His jaw hurt like hell from being sucker punched and there was a man behind him aiming a gun at the middle of his back but that didn't change the fact that he was the Captain of the Gale Force Guard. When he took the job he accepted the responsibility to protect the ruling family. And was he doing that right now? No, he was standing there listening to some egotistical maniac spout off at the mouth about how he wanted to kill Breena, Elphaba and the Wizard and then run off with the Upland women.
"Shoot them."
His hands curled into fists at his sides as Eadlyn gave the order, his conscience screaming at him to do something.
"Agito!"
Eadlyn flying through the air and landing on his back with an audible thud shut his conscience up for a moment. He was hoping Eadlyn would stay down but he was propping himself up on his elbows all too soon.
"Who did that?"
He expected Breena to answer considering she was the most comfortable with her magic and had proven to be a bit of a hot head when it came to keeping those she cared for safe. That's why he was shocked to hear Glinda defiantly say, "I did!"
He was even more shocked when Eadlyn doubted her and the blonde repeated the spell, knocking him down again.
To say he was impressed was putting it mildly. When he watched her in action as Glinda the Good he thought she leaned too heavily on diplomacy, making her look weak. There was never any fire or passion in her actions. Right now there were practically flames shooting from her eyes as she stared Eadlyn down. It made him wonder if he really knew the blonde at all.
"I said shoot her! She's more trouble than she's worth."
Eadlyn's words pulled him from his thoughts.
"I..." Gregor stammered.
"Just do it!"
For a moment he thought Gregor might stand up to Eadlyn and refuse to listen to him but then the gun was raised in an extremely unsteady hand. He was vaguely aware of Elphaba and Addena yelling but his conscience made another appearance, demanding that he come up with a plan to save Glinda. Before any of them could make good on their intentions the gun exploded. It literally blew apart right there in Gregor's hand, taking the majority of his appendage with it.
Gregor's anguished cries as he sank to his knees made the other men understandably jumpy. And it pissed Eadlyn off.
"Stay where you are!" Eadlyn bellowed at his men. "I was trying to be fair. I really was. But I can see that's not going to be possible. Kill them all!"
The new order caught him off guard. He knew Eadlyn was crazy but he didn't think he would tell his men to kill everyone. That took him beyond crazy and straight into insane.
"Like this!"
He looked up in time to see Eadlyn pointing a gun at Addena.
"Now shoot them!"
And that's when his conscience finally set him in motion. He turned quickly, knocking the gun aside with one hand as he used the other to deck the man holding it, yanking the weapon away as the man slumped to the ground. He brought the gun up, pointing it at Eadlyn and hoping his aim would hold true before it was too late as he pulled the trigger.
She was in shock. That was the only way to describe it. And who wouldn't be? One minute she's having a nice breakfast with her friends and family and the next some man is demanding the release of the monster that made her girls' lives a living hell.
How she managed to keep the all consuming panic that was paralyzing her now at bay for as long as she did was beyond her. Maybe it was because she knew Elphaba and Breena were powerful and assumed they would somehow get everyone out of the situation. Or maybe she thought Gregor was exaggerating when he said he took care of all of the Gale Force guards and hoped some of them would come charging out to see what was going on when he fired the warning shots at Elphaba. Or maybe, on some level, she thought this whole thing was nothing but a nightmare she would wake up from to find everyone still safely tucked away in their bed.
But she was pretty sure it was the sight of Gregor pointing a gun at her baby girl that finally pushed away her resolve and let the panic take over.
An involuntary squeak of dread escaped her throat as Gregor's finger started to pull the trigger. She was going to stand right there, not three feet away from her daughter, and watch her be killed.
And then the gun exploded.
At first she thought he shot Glinda but before she could descend into a full blown panic attack she saw him sink to his knees, clutching what could only be described as a bloody stump to his body. She stared at him in awe, wondering what happened until she heard a shocked gasp coming from Glinda. Thinking that maybe her youngest had been hurt after all she turned toward her quickly, not realizing what was wrong until she finally followed the path of her daughter's gaze. What she saw when she did brought the panic back tenfold.
Eadlyn was holding on gun on Addena, a sick smile spreading across his face as he told his men, "Now shoot them!"
She barely had a chance to comprehend that he meant for his men to shoot everyone before the bullets started flying.
All she could do was close her eyes and pray for a miracle.
"I said shoot her!"
Shoot her... shoot her...
The words rang through his head as he watched the scene unfold before him.
"I..."
"Just do it!" Eadlyn growled.
He didn't know what got into Glinda. All she did by using the spell on Eadlyn was make him angry. Not that he wasn't grateful for the temporary reprieve from worrying about being shot. But he would much rather take a bullet than let something happen to the blonde. He wasn't sure how Elphaba would cope if anything happened to her lover.
"Conicio!"
He flinched as Elphaba's spell flattened the man in front of her. Addena's fist had a similar effect on the man trying to keep her from her sister as Gregor raised the gun and pointed it at Glinda. He started to grab Breena's arm, afraid she would try to join the fray too, but what felt like a blast of electricity knocked his hand away before he could touch her.
Gregor's gun exploded a split second later.
His eyes went wide as he stared at Breena. She hadn't uttered a sound or so much as lifted a finger but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt the same force that shoved his hand away was what caused Gregor's gun to explode. And it came from his little girl.
"Stay where you are!"
Eadlyn's command drew his attention back to what was happening around him. The men who came to save Eadlyn looked terrified as Gregor curled into a ball on the ground, his injured hand held tight against his body in an attempt to ease his pain. If it was anyone else he might have felt sorry for them, but as far as he was concerned the bastard was getting what he deserved for taking pot shots at Elphaba.
"Kill them all!"
The words sent a chill down his spine.
"What?"
"I said kill them all! How hard is that to understand?! Like this!"
His heart dropped to his toes as Eadlyn ripped a gun from one man's grasp and pointed it at Addena.
"Now shoot them all!"
What could only be described as fatherly instincts kicked in as he moved to put himself between the men with weapons and his daughters, determined to keep them safe.
Shots rang out just as he tackled them both to the ground.
Her mouth went dry the instant she cast the spell. Not with fear about what she had done but in anticipation of what would happen next. She felt the weight of Elphie's stare but kept her eyes on Eadlyn, hoping her effort had been enough to keep him down for a little while.
"Who did that?"
She sighed as he started to get up. "I did!"
"Right."
His condescending tone was all it took for, "Agito!" to fly from her lips again.
"You can do magic too?!"
"Of course I can!" She couldn't stop a smug smile from spreading across her face. She could practically feel his fear. "And so can my mother and my sister," she added in an attempt to intimidate the other men as well.
"What the hell are you doing Glinda?"
"I'm showing him what he's getting himself into." She decided to lay it on thick.
"No, what you're doing is forcing me to have a change of heart."
Why didn't she like the sound of that?
"Shoot her Gregor."
Her head spun at the prospect. She knew Eadlyn was still talking but she couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. She was too busy watching Gregor's gun hand, swallowing hard as he started to raise it toward her.
"No!" Elphie and Dena yelled at the same time.
But she still couldn't take her eyes off of Gregor. He was going to do it. He was actually going to pull the trigger and end her life.
Instead the gun exploded, taking Gregor's hand with it. She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the carnage as he fell to his knees, his pain filled screams splitting the otherwise silent air. He didn't stay upright very long before curling into a ball on his side, keening like a wounded animal.
"Kill them all!"
That got her attention.
"What?"
"I said kill them all! How hard is that to understand?!"
She couldn't stop the shocked gasp that exploded from her mouth as Eadlyn took one of his men's guns and pointed it at her sister.
"Now shoot them!"
She didn't even have a chance to breathe before bullets started flying.
"What the hell are you doing Glinda?"
The question left her mouth before she had a chance to stop it.
"I'm showing him what he's getting himself into," was her little sister's flip response.
"No, what you're doing is forcing me to have a change of heart. Shoot her Gregor."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. That bastard was actually ordering Gregor to kill Glinda!
"Just do it!"
A sick feeling swelled in her stomach as Gregor obeyed Eadlyn's order, lifting the gun in an extremely unsteady hand and pointing it at her sister.
"No!" She tried to move, tried to protect her, but another man with a gun stepped in her path. "Get out of my way!" She made quick work of him with her fist.
But before she could even think of taking another step toward her sister, Gregor's hand exploded. At least that was the first thought that registered as she watched flesh and bone being destroyed but somewhere in the back of her mind she knew it was actually the gun that caused the damage.
Her doctor's instincts almost overrode her loathing for the man who had been threatening her sister as Gregor first sank to his knees and then curled into a ball on his side, screaming in pain the entire time. Almost, but not quite.
"Kill them all!"
Her head snapped up when she heard Eadlyn's angry edict.
"I said kill them all!" He bellowed again as one of his men questioned his instruction. "How hard is that to understand?!"
She knew something bad was going to happen as he yanked a gun away from one of his men.
"Like this!"
She caught Breena's eyes as Eadlyn pointed the gun in her direction, mouthing the words, "I love you," a moment before Eadlyn's final command filled the air.
"Now shoot them!"
"Agito!"
She could hardly believe what she was seeing as Eadlyn flew through the air, landing on his back. She glanced toward Elphaba, shocked to see a similar look of surprise on her sister's face. If Elly didn't throw him then...
"Who did that?"
"I did!"
You could have knocked her over with a feather when she heard Glinda answer. It took every ounce of self control she had not to clap and catcall when the feisty blonde used the spell on Eadlyn again for doubting her.
"You can do magic too?!"
"Of course I can. And so can my mother and my sister."
She silently applauded her friend for using the one weapon they had at their disposal right now, intimidation. She could tell from the look on Addy and Elly's faces that they didn't agree but they had to try something. They couldn't just let Eadlyn have what he wanted.
"Shoot her Gregor."
Her blood ran cold when she heard the words. She hoped Gregor wouldn't listen but all it took was a, "Just do it!" from Eadlyn for him to raise his hand holding the gun.
Anger unlike anything she'd ever felt before burned through her system at the idea of Glinda being hurt. With it came an odd sensation. A strange sense of knowing that whatever she looked at next would feel her wrath. So she made the most logical decision she could... She turned her eyes on the gun.
And it exploded.
She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the remaining rounds in the chamber all going off at the same time, destroying the gun and Gregor's hand as they did. His screams almost made the corner of her mouth turn up in a triumphant grin. But her success was all too short lived as Eadlyn limped toward them.
"Kill them all!"
The words barely had a chance to register before Eadlyn took a weapon away from one of his men.
"Like this!"
The world seemed to drop away at her feet as Eadlyn pointed the gun at Addy. Her girlfriend chose that moment to look at her, mouthing the words, "I love you."
"Now shoot them all!"
She cast a spell just as something hit her, shoving her into Elphaba as the sound of gunfire filled the air.
"Who did that?"
She knew who was going to answer before she heard the voice she adored say, "I did!"
It wasn't until Glinda repeated the spell because Eadlyn sarcastically doubted her that she started to get irritated. Throwing him once was more than enough to make her point. Doing it again was only going to piss him off. And they couldn't afford for him to be any angrier than he already was. Not when he and his men were the ones with all the weapons.
"I'm showing him what he's getting himself into."
"No, what you're doing is forcing me to have a change of heart."
She frowned at Eadlyn's choice of words.
"Shoot her Gregor."
The words didn't click right away because they just didn't make any sense. Gregor couldn't shoot Glinda. No one could shoot her. No one was allowed to touch a single blonde hair on her head.
"Just do it!"
Something in her snapped when Gregor raised his gun.
"Conicio!"
The man trying to keep her from her lover went down like a ton of bricks as the word left her lips. But before she could run to Glinda there was a loud noise and lots of screaming. It took her a second to realize it was Gregor. And he was missing the better part of the hand that had been holding his weapon.
"What the hell just happened?!"
She was wondering the same thing as she watched Gregor laying on the ground, his body shaking in agony.
"I said to kill them all!"
Eadlyn's words made her realize she'd missed something. Something important from the way all of his men were fidgeting with their guns.
"Like this!"
She couldn't believe what was happening as Eadlyn took a gun from one of his men and pointed it at Addena. Rage had her seeing red. Who the hell did he think he was, threatening her family like that?
"Now shoot them!"
She let her anger show in the spell she cast a second before Breena slammed into her, knocking her off her feet as all hell broke loose.
AN: I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's reading and reviewing. 300 plus reviews is friggin sweet! So thanks everyone. I'm glad you're enjoying the story.