A/N: I think I've ranted enough in my other stories' A/Ns about my London Wicked experience...so yeah...let's just say I was singing Wicked songs on the plane flight back home.


"Lady Glinda, the Tin man is rioting downstairs."

"What?" Both Fiyero and Glinda's heads snapped up to look at the informant, who was at the door rubbing his wrists anxiously.

"The Tin man is stirring up trouble, ma'am," said the informant. "And the strangest thing is..." He swallowed nervously.

"Speak, Feloux," said Glinda.

"It's Felix," the man corrected politely. "And Madame Morrible isn't taking any action to help the situation...in fact..."

"Go on..." prompted Fiyero.

Felix's eyes did a double take on the scarecrow sitting next to the Good Witch. "She's, um...supporting it."

Without another word, Glinda stood and swept out of the room, Fiyero following suit.

Turns out, the Tin man was indeed causing a riot out in the city.

"Wickedness must be punished!" he yelled, and the denizens roared in agreement, brandishing pitchforks and torches and Punjab lassos.

"Good luck to the Witch Hunters!" shouted Morrible from a palace balcony.

Fiyero cast Glinda a sidelong glance, to see her jaw slacked once more, observing the scene with eyes as large as saucers. Then she turned and they locked eyes, each reading the other expressions and nodding in understanding, before bolting in their separate ways.

Fiyero wove through the shouting crowd and clambered upon the platform rise to where the Tin man stood.

"Tin man!" he hissed. "What the hell are you doing?"

"This is not just a service to the Wizard," the Tin man whispered back. "I have a personal score to settle with Ne - with the Witch!"

His near slip up caused Fiyero to freeze. "You know Nessarose Thropp?"

The Tin man looked at him. "Of course, anyone knows that Wicked Witch of the East," he snarled, his tin face scrunching up in disgust as he mentioned the title.

"But why do you call the Wicked Witch of the West Nessarose?" asked Fiyero, carefully choosing his tone.

Now it was the Tin man's turn to freeze. "I-I..."

Fiyero observed his travelling partner as he stuttered. The Tin man had almost called the Witch Nessarose. It would've been surprising enough had he almost said Elphaba, but if he called her Nessa, that would mean -

"You know about the possession!" gasped Fiyero. "You went to Shiz didn't you? That's the only way you could know about the Thropp sisters! Elphaba also turned you into...this to save your life, for whatever reason, didn't she?" How he was even coming up with all this inference, Fiyero had no clue. "Who were you?"

The Tin man stared at Fiyero, dumbfounded. "I-I think that would be my speech you just stole...how do you know all this?"

Fiyero ignored the question. "Who are you?"

"My Shiz schoolmates knew me as Boq."

"Holy mackerel! Boq you - " Oh gosh, stay on your two feet, Fiyero, he told himself.

"You still haven't given me an answer," reminded the Tin man - or Boq, as we shall now refer him to as.

"Erm..." Fiyero cleared his throat uncertainly. He knew the munchkin boy had had a crush on Glinda once back at Shiz, noticing how much he had goggled at the blonde. "Boq, before I tell you anything...can you put the axe down?"

Luckily, Boq did so without any unconformity.

"Boq..." he took a deep breath. "I'm Fiyero."

There was a crash on the rise as tin met wood, followed by a cry of frustration.

"Oz, will people quit doing that?"


"Come on Fifi, you know that it's a natural reaction to faint when you're told something really shocking, like your schoolmate's actually been right next to you the whole time, as a Scarecrow!"

"Well I didn't pass out cold in front of the entire Emerald City when I learnt who Boq was!"

"You're different!" argued Glinda.

Seeing that this was going nowhere, Fiyero changed the topic.

"So how'd your confrontation with Morrible turn out?" he asked instead.

Glinda paled. "She...she didn't even let me say anything...and I found out that she was the one who caused the Twister, and she keeps telling me this...all this madness is what I truly desired...to have Elphaba out of the way so I can...so I can have all the glory." At this point the blonde had begun to sob, and Fiyero once again drew her in close and comforted her.

"It doesn't matter what the carp said," he told her, smiling as her face brightened a little at his joke. "What matters is who you really are, your true self, and that's a bright, optimistic, sunny blonde girl who I see in my arms." Glinda rubbed away her tears, smiling up at him.

"Thank you, Fiyero," she said softly. "You truly are a great friend to have."

They stayed in the embrace for a while, enjoying the solitude of Glinda's room, no matter how pink it was, before Glinda pulled back, her face set in a serious expression of worry.

"About Elphaba..."

Fiyero set his jaw grimly. "Yes, about Elphaba. You need to go talk to her."

"Why me? Why not you?" asked Glinda, getting slightly nervous. "She hates me!"

"Under Nessa's influence," noted Fiyero. "You were her closest friend, Glinda, you're the one who can connect with her the most. And besides, I'm stuck with Dorothy and Co. and we'll be hunting down the Witch with the Witch Hunters not far behind us; I can't talk to her while she's busy hurling fireballs at the hunters. You can get a head-start...if you leave now." Fiyero glanced up worriedly, half expecting Brrr to burst into the room yelling that it was time to go.

"She won't listen!" protested Glinda.

"Maybe not," agreed Fiyero. "But maybe she will. You need to break Nessarose so that Elphaba can gain control again, or you can encourage her. I don't know exactly how black magic works, but till you try you'll never know."

"Were you stalking us?" asked Glinda, unable to shrug off the feeling that Fiyero had just made a reference.

"What...?" Okay, maybe not.

"Never mind!" she said hurriedly, conjuring a bubble. "Wish me luck, Fiyero Tigelaar!"

Fiyero saluted. "Bring her home, Glinda Upland."


A/N: Hey hey anyone caught my Les Mis reference? Wait am I going a bit overboard with 'em?