A/N: You guys are killing me with the reviews. You make me laugh so hard!

My muse had a temper tantrum and demanded a rewrite of this chapter, damnable, sadistic harpy that she is. Guh, let me know what you guys think. I'm happi-er with it, at least.

Cain swore viciously. He was lost.

After the disturbance had shaken the castle, he had taken off up the corridor and immediately found himself in honeycomb of passages and halls. Apparently, part of the Suketian fortress's defense was a hopelessly confusing hallway system. The more he twisted and turned, the more he knew he wasn't getting out. The depression was settling over his shoulders like a heavy, maddening cloak. You won't make it, Cain . . .

Not now. He pushed the thought away angrily and ordered himself to focus. She needed him. He had a nasty feeling that Azkadellia's time was running out. That tremor earlier had something to do with the Tempest. He only hoped the princess could hold out until he got there.

You won't get there . . .

Stop it! He had to think. What he was planning to do when he actually found her, he didn't know.

Once again, the fuzziness and the hopelessness were beginning to descend upon him. A throbbing pain started behind his eyes. Wyatt . . .

Not now! He growled as the vision came. He wouldn't be able to stop it.

Wyatt, please. . .help me!

"WYATT!"

The sound of his name being screamed bounced off the walls like a ricochet of a bullet and buzzed around his brain like an angry hornet. Feeling himself starting to sweat, he pulled the gun from its holster, spinning around and looking for the source of the sound. There was no one else in the corridor.

The buzzing grew louder, making it hard to think about anything else except the pain of guilt and grief. Breathing hard and trying to order his thoughts, he fell to one knee and clenched his eyes shut tightly.

It didn't help. The vision, the one he had been forced to watch so many times before replayed in his head. Being dragged from the house and forced to his knees, fighting and losing –failing.

It was one of the few times he had ever heard her plead. Zero had taken the ribbon from her hair and used it to bind his fingers together, making his fist all the harder. The scream of rage erupted from his throat again when Jeb was knocked to the ground. They forced him back, into the suit. The metal door clanged shut and he cursed Zero as he heard the bolts slip into place. Adora was screaming now, screaming for her husband. With one hard stroke with the back of his hand, Zero rendered her unconscious. He saw the blood running down her face as he screamed her name, watching the Long Coats collect her limp frame and pick up a still struggling Jeb. He watched them take his family away from him.

And it began again.

It was hard to breathe, but he screamed again as the emotional pain manifested itself in the physical. Pain that radiated from his heart, through his stomach and coursed down his limbs. Biting his lip hard enough to draw blood, he forced himself to look up again.

There she stood like a specter in the darkened hall, wearing the white dress that he had last seen her in. There was a haunted look in her eyes. Her face was bloodied. Her clothes were torn and stained, like they always were in his visions. The bruises and cuts stood out against the paleness of her face. Why did you abandon me, Wyatt?

Cain stood up again, a painful exercise. "Adora?"

Not looking away, she took a step back. The accusing and pained expression was all that he could see. It was all that mattered. Rational thought existed no more as he followed her, trying to close the distance, praying that this time all it would take to bridge the gap between life and death were a few short, mortal steps.

It didn't matter that he had seen her grave.

It didn't matter that he knew Jeb had buried her.

His fevered brain accepted only the fact that she was there, in front of him.

She took three more steps, shaking her head, before turning on her heel and running up the hall.

Getting back to his feet was a painful process as he watched her form fade into the darkness.

Have to find her. Nothing else matters.

Why? Why didn't you save me?

The words rolled around in his head. He put the heels of his hands to his temples, trying to make it stop. When he screamed, the anguish erupted from the depths of his soul. "ADORA!"

Jeb growled as he ran down the corridor. Fortunately, Raw had managed to get DG out of the way before the fighting really got out of hand in the hall. At the time, Jeb's only option had been to catch the remaining two guards unawares by charging them. By the time he had neutralized them, the Suketians that had come up from the cell block were already on him. That had left one choice . . . up.

He quickly ducked into a side corridor and stooped out of sight, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the Suketians that had been chasing him dash past, continuing up the corridor. Making sure no one else was following; he made his way down the passage. He needed to get back down and find DG. How he was going to do that, he didn't rightly know.

He was weighing the odds of backtracking when he heard a scream that made his blood run cold.

"ADORA!"

It was his father, but so anguished and hurt, it barely seemed recognizable. Deep in his soul, Jeb knew his father was in serious trouble and he had to get to him. The sound reverberated off of the stone, making it nearly impossible to determine where it was coming from.

Following his gut, Jeb hefted the rifle and took off down the passage, bearing to the right.

Azkadellia felt her heart stop when DG, Ambrose, and the Viewer, Raw were marched into the control room. Why was her sister here? What in the whole of the O.Z. was she thinking? The older princess pressed herself up against the glass, hoping that what she was seeing wasn't true. How could she resist Stribog now?

Stribog was basking in his glory. "Well, well. Two little princesses . . . I have them at last."

Without further ceremony, he grabbed DG's jacket and hauled her towards Azkadellia. DG squawked in surprise as the fear came to her features. The girl struggled hard against his vice-like grip, her sneakers skidding on the floor. "Az! Are you all right?"

"I've been better." She said grimly. "What are you doing here?"

"This is what you get for ditching me."

"Enough." Stribog growled. "Now, Princess Azkadellia, what shall it be? The O.Z. or your sister?"

Azkadellia took a shuddering breath.

DG, who was still facing her, rolled her eyes and gave Azkadellia a wink. "Bad guys. Always coming up with these lame choices, aren't they?"

Before Azkadellia could respond, there was a burst of white light and Stribog cried out in pain and rage. When her vision cleared, the control room had erupted in chaos. Suketians and scientists were running for cover. She could see that Raw had tackled Ambrose to the floor.

"Hang on, Az. I'll get you out." DG was ducked down behind her prison, fiddling with the locking mechanism on the side.

She stared at her little sister in disbelief. "You've got your magic back."

"Yeah," DG panted as she hit the door with a frustrated fist. "But I don't know how good I'll be at using it in a fight. We need to get you out of here."

Azkadellia jumped and screamed as a bullet ricocheted off of the glass and DG ducked for cover. Ambrose yelled both of their names. Stribog's guards had arrived and were flooding into the control room. DG darted across the room and threw another bolt of energy in their general direction. It served to send them scurrying for cover, but the onslaught continued.

Screaming with rage, Azkadellia bounced a small fist off of the glass. She was still trapped.

Zero felt the thrill of victory run through him as Adora Cain stepped through the entrance to the small cavern. There was a smile of confidence on her face as she quickly strode to the shadows where she knew him to be hiding with three guards that would take Cain to Stribog when they were finished with him. Her form became wavy as the disguise seemed to melt away. It was Lilith that joined him.

He grinned at her. "Is he coming?"

"Of course." She smiled coldly.

Zero flipped the switch of the small machine mounted on the wall beside him and silently thanking the headcase again for this little invention. The tri-dimensional energy storing holographic time loop.

Cain stumbled once before finally staggering into the immense cavern. He had just rounded the last corner in time to see the form disappear into its depths.

He had just walked into a nightmare, more vicious and terrible than anything he had ever dreamt.

Because, unlike in his dreams, he knew that what he saw before him was the truth.

He was back at the cabin behind the white elm. As he watched, two Long Coats came from the house, dragging a slight frame between them. Adora's boots dug into the wood as she pulled back, still resisting, though he could see the blood on her pants where she had obviously already been wounded. The two men pulled her down the stairs and forced her to her knees.

He could not hear the words that were exchanged between his wife and Zero, but in the next instant, the man's hand was on her throat, picking her up off of the ground with the force of his anger. A strangled cry was cut short as her body hit the tree. There was a vengeful gleam in Zero's eyes as she stopped struggling. He let her go and watched her limp body fall to the ground.

And then, it started all over again.

He fell to his knees, unable to look away, dropping his gun to the side. The pain ripped at his insides, threatening to rend his heart from his chest as he watched her fight in vain a second time. He could've stopped this. He should have stopped this. She was his to protect and he had failed her. That beautiful, stubborn, spirited woman had died because he wasn't there to protect her.

The misery engulfed him completely, paralyzed him. He could hear nothing and see nothing as the loop began again. There was no suit to hold him in place this time. This time, his guilt stayed him and it was just as effective.

"Dad!"

The voice was like ray of distant lighthouse, cutting through the murky haze of pain that enveloped him like a smothering fog.

There was a loud yell and an exchange of gunfire that spattered off of the rock briefly before it ended just as abruptly as it had begun.

"Hold it right there, boy." This voice was further away, more distant. It was Zero. "One more step and I end your old man's suffering for good."

The outside world was intruding on Cain's twisted and sick reality. He tried to fight, to succumb to the pain that he now felt he deserved. But Jeb's voice had opened a narrow passage and while he still felt immobilized and powerless, he was steadily becoming more aware of the events moving around him.

"Easy on those triggers, boys or your boss is the first one I shoot."

There was silence and in some back corner of Cain's mind that almost cared, he knew every one was calculating their odds of being the last person to shoot.

He heard the sound of a rifle being forcefully racked. "What did you do to him?"

Cain was breathing hard. Just let him end it, son. . .

"He did it to himself." Zero spat. "He's too damned weak."

Too weak. Failed again, Cain. You're going to lose your son, now. . . The fog was rolling in, muffling the sound of Zero's voice.

But Jeb's cool tone cut a swath right through it again. "You're one to talk about weak. Shall I get the spoons again?"

He could almost hear Adora speaking through their son. It was said with her defiant determination, that confident, mocking tone that could unnerve any enemy.

"And I'll make you pay for that, you little sonofabitch."

Jeb was nearly shouting now. "You shoot him and I swear by all the gods I will put a bullet right between your eyes!"

Slowly, as not to draw attention to himself, Cain pivoted on one knee to see what was going on behind him. Jeb had made it to just inside the entrance of the cave. His rifle was seated firmly against his shoulder, pointed directly at Zero. Zero, in turn, was pointing a revolver at Cain. His attention, however, was completely on Jeb.

It was then that the Witch stepped forward. "Such bravery for a father that left you to suffer. That let your mother die. Look," she gestured towards the holographic image that was still playing, "she fought so hard, and yet he rejects her memory. He ignores her sacrifice. He blames you for her loss."

There was a few seconds of silence before Jeb let out a humorless laugh. "That wasn't his fault. It wasn't mine, either. We all did what we had to do. Me, my mother, my father. But you know what? Through it all, we never stopped loving each other. It doesn't matter what you do to any of us, nothing is going to change that. We're always going to be a family. There's nothing more important than that."

Cain moved faster in that half a second then he ever had before in his life. With one swift, fluid motion, he launched himself off of the floor and directly at Zero. The tactic worked. The other man was caught completely off guard as Cain took him to the wall. Zero grunted in pain as he hit the rock, but recovered enough to bring his knee up into Cain's stomach. Ignoring the pain, the Tin Man reached up and grabbed his opponent's wrist, twisting it so that the gun dropped from Zero's hand.

There was a cold grip on his shoulder, and then a yell of pain before the grip was gone again. Jeb had taken down the guard that had sought to help his comrade. His thoughts flew and he realized that already, the boy had two more guards pinned and was exchanging gunfire with them. The second fell as Jeb darted up from behind a waist-high rock formation and fired.

As Zero spun him away from the wall, he caught a brief glimpse of the Ice Witch as she stepped back into the shadows.

He didn't have time to worry about her as Zero initiated a counter-attack. The man pushed him back hard, giving him enough room to hook Cain across the jaw with a fist. Before he could regain his balance, Zero hit him again, sending him down on all four's. He felt the toe of Zero's boot catch him between the ribs. Cain rolled away and somehow managed his way back to his feet just before Zero was all over him again.

He lost ground until something hard collided with his lower back. His spine arced over the railing of a stone balcony that jutted out over a hundred and fifty foot drop to the stone floor below. Out of the corner of his eye, he could just see the blinking, glowing lights of what he assumed was Tempest's nerve center.

Zero's face was just inches from his now. He could smell the other man's breath as he grunted and pushed, trying to heave Cain over the edge. He was grinning cruelly. "Two down. One to go."

And that was enough. With inhuman strength, Cain was able to get his leg beneath Zero and swing the other man up and over the railing. The look of triumphant slipped into one of surprise and fear as Cain got a better grip on Zero's robes and, with a yell, sent him over.

Cain slid to the floor as Zero's scream was cut short by a sickening crunch of bone on rock.

Jeb's rifle was still cracking and the adrenaline that was just beginning to ebb from Cain's system was back with a vengeance when he saw the Witch moving again. Jeb had just left the cover of his hiding place and was looking up the hall, trying to see if any more threats were coming from that direction.

He failed to notice the Witch coming towards him as she slunk through the shadows. There was a flash of light as she raised her hand. An icy knife had appeared in it.

Cain wasn't even aware that he moved. Before he could register a thought, he had lunged for his gun, stretching himself flat on the floor. He wrapped his hand around the handle and fired, just as Jeb was bringing his rifle to bear. The harpy screeched as she fell to the floor and Jeb stepped back, breathing hard as he looked down on her.

It was over. Seeing his son unharmed, Cain let out a sigh as his forehead met the cool stone of the floor. Pain was still coursing through him, and nausea threatened to overtake him. After a few seconds, there was a tentative hand on his shoulder. "Dad?"

With effort, Cain pushed himself to his elbows and then to a sitting position. Jeb's concerned face filled his vision. "Geez. You look like hell."

He couldn't help it. He smiled. "You look a little rough yourself, son."

Before another word was spoken, he pulled Jeb into a strong embrace. He tensed against him, just as he had when Cain had first attempted a hug at the resistance camp nearly two months before. But this time, Jeb relented and returned the gesture, letting out a sigh of relief.

"You did well, son. Your mother would be proud of you." Cain rethought the words as he drew Jeb even closer. "I'm proud of you."

At that, Jeb pulled back sharply. Cain just smiled at his son's shocked expression and continued. "I'm sorry for the things I said to you. It wasn't you I was mad at."

Jeb swallowed. "Me too, Dad."

With a shake of his head, Cain slapped his son's leg. "C'mon. We've still got work to do."

Jeb stood up first and when he offered Cain a hand, the Tin Man ordered his pride to stand at ease as she let his son pull him to his feet. He wouldn't have made it on his own. "We have to find Azkadellia and Glitch and get out of here."

"Actually," Jeb retrieved his rifle from the floor to avoid his father's gaze. "We need to find DG and Raw, too."

"What?" Cain felt his ire rise. "DG is here? What is she thinking? She's got no defense."

"It's a long story." Jeb replied, cutting him off. "Just trust me when I tell you she's not defenseless. I-"

Jeb stopped short as he looked to the door and Cain followed the line of his son's gaze.

The Ice Witch was gone.

A/N: Why does the 'save changes' button not always work! Sorry for the repost, all. This chapter NEEDED page breaks. Ugh!�