1"Boq." Breena tensed, her hands balling into fists as memories of the last time she saw him filled her mind. She was moving away from Betak, putting herself between him and Elphaba, when she saw the brown blur streaking across the clearing. Before she could wonder what it was, it hit the tin man, knocking him off his feet.

The sound his metal body made as it slammed into the ground resonated through the air, drawing everyone's attention to the scene developing before them.

"I should have finished you off when I had the chance."

"What are you talking about?" Boq tried to shove his burden away, frowning when he saw who was straddling him to hold him down. "Lion?"

"Shut up!" Lion half spoke, half roared the words.

"But..."

"What did I say? One more word out of you and I'll..."

"Lion!" Fiyero stopped him from completing his threat as he rushed over to them. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Taking care of him before he can hurt anyone."

"I'm not going to..." Boq's voice died in his throat as Lion growled.

"Let's just take it easy, all right?" Fiyero tried a soothing tone in the hopes of calming Lion down. The big cat could be cute and cuddly, but he was still a lion. And Fiyero had never seen him so upset.

"He's the one who stabs people, not me."

Lion's words would have lit a fire in Fiyero's veins if he still had any. How could he have forgotten that Boq stabbed Elphaba? That he took a dagger and... The bastard almost killed his Fae!

He took a step back, motioning for Lion to continue what he was doing.

"Scarecrow?" Boq looked at him questioningly, knowing he was about to lose the one ally he might have had.

"Don't look at him." Lion pawed him on the side of the head, forcing him to look away from Fiyero. "Or them." He hit him with his other paw when he realized he was now looking at the girls. "Not Breena." Paw. "Or Glinda." Paw. "Or Glinda's sister." He glanced at Addena as he pawed him again. "Sorry, I can't remember your name." Paw. "Or Betak." Paw. "And especially not Elphaba."

"Oh, get on with it already." The Wizard was exasperated. "Either rip his head off or don't."

Betak shot him a look. "You stay out of this."

"Well someone had to say something." The Wizard defended himself. "As fun as it is to watch him being batted around like an oversized ball of yarn, we have other things to discuss."

"No one asked you." Betak fired back.

"I never thought I'd hear myself saying this, but he's right." Breena spoke up.

"What?!" Fiyero frowned at her.

"Don't give me that look." Breena frowned right back.

"The boy says he was under the influence of someone else when he stabbed my daug..." The Wizard stopped short of saying 'daughter.' "When he hurt Elphaba."

"That's true." Boq practically squealed. "Nevin made me do it."

"Really?" Betak narrowed her eyes. "I didn't see anyone holding your hand when you drove that dagger into Elphaba's chest."

"Everyone stop!" Breena snapped. "Nevin could control the thoughts of others. And the dagger Boq used was a special issue Gale Force piece. He couldn't have gotten it from anyone but a high ranking officer. So just let him up already."

"Is she for real?" Lion sounded disappointed.

Fiyero helped the feline to his feet. "I'm afraid so."

"Thank you." Boq spoke when he was finally free to climb to his feet.

"Don't think this lets you off the hook. Personally I despise you for what you did to Elly." Breena glared at him. "If you so much as look at her the wrong way I'll come up with a spell to turn you into Morrible's girdle. Understand?"

Boq was too stunned to do anything but nod.

"Good." Breena sighed as what little energy she had disappeared, leaving her visibly drained.

The Wizard looked at her with worry on his brow. "Are you all right?"

"You're so anxious to talk." Elphaba deflected his attention away from Breena as she went to her side, putting a steadying hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you start with how long you've been standing there?"

Everyone else switched their attention to the three of them, ready to watch what promised to be an even better drama than the last one.

"We've been here since blondie started talking." Yackle answered before he could.

The Wizard shot her a warning look. "I heard everything Glinda said."

"And is it true?" Elphaba clinched her jaw.

"If you're asking about my sleeping with your mothers, yes I believe I did." The Wizard looked back and forth between the two women. "And am I your father?" He paused, trying to keep a grip on his emotions. "I think I am."

"You think?" Elphaba looked at him coldly. "Could you be a little more vague?"

He looked at the others. "Perhaps we should discuss this in private."

"They've heard everything so far." Breena dismissed the idea. "Just get on with it. Unless you have something to hide."

Yackle cackled. "You tell him girlie."

"Of course I don't have anything to hide." The Wizard was quick to defend himself. "I just thought this might be easier if it was the three of us."

"Well it's not." Elphaba quirked an eyebrow when he didn't continue right away.

He looked at Breena, not surprised to see a similar expression on her face. "If that's the way you both want it."

"It is." Breena nodded.

"OK." The Wizard started pacing as he talked. "I met Elphaba's mother in a marketplace." He tapped his chin as he reconsidered. "No, met probably isn't the right word. I saw her from across the way and she was so beautiful. She would have caught a blind man's eye." His gaze drifted to Elphaba. "You look a lot like her. I can't believe I didn't see it before."

Elphaba held up the index finger of her free hand. "Don't go there."

The Wizard furrowed his brow. "I meant it as a compliment."

"I don't want compliments from you."

"All right." He raised his hands in a 'don't shoot' gesture. "No more compliments. I promise."

Breena rolled her eyes. "Would you stop trying to charm her and get back to the story?"

"Charm her? I wasn't trying to..." The Wizard trailed off as Breena stared at him. "OK, no more charm and no more compliments." He shook his head again. "You two sure are hard to please."

"Welcome to fatherhood." Betak's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Be glad you missed the teenage years."

The Wizard looked at her for a moment before he spoke again. "As I was saying, I saw your mother in the marketplace and became completely infatuated. She didn't want anything to do with me. At least not at first. But I was in a new land and she was a pretty lady and I was determined to get to know her." He grinned wistfully. "Eventually I got through to her and we started talking. I'd meet her at the market and help her shop."

"Is that supposed to be sweet or something?" Lion asked Fiyero. "Because it sounds kind of creepy. I'd beat someone up for following me around like that."

"I didn't know she was married." The Wizard didn't seem to hear him. "Or maybe I did and I just didn't care. She was my dark eyed beauty and I had to have her."

"And you did." Elphaba's tone was bitter.

"Yes," he nodded. "I did. Until your mother came for an unexpected visit." He looked at Breena. "She didn't like me very much."

"I can't imagine why," Breena quipped.

"I'm not ashamed to say that made me want her too."

"Ew." Breena scrunched her face. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"It wasn't like that." The Wizard gestured with his hand. "Sometimes the sweetest of loves is born out of hate or animosity."

Addena said, "I think I'm going to be sick too," to no one in particular.

"Your mothers..."

"They had names."

He looked at Betak again. "Excuse me?"

"I said 'they had names.'" Betak spoke slowly and loud enough for half of Oz to hear her.

The Wizard frowned. "Of course they did."

"Do you know what they were?"

"What?" His frown deepened.

"You keep calling them 'Elphaba's mother' or 'your mother.'" The old woman pointed out. "Not by name." She stared challengingly into his eyes. "I don't think you remember them."

"How could I possibly forget? Melena and Leandra." The names rolled off his tongue. "Two of the sweetest sounding words I've ever heard."

Breena and Elphaba locked eyes, both wondering how he knew their mothers' names if what Glinda said wasn't true. Elphaba moved her hand to put her arm around her cousin's… or was that her sister's… shoulders while Breena snaked her right arm around the green woman's waist, each needing to know the other was close.

"I apologize for not calling them by name before. I can see where that would make you a little suspicious of me."

"Oh I'm more than a little suspicious of you." Betak continued to stare at him.

The Wizard tugged on the lapels of his jacket before jumping back into his story. "Leandra caught Melena and I… How should I put it?" He pursed his lips. "In a rather compromising position. Needless to say that didn't exactly start us off on the best of terms."

"Really?" Betak chortled. "You were only helping her sister cheat on her husband."

"At first I tried to get on her good side so Melena would see me again." He ignored her comment, choosing to concentrate on Elphaba and Breena instead. "But the more time I spent with her, the more I realized I had feelings for her too. Leandra was…" He sighed. "She was magnificent. The total opposite of her sister. Being with them was the most exciting thing I've ever experienced."

Betak spat, "Horny bastard."

"No." The Wizard spoke firmly. "What the three of us had went much deeper than carnal feelings and I won't have you or anyone else cheapening it. I'll admit the whole thing with Melena started out as a way to sew some wild oats, but it became so much more. If you only believe one thing I say, believe this. I loved them." He looked at the girls beseechingly. "I wanted to build a life with them."

"Then why didn't you?" Elphaba voiced the question.

"Melena was already married, Leandra didn't take me seriously and, I'm ashamed to say, other ambitions got in the way." The Wizard started to pace again. "You see, I was a salesman at heart. So when one of the shopkeepers from the market said he had a business proposition for me I jumped at the chance. Little did I know it would change my life forever."

"The Merchants Council." Glinda spoke for the first time in a long while.

"Yes." He nodded. "The Merchants Council. They realized what kind of influence they had over their customers, but none of them were willing to step up as a public figure. I was new in Oz and could sell snowballs to Eskimos so I was a perfect candidate."

"Snow whats to who?" Lion frowned.

"Never mind." The Wizard waved off his question. "The important thing is I took the opportunity. I became their spokesman. In no time I was traveling Oz and…"

"Forgetting all about our mothers." Breena finished his thought for him.

"Unfortunately." He sighed. "There's just something about having people hanging off your every word. It's addicting." He pointed at Glinda. "You know what I'm talking about. There's nothing quite like a captive audience who adores you."

"Don't you dare compare yourself to her." Elphaba hissed. "She's nothing like you."

"So that's it." Breena spoke before Elphaba could say more. "You ran off to be the Wonder Wizard of Oz and left our mothers to deal with being pregnant."

"Yes."

"Wait a minute, you mean you knew?" Elphaba was shocked. "You knew our mothers were pregnant?"

"Yes."

"And you left them anyway?! What about all that 'I never had a family of my own' stuff you spouted off when I first met you?"

"I used that line on everyone." The Wizard looked at his shoes. "It's not something I'm proud of."

"You know, I was kind of hoping you would say you didn't know. Maybe then I could have found some redeeming quality in you." Breena's eyes filled with sadness. "No wonder my mother said you were a bastard."

"Now wait a minute!"

"You have no right to yell at her." Betak pointed at him.

"I have every right." The Wizard glared. "I'm her father. I won't stand here and be called a bastard by my own daughter."

"What should I call you?!" Breena pulled away from Elphaba. "Put yourself in our shoes for a second. You abandoned our mothers! You abandoned us!!"

"Bree…" Elphaba reached for her again.

"No, Elly. You went through hell at the hands of Frex and for what? Because he wasn't willing to be a father and the apple of Oz's eye at the same time?" Breena stormed over to the Wizard. "Do you have any idea how she's been treated? Even before Melena died everyone acted like she didn't exist because of the color of her skin. Then Frex used her as a prop in his sermons. Put her on display like some kind of freak for people to ridicule."

The Wizard looked appalled. "I had no idea."

"Of course you didn't! Because all you cared about was yourself and your precious popularity." Breena was breathing heavily by now. "But what you did was worse. You tried to use her and when she wouldn't have any part of it, you turned her life into a living hell. You nearly succeeded in killing your own daughter! How does that make you feel?!"

Elphaba jointed them, grabbing Breena's shoulder and turning her around. "He's not worth getting this upset over."

"No, but you are. It was bad enough when I thought about you going through all of that when you were my cousin. But to know you're my sister…" Realization hit her like a ton of bricks. "Elly, you're my sister." She half grinned.

Elphaba caught her as she started to pitch forward. "Bree?"

"I'm all right." The words no sooner left her mouth than her knees buckled.

The Wizard instinctively reached out to help them. "What's wrong with her?"

"Don't touch her!" Elphaba pulled her further away from him, but wasn't strong enough to keep them from sinking to the ground. "Bree?" She pulled her into her lap, tapping her on the check when she saw her eyes were closed. "Breena!"

"Let me look at her." Addena appeared at her side, Betak right behind her.

"Is she all right?" The Wizard loomed over them.

"She's had a rough couple of days." Addena absentmindedly replied as she looked Breena over.

"And you're not helping any. So back off!" Betak gave him a none to gentle shove.

"She's out again. Which doesn't really surprise me considering the roller coaster ride you two have been on today." Addena glanced at Elphaba. "You're not looking so hot yourself."

"I'm fine." Elphaba kept her eyes on Breena.

"We need to get you both back to the house so you can rest."

"I'll take her." The Wizard volunteered.

"Like hell you will." Elphaba snapped. "Lion?"

"Right here." The big cat scurried over to her. "Come on, Breena." He gently picked her up out of Elphaba's arms, cradling her against his chest.

"All this fuss." Yackle tisked. "She's a healer. She'll be fine."

"How did you…" Elphaba shook her head. "You know what, right now I really don't care. All I want to do is make sure my cous…" She looked pointed at the Wizard as she corrected herself. "My sister is all right."

"That's fine. We can chat later." Yackle waved her away. "I'm not going anywhere."

"And neither am I." The Wizard stated. "Now that I have the two of you back I'm never letting you go again."

Elphaba ignored him as she started to climb to her feet.

"Elphie?" Glinda's voice was timid as she offered her lover a hand up.

"Thanks." Elphaba mumbled as she accepted.

"Elphie, I…"

"Glinda, I can't do this right now." She cut her off, instantly regretting the sting in her voice when she saw the pain in the blonde's eyes. "I'm sorry. I just need some time, OK?"

Glinda nodded. "OK."

Elphaba held her gaze a moment longer before falling into step with Addena, Lion and Betak as they headed toward the house.

"Come on, Glinda." Fiyero slipped his arm around her shoulders. "I'll walk you back."

She let him lead her away.

"Don't look so sad. You know Elphaba. She just needs some time to adjust to everything that happened today." Fiyero tried to cheer her up.

Glinda knew Elphaba all right. She was with her at the palace when they met the Wizard. She had seen first hand what happened when the green woman felt betrayed. First she got angry and then she wanted nothing more to do with him.

Elphie was already angry. What if she decided she didn't want any more to do with her either? What if she ended their relationship? What if she pushed her away and never looked back?

Glinda's heart broke at the thought. She couldn't lose her Elphie. She just couldn't.