"So you turned around," Lion almost knocked his chair over as he shot to his feet. "Knocking the gun away as you punched the man holding it." He acted out the actions as he described them. "Then you took the gun," he raised his paws like he was holding a weapon. "And shot Eadlyn dead." He was practically panting as he stared at his imaginary foe for a moment before turning to look at Cade. "Like that?"

Cade grinned, bemused. "Uh, yeah. Something like that."

Glinda was holding Elphaba's hand under the table. Her girlfriend kept telling her she was fine but feeling those green fingers intertwined with her own was for her benefit just as much as Elphaba's. She still couldn't believe they had all made it through their ordeal unscathed. It just didn't seem possible considering the odds they had faced in the courtyard.

"Sit down." Penny instructed Lion as she patted the chair he had been in before, making sure he was going to do as she asked before continuing. "I still can't believe we missed all the excitement."

"Me either." Maeve, who had finally made an appearance, agreed. "I guess that's what I get for taking a walk in the gardens. They're lovely by the way." She directed the comment at Ginny.

"Thank you." Ginny acknowledged the compliment. "I'm glad you enjoyed them."

"Well I'm glad he's dead." Fiyero clinched his jaw. "I just wish I could have killed the bastard myself."

"No you don't."

Fiyero turned his gaze on Elphaba. "What was that?"

"Nothing." She replied.

Glinda gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Breena's spell had done the trick, giving the handful of Gale Forcers who were originally guarding Eadlyn the chance to round up his accomplices. By the time that was done it was nearly noon and Ginny suggested everyone have lunch. So here they were gathered around the table, Cade included at the Wizard's insistence. And of course the hot topic of discussion was what happened outside.

Cade stood as Breena and Addena came into the room. "How are my men?"

"Sleeping, just like Gregor said they were." Addena pulled the chair next to Elphaba out for Breena, taking her crutches as she could sit down.

"Thanks." Breena gave her a smile.

"How long will they be asleep?" The Wizard asked, his brow creased in concern.

"We're really not sure." Breena fielded the question. "Without knowing exactly what was in that potion it's hard to tell. But I would guess anywhere between twenty-four and forty-eight hours."

"Are they in any danger?"

"No." Addena shook her head as she sat next to Breena. "They're probably getting the best sleep of their lives."

The Wizard pursed his lips. "It looks like we'll have to take advantage of your hospitality for a while longer."

"Don't worry about it." Ginny waved away his concern. "Stay as long as you'd like."

"I'd better go check on our prisoners." Cade grinned at Breena. "I think you scared them too much for any of them to try anything but it's better to be safe than sorry." He started out of the room, turning when he reached the doorway. "I do have one question though." He looked at Elphaba and Breena. "Did one of you have something to do with Gregor's gun exploding?"

"Bree did it." Elphaba answered.

"Breena?" The Wizard repeated his daughter's name, raising his eyebrows when Elphaba nodded. "I didn't know you could blow things up."

"Neither did I." Breena shrugged.

Addena furrowed her brow. "Then how does Elphaba know you did it?"

Breena turned toward her lover. "Do you remember the little spat we had at my house right after Maeve showed up?"

"You mean the fight you had over me." Maeve clarified.

"It wasn't a fight, it was a spat." Breena corrected her. "And it didn't really have anything to do with you."

"I remember." Addena cut in. "I stuck my foot in my mouth and upset you."

"A lover's tiff." Lion helped out.

"Exactly." Breena agreed. "We went to the guest house to tidy it up for Maeve."

"The lamps!" Everyone jumped as Maeve yelled and pointed at Breena. "I completely forgot about you blowing up the lamps!"

"You broke the lamps?" Lion gave Maeve a sheepish look. "Sorry I blamed you."

Maeve smiled. "That's all right."

"Is that what you were cleaning up when you asked Breena to have me bring you a broom?"

Elphaba nodded at Glinda's question.

"I didn't even know I was doing it." Breena explained. "I was just so mad and then bam," she gestured with her hands. "The lamps blew."

"I didn't realize I upset you so badly." Addena sounded apologetic.

Breena reached for the doctor's hand. "Water under the bridge, Addy."

"So that's what happened today?" The Wizard was still trying to understand.

"You got totally pissed at Gregor and made his gun explode?" Fiyero asked a question of his own.

"Basically, yeah." Breena replied. "Elly has an angry power too."

"Angry power?" Elphaba gave her sister a bemused look.

"She does?" Glinda looked surprised.

Breena nodded. "She can throw things a long way."

"Without lifting a finger." Addena added.

Glinda furrowed her brow. "How did you figure that out?"

"Let's just say it had to do with Morrible and lightning and leave it at that." Elphaba answered.

"Oh." Glinda nodded her understanding as Elphaba tightened her grip on her hand, glad she hadn't gone into more detail about how she was struck by lightning protecting her from Morrible and how Addena saved her life.

"Morrible." Fiyero said the name like it left a bad taste in his mouth. "That figures."

Breena gestured with her hands. "Just don't make either of us mad and you won't have to worry about being thrown or blown up."

"She's kidding." Lion assured Penny before looking at Breena, wide eyed. "You are kidding, right?"

Elphaba chuckled. "Yes, she was."

"Well now that that's been explained I better be going." Cade glanced at the Wizard. "I'll check in with you later."

"I'll go with you." Fiyero stood up.

"So will Penny and I." Lion blushed. "I mean if you want to come with us."

Penny smiled at him. "I'd like that. It will give me a chance to catch up with some of our old buddies from the camp." She winked at Breena.

"Friends, right." Ginny scoffed.

"Do you mind if I come too?"

Fiyero frowned at Maeve. "Why would you want to?"

Breena returned his frown. "Does she have to have a reason Mr. Macho?"

"I guess not." Fiyero breezed out of the room.

"The company of a pretty woman is always appreciated in my book." Cade offered her his arm.

"Thank you." Maeve accepted.

"Uh oh." Lion shook his head as they left. "I see a love triangle coming on."

Breena choked on a laugh. "What do you know about love triangles?"

He gave her an indignant look. "I've read books." He gripped Penny's paw as the others laughed too. "Let's go."

Glinda said, "We still love you Lion."

"Whatever." He mumbled as he drug a chuckling Penny with him.

"I've read books." Ginny wiped at her eyes, shaking her head. "That was too much."

Elphaba stood up too. "I have something I need to see to."

Breena instantly sobered. "Do you need my help?"

"I think Glinda can handle this one." Elphaba gripped her sister's shoulder.

"Are you sure Elphie?" Glinda looked at her anxiously.

"Positive." Elphaba offered her a hand up. "If you'll excuse us."

Addena nodded. "We'll see you later."

The Wizard furrowed his brow as the couple left the room. "Is everything all right with Elphaba?"

Breena's, "I hope so," was barely audible as she stared at the doorway.

"Are you sure about this?" Glinda asked as they made their way toward her room. "I mean, don't you think Breena would be better qualified to help you with…" She gestured toward the Grimmerie, which was tucked safely under her lover's arm. "That."

Elphaba stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Maybe I should go back down to the library."

"Why? Do you think you'll have a better connection to the book there?"

"No."

"Did you change your mind about Bree?"

"No." Elphaba avoided her gaze.

Glinda frowned. "Elphie?"

"It's just..."

"Just what?" Glinda lovingly ran her hand up a green arm. "You know you can tell me anything."

"I..." Elphaba sighed. "This is obviously making you uncomfortable, Glinda. And I don't want you to think you have to hold my hand every time something like this happens." She looked at the floor. "Not that I plan on killing many people."

"Elphie..."

"But this isn't the first time my magic has thrown us a curve ball and it certainly won't be the last."

"I..."

"Our powers seem to get stronger every day."

"I know…"

Elphaba gestured with her free hand. "And you shouldn't feel obligated to help me figure them out." She shook her head. "I know it must scare you sometimes."

Glinda grabbed her hand before she could put it back on the Grimmerie. "I've told you before but I'll say it again in the hope that it gets through that thick skull of yours." She made sure her lover was looking at her. "You don't scare me Elphaba. You never have and you never will."

"But..."

"It's my turn to talk now." The blonde interrupted her. "I wasn't asking if you wanted Breena because I don't want to be here. I asked because she puts you at ease. Especially when it comes to anything having to do with your powers. And if your spell did work, I thought you might feel more comfortable with her considering she's cast it too."

"I'm sorry. I..."

"I'm not done." Glinda gave the hand she was holding a squeeze. "Even if you had said you wanted Bree here, I wouldn't have left, Elphie. I love you and I want to be here. I need to be here. I want to be a part of every aspect of your life."

"I want you to be too." Elphaba pulled her to her, holding the Grimmerie off to her side so she could hold the blonde close. "I didn't mean to question your intentions, Linny."

"And I didn't mean to make you think I was uncomfortable." Glinda cuddled against her for a moment before pulling back to look at her. "I think we should move this into my room before someone else comes along and thinks we're having an argument."

"Yeah, it might tarnish our reputation as the perfect couple."

"Stop it." Glinda smacked her on the arm as they walked into her room. She barely closed the door before she grabbed her, pulling her into a lingering lip lock.

Elphaba grinned when they finally parted. "We should argue more often."

"I thought maybe you could use that to center you."

"Oh, well in that case." Elphaba brought their lips together again, deepening the kiss when Glinda pressed against her body.

"Hm." Glinda licked her lips. "I love when we do that." She put her forehead against Elphaba's. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Elphaba gave her another kiss before pulling away and walking over to the bed where she sat down with the Grimmerie in her lap. "I guess this is the moment of truth."

"I guess so." Glinda held her breath as Elphaba opened the book. Yackle had repaired the binding, putting back together the two halves she and Morrible created when they fought over the ancient tome.

Elphaba tried to keep her hands from shaking as she thumbed through the pages she could read, taking a deep breath when she reached the restricted spells. For a second she wished her sister was there but her stubborn side quickly kicked in. She needed to be able to handle her part of their magic by herself. She couldn't expect Bree to keep walking her through every situation they faced. It was time for her to start pulling her own weight

Glinda watched as Elphie stopped turning pages and started scanning the characters it held, waiting as long as her curiosity would let her before saying, "Well?"

"I can read it." Elphaba didn't look up from the page. "This is the power stripping spell. Breena had to interpret it for me before because I couldn't understand it. But now I can." She shook her head. "Now I can."

"Oh Elphie."

She slammed the book shut, putting it aside. "I killed Eadlyn."

"And we've been over this already." Glinda went to her. "You didn't do anything wrong, my love. What you need to do is..."

Elphaba pulled her down on her lap. "What I need is something to take my mind off of this whole spell business. Something to convince me nothing has changed." She stared into blue eyes. "I need you."

"Then that's what you're going to get." She cupped Elphie's cheeks. "I love you."

"I love you too, Linny." Elphaba pulled her closer. "Do you ever get tired of being my cheerleader?"

"Never." Glinda suddenly smiled mischievously. "As a matter of fact, I think I have my old cheerleading outfit from secondary school in my closet. Want to see if it still fits?"

"Are you kidding?"

"Just imagine, me in a skin tight sweater." She waggled her eyebrows. "With pom poms."

Elphaba grinned. "That could be interesting."

Glinda gave her a lingering kiss. "I'll be right back."

Elphaba's grin became a smile as she watched her disappear into the walk in closet.

"Do you think I should?"

"No."

"But..."

"No."

"I just want to see if Elly is all right."

"She'll come find you when she's ready to talk."

"But what if she..." Breena sighed at the look she got. "Fine. I'll leave her alone."

Addena had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. Sometimes Bree was just too cute for words. "How about we go to my room so I can change your bandage?"

"Oh joy."

"It'll take your mind off your troubles." She sing songed.

"What's gotten into you?"

Addena shrugged as she leaned her back against her door, giving the witch a suggestive look as she turned the knob. "I don't know but you better take advantage of it while it lasts."

Breena grinned. "I think I will."

"Good choice." She watched Bree walk by, pleasure bubbling through her system at the thought of finally being able to think of her as her lover.

Breena glanced over her shoulder as she made her way into the room. "Are you looking at my butt?"

"Maybe."

"Can't say I blame you. It's a great butt."

Addena chuckled as she followed her. "You won't get any argument from me about that."

"I didn't think I would." Breena sighed as she took her crutches from under her arms and sank down on the edge of the bed.

"Tired?"

"These are harder to get around on then you might think." She leaned the crutches against the bedside table. "I'd rather go down stairs than up them."

"I told you." Addena rubbed Bree's arm. "Are your muscles burning?"

Breena shuddered at her touch. "Something's burning but it's not my arm muscles."

The corner of Addena's mouth turned up. "You dirty girl."

"You bring out the best in me." Breena pulled her down for a kiss.

"I could say the same thing about you." The doctor countered by initiating a lip lock of her own.

"What about my bandage?" The witch breathed against her lips.

"It can wait."

Breena didn't argue as she let herself be lowered down to the bed.