a few steps ahead. He took her to another side room, this one filled with boxes of different clothes. A Monkey was perched at the top of a stack of crates, wearing a black stocking cap with holes for his ears.

"Peric!" he called, grinning at the sight of them. "What can I get for you, my friend? Finally after that pair of socks I suggested?"

"Funny," said Peric. He tilted his head toward Elphaba. "She needs some better gear."

The Monkey bounded down to them. "So you're the green girl. Fascinating. Here, let me get a look at you." He climbed up onto a box next to her and peered at her. "Hmm. Can't have holes anywhere. Got to hide the green. That hat works really well, but maybe a new cloak. New gloves—you'll need them eventually, even if you don't now. And that scarf looks a bit—"

"The scarf stays." Elphaba clutched the present from Ama Clutch in her hands.

"Right, right," the Monkey said, never missing a beat. He leapt to another box and dug through it for a moment before tossing something at her. "Here, try those. Or maybe those. Do you need socks? Of course you do, everyone needs an extra pair of socks. There you are."

Elphaba caught the socks that were thrown at her, giving Peric a look. He had his head tucked into a wing and was busy picking at a feather, but she could still see his grin.

"Hm, cloak with hood or without hood? Without hood, I'd guess, with that hat and that scarf. This one seems sturdy. Try it on, now, make sure it wraps up real comfortably. No, not quite. Sleeves too short. Let's try again."

When they finally found proper clothes, Elphaba traded in her old cloak and gloves. She pulled on the new gear and followed Peric out, trying not to drop the extra boots and socks the Monkey had insisted on giving her.

"You know him?" she asked Peric once they were out of earshot.

"Not really. He just knows everybody. It happens when you're everyone's supply for gear."

They walked back through the main hall, and Elphaba gazed curiously around the room. Most kept their heads down and their hoods up, but she could still see that there was an even mix of humans and Animals. More than once someone nodded to her or Peric as they passed by, but that was the extent of their interactions.

"Think you can find your way back from here?" Peric asked once they had reached the third floor.

Elphaba gazed down the hall. "I think so."

"Good. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"What are you—"

He flew off before she could even finish the question, disappearing through a balcony attached to the main hall. Elphaba stared after him but decided not to question it. After a moment, she turned back down the hall and managed to find Peric's quarters after only two tries.

"What are we doing?" she asked a few hours later, following Peric up the sloping hallway that she had been led down the night before.

"A job."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Yes, I understood that much."

"How do you feel about petty thievery?"

"Against who?"

He stopped and stared at her. "I don't know. It's not my job to know."

"But—"

Peric clicked his beak and tilted his head to the side, blinking slowly.

"…seriously?" she asked.

"You're just going to have to get used to it."

Elphaba crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're brooding again," he told her.

"Shut up." Peric let out his peculiar, huffing laugh. Elphaba rolled her eyes again. "Are we leaving now?"

"Soon. It's almost midnight."

She looked around. There was barely any light in the tunnel, and the hideout they had left was lit entirely by torches. "How do you know what time it is?"

He grinned. "See, now you're asking the right questions." Peric turned and moved on up the tunnel without ever giving an actual answer, and Elphaba had no choice but to follow.

They emerged in a part of the city she didn't recognize, not that that really meant anything. Elphaba was immediately grateful for her new cloak and gloves. Wind was screaming through the city, pounding against buildings and shaking loose signs and trash bins.

"What in Oz…?"

Peric shrugged. "The weather is unpredictable here. This isn't the worst it's been. Besides, wind makes for a good sound cover."

She pulled Ama Clutch's scarf higher on her face and tugged her hat down tight. "Where are we going?"

"You saw that bakery a few weeks ago, right?"

"Yeah."

"It's near there. Come on."

They slipped through the city in silence. The wind unnerved Elphaba. She was used to hearing it rustle through tree branches, not beat against stone and metal walls. Above them, the sky glowed eerily, the countless city lights too bright for it to ever truly be dark. She clung to the shadows, following Peric's nearly invisible figure in front of her, and tried to keep some sense of direction.

Not much had changed when they reached the square with the bakery. They snuck through a few more streets before ducking into an alleyway beside a general goods store. The buildings around them blurred and faded in the darkness, and for a brief moment the city seemed more ominous than ever. Peric shifted beside her, brushing a wing against her thigh.

"Ready?"

"We don't even know who this is," she breathed. "How—"

"Whoever owns this place has proven themselves to be an enemy of Animals and supporters across Oz. Whoever it is supports the Wizard and all his cruelty. Maybe we don't get told the details, Fae, but that much is always true."

She looked up at the storefront. "…Okay."

"Ready?"

"Yeah. I'm ready."

He nodded. "Okay. It's simple. We get in, take enough stuff to cause financial damage, and get out. Got it?"

"Do you have a plan for getting in?"

"Well…"

She raised an eyebrow and straightened. "Allow me."

They crept into the street, hugging the building as much as they could. Peric stayed behind her, keeping watch, while she placed a hand flat on the door and murmured under her breath. There was a tiny grate of metal sliding against metal, and then the door swung open.

"I knew there was a reason I vouched for you," said Peric.

"Funny," she breathed, pushing through the doorway. "Come on."

Once inside, Elphaba shut the door behind them and leaned against it. She met Peric's gaze and waited, not entirely sure what to do next.

"It's not a science, Fae," he said, chuckling. "You have your bag, right?"

Wordlessly, she tugged the strap of her bag from where it was hidden beneath her cloak.

"Grab something that looks valuable and stuff it in there. If it's something we can use back at the hideout, even better." He flew up to a high shelf and snatched a dagger in his talons before gliding back down to her. She took it from him and slid it into the bag.

She started slow: a well-crafted pair of gloves, a little pendant on a silver chain, a lace handkerchief. Eventually she tried her luck with the strongbox beneath the front counter—she could hear Peric's beak click appreciatively when it clicked open—and was awarded with a handful of small treasures. After sorting through lockets and rings and even a few yellowed, handwritten notes, she snatched up a small gold purse, leaving the rest in the box, and locked it up again.

"Anything good?" Peric asked.

"Family heirlooms, I think. But there's this." She bounced the purse in her palm, smirking.

"Good. That should be enough. But first…"

Elphaba slipped the gold into her bag and watched as he hopped up onto the counter and, in one sharp motion, dug his talons into the wood. She raised an eyebrow.

"The Gale Force doesn't want the public to know we exist, but no one ever said we had to make it easy for them."

She nodded. "Fair enough. Let's go."

Peric flew out of the building with Elphaba following close behind. She paused for a moment at the door, swiping something from a nearby table before closing and locking the door behind her.

"What…?"

She flashed him a grin and held up the watch. "Well, you never actually told me how to tell time underground."

Peric's eyes glinted in the dim light of the streetlamps. "Oh yeah. You're going to do just fine."

Even after the jittering uncertainty of that first night, it didn't take Elphaba long to get used to her new life.

It was oddly repetitious. Any jobs they were assigned were pulled off in the dead of night. They would return after a few hours, and Peric would fly off to report to whoever he needed to. Sometimes, like on the first night when she was carrying their stolen goods, Elphaba would follow quietly behind him. She was rarely spoken to, but every night she felt a little more welcome.

Peric had told her once, when he came to visit her at Shiz after Dillamond's death, that the Resistance had finally given him a place where he belonged. After a couple of weeks, she thought she understood.

Most of it was the Bird himself. The two became closer than ever, solidifying a bond that had begun nearly a year ago. They were nearly inseparable, and not just because they worked so closely together. It was a quiet routine they had, and it was easy to fall into. Their days were spent mostly in their quarters, with occasional trips to the dining hall or a storage room for gear. Neither one of them slept well or long, but they spent the long hours tucked in their room, usually on Elphaba's makeshift bed, simply talking.

There were some nights that Elphaba would ask question after question, a fact that would both amuse and annoy Peric. But he answered what he could, and eventually her curiosity slowed down. Other nights were spent telling stories. Peric was always looking for details on her escapades at Shiz, and Elphaba was intrigued by his stories of the Resistance.

Of course, they were making their own stories. With every job they pulled, they grew closer, stronger, smarter. It became an art, almost. They could decide who would go in first and who would watch their back, whether Peric was going to swoop down on a guard or if Elphaba would sneak up behind them, when to move and when to retreat—all without saying a single word.

It felt like they were doing everything, yet it felt like they were doing nothing. The jobs were quick, quiet, and didn't seem to exist without the cover of nighttime. But she got them done, and it wasn't long before people began recognizing her more and more in the underground. It was never spoken, but she could feel their approval, their respect, as the weeks went by. She could see it in Peric's eyes, too.

Soon she was able to find her way to their quarters or the dining hall or even in and out of the underground without any problem. Faces slowly became familiar, even if they stayed as just faces. She never learned many names, but there were other things. She learned of jobs throughout the city, like when the circus going through town was raided and nearly burned to the ground. She learned the latest news of politicians across Oz, like the Quadling leader who was abducted from his home and found dead in one of the ruby mines a week later. More than anything, she learned stories, rumors, whispers of the city itself. These never failed to capture her interest, even if she dismissed most of them as entirely absurd.

"I overheard another rumor in the dining hall," she would tell Peric during the quiet hours spent in their quarters, waiting for their next orders. They would laugh at most of them, but some made them pause and think.

"Oh yeah? What was it this time?"

"There was an old Turtle talking about the origins of the city. He said it wasn't always entirely green."

Peric shifted around, the feathers on his chest puffing out. "How can the Emerald City not be green?"

"Parts of it," said Elphaba. "He said parts were actually plated in copper instead of emeralds, since emeralds were so hard to come across."

"Well, then, why is it all green now?"

"Because if left exposed to the environment long enough, copper will eventually erode into a green color."

Peric still looked unconvinced, but Elphaba thought back to the gate she had passed through when first entering the city. Even then, she had thought the color looked just a little out of place.

"I think it fits," she said after a while. "Nothing in this city is what it seems."

"This is it," Peric said. He was crouched low over the rim of a barrel, his neck stretching to see out into the street.

It wasn't hard to see what he was talking about. Across the road, tucked tightly between two larger buildings, was a tiny, filthy shack. Metal bars peeked out through the windows and Elphaba could smell the dozens of Animals and animals packed inside even from where they stood.

"Why are they even there?" she asked, kneeling next to the barrel Peric was perched on.

"Probably to sell. Poachers and circuses are always looking to buy."

"Poaching? That's illegal."

Peric looked down at her and blinked slowly. She felt her cheeks burn a little as she faced the street again. "Right. Duh. Sorry."

He turned back to the shack, unfolding his wings a little. Elphaba crouched down lower and tensed, waiting.

Peric leapt from the barrel and took to the air. She saw a shadow pass over the shack, but that was it. After a few more moments there was a muffled grunt, the soft thud of a body hitting the ground, and then a sharp click.

She crept out of the alleyway and across the street. After a quick charm to unlock the door, she slipped inside. Peric was standing on the windowsill.

"Took you long enough."

She rolled her eyes. "Was there only one guard?"

"For now."

"W-who…?"

They turned at the new voice. A tiny Owl was staring at them, quivering in a cage that was barely taller than he was.

"Don't worry," Peric said softly. "We're here to get you out."

"Y-you're…are you…with them?"

"No," said Elphaba. "We won't hurt you, I promise." She stepped closer to the cage, her hat still pulled low, and pressed her palm against the lock. There was a tiny click, and the door fell open.

The Owl's eyes widened, but he hopped closer to the edge. "Are you going to help everyone else, too?"

Peric nodded. "Yes. But you should get out of here. Quickly."

The young Bird trembled as he stared down at the ground. After a moment of concentration, he jumped out, flapped down hard, and made it out of the shack.

Elphaba didn't stop to watch him go. She quickly made her way around the room, magically unlocking cages and chains until all of their inhabitants were safely out and disappearing into the street.

"Here, Fae, pocket this."

Peric jumped from where he sat near the guard's unconscious body and dropped a small coin purse into her hand. She stared down at the guard.

"Poor guy. He'll be in for it when he wakes up."

Peric clicked his beak, eyes glinting. "Come on."

It had been a longer night, and the furthest parts of the sky were beginning to lighten by the time they slipped into the tunnels that led back to the hideout. Elphaba felt her feet begin to drag as the relative safety allowed exhaustion to slip in. The sting of the moist underground air didn't help either.

"You know, sometimes I wish we were based somewhere that wasn't physically painful to get to."

"Maybe you can request to move," said Peric. "I think you have a good enough reason."

"What would you do?"

"Go with you."

"Really?" Elphaba grinned down at him.

"What? You think you can get rid of me that easily?"

Light flickered ahead of them, and their tunnel opened up into the main cavern. The large white Cat that had spoken to her on that first night was sitting at a table near the entrance. He stood and padded over to them.

"Peric. Fae. I trust your night was successful?"

They nodded, and Elphaba began to pull out the purse they had grabbed from the guard, but the Cat shook his head.

"Keep whatever you got tonight. Consider it a reward for a job well done. Now, I have a message for the two of you."

Elphaba looked sideways at Peric, but he was focused entirely on the Cat. "We're listening."

"I would first like to introduce myself formally to you, Fae, though you obviously remember me. Names are dangerous here, but I see no problem sharing mine with you. I am Malky."

She nodded, unsure why Peric's feathers were puffed or why his neck was tucked in so tightly.

"The two of you have been doing well, and people are beginning to notice. You've been assigned a…well, a very important job. There are details waiting for you in your quarters."

Elphaba waited for Malky to say more, but the Cat was apparently done. With a flick of his tail, he turned and wandered off, slipping surprisingly well into the shadows despite his white fur. She stared after him a moment, then turned toward Peric. But the Bird still wasn't looking at her. His eyes were wide, focused on apparently nothing.

"Um…"

"Our room," he said, unfurling his wings. "Now."

"Peric!"

He flew off without even a glance back, leaving her to hurry through the room and up the stairs to their third floor quarters. She closed the door behind her and glared at him.

"I hate it when you do that."

"Fae…do you even realize what this means?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but something in his eyes stopped her sharp retort. "…What? What is it?"

"It's just…if we're getting noticed…" He hopped a little, his wings almost fluttering with excitement. "There's a letter on your pillow. Let's read it."

She crossed the room and settled onto the bed before unfolding the paper. She read through it quickly, Peric peering over the crook of her elbow. They looked at each other, and Peric's beak split into a grin.

"This is going to be good."