Chapter 8 – Dancing Through Life
Dean had been hiding in the cornfield for over two hours now, his knees ached. Sam was to his left and Charlie was safely in Kiamo Ko.
She'd thrown a fit, but Dean insisted that she would stay in the castle. They didn't have a lot of weapons and Dean wasn't planning on taking any more risks than he needed to take.
"I'm taking us all home, safe," He'd said. And that was it, period. He disliked treating her like a child, but he'd rather have her hate him than her dying. Again.
A small girl with a dog emerged from the cornfield.
"Where do we go now?" the girl, Dorothy, said.
Cue Glinda, Dean thought.
"Well well!" She squealed. "Tell me now, are you a good witch, or a bad witch?"
"I'm not a witch at all!" Dorothy exclaimed.
"Then how are you wearing those ruby slippers!" She pointed to Dorothy's feet. "Those are powerful!"
"Oh," Dorothy said. "Do you know how to get back home?"
"Home dear, where's your home?" Glinda asked, gracefully waving her wand around.
"Kansas!" Dorothy said.
"Kansas?" Glinda exclaimed. "I wouldn't know where that is! But I know someone who might know! You should go find the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City."
"But, how do I start for the Emerald City?" Dorothy asked.
"It's always best to start at the beginning!" Glinda smiled. "and all you do is follow the Yellow Brick Road."
"But, what happens if I get lost?" Dorothy asked.
"Just follow the Yellow Brick Road!" Glinda smiled and waved as Dorothy walked towards the Yellow Brick Road. "Oh, I hope she doesn't get lost. I'm so bad at giving directions."
The moment Dorothy was out of sight, Glinda's smile faltered. "Oh, Nessa."
"What a touching display of grief." Elphaba landed and walked to the field where Glinda was standing, broomstick in hand.
There was a short silence. Their friendship was under a lot of pressure with the you-stole-my-fiancée-gate and the you-gave-people-the-luminous-idea-to-kill-my-sister-gate.
Dean hoped that they would stay focused and postpone their catfight until they were back in Kiamo Ko.
"I don't think we have anything further to say to one another."
Oh no.
"I'd appreciate some time, alone, to say goodbye to my sister." Elphaba quietly said.
Glinda clenched her jaw and took a few steps back, nodding.
Elphaba knew she was being observed, and her voice was inaudible as she mumbled something to her sister.
"Elphie... you mustn't blame yourself…" Glinda said, striding back to her friend.
"I don't blame myself, I blame you," Elphaba hissed. "How could you have said something like that to Morrible?"
"I don't know, I never really thought…" Glinda uttered.
"No, of course you never really thought!" Elphaba growled. "You're too busy telling everyone how wonderful everything is!"
Dean sighed deeply. This had been a bad idea.
"I'm a public figure, now." Glinda crossed her arms. "People expect me to..."
"Lie?"
"Be encouraging!" Glinda stated. "And what exactly have you been doing besides riding around on that filthy, old thing?"
She pointed to Elphaba's broom.
"Well, we can't all come and go by bubble." Elphaba growled. "Whose invention was that, the Wizard's? Of course, even if it wasn't I'm sure he'd still take credit for it."
"Yes, well, a lot of us are taking things that don't belong to us, aren't we?" Glinda said.
Dean swallowed. This was going south.
"Now wait just a clock tick!" Elphaba walked towards Glinda. "I know it may be difficult for that blissful, blonde brain of yours to comprehend that someone like him could actually choose someone like me! But it's happened... it's real." She laughed. "And you can wave that ridiculous wand all you want, you can't change it! He never belonged to you, he doesn't love you, and he never did! He loves me!"
Glinda slapped her.
Elphaba clenched her cheek briefly, but then started cackling evilly. It gave Dean shivers as he made eye contact with Sam.
Do we need to interfere? His brother seemed to motion.
Dean shrugged.
"Feel better now?" Elphaba said
"Yes, I do." Glinda stuck her chin in the air.
"Good, so do I." Elphaba lashed out.
Glinda shrieked and twirled her wand around skillfully. Elphaba took up her broom and they danced around each other, weapons in the air.
Elphaba breathed heavily and threw her broom aside, charging at Glinda with her bare hands.
Glinda snatched Elphaba's hat off and started whacking her with it.
Dean sighed. Normally he loved catfights, but he was trying to save some goddamn lives.
Suddenly the guards ran out from their hiding places (Dean assumed they had been hiding there for a while).
"Halt! In the name of the Wizard!" One yelled. They seized Elphaba and one grabbed Glinda, 'rescuing' her from the Wicked Witch of the West.
"Stop! Let me go!" Elphaba yelled.
"Sorry it took us so long to get here, Miss." One guard apologized.
"I can't believe you would sink this low!" Elphaba hissed.
"I never meant for this to happen! Elphie!"
The guard let Glinda go and joined the others, who were still holding Elphaba.
Out of nowhere, Fiyero swung out of a tree. He stumbled when he landed, but regained his footing quickly and pointed his bayonet at a guard.
"Let the green girl go!" He yelled.
"Fiyero, how in Oz?" Glinda was near tears.
"I said let her go! Or explain to all Oz how the Wizard's guards watched," He turned around and pointed his bayonet at Glinda. "while Glinda the Good was slain."
"Fiyero..." There was a hiccup in her voice.
He ignored her. "I said, let her go."
There was a thump as the guards pushed Elphaba forward.
Fiyero briefly glanced over his shoulder, snatching her broom from the ground and pushed it into Elphaba's hands. "Elphaba, go, now."
"No," Elphaba shook her head. "Not without you."
"Fiyero, please." Glinda begged.
"Hush!" He said to Glinda, and back to Elphaba. "Now! Go!"
Elphaba was clearly hesitating, despite Sam and Dean's promise to not let Fiyero slip through their fingers.
Glinda threw Elphaba's hat back at her. "Do it!"
With a strained face, Elphaba mounted her broom and took off.
The guards closed in on Fiyero, who tried saving his skin by aiming the bayonet at Glinda again, but he probably realized he couldn't shoot her.
He lowered the rifle.
"Seize him!" a guard yelled.
The guards grabbed Fiyero and Glinda started shrieking in panic. "Wait, what?! What are you doing? Stop it! In the name of goodness, stop! Don't you see? He wasn't going to harm me, he just... he just... he loves her."
She sunk down next to him.
"Glinda," Fiyero averted his gaze. "I'm so sorry!"
"Take him up to that field there!" The guard pulled him up, motioning for the others to follow him. "Put him on one of those poles until he tells us where the witch went."
They dragged him into the cornfield, hoisting him up to one of the vacant poles reserved for scarecrows.
"No, don't hurt him! Please, don't hurt him!" Glinda charged after them, but Dean knew it was his turn. He grabbed her arm.
"Meeting point. Go."
Tears streaming down her face, she nodded and turned away.
"Dean, come on!" Sam yelled.
They could hear groans in the distance. Fiyero was clenching his teeth, not showing his pain.
Dean cocked his gun. "CUT IT OUT!" He yelled.
The guards haltered and turned to the Hunters.
"Who are you?" A tall one asked.
"Your worst fucking nightmares," Sam growled. "You can choose, leave him alone and return to the Emerald City, or die."
"You're outnumbered." Another guard pointed out.
"I could take you all by myself." Dean said. "I just brought him because he didn't want to miss out on all the fun."
The guard most left of Dean charged, and Dean dodged the bayonet and delivered a blow to the jaw. He could feel bones break beneath his knuckles.
The guard collapsed to the ground.
"Well," Dean shook his hand. "Anyone else?"
He saw them hesitate, but they lowered their weapons. "WELL, GET LOST THEN." Dean roared.
They ran off, scattering in different directions.
Dean shoved his gun back in the back of his pants. "Let's get the bastard down," He said.
Together with Sam, he hoisted Fiyero down.
"Who are you?" He asked a little hazily.
"The guy who looked good in the tights," Dean grinned, pulling the man to his feet.
Fiyero laughed, "The guy who brought Baby to the Emerald City?"
"Yeah, name's Dean Winchester, this is my brother Sam," Dean smiled too. He tried to make Fiyero stand on his own, but he sank down again. "You in pain?"
"They hit me everywhere, but my ankle's all itchy."
Sam glanced down. "That's probably because there's a large piece of wood sticking out of it," he said drily.
Fiyero followed his gaze and whimpered, slowly sitting back down.
"We need to dress this before we can trek back to Kiamo Ko." Sam said.
"Baby's near," Fiyero said. He whistled a tune. "She should be on her way, she can bring us back quickly."
Sam sat down next to Fiyero and seized his foot. "Fiyero, what's your full title?" he asked.
"Fiyero Tiggular, Captain of the Guard of the Gale Force, although I think I've been discha-" Fiyero yelped loudly when Sam pulled the large splinter out without warning. "Oh you filthy, filthy -"
"Stay nice." Sam smiled. "Dean, your whisky please."
"Why would I have whisky on…" Dean half-heartedly protested, but Sam held his hand out and pulled his 'no bitching' face.
Dean sighed. "I've been saving that for emergencies."
Fiyero looked at him crossly. "Am I not an emergency?"
Dean handed his flask over to Sam, who used his precious Jack to clean Fiyero's wound.
There were hoof beats behind him and Dean got up, bumping into the black mare. "Baby!" he smiled.
Sam made a makeshift dressing to stop the bleeding and, together with Dean, lifted him on Baby.
Glinda would pick them up at a hill they had scouted earlier. She would drop Sam off in a field so he could play scarecrow to complete the storyline and lure the Kansas country girl to Kiamo Ko.
Dean didn't want to leave Baby behind, but Glinda couldn't take her in a bubble. He took the bridle and saddle off and patted Baby's neck.
"She'll probably return to her stable, Dean, now get a move on." Sam sounded annoyed.
Dean closed his eyes and felt the bubble pop around him and ascend.
"Why is he looking all weird?" Fiyero asked.
"He's afraid of flying." Sam replied, probably with a smile on his face.
Dean needed a drink. Or two.