-:-1932-:-

"Another job superbly done Elphaba!"

The addressed grunted in acknowledgement, otherwise ignoring the praise. It had been this way ever since she'd started the job, and somehow the congratulatory words just didn't have the same effect that they once did. Instead the green gangster finished polishing the barrel of her favorite weapon before fitting it back into its case.

"We'll get Nessa down there right away to clean things up," The Wizard continued on mindlessly, not yet having realized Elphaba's distance from the conversation. The girl shuddered slightly. Much to her chagrin the Wizard had reeled in her sister as well. Nessa worked down at the city morgue now, covering up any deaths that could be traced back to the 'Great and Powerful Wizard'. Her long green nose wrinkled in distaste.

"That won't be necessary; I'm very capable of cleaning up my own messes Oscar."

Now it was the wizard's turn to shudder, people didn't address him with his real name anymore, they hadn't for nearly a decade. Still, he overlooked it this time focusing in on a different aspect of his favorite pupil's comment.

"What's the matter bearcat(1) you seem in an awful state," the Wizard drenched his expression with sugar as he stepped up behind Elphaba and laid a hand on her shoulder, "you've been fearfully distant lately, been taking too many jobs? I think you oughta kick back and relax a while. Tell ya what, you take a few months and oversee my new drum(2), we're callin' it the Filibuster(3)."

"That is likewise unnecessary," Elphaba stood, shrugging the Wizard's hand from her shoulder. She didn't need a break and she surely did not want to hang around somewhere the public gathered.

While the man had a fatherly grin on his face he spoke in a tone that was nothing less than serious. "It's not a request."

The green girl glanced over her shoulder ruefully before looking back ahead and picking up her violin case(4). She pulled down her fedora, hiding her eyes further before sighing heavily, "Fine."

-:-:-

It took Elphaba less than a minute to decide she was thoroughly going to detest the next few months of her life. Well, more than she already detested it anyways. The room was so filled with smoke that even though she herself held no cigarette, she seemed to be exhaling clouds. She couldn't say the place itself was bad looking though. In fact had it not been filled with people, smoke, and noise she might actually have liked it. Since it was though, it's comfortable looking couches and innumerable tables did nothing for the woman. She huffed lowly and headed towards the bar. She was doomed to never get there however because she'd barely taken three steps in that direction before an irritatingly familiar voice called her name.

"Elphaba!"

The woman groaned quietly trying to ignore the man who was calling her. He called her two more times before she felt a hand grab her elbow, "Elphaba, babe! Never figured I'd see you around here, how're ya doin'?"

Brows flattened out above brown eyes as Elphaba grudgingly turned around to look at the man pestering her, "Ducky(5)."

She couldn't help but notice the man's friendly smile broaden, despite the fact that her response had been dripping in sarcasm. She frowned a bit at his enthusiasm, tuning out his words as his mouth moved animatedly. Under normal circumstances, she might have considered this man handsome, he was about her age, finely tanned skin, dark hair, and tall like she was. However she has consciously made a mental note of nearly all the Gale Force members and marked them collectively as undesirable.

The Gale Force was composed of lord only knew how many youngsters around the town, they were the lowest and most numerous division of the Wizard's great empire. They did most of the dirty work, small jobs, smuggling, and the like. They were the type of people who willingly joined this vicious circle of crime for the money, or in hopes of rising through the ranks and gaining power. Elphaba scoffed at the idea of it, most of the GFs wound up dead or in jail, it was no secret to her that the Wizard didn't care about their fates.

"Elphaba are you even listening?" the man's brows creased as he asked, her scoff having alerted him to the fact that she was indeed not listening.

"Yes of course. . ." Elphaba faltered at the end, having forgotten the more than friendly GF's name.

"Fiyero. My name is Fiyero. And no you weren't, don't lie. Come on Elphaba surely you're smarter than that," Elphaba snorted at his commented, which only caused him to smile again, "Oh you think you're so great, the Wizard's number one assassin, huh? I'm gonna be standing up there with you someday."

This caused Elphaba to make another snorting sound, rolling her eyes at his confidence. At this point she realized he was rambling again, something about how he was the most popular Gale Forcer and that she should at least remember his name. She nodded absent mindedly, her eye lazily following where his arm was pointing now at a stage.

"Anyway as I was sayin' the shows about to start, me an' the rest of the boys have seats up front so come sit with us."

Before the green woman had the chance to refuse the offer she found herself being forcefully pulled along behind the guy. Within moments she was being seated at a small table right in front of the stage. Well, she was less seated at the table, than in the general vicinity she noted. The table itself was tiny, and littered with old cigarettes and empty glasses, this was marginally more explainable given the fact that there appeared to be, four other people aside from her and Fiyero sitting around it.

"Elphaba, you remember these guys of course," Fiyero said, knowing full well she wouldn't know their names if she hadn't remembered his. He pointed to a different person at the table as he spoke next, "Tibbett, Crope, Boq, and Avaric. And of course all of you know who this is."

She was greeted by a chorus of hellos and nicknames and other cheery comments. She nodded curtly from where she was seated, still not sure why she was there. It was both rewarding and regretful being where she was in life. On one hand she was famous among her peers, which was a grand change from her childhood when she'd always been seen as wicked. However at the same time she was on the wrong side of the law to really be considered a hero.

The five men at the table chattered amiably, only occasionally addressing Elphaba. Each time she was brought into the conversation she raised her head a bit as if to show she was listening, at one point she became aware that she'd had a drink ordered for her and drank mindlessly.

"I hear the performer tonight is quite the skirt(6)," The shortest of the men, Boq, started conversationally.

"Yeah, s'right. I hear she's got the best lookin' gams(7) anyone ever set eyes on!" Avaric shot back instantly before looking over his shoulder at a worker and raising his glass, "Oi, let's get another jorum ah skee(8) over here!"

The rest lingered on this subject until the lights dimmed some to indicate the show was about to begin. The entire joint hushed as the pianist began introducing acts. There were three small time acts before the dancer the other five had been gossiping about was to appear. As the show moved on Elphaba chewed the inside of her cheek wondering dully why she was even here, she dismissed the thought though as she sipped at her glass. Free liquor was good enough a reason for her to hang around, even if she wasn't particularly known for her drinking habits.

Wild roars from the crowd brought her back to reality, apparently the girl everyone had been chatting about was about to come out. The music started and the curtain rose. In the middle of the stage was a single woman with a huge feather fan blocking her face, slowly the fan clicked shut and she lowered it. She began performing, her voice alone making her better than anyone else that had showcased this evening. The entire room seemed to scoot forward, especially the men who all stared unblinkingly at the stage.

The music plowed on and the singer danced across the stage. Even Elphaba had to admit that at least some of the rumors she'd overheard were true, this girl certainly did have some nice legs. Her face flushed a bit at her thoughts so she quickly moved her eyes up from the dancer's well toned legs to her face. She was the definition of a flapper(9), short skirt shorter hair. Blonde hair to be precise, neatly kept in a short crimped bob, adorned with a head band that held a large feather on it matching her fan which was now being waved around as part of her act.

Throughout the duration of the act Elphaba couldn't help but notice that when the rest of the crowd had scooted forward, she'd also been moved forward. The toe of her boot scraped along the edge of the stage dully as she tried to return to where she'd been; however, the mass of people behind her impeded her movement. With a low growl the green girl returned her attention to the stage just in time to catch the finale.

Which, she had to admit, was rather less spectacular than she would have guessed. As the music wrapped up the dancer went about finishing her performance, however she as she twirled around her heel missed the stage. It hooked right over the edge of the stage into nothingness and caused her to completely loose her footing, sending her tumbling off the stage. The only thing that made this more alarming to Elphaba was the new occupant in her lap.

She had just enough time to pull the hand that was holding her drink out of the way as the little blonde landed roughly in her lap, her second arm wrapping instinctively around the fallen girl to keep them both from hitting the floor. The singer laughed in a bubbly cheer, causing the feather on her head to bounce around. Elphaba spluttered as the feather tickled her face, the noise causing the singer to look up at her cushion.

"What's doin' daddy(10)?" The girl smiled broadly, clearly intoxicated. Elphaba wrinkled her nose, when she'd been on stage you never would have realized the blonde had been drunk. Her thoughts didn't have much time to linger though as every guy within a ten foot radius instantly surrounded the both of them to make sure the dancer was alright. Elphaba ignored them and their comments of false concern as best she could.

"I most certainly am not your daddy," the green woman scoffed indignantly, "Now if you're fine and well kindly remove yourself from my lap."

"Awe, no need to cast a kitten(11)," the blonde huffed quietly, making no move to stand. The crowd had settled for the most part, except for the five men sharing a table with Elphaba.

"What a chassis(12)!" Avaric half whispered, under the impression that neither of the girls could hear him, "Baby forget this chunk a lead(13)," he nodded at Elphaba indiscreetly, "What d'ya say we blow this joint and head somewhere quiet like?"

The blonde smiled widely, seeming like she was going to accept the offer. For some reason this made Elphaba nauseous, she couldn't decide whether it was just the liquor or because none of them even knew the girl's name and already they were trying to sleep with her. Probably gonna go with the liquor idea.

"Sorry fella, the bank's closed(14)," the blonde said cheerily, still not having moved from Elphaba's lap.

Fiyero laughed heartily as Avaric's face fell. He slapped his friend on the shoulder good-naturedly, "Better luck next time pal!" He paused and looked at the girl now, everyone at the table seeming to ignore the fact she was sitting in Elphaba's lap, "Say what's yer name kid?"

"I'm not a kid," now it was the blondes turn to be indignant, "And it's Glinda. Hey!" Crope jumped at the sudden yell, looking up from what he was doing, Tibbett snickered lightly at the action. Glinda held out a hand palm up and waggled her fingers. "Butt me(15)."

With a sigh of relief Crope grinned lopsidedly and handed the girl a cigarette, which Boq wasted no time in lighting for her. The entire group continued conversing and laughing and being quiet friendly. Elphaba rolled her eyes at the entire situation, sipping from her glass darkly. They sat there for at least another good forty minutes before any of them even seemed to remember Elphaba was there beneath Glinda and another chair was brought to the table.

Elphaba had a creeping feeling that if this night was any indicator, she would really dislike the next few months of her life a lot more than she had originally suspected.

-:-:-

1 – bearcat: a hot-blooded girl
2 – drum: a speakeasy
3 – Filibuster: I actually used this term as the speakeasy's name because it literally means ''pirate" or "freebooter", although it goes particularly well even if you took it for its political connotation because the Wizard seems like a guy that would do that.
4 – violin case: Elphaba has a modified violin case that she stores her gun in. It hasn't been stated yet but she uses a Tommy Gun to do her dirty work.
5 – ducky: very good
6 – skirt: used to describe a very attractive woman.
7 – gams: legs.
8 – jorum of skee: a shot of hard liquor.
9 – flapper: a girl who broke the laws on convention. They wore short skirts (just below the knee was considered short then), and bobbed their hair. They were also known for smoking, drinking, and treating sex casually.
10 – daddy: a young woman's boyfriend or lover. Elphaba took such offense to this because she took it as meaning she looked like a man.
11 – cast a kitten: to have a fit.
12 – chassis: the female body.
13 – chunk of lead: an unattractive female.
14 – bank's closed: no kissing or making out.
15 – Butt me: Give me a cigarette.

A/N: Okay so, since I completely forgot to do this in the first chapter it's time for me to play catch up with myself a bit.

Firstly, a great big thank you to ReallyUhSharp. She's the requestee / initial reader / muse for all of this. If that makes any sense at all. Probably not but I'm sticking with it. Anyways she's a way better writer than me and you should totally read her amazing stories! Do it, yeah? (If you're too lazy to be bothered with finding her page normally, you can find her in the 'favorite authors' section of my page).

Secondly, DISCLAIMER: I don't own Wicked. Likewise I do not own Elphaba or Glinda or anyone else that has been mentioned in this story. I'm not doing this for profit, unless of course you consider the gratitude of knowing people are reading and enjoying my utter nonsense a profit. In which case I would be doing it for a profit. However, since you probably don't, still not getting any profit. So yeah, I'd appreciate it if I didn't get sued or what-have-you. Right, that's all!

EDIT: Oi, another big thanks for just . another . elphie for pointing out that my footnotes were just numbers. It's total bogus that my superscripting didn't work, even when I put in the html codes for it. Kinda ticks me off. Anyhow, now at least they're in parenthesis to separate them. Thanks again!