She watched Nevin as he sipped his coffee, the corner of her mouth turning up when he flinched, the liquid obviously burning his tongue. He was handsome, she would give him that. Girls were probably falling all over themselves to get to him. Especially now. And he looked so confident sitting there with his cup in one hand, the other sorting through a stack of reports on the table. Poised and polished beyond his tender age. Too bad he wouldn't be around to enjoy his success for much longer.

The thought should have made her feel something. He was, after all, her son. Her own flesh and blood. She spent three days bringing him into the world and ten years raising him before she took her position at Shiz and left him in the capable hands of her sister. Although he never wanted or needed for anything growing up he still could have resented her enough to leave her rotting in Southstairs. But he didn't. He jumped into her plan wholeheartedly and freed her. Yet there wasn't even a stirring in her heart at the possibility of him being gone. That's why she had unleashed the heavens again. She might not be able to cry for him, but they could. And they had. Enough to cause flooding in parts of Oz.

"Coffee?"

The sound of his voice drew her from her thoughts. "No."

"More for me." He shrugged.

"Has there been any backlash from the Merchant's Council?"

"No."

"The guard?"

"Mother." He growled the word. "You were there last night. Everyone on the council and in the guard knows who you are and the meeting went exactly like you said it should. There are no ifs, ands or buts about the fact that you are now my co-ruler. Relax and enjoy it."

"Well excuse me for asking." She raised her eyebrows, mumbling, "One can't be too cautious," under her breath.

"I'm sorry." Nevin put his cup down. "I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just, you know how my power works. Everyone will accept you as my equal from here on out no matter what. Well, unless I die and the spell is broken, but I don't think that will happen."

Nevin's second in command chose that moment to come into the room. "Excuse me miss, sir." He bowed to each of them in turn. "But a message just arrived from Lieutenant Havers."

"Excellent." Nevin took the proffered message. "Thank you for bringing it to us."

"It was my pleasure." The guard clicked his heels and bowed again before leaving the room. Morrible waited until the door was shut to speak.

"Who is Lieutenant Havers?"

"He's in command of one of the squads I sent after the Witch and Glinda."

Morrible frowned. "You sent squads after them?"

"Several." Nevin nodded as he opened the message. "I knew they couldn't get far with the Witch being injured so I sent men to search the lands around the city. Luckily my contact was able to give us their exact location."

"You spoke to your contact?"

"I got a message a couple of days ago."

"Then they've been dealt with?"

"Not exactly." Nevin scrunched his brow. "They're hiding in a cavern in the Pine Barrens. The rain washed out the road they used to get to the cavern so my men… I mean our men had to find an alternate route to them."

He was too busy scanning the piece of parchment in his hand to notice his mother's pursed lips. If he had told her about this from the beginning she could have made sure the weather wasn't a factor. Instead he went behind her back yet again.

"They found them." He smiled as he finished reading. "They made camp not far from the cavern last night and are going to attack this morning. Glinda could be back in the city by this evening."

"Glinda?" Morrible scowled. "I thought you were going to have them all killed."

"I was, but I've been thinking," Nevin sipped his coffee again but it was still too hot for him to drink. "I'm young and can rule Oz for a long time, but eventually I'm going to need an heir to take my place. And not only is Glinda drop dead gorgeous, the citizens absolutely adore her. Who better to be my wife and the mother of my children?"

"You…" She was so shocked she could barely form thoughts, let alone speak. "You want to marry Glinda?"

"Yes."

"And have a family?"

"Of course." He actually looked excited "I can convince her that I'm the best thing that's ever happened to her. We can be blissfully happy and you and I can continue to rule together. It'll be perfect."

"Yes." Morrible's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Perfect."

"I don't see why having this power shouldn't have its perks." Nevin picked up his cup again, taking a sip. "You can have someone too. Anyone in Oz. Just say the word and they're yours." He took a longer drink. "You need to try this coffee. It tastes amazing."

"It should." She smiled smugly. "I put cream and poison in it for you."

Her words took a moment to sink in. When they did Nevin choked on the swallow he had just taken. "Excuse me?"

"It's called a living death potion." Morrible continued nonchalantly. "It puts its victims in a permanent state of deep sleep. A coma of sorts. The brain withers away, leaving just enough to sustain the body."

"What… How…" He suddenly shook his head. "Very funny, Mother. I never would have guessed you had such a warped sense of humor."

"I can assure you I don't do humor, warped or otherwise."

His face fell. "You're serious."

"Utterly."

"How could you do this to me?!" He shot to his feet.

"What did you expect? You were ruling without me. All of this was my idea and you were reaping all the benefits! And all that nonsense you were spouting off about marrying Glinda and having a family." She shook her head. "Trust me when I say children are not worth the trouble."

"I made you my co-ruler."

"Yes, but it was already too late."

"You…" His voice trailed off as he swayed.

"Did I forget to mention how quickly it takes effect?"

"I…" He looked at her pleadingly. "I loved you."

She raised an eyebrow. "Too bad I couldn't say the same about you."

Those were the last words he heard before his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed, sweeping the reports off the table as he crumpled to the floor. Morrible got up and walked around the table to look at him.

"Thank you for making my transition to power so unproblematic." She stared at him a moment longer before yelling, "Help! Someone please, help my boy!"

She tried not to smile as a guard came rushing into the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"OK, try it again."

"What's the use?" Glinda shook her head. "I'm never going to get this."

"Sure you will." Breena encouraged her. "Just picture what you want to happen in your mind and say the word."

"All right. But I'm only doing this to prove a point." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again and pointing at the rock in front of her. "Agito." She sighed when nothing happened. "See! I need my wand."

"No you don't."

"Yes, I do. I'm a sorceress, not a witch."

"You say tomato, I say tomatoe. Magic is magic, Glinda. A wand is just a crutch for those who don't believe in themselves enough to channel their power without it."

"I believe in myself!"

Breena gestured toward the rock with her hand. "Then prove it."

Elphaba leaned against the cavern wall, watching them. When Breena first brought up giving Glinda a crash course in some basic spells she wasn't so sure it was a good idea. The blonde had already commented several times on how bare she felt without her wand and Elphaba didn't want her to get even more stressed out. But she also knew what a great teacher Breena was. And if using magic became an issue, Glinda would feel bad that she couldn't help.

"Fine." Glinda stuck out her chin defiantly. "I will."

"Good. I want you to."

The green woman smiled. Breena had spent more than enough time with Glinda to know that egging her on was a sure way to get her to try something.

Breena grinned when she noticed her cousin was watching. "And it'll turn Elly on."

Elphaba's eyes got big and she opened her mouth to respond but Glinda beat her to it.

"I never thought of that." Her blue eyes sparkled.

"And there's the motivation she needed." Breena rubbed her hands together and went to stand behind the blonde. "All right, give it another go."

Glinda nodded excitedly as she closed her eyes and concentrated. Elphaba cocked her head at Breena who just continued to grin. She was too busy trying to tell her cousin off with a look to notice Fiyero walking toward her.

"Elphaba, can I…"

"Agito!"

Fiyero spoke just as Glinda opened her eyes and cast the spell. The sound of his voice drew her attention, throwing off her aim. The scarecrow ended up flying into the kitchen.

Betak sidestepped him as he landed. "I don't have time for this nonsense."

"Oh my." Glinda put her hand over her mouth.

"It worked!" Breena put her arm around the blonde's shoulders. "I told you you could do it."

"But I was supposed to move the rock, not throw Fiyero."

"He's made of straw. He didn't feel a thing."

"Breena." Milynn chastised her as she helped him up.

Elphaba hurried over to them. "Are you all right?"

"Yes." He grumbled as his legs buckled a couple of times. "Nothing hurt but my pride."

"Are you sure?" Elphaba looked doubtful.

"Positive."

"Here." Milynn gave him a handful of straw he lost.

"Thanks." Fiyero accepted it, staring at it for a minute before looking up to meet Elphaba's gaze. "I'm…"

"Are you all right?" Glinda finally got to them, Breena following close behind.

"He's fine." Breena chuckled, rolling her eyes when the other three women stared at her. "So he got thrown across the room, big deal. Stop embarrassing him about it."

Fiyero gave her a grateful look. "She's right. I'm fine." He sighed. "And I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. There's no excuse for it."

"Fiyero…"

He held up his free hand to stop Elphaba. "Let me finish." He swallowed hard. "You were right, Fae. What you do is none of my business. I assumed it was because I thought I loved you. But when someone pointed out what that really meant, I realized I didn't." He shook his head. "I mean, I do love you, but not like you love Glinda. I love you both as friends. Does that make sense?"

"Yes it does." Elphaba nodded.

"So we're OK?" He looked at them beseechingly.

"As long as you're all right with us being together." Elphaba took Glinda's hand, pulling her closer.

"I am." He smiled. "I can't believe I didn't see how perfect you were for each other before."

Glinda wiggled with excitement as she pulled away from Elphaba to hug him. "I'm so glad you're not mad anymore. Neither one of us wanted to hurt you."

"I know. And I'm sorry if I hurt either of you." Fiyero nodded. "Well, I better go restuff myself so I can help Lion and Betak finish getting things ready." He gestured with the handful of straw before walking over to Lion.

"That was awfully nice of him." Glinda went back to Elphaba.

"Yes it was." Elphaba agreed. "Just like it was nice of someone we know to make him see the error of his ways."

Breena nodded. "You can thank Milynn for that."

"Oh no you don't." Milynn shook her head. "All I did was play along. You were the one who told him all about soul mates."

"Breena." Glinda pursed her lips. "How sweet."

Breena groaned. "Please don't call me that."

"Personally I think you're rotten." Elphaba grinned.

"Just say your thank yous and get it over with."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing." Milynn gave her friend a look. "You're actually going to let someone thank you for something?"

"Not if everyone's going to make such a big deal out of it." Breena started to walk away.

"Stop that." Milynn stepped into her path. "I think you two better hurry."

"Thank you." Elphaba and Glinda chorused as they pulled her into a hug.

"Hey!" Breena frowned. "No one said anything about hugging."

"Don't let her fool you." Milynn was all smiles as Breena squirmed away from them. "She loves hugs. Actually, she loves cuddling in general."

"I do not!"

"Look at that." Elphaba pointed at her cousin. "She made you blush."

Everyone laughed, including Breena.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Milynn pulled something from her pocket, holding it out to Glinda. "I believe this is yours."

"Actually it's mine." Elphaba took the small green bottle from her.

Glinda was surprised. "But I thought I told you to throw it away."

Elphaba frowned. "You told her to throw it away?"

"It was right after she slapped you." Milynn came to the blonde's defense. "She really wasn't thinking straight. That's why I kept it. I figured she would want it back eventually."

"Thank you." Glinda looked sadly at Elphaba. "I'm sorry."

"You kept it." Elphaba stared at the bottle.

"Of course I did. It was one of the few things I had left of you."

"Let me see that." Breena took the bottle from her cousin, partly trying to avoid the overly emotional moment she felt coming on and partly to get a better look at it. "My mom had one of these."

Elphaba and Glinda said, "What?" at the same time.

Breena quirked an eyebrow. "Would you two cut that out? It's creepy."

"Your mom had one of those?" Milynn asked to get her back on track.

"Yeah, remember? I kept it hidden in a drawer at Colwen Grounds. It was one of the few things I managed to bring with me when I was forced to move there. I was afraid someone would see it and take it away from me so I hardly every took it out, but I'm sure I showed it to you at least once." She fingered the bottle lovingly. "I wasn't allowed to touch it growing up. Mom kept her snake skin oil in it. She used to say it was fitting considering who gave it to her." Breena chuckled humorlessly as she held the bottle out to her cousin. "She must have meant grandfather."

"That would make sense if they both had one." Elphaba took it. "It's the only thing I have left of my mother."

"Don't be ridiculous. You've got your mom right here." Breena pointed at her cousin's chest. "And by association, right here." She grinned as she gestured at herself.

Glinda stared at the two of them as they talked, her mind racing. What did this mean? The Wizard confirmed he gave the bottle to Elphaba's mother, proving he was her father. But what about Breena?

A shiver ran down her spine as the talk she had with Betak replayed in her mind. Leandra pulled a disappearing act and ended up pregnant, never telling anyone who Breena's father was. What if she was with Melena when the Wizard came around? He left a bottle behind for Melena. Could he have done the same for Leandra? Was that why she went to Frex when her sister died and offered to raise her niece? Were Elphie and Breena more than cousins? Did their shared looks and abilities run deeper than anyone realized?

Could they be sisters?!

"I used to sleep with this under my pillow."

"Mom's is still safely tucked away at my place." Breena shrugged. "I guess I never got over the paranoia that someone would take it away from me if they knew I had it."

"I hate to break up this little gabfest, but could one of you go see what's taking Leto so long?" No one noticed Betak had joined them. "We're almost ready."

"I'll go." Fiyero started toward the entrance.

He was halfway there when a loud peal of thunder ripped through the sky and it started to pour again.

"Old bones. Soggy straw. Smelly fur. Lovebirds. And hates to get wet." Breena pointed at each of her companions in turn. "Looks like I'm going."

"I could…"

"You're making up for lost time with Glinda. Go sneak a make out session in the corner or something while you still can. There won't be much privacy once we get in that wagon." Breena smiled.

"Theca." She cast the spell to keep her dry and hurried out into the storm before Elphaba could respond. Oh how she loved to tease her cousin. Besides, Leto was still a little hesitant when it came to talking to Elly. She could give him an earful for keeping everyone waiting and he wouldn't think anything of it.

She grinned at the thought. Once upon a time she couldn't stand Leto. Yes she healed him after the Gale Force shot him, but that didn't mean she liked him. He was whiny and selfish and acted like a spoiled little rich boy. Then he started putting the moves on Milynn and she liked him even less. But as their relationship got more serious Breena came to realize that he wasn't so bad after all. Anyone who treated Milynn like gold had to have some redeeming qualities. They became friends. And now he was one of the few people she had ever or would ever trust with her life.

"Shouldn't you be with your men?"

Breena frowned when she heard Leto's voice. Who could he be talking to?

"I'll go to them in a minute." A different voice answered. "Captain Nevin wanted me to pass along his gratitude in person."

Nevin? What would he be thanking Leto for? Breena crept forward, being sure to keep herself out of sight as she neared the clearing where Leto had built a lean to for the horses. She was surprised to see him standing with a man dressed in a Gale Force lieutenant's uniform.

"I haven't gone through all this for his gratitude." Leto's voice was hostile. "I want what was taken from me. I want my family fortune back!"

Breena's frown deepened. What did he mean he wanted his family fortune back? That wasn't possible.

"I'm aware of that, as is the captain." The lieutenant nodded. "But I was also told to tell you there's not a chance in hell of that happening."

"What?!" Leto's mouth fell open. "You mean to tell me I married a woman I don't love and lived a life I hate to get close to a group of people I can't stand just so Nevin could go back on our deal?! All I want is my money, is that too much to ask?!!"

The earth fell away as the truth hit her like a ton of bricks. Leto was their spy. He'd been living a double life, pretending to be loyal to the underbelly while he was actually working for Nevin as a way of regaining the money the government took from him.

What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to tell Elphaba she was personally responsible for bringing a traitor into their midst? Worse yet, how was she going to explain all of this to Milynn? It would absolutely crush her.

"I know. And now you're going to die knowing all of it was for nothing. Just like everyone in that cavern won't know what hit them when my men attack…" He glanced at his watch. "Right about now."

The lieutenant's words barely registered but the sound of gunfire was more than enough to snap Breena out of her stupor. She barely had a chance to glance in the direction she had just come before Leto spoke again.

"What are you doing?!"

"Following orders." The lieutenant drew his pistol and shot Leto point blank in the chest.

Breena flinched as the gun's report echoed around the clearing, scaring the horses away.

"Abeo!"

She didn't say the spell for Leto, she said it for all the people he had hurt. All the people that could still very well pay a price for his actions.

The lieutenant stood stock still for a moment, his face frozen in a surprised expression as his lifeless body fell to the ground.

Breena didn't think about the fact she had just used her magic to kill a man as she sprinted back toward the cavern. All she could concentrate on was what she would find when she got there.